David R

Some of them are a bit like you describe, but I find generally they're helpful and friendly. I quite like the fact that they leave you alone to browse with out someone trying to sell you something every few minutes. They're usually busy with customers when I go in there, its not like they ignore you while they're all standing around behind the counter talking and doing nothing....

I'm just passing on what Ivan said when I asked him about it...

I finally got around to going up to Ti point today (wich was bloody awesome too! I'm mad keen for a tortoise now, not that I can afford tho...) and Ivan said he had two shinglebacks stolen on the same day as the Hamilton zoo was robbed! Seems like a strange coincidence to me...

Warren is onto it, it is something that is required to go into certain areas (national parks etc) to ensure you're able to carry out all the waste likely to be produced by those on board. x2 I jsut did a quick Google and couldn't find much on it, so probably best to speak to your local certification person to find out the exact rules. Are you looking to certify one, or are you shopping and wondering what it means?

I dropped my 16"+ ornate a couple of times while trying to pull him out of the 2' deep overflow!

No point in trying to ban them, you just can't legislate against stupidity [unfortunately]. (and not suggesting that doing any of those things makes you stupid)

Its all in your head! Any coke is good as long as its icy cold on a hot day, and served in a cold glass. I bet if we tried some blind tastings you'd never be able to guess which came out of a can or bottle...

Yes and no. Obviously in the extreme cases it is (I remember reading about the Meguiers Ford Focus drag car which ran over 12:1 compression and around 30psi boost!) but there are limits. In a naturally aspirated motor the compression and the cams need to be matched or your wasting your time, and on all but the most extreme big dollar turbo motors a lower CR (somewhere around 8-9:1) will make it safer to run more boost and easier to tune, more of a margin for error. Anything much over mid 11:1 CR for a NA street car running on our crappy gas is pushing it IMO...

I've had many such thoughts before, but it would be a big wad of cash to blow given that someone could come and fish them out after you leave. Plus it could be the excuse ERMA needs to crack down hard on the importing of large fish...

NZDM or JDM? The NZ new ones will have lower compression to make up for our crap fuel, and will therefor run better on the 91 than the jap motors. Also, I think the newr SR20DE's in the S15 have higher compression than the older ones. How much difference it makes I'm not sure, 10:1 isn't that high, although I still wouldn't run it on 91...

LOL I would certainly agree with that!! Not sure about wellington, but Auckland is becoming a pretty hazardous place to drive (except for at 5pm when no one is going fast enough to do any damage). Dodgy garages offering $20 WOF's make me wonder about the standard of the cars on the road too... I hope though, going by the fact he cared enough to make a post about it, that the OP is not one of those people and actually gives a damn about how his car!

You didn't say anything about top speed, you said cruising speed. So what you're saying is that if you're just cruising about and aren't too concerned about the performance of your car and aren't likely to put your foot down then your car will run ok (not great, not good, just ok) on 91? I'm not sure what you're basing your statements on, but I have found in several of my cars (NZ-new and JDM integra type r, eg6 civic with both b16a and jdm b18cr, mazda gtx) that the different between 95 and 98 is noticeable in both performance and economy, even just on the open road. Maybe I'm not an "average driver" though, and I certainly appreciate my cars running better than just ok. Rockwork, the EK9 (97-00 Civic Type R) comes with a b16b motor, which has a CR of 10.8:1. Have you got any pics or videos of the celica? It sounds pretty mad! I'm presuming it is naturally aspirated with a CR that high, so 300bhp is pretty impressive out of a 2L motor, and mid 11's even more so. Having been in the honda scene for years now and having followed Andrew Johnsons progress building up his civic to run mid 11's while still being NA and street legal, I appreciate how hard it is to make a non turbo front wheel drive quick down the 1/4 (which is why a lot of honda guys are more into circuit racing now). Where abouts did you run that time? Excuse me for being a little sceptical, but it is a big claim for a heavy car like a celica! Are you going to be competing at any of the nightspeed drag wars this season?

I was under the impression that fuelstar was something added to older cars designed to run on leaded fuel to help them run on unleaded without ruining the valve seats, I've just had a quick read over their website and obviously its a bit more than that. It still seems strange that the car runs poorly on 98, there's probably nothing mechanically wrong with it, the problem is more likely to do with the ecu/fuel management system (if there is a problem).

