benro2

I used to get crazy high readings on my PowerFC (this is on a Supra TT BTW) but nothing ever happened to my engine. I thought that surely there must be *something* wrong to be getting knock readings of 120+ (sometimes, but always only on WOT). So I got it retuned by a PowerFC guru, and now it's even worse I've seen figures over 150, *however* this is the important part: I have never seen the Check Engine light illuminate. I'm not sure what light it illuminates with the GTR but I assume they've wired it up to something! A lot of people in the Supra forums didn't seem to realise that the PowerFC *will* retard ignition automatically when it detects excessive knock, in tandem with illuminating the Check Engine light (or whatever it is in the GTR). I have also confirmed this with my tuner. I have never witnessed any decrease in power on WOT either. I usually floor it then view the max readings on the hand controller straight after, and even after those figures of 150+, I have *never* seen the Check Engine light illuminate and have never felt any reduction in power, not to mention, I can't hear any knocking!! Although, with a decently loud exhaust and at 6000+rpm, you may not anyway Bottom line: I don't think there's much you can do with abnormally high knock readings with a PowerFC. I think all you need to do is look for the Check Engine light, listen out for knock, and make sure you're not feeling a reduction in power. If you don't get any of this, just forget that you saw the high reading and be on your way I had some problem accepting this but the reality is, I've been giving it WOT for nearly 2 years and there are no signs of engine damage!

Two more interesting points I picked up off the performanceforums: 1. Injecting the water before the turbo can actually have the effect of shifting the whole compressor map to the right. So essentially, you can use a smaller compressor but have it act as a larger compressor when you're injecting water. I believe you can do this without any damage to the blades when the correct atomiser (ie: extremely fine water droplets!) is used. 2. Not sure about the reasoning behind this, but someone mentioned that if you run your car *leaner* than stoich (!) in combination with WI, you can actually make more power than richening the mixture as you do normally, without WI. So in other words, without WI, you richen the mixture not only to stop detonation, but it actually does make more power (up to a point obviously) than if it were running leaner (but well above stoich). So running leaner than stoich *with* WI, you'd be injecting massive amounts of water, plus you'd be running the huge risk of instant engine destruction if the WI ever failed. But still, interesting concept! Would like to find out why they think this works though... Edit: I just re-read point 2 and even confused myself! I'll have to find the post again when I'm not as tired. I've probably missed something important in there...

Yep, it is a little weird to be coincidental. What do you mean by "required parameters"? I was standing near the guy when he did it - I think he must have connected it backwards or something - normally fuses don't blow when you change the battery right? So say he did in fact reverse the terminals, that could have shorted out one of the diodes/rectifiers/windings on the alternator, leading to spikes in the charge that are undetectable by a multimeter but stuffs electrical equipment? That's what I suspect! I know I have no way of proving it was him, but I just want to remove the source of the problems! As for the fuel pump, Scott's Auto One apparently have a direct fit aftermarket replacement for about $250 shipped, deliverable in 1 day. Sounds like the go? Alternatively, I might ask UltraTune (where I'm having the 110k service done next week) to see if they can order one in, but AFAIK they actually get their stuff from Scotties anyway...

