BLKRLA

A lot of members don't say nice things about Carmate. Among other things they are expensive. If you know where they are you should come to our monthly meets just down the road at the Bunnings Superstore.

Theres heaps of Cars out there that are not road legal & for most of the people who own these illegal vehicles it will never be a problem for them but for some its a problem that will take many years to get over. I will give you an example of what my friend is currently going through right now. My friend purchased a 2nd hand VN SS Commondore. This car came with a set of 18" wheels that the previous owner had put on the car. My friend who is took the attitude that is doesn't really matter what the rules are now has a serious problem because a short time later his wife was involved in an accident in this car that was her fault. As per the process an Insurance investigator assessed the vehicle. The inspector noted that the tyres fitted to the car did not meet the minimum load rating specified by the manufacturer & therefore he voided the policy. This left my friend who has sought leagl advise with the debt of finance for his car, the debt of replacing the car & worst of all the debt of fixing the BMW that his wfe hit in the accident. Due to high value of this debt my friend has opted to pay it off in instalments of $50 a week for the next 20 years.

Cool, I got a bit worried as I have noticed a bit of animosity towards igintion-x. To everyone out there in Sydney, if you want parts for your Corolla or Echo then go to igintion-x. The people there are very helpful & friendly, unlike some other performance shops in Sydney who only want to know you if you own a WRX or Skyline. Ignition-x are should be supported for being brave enough to specialise in such a niche field. http://www.ignition-x.com/ Please note: I do not work for Igntion-x, I am just a happy customer. :D :D

Sunny - Why would you get in trouble with a MOD, what did you do? Someone asked where to get eyelids from. I advised them to go & get them from where I got them from. I don't work for you or Benson. No one seems to have a problem with promoting CES in Queensland so I don't think I have broken any rules. I don't understand.

Most powerful production FWD ever. it would be interesting getting all the power to the ground.

If it is the reflective type than it is.

I would try Ignition-X http://www.ignition-x.com/ They are located in Sydney

For anyone that is interested, below are the RTA rules on modification List of Regulations: http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/dow...si/vsi_dl1.html RTA rules on WIndow Tinting: http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/dow.../vsi03_rev3.pdf RTA rules on light vehicle modification: http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/dow...s/vsi/vsi06.pdf RTA rules on fitting aftermarket wheels & tyres: http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/dow.../vsi09_rev4.pdf RTA list of Approved Engineer's: http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/dow...s/vsi/vsi15.pdf RTA rules on headlight covers: http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/dow.../vsi29_rev1.pdf

This topic has been covered extensivley but I will attempt to answer your questions anyway. Need to clarify some things first. Is it your wheel or tyre that is hitting your "inside hub"? Do you mean your strut of the inside of your wheel arch? How low is your car? What is the offset of your wheels? I assume you are now running 215/17/45 where before you were running 215/40/17. A 45 series tyre usually has a higer load rating than a 40 series. To keep your car legal you need to have a load rating of at least 87. It can be dificult to find a 40 series tyre that meets this load rating were as most 45 series tyres do. Also 40 sereis tyres that do meet this load rating are usually very expensive. You can find a list of brands in a sticky at the top of the Wheel & Tyre section of this forum.

You gotta have a look at this, 221kw Civic Dominator, Fingers crossed & we might get this one. http://www.mugen-power.com/concept/dominator/ This one ain't bad either http://www.mugen-power.com/street/civic/ These cars might actually get me to buy a Honda over a Toyota

Did you actually see the worn brake pads for yourself or did they just tell you they need replacing? Do you drive an Auto or Manual? 30k is not to bad for Auto. I'm will be hitting 40k soon & my front pads will be due for replacement, this is normal for a manual. lol, nar mate, i saw the brake pad, it was almost metal on metal, and mine is manual B) ...maybe the previous owner went a little skizo every now and then? ....or maybe that's just me - yeah probably just me.... :( damn Has anyone else experienced a 'lipped' rotor? how much does it cost to replace a stock rotor? fronts? Someone likes to barke hard. I had lipped rotors on my old car after 20k. Got them machined, problem fixed. Suppose it depends on how bad the lip is. Not sure how much genuine rotors are, probably expensive. Maybe you should look at getting a set of DBA slotted rotors. they will give you much better braking for less money.

Did you actually see the worn brake pads for yourself or did they just tell you they need replacing? Do you drive an Auto or Manual? 30k is not to bad for Auto. I'm will be hitting 40k soon & my front pads will be due for replacement, this is normal for a manual.

