Hiro

Sounds like my g/f's brother's g/f, she is _so_ pedantic about her takeway. If she goes to Red Rooster and asks for a drumstick, then waits till they got home only to find out she got a wing, she will RING UP Red Rooster and get them to make a whole new meal for her, which she then goes down and picks up. FFS, it's just a piece of chicken. She's done the same with Dominos too, got a pepperoni pizza with BBQ sauce instead of tomato, she got them to make a whole new pizza. She didn't return the other one, just left it in the fridge (so I had it for lunch the next day).

FFS why are people still complaining about this? It's been gone over time and time again that the Australian version HAS to use the same set, intro, show style etc because it's part of the contract. The Top Gear name and rights have been sold to SBS for them to produce a local version, but it must adhere to whatever rules the BBC put down. It's a freaking franchise for crying out loud. So can we stop this now?

Not sure if it was just my eyes playing tricks, but the camera angles did seem better this time for both the Power Lap and the SIABSC. I remember TGUK's photography was awful for the first season too, but that's what a budget and limited experience will tend to throw up.

That maybe so, but SBS surely must have known that there was no way Top Gear Australia could compete with Top Gear UK. Top Gear UK is in another league (or planet for that matter!) and inarguably one of the best TV series to hit the TV. So DON'T go chasing and paying for the rights to affiliate it with TOP GEAR UK!!!! Give THE SERIES ANOTHER NAME for crying out loud!! But it's too late now. Personally, I think its aweful, its embarrassing and it's an injustice for the program to share the same name. I hope it doesn't reach the shores of other countries or star on Top Gear Uk. PUT >LATEST< TOP GEAR UK ON. If you don't associate it with Top Gear UK, chances are people wouldn't watch it in the first place. You have to agree that no matter how good or bad it was, most people who watched the first episode were watching it because of the Top Gear name. The car industry is a great example of creating absolute failures out of decent cars just because they changed to an unfamiliar name. Take the Tiida for instance. It's not THAT bad, but because it doesn't have the Pulsar name (the car it replaced) no-one bought the bloody thing. Ford almost had the same problem when they replaced the Laser with the Focus. Mitsubishi replaced the Magna with the 380, and it flopped hugely. Toyota Australia did the smart thing and retained the Corolla name whilst the rest of the world went Auris - if they'd changed too, I doubt sales would have been as good.

Exactly. The manual will state what comes from the factory. The ad will tell you what comes with the actual sale. Who knows what happened with the other key/remote, the first owner probably just lost them. It's like selling a second-hand computer game without the instruction-manual or original box. The game is still the same, but a little worn, and some things are missing. Just because the original came with manual + box and shrink-wrapping, no reason for a used example to include the same unless advertised so.

If it's the engine pipe that doesn't line up, all you do is spend $50 and get a new pipe to the cat made up. Easy-as for any exhaust shop to do, makes me think the mechanic was taking you for a bit of a ride. If one guy quoted you $700, thats a rip off if ever I've seen one, and you should have shopped around. Extractors for the AE112 (the model after yours) should be exactly the same as the AE102, they share almost identical front ends/engine bays. And I've got extractors on my 1997 7AFE (it's manual though), same series as you (but sedan) and there was no issue with things lining up. Something's not right here.

Well, someone's been feeding you a load of crap. 6 different engines? The AE10x series in Australia came out with TWO, count them, TWO engines. 4AFE, and 7AFE. Even if you take into account auto and manual versions, thats only 4 (and there's no difference in most of the engine with the transmission option). But essentially, there are just two, and they're very similar. Being a CSX, you should have the 7AFE 1.8L. Extractors ARE out there, probably around the $300 mark for a decent-ish set. And solded to the engine? WTF? Exhaust manifolds BOLT to the engine, and both the 4AFE and 7AFE share the same bolt pattern on the head - the only real difference is that the 7A manifold is slightly taller to take into account the taller deck height. Actually go to the place and get the mechanic to SHOW you how they don't fit. And take photos to show us, we should be able to tell fairly quickly exactly what engine you have etc etc And $500 for a standard manifold is an absolute rip, they are worthless pieces of ****.

A lot of the exhaust gas is actually water........ hydrocarbon (ie petrol) + oxygen (intake air) + nitrogen (intake air) = H2O (water vapour) + C02 (carbon dioxide) + N0x (nitrous oxides) If the mixture isn't quite right, you do get carbon monoxide too, or if really rich then just carbon (soot). But water vapour is a standard part of exhaust gases. When the surrounding air is cool (ie early mornings, winter etc), the air cools the exhaust sufficiently to make this vapour condense into water droplets, which you see as either a light steam/mist from the exhaust, or even water dripping from the tail-pipe.