Well, tonight was a bit of a bummer - my car decided to not start, luckily while I was at a Woolies petrol station so I had a paper and food while I waited for the NRMA guy to get there He reckons it's the fuel pump - he banged the petrol tank a few times and then the car started properly - but he said it's basically a ticking time bomb and to take it straight to the garage. I took it home (it was about midnight) so now I need to source either a stock fuel pump (new or second hand) or a decent (cheap) aftermarket one. Does anyone know how much a new stock fuel pump is and where to get one quickly? Alternatively, second hand in good condition? If I go aftermarket, which pumps are a straight fit and run silently, and won't change fuel pressures, etc.? Basically an exact replica of the stocker if possible! I'm just going to take the car to a garage and get them to do all this, so I need minimised labour costs I found a couple on ebay - any good? http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...em=310151808080 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...em=140331775778 Should I also replace the fuel filter at the same time? About how much are these and where can I find them? Also, let me know what you think of my theory: I tried to sell my car some time back and it was basically sitting undriven for a bit over 3 months, at which point the battery died so I got it replaced. The guy who owned the workshop got his idiot apprentice to change the battery over and when he connected the new one, he blew a couple of fuses, and I suspect, a few motors in the process... This is what I'm not sure about: ever since then, I have had all sorts of electrical problems. Before then, the car basically never had any problems whatsoever. But after then, in the last year or so I have had both windscreen washer pumps blow, left mirror folding motor blow, left Philips headlight (2-3 yrs old) blow, ABS fuse blow, weird problems with the climate control, and now this dodgy fuel pump. What do you think? Did the apprentice do something to cause all this? Say to the car's alternator? I've checked for raised voltages during running/idle/off and they're all fine. However, apparently it is possible for a couple of things to go wrong with the alternator that won't be detected by a multimeter (diodes? rectifiers? windings? one of these - can't remember) that I'll need a CRO (Cathode Ray Oscilloscope - I think ) to detect. Who is likely to have one of those? These electrical problems are really starting to get annoying, not to mention expensive...

In fact, using water alone *will* increase the effective "octane" rating, but not as much as with a 50/50 water/methanol mix. I don't know where that website got its info but they're definitely wrong in saying that *only* methanol will give you an effective raised octane rating! Normally I wouldn't argue with a properly written article on a website, but I've read all the autospeed articles below and they refer to actual tests conducted on actual WW2 planes. Some of the results are pretty astonishing - something like a raise in 20 octane points when using a 0.6 water:fuel ratio (probably a LOT more than you want to run on a car though!)... To the OP, there are a few good articles on autospeed: http://autospeed.com.au/A_107970/cms/article.html http://autospeed.com.au/cms/A_110212/article.html http://autospeed.com.au/cms/A_110213/article.html http://autospeed.com.au/cms/A_110368/article.html http://autospeed.com.au/cms/A_110369/article.html http://autospeed.com.au/cms/A_1539/article.html It probably makes sense to use a 50/50 water/methanol mix though, unless you're doing it for fuel consumption (ie: running very lean all the time, meaning water is being used even when off-boost), or you don't want to have to run fireproof lines in your engine bay due to the methanol, etc. As for your original question: yes, it does raise the effective octane level. You don't *have* to run distilled water - tap water will be fine if you run it through a filter - but distilled is obviously better. Yes, it will definitely lower the intake temps, but it can actually increase the AFR's at the same time. Have a look over on performanceforums.com - there are a few people on there who are very knowledgeable on the subject!

Hi again Joe, thanks very much for the reply - sorry for my late reply, completely forgot about this post! Anyway, I think I ended up getting a bit ahead of myself in terms of money and complexity! I think what I'll do is just go for the original DLS that I was looking at, starting with just running them off the head unit, then if that doesn't do what I want, look at adding a couple of small midbass/subs in the rear. However, a question about this: a friend has told me that I won't get "punch" if I mount things in the rear. I must do something like what you suggested and run powerful 6.5" drivers in the front. Is this true? I went to Autobahn to look at the Option Audio amps, get prices, etc. and one of the guys gave me a suggestion: mount twin shallow 8" subs in the sides of the car, right next to where you sit in the back, I guess normally where the door would be if it were a sedan. He maintains that there is ample mounting depth there and is easy to build a box in there. That way it's still relatively close to me, I retain all boot space (this is very important to me) and with grills they should stay relatively protected. I would probably run a 4 channel for the front/rear and a separate moboblock for the subs. Do you think this is a viable option instead of your original suggestion? It's just that doing it this way allows me to start off cheaply and gradually build it up as I need to (and as I get more cash ). Anyway, I'm hoping to take a trip to Melbourne mid July so I want to at least have the DLS in by then!