Just two points I'd like to make about your comments. Firstly, the quality of locally built Toyotas from the Altona plant is regarded as good as any other Toyota plant, including Japan ... the Avalon may have had its faults, and the Camry might not be everyone's cup of tea, but there's never been an issue with the build quality of either vehicle, and the older Camrys and Corollas from the same plant are proving this in how well they are lasting as they get older. Secondly, I can't speak for the Commodore, but the BA/BF Falcon is light years ahead of previous Falcons, even if its not quite up to Toyota standards. I agree with everything you have said except for Australian cars being on par with Japanese cars. There is generally nothing wrong with Aussie built cars but I assure Japanese fit & finish is second to no one. I feel I have had extensive experience on this matter as I have add the opportunity to own or drive many vehicles over last 15 years. My Father has been employee of Toyota for 25 years & in that time he has had many different company cars, including Australian built Avalon's & Camry's. My Father in law also has an Avalon & my mother in law has had a version of the last 2 models of Camry's. My wife was a sales rep for 3 years & for that time she drove an Australian built Camry. All of these vehicles have had minor build related issues with them unlike the fully imported versions Japanese versions form the earlier 90's of which I have also done many km's in. I have owned a version of every Corolla available since 1992 including 3 Sportivo's & I found the best out of the lot for build quality was the 1992 GTI (Japanese Built). This car was a tough as nails. Also the company I work for has a fleet of Commodores & Falcons, in excess of 50 vehicles of various ages dating back over the last few years, & covering various different models. The vast majority of these vehciles are falling apart & the most km's any of them have done is 50k. Just the other day I was in brand new Falcon with just a few thousand kays on it & the back end was squeaking so badly it sounded like the boot was bouncing up & down. I'm sure the same principals are applied at all Toyota factories around the world but it comes down to the workers. In Australia we live by the "She'll be Right" attitude where in Japan the worker has a totally different psycology. Their culture is all about honour & saving face. A bad quality car would be considered an embarrassment. As I also stated earlier It seems to me that quality is not on the top of the list for manufacturers anymore due to the fact that peolpe don't hang on to their cars as much as they used to. I would also like to clarify that I'm not trying put down any of the cars that I have mentioned or the factories where they are manufactured. My intention is to defend the Sportivo & the South African factory where they are built. I get a little annoyed at people passing comment at the build quality of the Sportivo especially when the comments come form some P plater who drives another variant of Corolla & has never actually been in a Sportivo.

What's the tyre & wheel size on your vehicle?. The best way to find out is to read the plaque tthat should be either inside your glove box or door frame. What model of Corolla do you have?

The car's computer is programmed not to allow lift until optimal operating temp has been reached. If you continues to drive your car in this fashion without allowing for a proper warm up your car won't last long at all. You need to remember that most engines don't rev past 7k. The reason for this is the massive amount of stress that is put on the internals at these rev's 8000 rpm is approx 133 turns a second.

The overall diamter of the Sportivo wheel & tyre Is almost exactly the same is the overall diameter of the wheel & tyre on other variants of Corolla's. The only diiference is that the actual wheel size is larger but this is offset by the lower profile tyre on the Sportivo, This means that there would be no problem in doing a swap as any difference's would be very small. Hope this helps. :D

Thank you Buddha. A man who thinks before he speaks. :D :D

Spacers would make the problem worse. Do a search in google for information on guard rolling. Its a simple procedure that can be affective. Here's a good link for you:- http://www.dentcraft.com.au/guard.html

To my knowledge the most you can increase your wheel size in NSW is 2". If you had a Sportivo which has 16 x 6 rims standard you could go to an 18x7 but you would need a 215/35/18 or 215/40/18 tyre with a load rating of 87 to keep it legal. To my knowledge there is no such tyre available in this country. If you can find such a tyre let me know. You also have the option of getting an engineers certificate with perhaps a 225/35/18 tyre but this could be expensive. Are you sure about sticking with the same offset? The way I understand it is that if you are going for a wider rim then you might need to make a slight adjustment to the offset in order to compensate for more of the rim sticking inside the guard, however i'm probably wrong so feel free to correct me... I believe it is best to stick with the same offset to minimize stress on ball joints & other suspension components. As I have said my rims have an offset of 45 & I have no issues with day to day driving. I will check with an expert & let you know.

The offset on the 17" RP03 to suit the Corolla which has a PCD of 4 x100 is 45. I know a little about offset, but not enough to explain it very well. What I do know is that if you stay with the same offset you can't go wrong. I have said previously I only get minor scraping on bad roads (read very bad roads) at high speed but one other important thing I think I should mention is that I can turn the wheels full lock without a problem. Also, spacers are illegal.

I assure you that Mercedes is not what it is cracked up to be. My boss has had his brand new 320 convertible replaced twice now because Mercedes have been unable to rectify problems with the vehicles they delivered to him after many attempts to fix them. At around 150k for the vehicle this is unacceptable. Also, BMW Amercia has been in a lot of trouble lately as the majority of BMW models sold in Amercia are manufactured there & the vehicles they've been turning out have been pretty bad. Bad enough for people to get together to bring a class action against them. It seems to me that manufactures aren't as concerned with quality as they used to be as people don't hang on to their vehicles as long as they used to. Manufactures bring out new models & facelifts much faster than they used to which only makes people want to keep buying the latest & greatest. We really do live a a throw away society.

Thanks NEK, the attachment you have provided is fantastic. This will be very helpful for anyone looking to make ap purchase of this kind. :D :D

It is beacuse Tyre shops will only adjust the Toe Control. A proper wheel alignment involves camber adjustment & castor adjustment (Not Applicable for Corolla's) to maximise tyre wear & handling.

I cant' believe that this has to be explained to someone before they understand.

South African build quality is only bad when comparing to Japanese build quality. No one can build anything as good as the Japanese, even EURO manufactures. Lexus build quality S&%T's all over Mercedes & BMW which are supposed to be generally the best cars in the world according to Motoring Journo's. According to JD Power which is massive surveying house in USA Lexus has less warranty claims per owner than any other manufacturer. Some interesting things to note is that Porsche comes in last & Hyundai come in around 5th. One thing to note is that all Sportivo's came from South Africa right up to & including the very last shipment that arrived in this country on December 2005. There are no Japanese built Sportivo's in this country even one's manufactured after June 2005. This only applies to Sportivo's. I have owned my Sportivo now for almost 2 years & have had no problem's except for the seat rail coming a little loose, my wife has also owned a Sportivo for 3 years, no problems at all. Before this she had a Japanese Levin, The Sportivo fit & finish is not quite as goods as the Levin but only marginally & this relates to what I said before - NO ONE BUILD GOODS LIKE THE JAPANESE. I assure you if they were built in Australia they would be worse again, just look at Commodore & Falcon. These car have always been & will always be cars that just fall apart if you look at them to long.