benro2

Haha you're probably going to laugh at this, but the Jaycar IEBC is an excellent boost controller - just is a bit harder to tune and you have to build it yourself. In the brief time that it worked for me (I mustn't have built it properly), it used to hold boost on a steady 10 psi all the way to redline. There is a thread in the Stagea forum, started by Sydneykid. The kits are about $90 + about $50 for a hand controller, however I'm sure someone close to you would be more than willing to give you a lend of theirs while you tune it. It will run without the hand controller just fine - just mount it under the glovebox or something, out of sight. You will need a solenoid to make it work, though - you should already have one on your Stagea that will work fine.

OK, well I've asked my friend and he has no idea what the model number was He did say it was a racing clutch, but that doesn't really mean anything, as everyone likes to call their clutches a "racing clutch"! However, have a look here: http://www.exedyusa.com/race/NM032SD and http://www.exedyusa.com/race/NM042SD The first link is for the R33 GTS-T, the 2nd is for the R33 GTR, and as you can see, they are both rated for 800 ft-lbs of torque, only one is push, one is pull. If my friend's one was indeed this model, then you'll be right. I just asked him how it compared to a stocker and he said it was actually better! I guess all you can do now is ask a few clutch places about their opinions on that particular model.

Yeah, I can do lightning fast gearchanges pretty easily with my clutch. But I think that's because it has an unsprung centre, etc. It's more a racing oriented clutch than a street twin-plate. I can actually control the rattle if I push the pedal about halfway down. The problem with this is that I'd have to sit at the lights with my foot on the pedal the whole time! My engagement point is probably about 1/3 of the way down, so I only need to push just past that to change gears. I never have to push the pedal all the way down - if I do, I get another type of rattly sound So the clutch rattle with the pedal out is quite loud, especially with the A/C on - much louder than I've heard on other cars (no anti-rattle clips apparently), but under load, under 2000 rpm... DAMN it's loud! You can hear it echoing off walls and things, probably at least twice as loud as the car itself! The Exedy I drove was at most half as loud as mine So now you know why I don't like the noise!!

Thanks for that. Ahh, GTR, wonder if that's what the difference is? Hehe I know all about twin-plates... mine is REALLY hard to use, but that just makes it all the more fun to drive! Love the lightened flywheel and rev matching on downchanges Don't like the noise though...

Can I ask exactly which model you bought? And how much hp/torque it is rated at? The reason why I ask is because I was just saying in another thread the Exedy's are very easy to drive! The one I drove was apparently rated for 500hp (that's all I know), was definitely a twin-plate with lightened flywheel, and was installed on an R33 GTS-T. When I drove it, I had about 10 minute's manual experience (on other 4 cylinder, stock cars)... and I had no trouble with it at all. Seemed just like a stock clutch to me! Your mechanic didn't happen to mention the model no. of the one I'm describing did he?

No probs, although, it might be an idea to check out the Exedy website just before you make a final decision? http://www.exedyusa.com I know a whole new clutch is considerably more expensive than just a new plate but still... if you're going to be racing and it's slipping, that can't be good for it... or your lap times! Well, if you don't mind a little bit of a rattle here and there, I'd have to definitely recommend the Exedy's. You can take it from me that it was *easy* to drive, because at that stage like I said, I'd driven 2 manual cars before that (a Honda Prelude and a Mazda 323) for a grand total of about 10 minutes combined, in my entire life! So if I was able to jump into this GTS-T and just drive it straight away without any thumping or stalling, it must have been pretty damn easy to drive If you want, I can find out exactly which model clutch it was and then you can see if there's an equivalent for the GTR? Also, are you looking for an R32 or R33 GTR clutch? Dammit, I can't believe I've turned my original opinion about twin-plates completely the opposite way!!

