Helpful Tips for new members

[DRTDVL]

Tip # 1 - Post pics of your ride
If you are a new member posting on the forum for the first time, pictures of your car are compulsory! The only exception is if you are new to Frenchies and haven't yet purchased one.
Half-assed fuzzy cell-phone camera pics are not good enough. We are an enthusiast forum and want to see what you drive - be proud of your ride!

Tip # 2 - Follow the rules
Fastfrogs was started as a really small group of friends who just wanted a place to meet other french car enthusiasts, talk sh*t and maybe catch up for the odd beer. The forum was created by them in their own time and with their own money, and them with the help of the rest of the Admin/Moderation team spend a lot of their own (unpaid) time trying to keep the forum running.

Do yourself a favour and read the rules and follow them. If someone else breaks the rules and it affects you, don't start a fight with them - contact a Moderator.

Tip # 3 - When in Rome....
As stated above, Fasts was started by a really small group of friends who just wanted a place to meet other french car enthusiasts, talk sh*t and maybe catch up for the odd beer. Many of the early members are still here and most are good friends in the real world (not just on the internet), and often get together socially.

This means often there are "in jokes" and slang etc that you may not get or understand. It is just like meeting a new group of people who are all friends. You wouldn't try and stand out and make a d*ck of yourself in that sort of situation. It might seem a little cliquey but give it time and you will understand it and be part of fold.

Tip # 4 - Have a sense of humour
If someone says something you don't like, at first try and take it light-heartedly. Chances are they are just pulling your leg a little bit. Some members like to bait new members a little bit. Try not to get offended or let an admin/mod know. If it gets out of hand or becomes personal rest-assured the admin and moderators will step in and sort it out, but try to remember this is just the internet - its not worth getting worked up about.

Tip # 5 - Have fun
There are a lot of different people on Fasts, and this diversity makes it a great place. We have people of all ages, cultures, economic demographics, knowledge and skill levels and tastes. Embrace the diversity, and have fun.
We'd love to see you at the next meet so we can put a face to the name and ummm.. talk sh*t and drink the odd beer....

Tip # 6 - Technical Questions
If asking a technical question please give Model and Year and most importantly your VIN number, remembering to mention if it has a different gearbox, engine etc (Eg. 405 Mi16 Engine in a 205 GTi), in order to get the right help.

Tip # 7 - Use the Search button, followed by Google, followed by asking your question here
Chances are your question about how to lower your car, or install XXX part has been answered before, and probably more than once. If you find the search function on the forum difficult to get a good result from use Google and type "site:fastfrogs.co.nz" after your search query. Google will then only display results from this site

[Carpentry]

This is what FastFrogs is all about:

Made it through OK with a few minor issues;
- on day 3 found my cold air intake had fallen off so we were sucking hot air from the radiator straight into the airbox, quick trip to Chesters in Wanganui at 7am for some 90mm downpipe and bends to get cold air going in again...
- kept snapping front wheel studs (converted from bolts) which was a bit of a worry. Fortunately had taken some spares. Was caused by front wheels working loose due to fresh powder-coat in wheel nut tapers. In future will need to make sure all paint is removed from mounting face and wheel nut holes. Was also causing a lot of shudder in the front brakes due to uneven torque on the wheel nuts as they worked loose.
- electrical issues continued, only had intermittent wipe working and with the extended stering wheel you have to take right hand off the steering wheel to flick the wipers.  Was very hard to see in some of the rain we had (also was snowing hard in 1 stage!!!). Ended up using my shoelace on the wiper stalk, under the steering column and through the dash then taped to co-drivers knee so he could work the wipers!!!
- biggest problem was tyres, we had to use hard compound do to limited Dunlop sizes in 16" and just didn't have the grip especially in the wet. Was taking about 4-5km to get heat into the rear tyres and was sliding around a lot more than usual
- only damage was right hand wing mirror clipped a road marker on a corner and flicked off the trim
- new plate diff was awesome, way more grip than the quaife but needed to watch power understeer in the wet where the quaife would have just spun the inside wheel. Ended up on the grass exiting an intersection but got back on the road OK.
- front muffler shat itself (split apart at the seam) on Friday so was really noisy on Saturday but sounded faster
- should get some in-car video on TV of us catching Andy in the Maserati up a hillclimb through Whangamomona after he'd passed us through the valley.
- car is 50kg lighter than before (1210kg with crew and 1/4 tank fuel), but overall I think we were about 1/2 sec/km slower than usual due to tyres if I compare our times to Greg Spark in an Integra who we normally beat.

Ended up 5th in Modern and 26th overall, Andy won in the Maserati then 2x WRX STI's and the Ferrari 355.
Really need a lot more horsepower on the faster stages, have got the cable and software to edit the ECU now so will get some dyno time and may change cams. Also going to re-wire with non-multiplex wiring and remove immobiliser from ECU.