No probs about the long post Joe, much appreciated - keep them coming! OK, so basically I only need to worry about midbass unless I'm really picky? Yes, I checked it out, looks like a nice driver but a point you raised before is the mounting depth. However, have a look at this post here (post #34). Under the "Time" section you can see that he's used nearly 2.8" (71mm) deep speakers (if I'm reading his post correctly?) - and those HF6.1's are "only" 67mm. Should I be OK? What happens if I buy them and then discover they're too deep? Can I do anything or is it time to send them back? Also, regarding the prices, I still don't quite get you - is that $180 for a pair? Regarding tweeters, what about these Jaycars? They're ribbon tweeters, but don't quote a power output. $69 seems reasonable to me. The freq response is 3kHz-40kHz and the HF6.1's is quoted as up to 5kHz. So does that mean I'm OK there, and are car crossovers adjustable in any way? If not, how do I match up the midbass/tweeter/crossover? OK, what about this idea? 1. Buy a 2 x 150W RMS amp (please suggest a good, cheap one) to run the HF6.1's + tweeters, plus install new wiring 2. Throw out rear speakers, relocate stock fronts to rear (look like 5-6"), run them off 2 channels of the head unit (not bridged) Well I think I'll only have the money ATM to do the first two. I've looked into the MaxxBas103 and it looks interesting, but can I get a similar effect with EQ? Also regarding sound deadening, what would I use here exactly? Is it easy to remove if something like the electric windows break? No, no one has asked yet - and I'm not quite sure I've never seen the factory speakers before and I didn't replace the head unit so for all I know, the previous owner in Japan may have replaced the speakers too. They certainly seem to produce a decent amount of bass but they're just in a very bad location and without tweeters, getting treble out of them, even without someone in the passenger seat, is very hard. I would probably describe them as close to stock - it's probably just the extra power of the head unit making them sound better than a factory system. Thanks again for all the help

Thanks for the detailed reply Just a few related questions: 1. When you say "bass" do you mean bass suited to say hip-hop? And "midbass" is more for rock? If that's the case then midbass is all I'm after. 2. With that SPL Dynamics HF6.1 midbass driver, is that $180 each or for a pair? $280 for a pair with crossovers and tweeter is still acceptable - I was prepared to spend $250 on those Jaycar Response drivers. Which also leads me to me next question... 3. I don't have a problem leaving the rear speakers as they are (ie: leave them there but disconnect them), except I have noticed that when I bring the fader up to the front, I sort of seem to notice a loss of "fill" and the sound is less... 3D? I can't describe it in words but I'm sure you know what I mean. I also think I could get used to running just fronts though, if it meant more bass, better trebles, etc. So - if I just disconnect the rears, is it possible to bridge my head deck to just run those HF6.1's and the tweeters, and if so, will that provide the sort of power I need to get that "punch"? Bear in mind that again, I don't play it at very high volumes, just enough to get over road/wind noise and to not give me a headache 4. Is there any reason why those HF6.1's, being 6.5", would provide any more bass than a regular 6.5" split system? 5. I've heard that applying Dynamat and filler to the doors is a bit of a PITA plus it limits access to things if stuff breaks, like electric windows, etc., so I'm not sure I want to do that (or spend the money/time either ) - but if I do get something like the HF6.1's, at medium volume levels, will the insides of the door start rattling and annoying me? I don't carry anything in the door pockets other than serviettes Some more related questions 1. So with the install, you're saying to spend $200-300 or you mean on speakers alone? I've been quoted $99 for this install but I don't know if that includes rewiring. What's an acceptable price for a good install with and without rewiring? 2. If I do what Joe suggested above and I disconnect the rears (and possibly bridge the head unit or get a separate amp for the midbass drivers), will that require rewiring? I guess what I'm asking is: what's the max. power the stock wiring can handle and is there any sound quality difference between that and half decent stuff? 3. End goal is basically the best sound quality I can get for $500 installed. Excessive power really isn't that important (but it can't be whimpy of course!). If that means that I can just disconnect the rears but have sufficient "fill" and bass/midbass/punch for metal then that's fine - I don't mind spending more on speakers in total - as long as everything installed is <$500. Even if I have to get a 2-ch amp as well, but mounting and installation costs will add up quickly I think, as a friend told me that amps don't fit under the front seats, so have to go underneath the parcel shelf, where the battery is I really don't want to have to do anything myself, as I'm inexperienced and really can't be bothered Thanks for the help so far people, learning a lot as I go!