Ohhh yeah, I just reread your original post and didn't see how you specifically wanted a smooth takeup, etc... I just happened to address that by fluke Well in saying that, it seems that there are twin plates and there are twin plates. I've only ever driven two in my life, and they are the polar opposites of one another. The first was in a friend's R33 GTS-T and it was an Exedy with a lightened flywheel, capable of holding about 500hp. It was still a bit noisy under load under about 2000 rpm but didn't rattle much at idle. It was incredibly easy to drive. I've never actually used a stock GTS-T clutch but I'd have to say it would be suitable for a stocker. The pedal pressure was fine - quite light, good gradual takeup, and at that stage I had *very* limited manual driving experience and I managed it first go. The second is my Supra. This is an HKS twin-plate with lightened flywheel, but there are two models of HKS twin-plates available, and unfortunately it seems that mine is the more racing oriented of the two. They are both capable of holding 650hp, but mine has an unsprung centre, no anti-rattle clips and no sequential engagement mechanism (I believe the Exedy's do also use a sequential engagement mechanism). It's still a very light pedal (about 30% lighter than a stock Supra's, or maybe 15% lighter than the GTS-T Exedy's), but the takeup length is incredibly short (like 0.5 cm) and it rattles like hell at idle and under 2000 rpm under load. Like, twice or more as loud as the exhaust, which is already very loud I would avoid something like this for a daily driver. It was my first manual car I've ever owned (and that kind threw me in the deep end) and took me a few *months* to get used to. Having said that, I really like it now, but only as a race-oriented or weekend car. I wouldn't want to use it in traffic or on many hill starts. Oh, and obviously the more power a clutch can hold, either the harder the pedal pressure will be, or the more abruptly it will engage, or both!. Some places claim they use a magic material that sort of meets both criteria halfway, but I am yet to test these out for myself. Jim Berry says he uses "carbodic" material. I've seen a "bronze" clutch kit for the Supra from horsepowerfreaks that is supposed to retain stock pedal feel but with only a bit more increase in pedal weight, that can hold up to 800 hp. Again, I don't know how reliable these sources are - and it seems that everyone's opinions on how "hard" a clutch is to drive is different! As you can see, I've done a bit of research into this already... and just gave up... just ended up sticking it out with the twin-plater Obviously, try and stick to the minimum power (torque!) level that will manage with your engine. Soo... after all that, I suppose you *could* live with the Exedy twin-plate, assuming there is a model for your car. You know that lightened flywheels are also supposed to rattle too, right? I suspect the kit would come with a lightened flywheel anyway so you may not be able to avoid that. But after sampling one myself, the driveability is excellent and the noise is fairly acceptable. Jim Berry and others have told me that sometimes singles that are capable of holding a lot of power can also be a big "grabby" because of the ultra frictional material you have to use - and they're apparently harder than a twin-plate to adjust just right too. They will also wear faster (as you have effectively half the surface area). Jim Berry also told me that the sequential engagement system of the Exedy's tend to wear out one plate faster, though. Seems you've got tradeoffs galore...

Well, I've personally spoken to Jim Berry and can vouch for his honesty and wisdom. He certainly knows his stuff and if you look around on these forums you'll see that too. As for going single or twin, I would advise against a twin plate, especially if it's just for the road. Simply not worth the noise and driveability tradeoffs. Jim Berry said he could rebuild a stock single plater to withstand 800+hp but the downside of that is that you will need to allow for about 1-2 weeks of downtime, and it was about $1600-1800 incl. GST if I remember correctly. However, he claims it will be near stock driveability with only a slight increase in pedal pressure. He said he could rebuild a twin-plate to withstand 1000+ hp (overkill!) but if the clutch was hard to use in the first place, he couldn't really improve it much, and it will still be noisy (but that also depends on the clutch itself too).

No, not necessarily. My Supra's twin-plate (with lightened flywheel) is incredibly noisy at idle with my foot off the clutch (ie: with the car in neutral). In fact, it's a LOT noisier that way than when the pedal is fully depressed. I've had the car inspected and there's definitely nothing wrong with the clutch. Possibly it could be because you've only had a twin-plate with a sprung centre and anti-rattle clips, and maybe yours didn't have a lightened flywheel? That alone can be responsible for a lot of the noise. Mine is the HKS GD Clutch Pro which is the more racing oriented version, which means it doesn't have anti-rattle clips, it has an unsprung centre, and doesn't use the sequential plate engagement system that the Clutch Max uses. Under load, under 2000 rpm, it is INCREDIBLY loud. As in, maybe twice as loud as the car itself. So I think it's just down to the individual clutch/flywheel design? I've ridden in a Skyline that had a more road oriented Exedy twin-plate with a sprung centre and lightened flywheel and it was considerably quieter than mine. I could only hear the rattle from inside the car (with the windows up) if the engine was at low revs under load, not at idle. It was incredibly easy to drive, too. Mine, however, is a bit of a bitch

