New Aussie 350GT/G35 owner, some pics & questions

[Andy_V35Sky_350GT]

Hey guys, I own a 2003 350GT Skyline aero pack, had it for a few months now. These cars are pretty rare down here so I have some questions.

Oh, and here are a few pics of her. She is beautiful . Sorry about the watermark on 3 of the pics, I am under contract for those pics so it has to be there, sorry. No, I havent removed the decals, its just photoshop.









1. I am going to take it in for a major service in about 2 weeks. Its currently got 33k kilometres (20k miles) and I am not sure what kinda oil it currently uses. Definately wanting to change over to synth, Mobil 1, what are your experiences with this oil. 5W-30 the one to use? I live in Brisbane, so the weather is about the same as San Diego, no snow.

2. My car has quite a few non standard mods; reverse camera, automatic folding mirrors, fog lights (not standard on 03 skyline), NISMO exhaust, amongst others. When I take it in for a service I am also considering getting it dyno tuned. The Nismo seems to be true dual, what increase in HP/KW do you think there would be, 10+ increase above the stock exhaust?

3. When I first got the car the front brakes needed new pads (I am assuming its the first time they have been changed). The front rotors were shot so they were changed too, along with Bendix Advance pads put on up front. The brakes are awesome, except they squeal like a ***** at lower speeds (driving in an underground carpark with the window down is not nice). Is there ANYTHING that can be done to improve this? I now the standard brakes are crap, but still. I also seem to have a problem where when I first start the car, if I am going down an incline within the first 2-5 mins and tap the brakes, there seems to be a 'clunk' in the brakes. is this common? Does not always happen, but happens enough for me to be concerned.

Any help to the above questions would be great. And thanks for the awesome forum!

[cweberj30t]

1. 5W-30

2. Probably max 10 whp. Not sure why get it dyno'ed?

3. Get ceramic pads if you want better performance/less squeekyness. I beleive the clunk you are experiencing is the ABS system test.

Nice lookin ride!

[turbobrian]

i dont see any pics on this post?

[joe603]

Welcome to NICO!!

I know stillen makes a brake master cylinder brace that is supposed to help with brake feel.

http://www.stillen.com/product...&c=BR

[G_whizz]

Welcome to NICO!! Great pics...thanks for posting!

Please be sure to add them in our thread that says Member Rides near the top of the forum!

[yzarcur]

Nice car, I like the added features listed. You say there is a clunk and some squeaking on the breaks. Is that both sides or is it one side? If it is one side, chances are who ever had it before you may have hit a pothole or a curb. If it is both then you may have a piston in the caliper that is sticking and when you put enough pressure on it is hitting the pad. I noticed a recommendation for ceramic pads but note that they work best when hot. If you don't do a lot of hard breaking you can go with a Hawk pad or something like that. If you do do a lot of hard breaking then yes ceramic would be a good call. Check the clearance you are getting on the rotors and the calipers, they may be rubbing if the size of the rotors are too big.

Just a few ideas for you, I hope they help you with your problem. I have the same color as you and just love my car. I have had it for three years and still have to pinch myself when I look at it.

Regarding the oil, Mobile One Synthetic. It is the best in my opinion. But expensive here.

[yzarcur]

I just reread your comments and you indicated the squeaking happens when you got the new pads. That is from not putting on the anti-squeak grease. I know it sounds stupid but that is what it does. The stuff I used was blue in color, but what-ever if they do not put that on when they put the new pads on it will squeak. It goes on the opposite side of the pad that contacts the rotor, of course.

Take care,

[soul_hfk]

very nice andy

[Andy_V35Sky_350GT]

Hey guys, thanks for all the comments and replies.

The thing chews through alot of fuel, even when using 98 RON. I get average 7 km/per litre of fuel in city driving, about 10 km/per litre on the freeway, does that sound about right? I was going to get it dyno tuned to make sure Im getting the best performance to fuel economy ratio.

Brakes > the clunk seems to only happen on one side (right hand side/drivers side). its strange, it doesnt always happen, will definately have to get it checked out. Oooh, anti squeak sounds like a good idea.

[spikey]

nice ride man. I got exactly same color as yours. I live in syd...I really enjoy the car, but it does drink lots of petrol as only get 435km for aud $88 to a tank.I have same problem on braking noise. have checked the pad the previous owner had changed endless racing pad, that's the reason. the the rotor wears down very soon, also produce lots of dust, so may consider to get project mu brake pad!!!

[G_whizz]

Geez...I'll trade you...I get 302kms to a full tank all city driving with 91grade octane...and trust me when I say I drove it like a "Normal Person"

I would be very interested to know if you guys ever figure this out.

It's costing me a frick'n fortune

[yzarcur]

When I took my car in the other day the dealer listed a number of "recommiendations" that should be done. One of them was a fuel line flush or something like that and it was going to cost like $245.00. I just figured he was trying to rack up the cost you know. But maybe there is a fuel line problem that is causing the high fuel consumption. You could check the mass air flow sensor if you have a oil lined air filter it could be getting this MAF sensor dirty and this would make your car run more rich causing you to use more gas. When I got my MAF sensor replaced I did notice it ran a lot better and my fuel improved a little. I am getting about 250 miles to a tank but I drive fast.I think this was mentioned on another topic, no?

[Omegamerc]

Whats that thing by the trunk?

[BigWill]

Whats that thing by the trunk?

Reverse camera... check out point #2 in his original post.

[Andy_V35Sky_350GT]

Yep, reverse cam.