Torque wrench isn't usually needed, general rule of thumb is finger-tight and then an extra quarter turn, no more. The last thing you want is to strip the spark plug thread, or break off a plug.

Oh definitely. I too aspire to be the ***** someday. It's my goal in life.

That's a bit rich, coming from you hahas im sorry who are u again ? dont talk about me as if you know me yeah ? And who are you? Don't talk about me as if you know me either. When were you made queen of these forums? And I laugh at anyone who applies a Paris Hilton quote to themselves....

That's a bit rich, coming from you

You don't know how to take a joke, do you?

3-rib and 7-rib bigport 4AGEs don't have oil-squirters. Smallport 4AGEs (what AE92/93 SXs have) do 7 rib (red top) ARE the small ports... 100kw engines. they have the Squirters. 3 rib (Blue/Black top) Big ports do not have them. No, there are 3-rib and 7-rib bigports, and then the 7-rib smallports. The 3-rib bigports are the blue-tops, the 7-rib bigports are red/black tops, and the 7-rib smallports are red-tops. As an aside the ADM 3-rib bigports that we got in the AE82 weren't the full 96kw, but 86/88 like the 7-rib bigports.

Intercooler? Where? Pretty sure thats a radiator. the coolant is leaking from the radiator. its going to be fixed up today. so yeah....nothing to worry about im just excited about the extractor Dont get too excited... the stock 86kw (In 1995) your engine has, might increase slightly. Save your pennies for a 20V engine swap. Then you can REALLY be excited! A good exhaust + intake can really help the 7A, mine went from 61 to 71kw at the wheels (an earlier dyno had given 68 stock, but that was on Shootout mode on an absolute stinker of a day, so can't really be counted) with extractors and full exhaust. The main place you lose power is in the stock cast iron manifold and the engine pipe, which flattens to an oval as it goes over the cross-member.

3-rib and 7-rib bigport 4AGEs don't have oil-squirters. Smallport 4AGEs (what AE92/93 SXs have) do

Intercooler? Where?

No, the Blacktop does NOT have VVTi, it has VVT. It is different to the VVT on the Silvertop, but it is still VVT. It is not intelligent, therefore it doesn't get the i afterwards. Get your facts straight.

Do the spam bots know we speak English in Australia, not Swahili?

Falcon has been 5x114.3 for donkeys years, although up until I think the AU they have a very FWD-unfriendly offset of +20 or so, newer models are more around the +40 FWD-style offset (I say AROUND, because I don't know specific numbers, so don't quote me)

My thoughts exactly. Must be the shared AE102 gene.

It wasn't a review though. It was a "for a million bucks, you'd expect something special. Instead you get a pimped S-class Merc. What Were They Thinking?". The whole point wasn't to review the car, but more of a "remember this thing from a few years back'.

In short, best Australian car show on TV since.....ummm, well, Torque. The Car Show was basically carpoint.com.au on TV, and was awful. I remember the stupid Territory vs Porsche comparison, about which was the better city car, and they were using points like the Territory rode better down a cobblestone lane, and had more doors (no *****, Sherlock). Biggest waste of time I've ever seen (not a waste of braincells though, because they clearly didn't use any)

Copied from my Toymods post: I think it had ups and downs. Warren Brown (despite his driving abilities) is a natural presenter, he's probably the funniest of the lot because of his relaxed attitude, and in a way he's the most used to the TV camera too. Charlie Cox sounded like he was going to burst a blood vessel doing his Melbourne Cup commentary on the Power Laps, even though you saw more of the interior and Stig's helmet than the track. Steve Pizzati is obviously the Hammond of the lot, but even so I think his gerbil-face and school-kid enthusiasm is going to wear a bit thin after......ohh, the first five minutes of the show. And it's been said by many people, but the real comparisons need to be made to the first season of the British Top Gear. Camera-work was shoddy on the track for them too, the set was spartan, and they had a useless presenter too who got ditched after the first season. And SIARPC/SIABSC is going to get better the more and more people come on, as are the Power Laps (as long as camera-work improves), because a single time is just boring and no comparison (although apparently the Stig was about 10-15 seconds faster than Colosimo). Damn the track is narrow in some parts though, completely different to the UK one.

We've had close to 1000km out of a tank in the SXV10R before, that was really draining it to the bottom (only a couple of litres left), but that was almost entirely freeway driving. Theoretically, we could make it from Newcastle to Melbourne on a single tank, but it's not something you'd want to risk really.