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What did you do to your Z this week?
- Thread starter jonbills
- Start date
Makesy
Club Member
Fell off the road!!!!
Was out data logging “cruise” AFR with brother in law at the weekend. On dual carriageway doing 40 in second and logged revs/MAP/AFR. Time for 50mph, just started to squeeze on throttle and the back went silly in the rain. Right lock, left lock, onto the gravel on the side of the road and a clonk from raised iron works. Road surface was wet and greasy and with only about 10% throttle / available acceleration it felt like I had hit black ice.
Only superficial damage under the car, a small wound on tyre tread that hit the metal work and tracking probably out now. Oh and I have no idea how the lip on the wing came out.
Went back in OK though ...
It could have been VERY bad if I hadn’t caught it when I did. Another two feet to the left and the z would have been upside down in a field.
Looks like my tyres suck for wet handling and I guess I very rarely drive in the wet so not been too much of an issue
On the upside, I’m in for a new set of wheels and tyres, the only question is 15” or 16” very torn on this one!! Love the classic look of 15s but want the tyre choice of 16s. Either way it will be 7j!
Glad both you guys and the car came out mostly unscathed!
Could have been much worse!
Thanks chaps, we were quite relieved too.
Micheline Energy + markings on the side say end of 2012 and they spend 99% of their lives in a heated garage. Covered no more than 6k miles.
They are basically van tyres targeting wear resistance than grip! Shame I didn’t read the reviews before buying. I was in a hurry when I got them and had great experiences with Michelins on modern cars so just bought them.
We live and learn!
toopy
Club Member
Bummer, glad it was only a minor incident in the end, even with good tires, wet greasy roads are treacherous!
I have used this site for as long as i can remember, before buying tires for any of my cars over the years https://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/
I have used this site for as long as i can remember, before buying tires for any of my cars over the years https://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/
peter_s
Club Member
Ah, too bad. Sorry to hear about the incident. Glad it wasn't worse though!
I normally think a tyre lasts around 4-5 years, as long as it's used. There are many active ingredients in a tyre compound that gets used up so to speak. The compound ages, even if the rubber is indoors. Everytime you drive it you also put heat into the compound which accelerates wear. Sure, there are better and worse compounds, always buy the best you can afford. I think 4-5 years is enough, after that you notice a remarkable drop in performance.
Ali, from my early days of driving I always thought that Michelins were hard wearing but poor in the wet. Seems like they still are.
That section of the arch lip is worth investigating. I'm guessing that the tyre went right up into the arch and pulled it down when it returned. It looks like it's been rubbing for a while.
That section of the arch lip is worth investigating. I'm guessing that the tyre went right up into the arch and pulled it down when it returned. It looks like it's been rubbing for a while.
Peter - agree completely - on my other cars I never keep tyres beyond 5years. The winter tyres on the Q5, while meaty had definitely gone off this year and I’m renewing them with 5mm tread left. :cryingshame:
Rob - you are spot on there! My wheels have a tiny bit too much offset and do rub at the rear on the odd occasion. The fronts have never to my knowledge rubbed there but as you say, I strongly suspect it met with bodywork, rubbed the paint off and pulled the lip out! The original colour of the car was a metallic brown / red, which is a royal pain for deciding what is rust and what is just new paint rubbed off. Maybe it was the perfect colour for a 70’s classic
Rob - you are spot on there! My wheels have a tiny bit too much offset and do rub at the rear on the odd occasion. The fronts have never to my knowledge rubbed there but as you say, I strongly suspect it met with bodywork, rubbed the paint off and pulled the lip out! The original colour of the car was a metallic brown / red, which is a royal pain for deciding what is rust and what is just new paint rubbed off. Maybe it was the perfect colour for a 70’s classic
Nope, Michelin tyres are superb if you have the right compound and also new rubber. My PS4's on the MR2 are amazing in the wet and their Pilot Sport range is held in very high regard.
Just look at the top manufacturers who use them as the prefered choice!
IbanezDan51
Well-Known Forum User
Seconded to PS4’s... they put the power down superbly in my C63 with over 500hp to the rears! Still interesting in the wet though but very predictable
IbanezDan51
Well-Known Forum User
Was that paintwork too?
IbanezDan51
Well-Known Forum User
Blimey...
toopy
Club Member
Ouch!! what ball park figure did you have in mind?
richiep
Club Member
Exactly.