I can't forget about the rears - one of them is stuffed so I *have* to replace those, but was just going for cheapies (comparitively speaking). As for the fronts, I'm a bit wary of spending too much, not only because the Skylines have a lot of roadnoise, but because I'm just running them off my Eclipse head deck. I could go and get a 4 channel amp and all that but I really don't want to spend the money. The other thing is, I've been with a friend to check out all sorts of speakers. We tried some >$700 Focals and to be honest, I wasn't impressed by those (or anything for that matter). I'm pretty fussy when it comes to sound so I'm pretty sure I'll need a >$1000 set for the fronts plus a decent amp and I'm never going to be able to bring myself to spend that, so I may as well just get something like the Jaycars/DLS/anything else people suggest for the ~$200 price range and try and be happy with it The reason why I'm looking at DLS is because I trust the installer (I've used him for other things and he really knows his stuff) - and he showed me his DLS setup in his own car. He was using mid-priced speakers in his (~$600) and at the time wasn't using a midbass driver, and I have to say I was pretty impressed, even by the amount of bass and the punch they could produce. That's why it's hard for me to judge speakers in store - because even $1000 sets sound bad compared to his $600 set installed. I don't listen at very high volumes - just enough to overome roadnoise, and to be able to hear the bass. So my wishes are: 1. To overcome roadnoise/windnoise 2. To have enough treble to take out the "muddiness" of the current setup (currently fullrange, legs block fullrange speakers) 3. To have enough bass to overcome exhaust/roadnoise (stock exhaust) 4. To have enough "punch" so that double kicks don't become muddied. Every sub system I've heard, and these include multi-thousand dollar setups has screwed up double-kicks big time! The Eclipse unit seems pretty powerful and never distorts at the levels I play at. I figure if I buy a set of fairly efficient splits (say > 90dB/W/m) it should handle the volumes I require fairly easily.

That website doesn't work - goes to some generic parked website. What's CAM stand for? Maybe I can google it instead. Also what did you mean by "see DLS for teh sound of hertz."? - you mean they sound very similar? I'm not really that much into audio as you can probably tell This is a real bottom of the line system - more out of necessity than *wanting* to do it, but figured that since I'm replacing the rears (one is stuffed), may as well redo the fronts and go marginally better. The Jaycars' cones are yellow - that's cool these days, isn't it?

Nah looks aren't a problem but I thought the Jaycars looked pretty nice! Where would I get these? The Lifestyle store has them in stock but I don't know what prices are good! Do you know if anywhere has them available to listen to?

I think you understood me...? Yes, what I'm saying is that I've always had (working) ABS - had to use it a couple of times - and the light has never come on before. I "fiddled" with the stuff behind the dash, and shortly after (like within the same day), the ABS light is on. I left it for a while, thinking it was just a light, but now that I've actually *tried* slamming on the brakes, the car just slides, no steering = no ABS. So if it's the fuse, does that mean it actually stops the ABS working or just causes the light to illuminate?

This is worrying me a bit. I've got some problems with the climate control so I pulled off the dash to have a look at the sensor behind the little vent near the steering wheel. AFAIK I put it all back properly (didn't fix the climate control) and had a bit of a fiddle with some of the wires in the driver's footwell, but didn't move anything around too much. Shortly after replacing the dash, I noticed the ABS light on. I didn't worry about it too much until tonight where I had a chance to test out the ABS in the rain...and as it turns out, I don't actually have any ABS! Would my ABS light be coming on as a result of pulling off the dash or is it totally unrelated? I think I should get this fixed ASAP (as well as the climate control which is driving me crazy switching from full hot to full cold... )... Any ideas?