Well, the word "supercar" is being bandied about a little too often these days. I think the old "supercars" are now being known as "hypercars", and "quite fast" cars are now being known as "supercars". Depends on your definition of the word. Some people would say an M5 is a supercar. If you are using that line of thinking, then the W427 is indeed a "supercar". Almost exactly the same power and weight, and I dare say, probably pretty much the same track abilities (wouldn't be surprised if the W427 did better, actually, due to it's sportier suspension setup). I personally don't believe the W427 should be classified as a supercar. I would consider the R35 GT-R a supercar and it's even getting up there with some of the hypercars in terms of track times (look at the Nurburgring time - FASTER than some "hypercars"!). So can you call the R35 GT-R a hypercar?

Man, EVERYTHING than can be said about the W427 has been said... but what the heck? I read about 7-8 pages and got the general gist of what people are saying, and I agree with most of it. But I will attempt to debate the main points I came across (no doubt most are from m3gtr! ): 1. m3gtr, why do you have to have technological breakthroughs in every car? Technology for the sake of technology? Yes, $170k for a Holden is ridiculous, especially when you consider what you can get even from HSV (which I still believe to be too expensive), so I can understand your argument regarding no new technologies being used in the W427. However, the flip side of this is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! If a 7.0L V8 propels a ~2 tonne car quickly, and it gives the V8 punters a rush when it does so, then USE IT! Don't use a 5.0L V10 that is unreliable and needs to be revved to 8000 rpm to generate the SAME power (and MUCH less torque) than the 7.0L V8. This is just one example, yes, but you get the idea. 2. m3gtr, I believe you called said something like "lowly VE" - could have been someone else? Have you actually driven one of these cars? Yes, it's a Commodore, but they aren't bad cars, *especially* for the money. The VE chassis has been commended many times over for its incredible power down, which is obviously important with large RWD cars. The steering, when the car was new, was described as being better than an M5's. The interior is a BIG, *BIG* improvement over the previous model in terms of design, ambience and quality. If you're thinking of Commodores of old, they are NOTHING like current Commodores. The only thing common is the name. Do I own a VE? No. Would I? Probably not right now. I don't have kids and don't need one, so I want and drive a coupe. I'm simply stating what I have read about these cars, mostly by motoring journos who have had the chance to actually drive both late model BMW's, Mercs and Holdens and provide a real world comparison. Say what you want about journos, I don't care, but I still believe a lot of uninformed and biased people need to actually get an drive a VE before piling crap on them. Oh, and I remember my dad saying that years ago, Jaguar used to be like Holdens, in that they were a cheap, "everyday" kind of car. They were going out of business, so they decided to take another business approach and build up the brand in the "niche" segment. Voila! They are (relatively) successful, I suspect because it's safer to turn a profit from selling less cars at a higher price than more cars at a lower price. Why should Holden be dumped on because they are trying to do the same thing with the W427 (to an extent)? I don't like it either, but can you blame them? Which also leads me to brand snobbery. Why do it? I have a young friend who wants to buy a Z4 in his first year out of uni because it apparently has "class". I don't know what his definition of class is (can anyone help me here?) but to me, Z4's are butt ugly (as are a lot of BMW's these days unfortunately) and I can't see how a 2nd hand $50k Z4 is any better (in terms of the way the car drives, features, value for money, rarity) than an R34 GT-R, for example. He *refuses* to look at Japanese cars. He HATES my GTS-T and Supra. I think he thinks "class" means that people will perceive him as a "step up" on everyone else - but the funny part is, there are 10 million Z4's around, and far less R34 GT-R's, so I could argue his point in reverse! People like this leave me puzzled... 3. Beancounters. Holden's have hit the nail on the head with theirs. Obviously, an extra $70k for an increase of 1.0L engine size and not much else is stupidity. But people are buying the car. Why did they price it that high? Because they have an idea of how many people are likely to buy it, so they price it appropriately. I forget who it was exactly, but a guy from Ferrari (the last CEO?) once said that they always try make one less car than there is a demand for. Hence them making 499 Enzo's - they believed there was a market for 500. Same with the W427. They believe X cars will be sold - so they make it a limited run of slightly less, work out how much they should charge from that, and hey presto, you've just made a pile of cash! I don't blame them for it. They're a business - they'll take money from wherever they can get it. It just happens to annoy people like you (and me) when they do it. So don't buy the car. I wouldn't, even if I had the cash. Obviously there are enough that will. 4. m3gtr, you said that you'd be better off with an R35 GTR. Well, not necessarily. I would be, no doubt. An R35 GTR is my dream car. But what about the guy who has kids and whose wife won't let him buy a "speciality" sports coupe? So it obviously depends on *who* the car is for. I could also argue the point as to whether I would be better off with a nice, brand new Ford G6E Turbo, or a decent, but several years old, R34 GTR V-Spec with nowhere near the luxury or features. Basically the same price, but which would I buy? The R34 GTR hands down, but that's just me. I would equally love the G6ET, but it's too "middle aged guy" for me (I'm 26 BTW). That car is an absolute rocket and has just about every useful feature you could ever want. But why the R34 GTR? Because I just want one! I don't have kids to worry about, I might want to take it to the track, and I might want to join a cruise and chat with guys there that are my age and share common interests. Do you see my point? You can never say that one particular person would be "better off" with one particular car. That's about all I've got I probably had more but I can't think of it right now...