Double what I’d been quoted by someone else previously in time and money. And I’d thought that was expensive (there was a risk of it creeping up as ChrisVega well knows!
). Given that the car isn’t very rusty and all conversion and repair panels are supplied by me. The only custom fab is the battery area inner wing repair, rear arch trimming, and a couple of other minor bits:
johnymd
Club Member
With regard to the RHD conversion, having done a couple now, the hard bit is all in the scuttle area. You need to create room for the peddle box somehow plus the mods and rebraceing for the wiper mechanism to work. It one of those jobs that could be done in a weekend if your not too fussed or a month if you want it just right. Something I’m happy to do on my own car but never for someone else.
tyroguru
Club Member
I know this isn't a car tyre but just to second (or third!) the Michelin shout - I have used Michelin PR4 and PR5 (current tyre) on my BMW S1000R bike and they are absolutely fabulous. That rear wheel has an awful lot of power going through it and they perform pretty faultlessly in the dry and wet.
atomman
Club Member
Brought one of these from Techno Toy Tuning , its a new gearbox mount for my s13 conversion,
Turned up in 3 days from the US , looks great and is nicely CNC machined to,
Just need to get my spare prop shortened and balanced now and I can swap everything over ,
Turned up in 3 days from the US , looks great and is nicely CNC machined to,
Just need to get my spare prop shortened and balanced now and I can swap everything over ,
Last edited:
richiep
Club Member
Despite physio orders to avoid stuff that would aggravate my various injuries at the moment, I had a session on Dixie to make some progress and help me think about next steps after that horror of a welding quote. Specifically, moving forward myself with various bits of work rather than outsourcing them.
Marked up the arches for trimming, using my newly painted ZG flares:
Removed the rain shield from above the blower intake:
Highlights how good the shell is overall when you see the condition of the intake. These are often destroyed on old U.K. cars:
This will get drilled out and saved for relocation to the other side. The rain shield does fit on the other side, but obviously should be a mirror image. So, cue some chopping up a cereal box, a trip to Wickes for some 0.75mm steel, a bit of tin-snipping, and bending/bashing:
The front panel is just blu-tacked on in the photos and needs some finessing for fit. It will ultimately be spot/plug welded on as per the factory item. I had to alter the flanges to tabs given I wasn’t stamping it out or bashing it into a former like the factory, but when installed it should look the part (given you can barely see it through the scuttle panel!).
Marked up the arches for trimming, using my newly painted ZG flares:
Removed the rain shield from above the blower intake:
Highlights how good the shell is overall when you see the condition of the intake. These are often destroyed on old U.K. cars:
This will get drilled out and saved for relocation to the other side. The rain shield does fit on the other side, but obviously should be a mirror image. So, cue some chopping up a cereal box, a trip to Wickes for some 0.75mm steel, a bit of tin-snipping, and bending/bashing:
The front panel is just blu-tacked on in the photos and needs some finessing for fit. It will ultimately be spot/plug welded on as per the factory item. I had to alter the flanges to tabs given I wasn’t stamping it out or bashing it into a former like the factory, but when installed it should look the part (given you can barely see it through the scuttle panel!).
IbanezDan51
Well-Known Forum User
Despite physio orders to avoid stuff that would aggravate my various injuries at the moment, I had a session on Dixie to make some progress and help me think about next steps after that horror of a welding quote. Specifically, moving forward myself with various bits of work rather than outsourcing them.
Marked up the arches for trimming, using my newly painted ZG flares:
Removed the rain shield from above the blower intake:
Highlights how good the shell is overall when you see the condition of the intake. These are often destroyed on old U.K. cars:
This will get drilled out and saved for relocation to the other side. The rain shield does fit on the other side, but obviously should be a mirror image. So, cue some chopping up a cereal box, a trip to Wickes for some 0.75mm steel, a bit of tin-snipping, and bending/bashing:
The front panel is just blu-tacked on in the photos and needs some finessing for fit. It will ultimately be spot/plug welded on as per the factory item. I had to alter the flanges to tabs given I wasn’t stamping it out or bashing it into a former like the factory, but when installed it should look the part (given you can barely see it through the scuttle panel!).
Fantastic work mate looking forward to see more
Do it yourself and you’ll do it right, entrust someone else and you won’t be happy...