Ahh right, I must be thinking of the M35 Stagea then? I don't think your boost map (is that what you meant?) is sloppy, it's just your ECU responding to more air than it expects, so you'll need to get around this by using a DFA, but that will definitely need to be tuned on the dyno. As you know, you *want* as much boost as possible at as low rpm as possible, so 10-11 psi by 3000 rpm sounds pretty nice! Hehe thanks I remember back when I had both kits on with crappy tyres going up a windy, steep road. After a hairpin, in the wet, I applied no more than about 1/5th throttle, in 3rd gear (in an auto, remember), maybe 2000 rpm and a good 5 psi - wheelspin, *on the straight*!! Sooo much torque with sooo little throttle - it was excellent, if a little dangerous in the wet!

Hey guys, In my R33 GTS-T I've got either stock speakers or some half decent aftermarket ones as they have decent bass, but in the front, treble is very bad as the speakers are placed near your leg, so I'd like to get some splits for the front. In the rear one of the cone surrounds has broken (I'm guessing) because it has a horrible distorted sound at any volume. I only want to spend a max. of ~$500 installed. I've been quoted $99 for front installation labour and $88 for rear, but not sure if that includes rewiring. My amp is an old Eclipse double-DIN unit but from what I've heard, they're not too bad in terms of their amp quality/power. Obviously no match for a separate amp but at this point I'm after pretty much *the* cheapest option (within reason!) so I'm not considering those ATM. So I've got 2 choices: Front: Jaycar 6.5" splits (Cat. No. CS2338) - $249 OR DLS Performance K6 - $179 Rear: Jaycar 6.5" coax 2-ways (Cat. No. CS2374) - $119 OR DLS Performance 226 6.5" 2-ways - $139 I listen to mostly metal and rock at medium volumes. I'd like a decent amount of bass but doesn't have to be thumping like out of a sub. Just enough to overcome road noise and mix in nicely with the music. Should also be able to provide instant punch for those big double-kicks Trebles are obviously also important and I want a nice smooth response - I don't want any "stand-out" frequency ranges or any harshness. My audio guy assures me that the DLS's will do the job but I just can't help thinking that because they're literally the bottom of their range, they can't possibly be better than top of the range Jaycars with no brand-name price addon??? Now for my questions: 1. Which would sound better? Has anyone ever heard those Jaycar splits? I like those because they're using ribbon tweeters (sounds fancy too ) meaning most likely smoother trebles and better treble response, plus I've heard that they will supposedly outperform speakers at 3x the price. They're also top of the range whereas the DLS are the bottom. 2. Can I flush-mount the Jaycar's tweeters? The car audio guy told me he can flush-mount the DLS' - I'm a n00b when it comes to any car audio installations so I can't tell just by looking at the pics... 3. Should I both rewiring and if so, what's a reasonable price for installation for front/rear? What gauge wiring should I use? Anything else I should know? That's about it for now. Thanks in advance for the help!

I highly doubt you'd have *more* of a pressure drop at 10 psi. AFAIK the stagea uses a decently sized FMIC? That means that they can most likely design it so that there's less of a pressure drop at low boosts. There really only is one way to tell, though - and that's to use two boost gauges as you said. Also, I think the R33 is probably one of the more restrictive IC's around so the 10 psi rule really only applies to that particular car. That's still pretty impressive that you're getting under 10L/100km from a 1650kg car! At a guess, if I did 80% of my driving on the highway, I'd be around 10.5 - 11L/100km. I'm also very surprised that you're not hitting R&R at those boost levels! Also from memory, the RB25DET NEO's R&R is quite savage - in that you almost go through the windscreen when it cuts in, so you'd definitely know if you've hit it On mine, I have an indicated 9-10 psi @ 3500-4500 rpm when it cuts in, and probably cuts out again at 5000-5500 rpm but it's not head-through-the-windscreen style, just a few pops through the exhaust and a noticeable loss of power. I drove it around that way for a while since I *thought* both my kits were working properly and was waiting to visit the dyno to get the DFA tuned, but then I discovered that the DFA would consistently burn through a particular resistor... Now SK's got the kits and I'm waiting for them back - I've been running on 4.5 psi for AGES and can't wait to see some 10 psi goodness!! I worked out I'm down about 75kW @ flywheel...