Thanks very much for the plug Terry Just to clarify, before all the Supra nuts go crazy, the RZ isn't actually a limited edition as such, it's just fairly rare because I believe it cost a lot more than the RZ-S back in the day, and it's the most sought after model Oh, and it's black, which is also one of the most wanted colours! I'll try and answer the questions as best I can, but it looks like some of the others have covered the more technical stuff better than I can anyway! I am willing to sell mine as long as I can get a fair price for it (PM me if you'd like to test drive and we can discuss this later), as I've only had it for about 9 months and it seems silly to sell it so soon *and* lose a lot of money on it! The price I have in mind is fair (to me anyway). OK, targa tops: from what I've heard, the Supra wasn't designed with a targa top in mind, so when you remove the roof, apparently it flexes a LOT which adversely affects the handling and chassis stability, etc. I think it improves a lot with the roof in place (so why get a targa top in the first place?), but I'm not sure if it's still as good as the fixed roof. Personally, I'd avoid the targa top, especially if you're considering one with big power. Another personal opinion here, if you're going to go for a Supra, assuming you want performance and not just the looks, *definitely* go for the turbo. Having said that, I've never actually ridden in an N/A so I can't vouch personally for how fast it feels, but from what I've read, it's a fair bit slower than even a stock turbo. I think coming from a turbo car, you wouldn't like the N/A. Like everyone else has said, the driveline, gearbox, internals, etc. are all pretty reliable. I got mine compression tested and got exactly the same reading for every cylinder, and the leakdown test was also excellent (can't remember what it was exactly though). My own car was last dynoed at 263.5rwkw @ 18 psi (Terry sampled it at "only" 16 psi which is about 235rwkw) and honestly, it's about as much as you could use on the road, at least with RWD. I've got the turbos in TTC (True Twin Conversion) mode, which just means that they both spin equally fast (like in the GTR), not as in the original sequential setup. Some people prefer this way, some people prefer the SEQ way, and there is a 10 minute mod that allows you to swap between the two modes easily, but unfortunately mine has been permanently modified - apparently to make the engine bay look "cleaner". Fortunately I've found the guy who bought the removed items so I can return it to SEQ mode if need be, but it's OK how it is anyway. You really notice the extra 0.5L capacity over the 2.5L GTS-T's engine. Basically, my car has been setup ready for a "big single" turbo, and I've been considering doing this for some time, but I think I'd rather sell the car and get something a little more practical. I've got a PowerFC, HKS twin-plate clutch with lightened flywheel, 1000cc injectors, HKS FMIC, and a few other mods all around. All quality brand name parts, and there may be a few surprise mods that were in there from Japan (say like a big fuel pump or something), as looking at the level of mods on there, it looks like it once used to be a big HP car. One word of advice: if you're looking to buy a pre-modified car, DO NOT buy from Japan or interstate, as you will have big problems with compliance and/or the blue slip! I learnt this the hard way after buying mine from Perth. It will be MUCH easier (and cheaper) to just buy a pre-modded one from NSW! The reason for this is because when you purchase a car from outside NSW, you need to get it blue slipped, and that requires the car to be bone stock. Same with importing one from Japan. Anyway, if you're interested, PM me and we can organise a meet up some time.