So you're suggesting I could run a 1999 Civic Type R with a 10.8:1 CR and 9000rpm redline just as well on 91 as on 98? :-? I agree you could probably run it on that fuel, but it certainly wouldn't be ideal nor would it make as much power. In fact I KNOW from experience that it would make a noticeable difference in the way such an engine would run, and if it was my car and for some ungodly reason I could only put 91 in the tank I certainly wouldn't be using WOT or taking it anywhere near the redline. And what does cruising speed have to do with anything? As I recall Japan has a 100kmh speed limit just like us, even on their fantastic express ways. Could you explain what you mean by "lower tuned"? Rockwork why on earth would you want to add a fuelstar to a modern car? Adding lead to the fuel will simply ruin your oxygen sensor (and others) and that could explain why your car is coughing and spluttering.

Simple science lesson; octane rating refers to the length of the fuel molecule, the higher the number the longer the molecule and the longer it takes to burn. So when running a lower octane fuel it will burn quicker than a higher octane fuel, meaning in high compression or forced induction motors you increase the chance of running lean, which causes heat and in bad cases can lead to all sorts of problems. That is how running a lower octane fuel can damage en engine. In normal day-to-day situations the difference between 91 and 98 is probably not great enough to cause any serious damage, maybe just cost you a bit of power as the computer adjusts the timing for lower quality fuel. But, if something goes wrong (say the hose to your wastegate actuator pops off causing your boost to spike) you have a lot less margin for error and things could go wrong quicker. If your car is running better on 91 than 98 and "coughs and splutters" then you should probably get it checked out as there could be a problem. Or first you could try resetting the ECU when you fill up with the higher octane fuel.

Running lean is the opposite of running rich, ie too much air and not enough fuel (rich = too much fuel). Not sure what a dyno run costs these days, used to be about $50 but could be more now. You'd be best to go to a place with a rolling road type dyno and not a hub dyno as the set up costs will/should be less. You should get a print out showing your peak power and torque (at the wheels) and the air:fuel ratios. In all honesty though, its probably just a waste of money when you could run the car on 98 and know you won't have any problems. Oh, and just a thought, a modern engine like that will almost certainly have a knock sensor that will retard the timing a little if it does start knocking, so you probably wouldn't even hear it.

Nope, the SR20DET has around 8.5:1 CR and the SR20DE is around 10.0:1. Turbo motors generally run less compression for better reliability. You certainly won't harm it by running higher octane fuel (not avgas though, the lead will ruin the oxygen sensor). By the time you notice the knocking it could be too late, if you're really concerned about how it runs on the 95 octane you could take it somewhere like Speedtech in Wellington and do a dyno run to get a readout of your air:fuel ratios to make sure it isn't running lean.

LOL!!! The MINIMUM octane they get at the pump in Japan is 98, you'd be better off running it on a mix of vodka and meths than 91. IIRC the compression ratio of the SR20DE is a touch over 10.0:1, so although it may run alright on 95, you will get better performance and economy by running it on 98 (either BP Ultimate or Mobil Synergy 8000). The guys at www.nissansilvia.co.nz would probably be more helpful if you've got any more question. Nice car, shame it isn't an R-spec tho!

You leaving to join PETA to help try to out-law fish-keeping?? :lol: Don't take everything so seriously dude, its a forum, people have different ideas and opinions to you, and thats what makes life interesting. Perhaps you should take some of your own advice [calm down] and realise its not the end of the world if someone disagrees with you. 8)

But did they tell you how long that takes?

Fly River turtle??? Damn I'd love one of them...

Possibly in some cases (black aro?) but more often the causes (as you would probably know from your studies of natives) would be destruction of habitat, pollution and introduced species (eg. nile perch in Lake Victoria).

It certainly can be done, but when it happens on a larger commercial scale then individual fish don't get quite the treatment they should and things can go horribly wrong. DOA from the congo: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forum ... tcount=456 (you'll need to be registered to see the pics) Even when dealing with captive-bred fish there is still a huge mortality rate, much more than the occasional dead fish you see at the LFS. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forum ... tcount=448 US$50k worth of stock, dead. (posts taken from the MFK Dead Fish Thread) Anyone who doesn't accept that the fish hobby kills a hell of a lot of fish is kidding themselves. But the good does out-weigh the bad, and that is why we do it. For example, how many species are being bred in captivity now that would otherwise be extinct in the wild? The deaths are just a fact of life, and by participating in this hobby you either acknowledge and accept it, or turn a blind eye and bury your head in the sand.

You must have sensitive fingers if you can set the temperature accurately enough doing it by this method! :lol: Or do you just run a bit of warm to take the edge off the cold?