Well, from memory (and this was a loooong time ago so I could have it wrong), SK reckoned the R33 GTS-T's SMIC could drop as much as 4-5 psi @ >10 psi. I just did my own test on the dyno with an HKS Type S FMIC (a different car) and that was dropping 3 psi @ 15 psi boost (engine)!! I was very surprised at that but I suppose I'm getting better cooling so it's all good So you're actually trying to hold 12 psi to redline? Dayem, you're doing very well with fuel consumption like that! Is that with the DFA fitted? If so, what were you getting beforehand? On my R33 GTS-T (auto) I get about 400-450 km out of about 50-55L. That works out to be about 12.7L/100km on most tanks, which is definitely much worse than you! Also, that's driving pretty much like a granny (no point driving fast on 4.5 psi ) but it's probably considered "light" city driving, if there's such a thing... not so much sitting in traffic, just roads that are 50-60km/h limits with a few lights thrown in, and the odd 5 min cruise down the M4. The only time I'll beat that consumption is if I take a decently long trip which involves highway driving. My best tank was when driving to Melbourne where I got 9.3L/100km on 98 octane fuel but I've never beaten that - closest on subsequent trips (all highway driving) has been around 10.0L/100km but that was on 95 octane (which definitely increases consumption slightly). I'm interested in finding out any ways to reduce fuel consumption as the GTS-T is my daily driver and even though I don't drive it *that* much, it would be nice to ease the load on the wallet by a few dollars per week!

I too was considering doing a boost curve similar to this. I spoke to SK about this and he said that even though you're not running 12 psi at redline, there is no way to guarantee that you're not spinning the turbo too fast at middling revs. I suppose a reason for this could be that the very restrictive SMIC (on a Skyline, the Stageas are FMIC stock, right?) can start introducing an excessively high (3-5 psi) restriction above 10 psi @ engine, making your turbo work (and therefore, spin) very hard above 10 psi. Maybe something to be aware of? Or, you've calculated that it's OK? Just wondering, how does it feel with boost tapering off? Does it make the engine feel a bit "dead" towards redline? Also, have you noticed any reduction in fuel consumption, even when off-boost? I really want to get my IEBC and DFA installed - I stuffed something on both kits and SK's still got them... so ATM I'm running on wastegate spring pressure (about 4.5 psi) and it's slooooow

Personally, I wouldn't touch it, as it certainly sounds like it's stuffed. Yes, some people like to get things working themselves but with something like that, you have no idea how much it's going to cost to actually have it running and be reliable. Besides that, the non-turbos Supras aren't really that fast. You want go to match the show, right? Unless you're on your P's... If you *really* must have a Supra and can't get a turbo, then I guess that would be a better choice than a non-turbo (say R33) Skyline. You've got the extra 0.5L capacity and I really think that makes a big difference, and generally the consensus is that the Supra looks better than the R33 Skyline. Practicality wise - have you thought about this? The Supra has no useable boot/hatch to speak of - it's basically about half a foot deep and if you want a sound system, that's most of that space gone. The Skyline's boot is much more useable. Same with the back seats - forget about more than 2 people in the Supra - but 4 or even 5 will fit in an R33 quite comfortably. Finally, if you look around the private import mobs like prestigemotorsport.com.au, j-spec.com.au and one that Terry above recommended to me: www.topsecretimports.com.au - you will find something in your price range, or maybe *slightly* more, that should be in pretty good, and most importantly, a *running* condition! Hope that helps!

Yep, I've just replaced the coilpacks, and that fixed the misfiring at idle. Now I've just got the high rpm power problem. I think I must have had two separate problems - so I've fixed half now, and I'm hoping it actually is the crank angle sensor for the second half. As for the boost, I've been running on the stock wastegate pressure (~5 psi?) for several months now - basically because I was messing around with the solenoid before and can't be bothered returning it to normal Well, actually I have tried to get it back to normal but it doesn't appear to be working... but I'll figure that out later - not much point in going for *more* boost when there's clearly a problem!