Can I ask how much power it's making, and if you have a dyno graph? Also what ECU are you using?

Car make/type/model : Nissan Skyline R33 Gtst S2 (auto) Year : 1996 Overall condition of car: 8/10 - Engine & drive train 10/10 How is the car treated: 3/10 (Daily driven, never taken to the track or drags, mostly driven like a granny!) Maintenance level: 8/10 - gets serviced every 10,000 km's but that is fine as the car is rarely driven hard. Has never had any problems as of yet and I've had it for 50,000 km's / 3 years... Modifications: almost none. Did attempt the Jaycar IEBC and DFA but they weren't working properly so took them off. Did have a pod filter, but went to sell the car so took that off too. Now it's just a K&N panel filter! Insurance: Full comprensive - Lumley Special Vehicles Estimated power: 120 rwkw @ 8 psi (stock power level) Estimated $ spent per year to maintain: $1500 for insurance, maybe $250 on tyres, about $250 on servicing incl. oil and parts, can't think of anything else. $2k - must be the cheapest on here! This is an excellent car as an everday car, just wished it went through less petrol! Acceptable cruising economy but as soon as you hit city driving it's not great - will use as much as a large family V6, only with 95/98 octane fuel! Insurance is cheaper than normal due to a combined deal discount I get for having my Supra with Lumley. I don't do burnouts or race the car anywhere, so tyres last for ages, probably about 40,000 km's. Only changed them once in the life of the car and that's because I made the mistake of getting crappy Nexens. NEVER again! I don't even bother to service the car myself, I get Ultratune to do everything for me (not worth the time for me) and that's about $185 for a full service, plus I provide my own synthetic oil. I only do an oil and filter change every 10,000 km's as I feel that anything more often than this is excessive given the way I drive the car. Sure it'll get the occasional boot but I don't see the point when it's not that fast anyway Actually, truth be told, it's running @ 5.5 psi now (stock wastegate spring, bypassing solenoid) because I'm too lazy to reroute the pipes to the solenoid again!

When using the IEBC and DFA and running 10 psi from as low revs as possible, would that shorten the life of the transmission noticeably? I think I read that you tow your race cars with the Stagea, and you're running 10 psi on that right? Any troubles with that? Does it handle the extra weight OK? Just on a side note, I've been thinking that perhaps Nissan underquoted the torque outputs of the R33's RB25 so that it wasn't too close to the GTR's? The official figures for the auto are something like 275Nm @ 4800 rpm and by that stage it should be running 7-8 psi... so from a 2.5L, 275Nm seems a bit low? I would have estimated it to be more like 330Nm? So @ 10 psi, what would you estimate flywheel torque to be (assuming all stock parts)? I'm thinking about 380-400Nm?

First off, I would like to thank Terry_GT-R34 for graciously letting me come and check out his awesome R34 GTR! That will certainly be something I will remember for some time... Secondly, thanks to scathing for taking the time to carefully answer *all* my questions! Yes, this seems like a good idea. I certainly hope it's better than the GTS-T's though! I've had some interesting times with that one in the wet... Is that suitable for the V35 though? I thought it was just for the 350Z? The only issue I have with the APS exhaust system is that it's very LOW pitched... as in it emphasises the "undertones" of the exhaust, not the "overtones". For comparison, have a listen to the Nismo 350Z exhaust - I think it was on one of the Best Motoring videos. I like that type of sound much better - a lot higher pitched - much like (most) of the straight 6's! Here's a youtube example that I like: And here's an example of one I don't like: Oh, so they get grabbier as time goes on? Mine appears to be doing the opposite - although I think that's probably just due to me being able to modulate the pedal more accurately as I've gotten used to it Oh really? That's weird that the rattle changes with the heat of the driveline! Mine is just LOUD all the time, especially on hotter days with the A/C on, and under load in any gear. Driveline temp doesn't appear to change it much, if at all. Unfortunately, it's very hard to describe clutches, which is why it's so hard to make a choice. Everyone's opinion of "hard" or "progressive" is different! Terry might be able to post his thoughts on my clutch if he's reading. When I first bought the car I was whingeing about how I couldn't drive it and all that, but now I'm quite OK with it for the most part (NOT in traffic though!). I've found that some people with a bit more experience are also able to predict whether or not it would be liveable with some practise too, which I can't really do as I have such a limited experience with a range of clutches. That is a very nice torque curve! For comparison, here's my Supra's power and torque graphs @ 18 psi (stock twins, non-sequential mode): POWER/BOOST TORQUE/AFR Wow, that's really good - exactly what I want. Probably because of the peakiness of my torque curve, it just breaks traction in the dry on 285's in the first 3 gears. I'm probably making more torque actually (estimated 600-650Nm? - I don't know how to work it out) but I'd say it's the steep curve that just rips the traction from the tyres. All up, it's certainly looking like a TT V35 Coupe is the way to go, but now I want an R34 GTR! No, I can't afford one of those and they're still somewhat too impractical, so I'll stop wishing for one of those right now!

