Club Arnage

Mr Barazi has been the first person to invest in a new Zytek 07S in LMP 2 format for 2007 to replace his now illegal Courage C65. They will be using the Zytek 3.4 l  V8 engine. The story is here for all you French speakers.

http://www.endurance-info.com/article.php?sid=2916&mode=&order=0&thold=0

Andy Zarse buys a new car too!

I've done a Pretzel and chipped in the Scooby for the big Zee car.

Used to love the 1970's 240Z when I was a kid, and also had a soft spot for the  Bertone designed Alfa GTV. They were far superior to the outdated and badly packaged MGB and also the truly awful Ford Crapi, which it made look positively archaic. What a pity the 240 begat the disgusting 300Z which was an abomination unto medalion man.

I am so jealous! (green smiley please.)

I'm extremely jealous. The 350Z is the first thing on my shopping list when I finally leave 8 years of higher education and join the real employed world.

Yes agreed, you both have excellent taste in coupes. I always liked the look of the Zee but what really did it for me was when I saw one in the Nissan dealers and they fired it up, the noise is just great! I still haven't driven one  ??? but all the road tests reckon it's good so it'll be a nice surprise. Incidentally, as if by magic, there's a roadtest in this month's Car Magazine, along with articles on the Porsche 917, Steve McQueen, Andy Prilaux, and a fantastic article on my beloved Group B rally cars. All in all, a bloody superb read this month.

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/magazine.php?issue=5&issue_territory=UK

Anyway, it doesn't arrive til 4 January. A waiting list for a bloody Nissan, can you believe it?? Frankly I can't get Xmas/New Year out of the way quickly enough, Jay you probably feel the same about your thesis!

Bloody Christmas.....  ;)

You'll be pleased to know that Bruno the LM mouth runs one!!! ;D

Is he the irritating French bloke who provides the interminably loud "commentary" at the start and end of the race?

The very same.  Just knew you would like that.

The nissan dealership let me drive one a couple of years ago on the basis I left £1000 as and insurance waiver if something happened.

Fantastic Drive that belittled the Mazda RX8. I much prefered the huge size of the car and the thought that maybe if I sell the van it will be replaced with a second hand one.

Even after 8 years of higher education I cannot afford a car like that, have to wait untill I finish my PhD, then maybe...... But I rather save my money for a DBS

Knetter what subject are you doing your PhD in. I am just writing my thesis at the moment. It is in analytical chemisty, in particular the use of deep-UV LIF as a detection technique for HPLC. I am currently searching for a job at the minute starting in the spring, so if anybody knows anyone looking for a analytical chemist let me know. Then may'be the Z car will become a reality. Ideally I would like it before Le Mans as my ALfa 156 is a beautiful car but unfortunately the electrics were put in by a blind man on a particularly bad acid trip.

Very pleased to hear that you are indeed a man of exceptionally good taste Mr Z. (That moniker will come in useful when you take delivery of your new toy). It's a bit spooky that we both had Imprezas and then went on to the Z. I didn't chop the Scoob in though - I sold it to an enthusiast who understood; rather than take the pittance offered to me by Nissan.

I've had mine from new in May 2005 and have enjoyed every minute of it. By the way the waiting list has come down - I had to wait 6 months for delivery so consider yourself lucky.

Before buying it I tried the S2000 (way too lairy on the limit and too much thrashing for everyday use), and the Boxster (a good drive but would you be seen in one?). The Z is a good balance between torquey, lazy GT and lairy sportster when the mood takes and the rev counter has to do a bit of work.

The comparison test in Car Magazine you refer to in your later posting sums it up really - it's not perfect but it's the hooligans choice. To my mind it has that almost indefiniable thing that you cannot say about any mere car - character.

I can share with you my ownership experience if you like but wouldn't want to bore others on here with the minutiae so PM me if interested.

Marvellous to hear - what a stablemate for the Commer ::)!

MG Mark

Ditto my 147.   ::)

I am doing my PhD in molecular biology and animal science. Looking at transgene effects in a mouse model of asthma. We recently had a proffesor, leading a big HPLC and mass spec lab, leaving the university and they are trying to fill a position in that lab. No need to be a professor, postdoc or bit more senior would do. But it is in maastricht, maybe not what you are looking for.

My mate has the same trouble with his Mondie.  Moral: Never employ an Italian electrician! 