Thanks for the help - I'll check all that out. I think I'll probably get my mechanic to run a diagnostic on it because the original workshop seemed to think the symptoms (misfiring at both low and high rpms) are consistent with a faulty crank angle sensor. If that fails, I'll try all the other stuff. Oh yeah, tried another WOT run today, worked like a charm! Dammit I hate inconsistent problems!

Hi guys, done some searching on here already and can't seem to find anything that matches exactly with what's happening to my car. Might be best to tell the whole story just in case I've missed something... It's an R33 GTS-T and it started misfiring at idle at about 80,000 km's, which is about 30,000 km's after I bought it. I was messing around with a boost controller which was making the car R&R so I naturally thought I'd just clogged the spark plugs or something. It wasn't too bad to drive, just a bit annoying when it was idling as sometimes it would misfire when the A/C compressor turned on, or at random times. Then very recently I took it in for its 100,000 km service, and the spark plugs were replaced with platinum plugs (I think - they were damn expensive anyway!). I expected this to fix the misfiring problem, but instead, it came out 10x worse! It now felt like about 2 or 3 cylinders misfiring and sometimes the car would nearly stall at idle. This only seemed to happen after the car had warmed up and had been driven for a bit and could be improved slightly by raising the idle speed by about 100 rpm. However, at full throttle and high rpm - say at about 4500-6000 rpm - it would cut in and out of power, as though several cylinders weren't firing at all. I didn't get any pops or anything, just a complete loss of power, randomly, for a split second. I took it back to the servicing place and they said it was a faulty crank angle sensor, but I'd have to take it somewhere else as they didn't have the equipment. Took it to the other place and they got a specialist in and he said I needed new coilpacks, so I replaced the factory items with Splitfire ones. Now the car seems to have slightly more power, however I still have the high rpm cutout problem. It seems to be pretty random in whether or not it cuts out, and by how much. The other day it seemed to be almost back to normal, but tonight it was really bad. I'm currently only running 5 psi boost so it's definitely not R&R. Any ideas? Could it be the crank angle sensor, and if so, how much are these and how hard are they to replace?

Recently got ripped off by a tyre shop and now I'm left with a wheel, but with no tyre. The tyre was a Falken FK451 285/30ZR18 but apparently these have been discontinued and none in that size exist in the country (new), according to Falken themselves. So, I'm after one of those, but it has to be in reasonably good condition, say with at least 75% tread. Alternatively, if anyone has 2 x 295/30ZR18's I'd be interested in those. They would have to be at least as good as the FK451's in terms of grip and durability, and they need to be a reputable brand (I've had my fair share of supposedly "good" no-name branded tyres - and I ain't touching them EVER AGAIN). I don't mind if they're discontinued, as long as they're in good condition (again, at least 75% tread), and I want to spend the absolute minimum amount possible! I've just been hit with a pile of expenses for my cars and this hasn't exactly helped... BTW, I'm using 10" rims and the 285's just look too narrow. Plus, the outer circumference is too small compared to the stock wheel, so 295's are the way to go. They just seem too wide for a 10" wheel? Does anyone know if the FK451's are a particularly narrow tyre? I want the edge of the wheel and tyre to line up so I don't get gutter rash everytime I *juuust* brush past a roundabout or something. At the moment, the wheel is sticking out at least 0.5 cm from the tyre. They are Evolution brand, "Intensive Hunk" model (have a look here - black powdercoated, on a Supra). Please let me know if you can help! Much appreciated!

Hi Terry, sydneykid tells me that he knows a guy who is currently being trained to tune the F-Con Pro-V and he will be local too. If you check with sydneykid he can give you the exact details.

Yeah, no probs. My friend got back to me with how much it cost - about $1300 for the clutch itself and $700 for the rod bearings (?) - or something like that. Typically about $2k from what I've seen, almost independent of the brand. Hope mine holds up! Although mine's in a Supra - I think their gearboxes are fairly tough - and I haven't heard of anyone stripping gears in that thing, and people are putting all kinds of crazy power through them with all kinds of crazy triple plates and stuff Hope everything goes well!