Wow scathing, thanks very much for your informative post! That's what I would like to know... but of course you (usually) get what you pay for. It's probably just the turbos in this case, maybe a couple of other things, but for it to be a comprehensive kit, which is the only thing I would be after anyway, it's going to probably be over $10k... No, it doesn't have to be Nismo. I just haven't researched any aftermarket parts as of yet so didn't know if any existed. Does the car have an LSD stock? If so, then that may be enough for the road? I doubt I'll be taking the car to the track - although it would be nice to have that option open. Regarding the exhaust, this time around I'll be looking for something that's legal (or at least close), the main reason being that I want to be able to actually hear my sound system! My Supra is so loud that bass just gets lost under the sound of the exhaust. Ideally, I'd like something that flows a lot better than stock (and suitable for a turbocharged engine), but something that I can't really hear from inside the car with the windows up. Do you know of a kit that can do this? I was thinking that the Nismo kit may not be any good anyway since it's designed for an N/A car? OK, I should have been a little clearer on my requirements here. I would have thought that OEM Brembos would have good pedal feel but would still be good for the track. *Most likely*, I will never get to a track day, especially if I do go for an auto. So with that in mind, my main goal would be good pedal modulation and feel for the road. I don't like "spongy" brake pedals or brakes that feel like they're incapable of stopping the car in an emergency. Would you say that the non-Brembo's would be suitable for my needs? OK, here's the reason why I want to try and avoid twin-plates, bearing in mind my experience with these is limited to my car and a friend's R33 GTS-T. Perhaps if someone has had more experience with a range of twin-plates, I might change my mind about them! Before buying the Supra, for practicality reasons, I had never ever driven a manual before. Not even once - so I had to learn how to drive manual myself on the Supra, really without a teacher (other than a few quick tips from my dad and friends). The problem was that it had been fitted with an HKS GD Clutch Pro twin-plate with lightened flywheel, which is apparently one of the hardest twin-plates to use. It doesn't use the sequential plate engagement system as the GD Clutch Max uses, and has an unsprung centre and no anti-rattle clips, and it looks like a 6-puck design. The takeup is extremely short and aggressive - I'm talking about 0.5cm here from fully disengaged to fully engaged - and the thing is INCREDIBLY noisy at idle and under load under 2000 rpm... as in much louder than the car itself, which is quite loud Eventually, after a month or so, I was (relatively) comfortable driving it on the road and I actually quite like it now, but I deliberately avoid traffic and very steep hillstarts because of it - hence why I have kept the Skyline for the time being. I was looking to get an aftermarket single plate but keep the lightened flywheel but I was unsure of how much of the noise was attributed to the flywheel or the twin plates, so I haven't really looked into that avenue much more. Do you happen to know how loud just a lightened flywheel is? Anyway, regarding your aftermarket twin plate, does it rattle at all? Is it a pain to drive in heavy traffic? What's the takeup length? Would I (or anyone) be able to just get into your car and simply drive it without any stalling or wheelspin problems? Say if I were to let out the clutch, without throttle, at the normal rate that you would for a stock single plate, would the car lurch forward or simply stall? If you do that in mine, it will just clunk very loudly and stall... People tell me it's worse than a brass button and pretty much no one, even those with 10 years manual experience or more, can just get in and drive it. Yes, it is literally that bad! So it's for these reasons that I'm *extremely* cautious about twin-plates! Having said that, I did drive a friend's R33 GTS-T with an Exedy twin-plate with lightened flywheel and it was just like a stocker to drive, but noisy under load at low rpm (nowhere near as loud as mine though). Would you say yours would be like this? Again, as long as the auto is good for the torque load, I'd probably just go for that. Yes, I'd love a manual and would definitely have more fun in it, but I just think that if this car is my only "everyday" car, I should make it as easy as possible to drive. Plus it makes those quick getaways from lights that much easier! Edit: one more question, how is the V35 on powerdown? My Supra has a very peaky engine (hit 3000 rpm and power literally doubles) so the rears (285's) just spin up in the first 3 gears. I was hoping the V35 would be a bit better than this? I hope the twin turbo kits are fairly linear in their power delivery!