I'm desperate to get out of academia and into industry. I am fed up with all the bullshit about funding, they expect you to carry out cutting edge research on equipment that roled out of the ark. I spent six weeks at Pfizer and produced more good data whilst I was there than I was able to do in a year at the uni. Plus all the professors have egos the size of large houses and they don't handle critiscm very well.
I worked for GSK before I did my PhD and so I'm keen to get back into a nice well funded lab with the latest equipment then I can really start motoring. Academia in the UK is getting screwed a new generation of analytical equipment is being introduced and the only ones who can afford it are industry, when I was at Pfizer I worked on a Waters AcQUITY UPLC system with a brand new tandem MS on the end. The cost of that was essentially my entire departments yearly budget. The days of truly brilliant research coming out of uni's is long gone in the UK unless the governement starts putting money back into the physical sciences in a big way. I was in Ireland in the summer and the facilities and institues they had were amazing and made most of the UK university labs I have seen pale into comparison. It was all EU funded; why don't we get a slice of the pie or do we and our government invest it speed cameras and other crap. No wonder chemistry departments and physic departments are closing all over the place, the government is making teaching and researching good science nigh on impossible.

Congrats on the new wheels Andy!  I've never driven one, but have generally good impressions of the ride.  This is a car that I was not so keen on initially, but it's deffo grown on me.

Well I did PM Pretzel and I have to say what I got back was way way more than I was expecting. What a terrific guy, I owe him a drink!

Andy - no problem, happy to help.

You're certainly right about the traction. You can take enormous liberties with the Scoob that you can't with the Z but the driving experience is all the more rewarding for it.

The Scoob, as you probably know in extremis (particularly on a track) is a bit of an understeerer unless you're really brutal. With the Z it's all about progressive  application of power. It can be quite easy to unstick the rear end if you're not smooth, and the original equipment tyres (Bridgestone) are not the best when cold or in the wet. This is true even with the traction control left on. I suppose it really depends how you feel about adapting your driving skills to meet the demands. It can be really good fun with the T/C off! Personally I leave the traction control on most of the time on public roads. When it does break away though it is quite progressive - unlike the S2000 for instance which can be difficult to catch.

The Z was recently updated - now 300BHP and yes snazzy new lights. The new lights are a bit Max Power for my taste but hey-ho. They also reportedly improved the quality of the interior but I didn't really see much difference between the revamped model and mine. Coming from a Subaru though you probably won't notice much difference in the quality of the interior plastics etc.

The rear strut brace can be intrusive but there is quite a lot of usable space in the boot. The other half and I can take sufficient luggage for a week at LM - mind you as we stay in an hotel we don't need room for a tent and all the other stuff. One recommendation regarding the boot - get a tonneau and an additional floor mat. The tyre roar at the rear is quite intrusive and this helps cut it down to acceptable levels. The tonneau fills the space between the boot floor and the strut brace and reduces the internal resonance.

My car has been very reliable but has has some remedial work done for a known fault. The rear driveshaft/hub bearing assy can develop a 'clicking' noise due to some poor quality tolerancing. I don't know if this has been corrected for the revamped car. A useful source of info can be found on  http://forums.350zukownersclub.com/. This is a discussion forum for 'Z' owners. A lot of the correspondence is puerile but there is also some useful info in there.

One other comment I have is the level of 'Service' from the dealerships. I don't know about you but in my experience the service I had from Subaru during my 5 years of ownership was exemplary. Nothing was too much trouble. With Nissan, as they are a mass market manufacturer, I have found it less good. For instance the clicking driveshaft thing - I had to bring it to their attention, and even when I did I still had to prove it's existence, even though it was known to Nissan as a problem.  Also they have no idea who I am - the Subaru guy on the service desk knew my first name! and no, that's not because it kept breaking down - it never missed a beat.

Still, the servicing costs for the Z are considerably less than the Scoob so there is a trade-off.

Talking of running costs I get about the same fuel economy as I did in the Scoob but it is recommended that the Z is run exclusively on 98 RON fuel. I run mine on Tesco 99 RON (part bio-ethanol) and it runs just great.

I'm surprised you haven't driven the Z yet but think that over time you will come to enjoy it, and it's nice to drive something a bit different. I loved my Scoob but had to scratch the rear drive itch and have no regrets.

Anything else you think I may be able to help with just drop me a PM.

Best rgds,

(Pretzel)