Yes, the torque peak is supposed to be at about 3200 rpm so max boost at that point makes sense. I don't know if you've seen the Jaycar IEBC and DFA kits, but here's the main SAU thread just in case you haven't: http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Ja...tro-t61207.html Sydneykid reports somewhere in there that he got a 30% power increase and a 12% fuel consumption reduction on an M34 Stagea auto. I would suspect that you could get more boost lower in the rev range, and with less throttle, than you do at the moment with the IEBC (you may need the DFA to stop R&R), plus you could make it hold the 14 psi all the way to redline. Maybe even jump the low-mid revs boost to 15-16 psi? That's certainly getting up there though... BTW I wrote to Geoff from prestigemotorsport and he says that he has seen a few V35 coupes go through already fitted with turbo kits however they're still very rare and never turn up when you want them to. He also has no idea of the cost of removing and replacing the kit but has given me a number to call. I'll post up the results when I get them!

OK, here's a test comparing various pod filters, but I still don't think it's the one I was thinking about: http://www.mkiv.com/techarticles/filters_test/2/ And here's an interesting post on another forum: http://www.twincam.info/index.php?showtopic=29632 They rated the 3A Racing filter as excellent however it wasn't tested, and as you can see, the Apexi (Power Intake I presume) also rated at pretty much top of the list. However, they don't provide filtration results. Don't forget that the purpose of an air filter is to actually filter the air! Obviously, the test I was looking at was a number of years old and there have been new products and developments during that time. I'm always a bit dubious about buying a brand that I've never heard of before, especially off Ebay! Although it looks like your test has recommended it so it looks like a good alternative. BTW do you know how the Sards rate? I haven't been able to find any info on them.

No probs. I think the Skyline was sort of designed from the outset to be a sedan and the coupe is basically the same thing but with 2 less doors! The coupes certainly don't look like a typical coupe shape with a tapered roof and hatch, etc. The Skyline seems to be a fairly light car for what it is, by today's standards at least. It would probably be 1600kg once you add all of today's luxury/safety features... I think the V35 is 1540kg and that has an aluminium alloy engine, right? If that was cast iron like the RB25, I think it would be up around 1600kg...

Just out of interest, where did you find this info? It would be pretty hard to come across I would imagine! Also, another variation could be your boost gauge. I'm not sure what the accuracy of these is, but I would guess +/- 1 psi? I have heard of some brand name gauges being out by as much as 3 psi! And from what rpm can you get 11.2 psi? Does it hold that all the way to redline, or does it peak at middling revs and then drop off closer to 11 psi at higher revs? Slightly OT, but FYI, I'm sure you've heard of the Jaycar IEBC kits and they allow you to put in boost "curve" when hooked up to the boost solenoid, so if I were to get a Stagea one of the first things I'd do is install one of those (I had one in my Skyline but it never worked properly - but put that down to my kit building skills ) as you can get boost at much lower rpm. For instance, I was getting around 5 psi at 2000rpm on about 1/4 throttle, going up a hill - with wheelspin (in the wet of course!) - in 3rd gear (auto)... quite dangerous with RWD in the wet but would be excellent for a heavy AWD car! Another thing to consider with the programmable boost curve is that you could (theoretically) run more boost at low-mid rpm and then taper it off to just above stock at high rpm, the idea being that you keep the turbo rpm low. Although, I've been told that you could still spin the turbo too fast by doing this, but unless you have a turbo rpm meter (whatever that's called), I guess you're playing with fire... Wow, thanks for the offer! I'd absolutely love to check out an R34 GTR - never sat in one before! What I'd like to see is how smooth the ECU is. My Supra is fitted with a PowerFC and I'm not really happy with it. After purchasing the car, I've found out that it's not the smoothest ECU, and coupled with my waaaaay oversized injectors (ie: 1000cc estimated), the idle is a little lumpy with a few slight misfires, etc. I also have cold start issues, hesitations on gear shifts when cold, stuff like that, which could be down to the injectors, or the ECU, or both. So I'd be interested to see how yours compares to this. I'd also be interested to see how it could handle an auto gearbox - but is that controlled by the ECU or something else? Anyway, I'll be away next week but am free this weekend and pretty much every weekend after that. I can PM you my details if you'd like? Thanks again for the offer!

This page shows you all the R33 models: http://english.auto.vl.ru/catalog/nissan/skyline/1995_1/ Sedan: http://english.auto.vl.ru/catalog/nissan/s...e/1995_1/21701/ - 1390kg Coupe: http://english.auto.vl.ru/catalog/nissan/s...e/1995_1/21697/ - 1370kg These are for the manual transmissions. 20kg difference doesn't seem too bad!

AFAIK if you are in NSW, you can fit a pod filter as long as it's enclosed in a box. I *think* the rule is one intake mod, so that means to stay legal you can fit either a pod *or* an intercooler. Better check that one up though. I'm 99% sure about the pod though - I have a friend who got defected big time and decided to go fully legal, and he maintains an enclosed pod is legal. After having an Apexi pod fitted to mine (non enclosed), I would definitely recommend putting it in a box because it's so damn noisy! Yes it sounds cool from outside the car but you can hear the annoying "sucking" noise inside the car way too much and most people just ask "what's wrong with your car?"... However in a box it probably halves the sound and it's quite acceptable inside. The Apexi is definitely recommended. Proven to flow the best and also provides the best filtration (some Poms did this test a while ago, a quick search should find the test). I picked mine up off Ebay for just over $120 shipped. When you let off the throttle you will hear what sounds like a very soft externally vented BOV, which I assume is the sound you're after? Bugger it, I don't need mine anymore, I'm going to sell my car and can't be bothered refitting it - I'll give it to you for $60 if you want - it's in pretty much perfect condition. Only had it on for about a year anyway. PM me if you're interested!

Hmmm, well unless they've improved the ceramics/construction of the turbo, maybe it's steel wheeled! However, my Supra turbos can apparently last up to about 22 psi and they're ceramic turbines. I've got it tuned to 18 psi (was overboosting to 21.5 psi occasionally!) and haven't had a problem... so it's definitely possible with ceramics. I was thinking though, that since the Supra uses twin turbos (and running in "true twin" mode, ie: non-sequential), that possibly because you have half the heat per turbo, that would allow higher boost levels? I don't know. Either way, ~400Nm from a 2.5L is going to require a fair bit of boost which is why I was thinking that 10 psi would be too low. Hopefully this means the factory turbos are good for a few psi more! Haha yeah, they're ridiculously cheap now! I'm trying to get my dad to buy one

Thanks for your replies guys... but this has generated even more questions! Do you know the brand of this kit, and where it is available from? It seems awfully cheap, given that most twin turbo kits are at least $10-15k! Do you know about how much hp it produces? Yeah, I was thinking about the weight of the car as being an issue. Even with only a 2.5L engine, 10-13L/100km isn't that good... Also, regarding boost, I've heard that turbo is very similar to that used on the R34 GT-T (which is in turn very similar to the R33 GTS-T), which means that ~10psi (with stock crappy SMIC) is about the safest maximum. So something must be wrong with my info there if it does in fact run 14 psi! Have you attached an accurate boost gauge, and what's the maximum safe boost with this new turbo? Regarding the AR-X, are there any other mechanical changes? I mean, will just lowering it make it the same (handling wise, etc.) as a stock height RX or AXIS, or does it have extra strengthening and things for offroad? And are the widened wheelarches the same as those on the AXIS? Hmmm... still undecided