Hardman69

You can put a Highflow, or just plain bigger turbo on without doing anything else, and as long as the factory (or equivalent) Wastegate actuator (5psi crack-open pressure) is used, the factory ECU will have no probs. In fact, it'll probably drop close to a pound of boost in the top end, since you won't get the stock turbo's boost creep. (Explanation: The stock turbo has a tight exhaust housing, and small exducer, which means that nearly all the gas going through there is forced to work HARD spinning the turbo faster. When the wastegate can no longer bypass enough exhaust gas around the exhaust wheel at high load/rpm to properly limit what goes through the turbo housing, U get runaway boost creep. My stocky turbo made 10psi with only mods being FMIC and full exhaust) Oh - and you'll find any other turbo quite laggy after the stock, especially if You've experienced full-Xzorst with stockie, 'coz MAN those Ceramic wheels spin up FAST ! ! I was seeing full boost around 3.000 RPM with the stockie, in 2nd !

Re: Lockbar, heavy steering.. . . Two things affect the steering, on (my) R33: 1. Variable power-steering valving - the (HICAS, I THINK) computer runs a map for steering assistance vs. speed, so that it backs-off the assistance at high speed, to give more feel & weight, and increases assistance at low-speed, to make carpark work nice 'n easy. If HICAS gets unhappy with the world, it goes to limp-home mode, which is rear-rack locked to straight-ahead, and steering set to full-heavy. 2. HICAS rear rack - The rear-steer actually makes the steering heavier at speed as it does it's thing. This is 'coz it artificially increases the rear toe-in as You turn, which loads-up the front wheels with more "responsibility" for making the car change direction. As a comparison, many Front-Wheel-Drive cars typically have some passive rear-steer built into the rear suspension geometry, which actually toes the rear wheels OUT very slightly, lightening the steering & try'n to reduce understeer.

AVESCO was claiming that a big part of why they went with Channel 7, was their willingness to push ahead with more unorthodox stuff, outside of the usual motorsports broadcasting. AVESCO & 7 claimed this was the only way to continue the sport's growth, since all the motorsports fans are already watching ! ! I'd suggest this simply means more V8SC heads popping-up in cross-promotional rubbish, with no real added value for traditional motorsports fans. I really, REALLY liked where it all sat with Channel Ten - except for the Saturday race usually being shown at 10pm Saturday night. I know Channel Ten had right of last reply, but I'm guessing AVESCO couldn't find the phone, to answer when they rang.. . . Which could have something to do with the truckload of ca$h that Ch.7 dumped in their offices ! Oh well, We can all take some consolation from the fact that Ch.7 paid SOO much for V8SC, they can't AFFORD to screw up too badly! p.s. I'm going to keep trekking to Bathurst every year, no matter what (that's the motorsports whore coming out) but I didn't bother hitting Winton last weekend, like I have in recent years. hhmmmmmm.. . . .

I wanna get down to P.I. for the next round of the Vic state series, but it's on bloody Queen's B'day weekend, when I'll be going away! ! No car-whoring for lil'ol Me.. . . . .

Drag cars are for going straight, HICAS is for turning.. . . . Seriously though - any variance in the rear-end is a disaster with big HP drag cars, and there's no reason to keep a rear-steering rack for going straight ahead! ! If You had MAD programming skills, U could do a custom calibration for super drag racing stability, but that'd require a drag-racer who knew how to use a computer ! ! !

Some of it is near-constant drag (wheel bearings, brake drag etc), some is speed-related (oil drag in diff & box, inertia), some is friction, which varies with load (crownwheel & pinion is a big offender for this).. . . . . The company I work for has done extensive testing, working out where "Our" car can make-back ground on fuel economy, compared to our traditional rival, and a lot of it is in drivetrain drag, because our drivetrain (especially diff) is VERY tight (to avoid backlash etc) and overly tough, which adds constant loss to the system. Of course the TOTAL drivetrain loss increases with the KW transmitted through it, otherwise you'd need 50kw (for example) to get off the line!! And I don't think anyone would suggest they're making 50kw when they turn their wheels & tailshaft up on the hoist.. . . Also, the PERCENTAGE of power loss must reduce with increased engine power, the worst case being no movement, with enough power being put in at the clutch/stall converter to NEEEAAAAAARRRRRRLLLY move the car.. . . that's 100% of power lost to drivetrain & tyre drag. As usual, the truth is in the middle, and silly boys on forums back themselves into a corner, getting more & more narrow in their arguments, trying to convince everyone (including themselves) that they're completely right. sigghhhh.. . . . Nice work on finding a middle-ground fellas ! ! ! !

Now that I'm used to what it does, I'm fine with it. It weights-up the steering (with the extra rear toe-in) quite a bit at high speed, and doesn't seem to mess with my car too much at all. It certainly felt fine at 170km/h through T1 at Phillip Island!!! It doesn't need to turn much, btw - very slight toe changes at the rear make BIG handling & feel changes. That's why misbehaving HICAS is SUCH a Fv(KING MENACE ! ! Each to their own though I'spose.

Tyre pressure makes a BIG difference. Run 300kpa. Most folk in the know seem to reckon on 18-23% total loss for RWD cars. FWD lose around 15% - The Crownwheel & pinion being a BIG source of loss in RWD cars. and don't get me started on how much AWD's lose! Coastdown testing is big in the U.K, to calculate out drivetrain losses - it doesn't seem to have the same sort of following here, maybe 'coz the Dyno is seen as more of a tuning tool (and everyone's used to RearWheel figures here)

The orange light only comes on when the HICAS shuts down, 'coz it's got a problem. When it's working normally, You'll feel it tweak at the rear wheels when you're slooowwwly turning in to long fast corners (e.g. freeway curves @130km/h).

Wowsers, definitely taking the scatter-gun approach to lapping there ! ! I'm amazed that the green lap on that pic drops 3 tenths in sector 2 (southern Loop) with just that tiny drop in speed onto the straight.. . . a lil' moment, perhaps? ?

I "THINK" it rear-steers a little bit below 40km/h (like the 4ws Prelude) to kick the rear out, and it DEFINITELY steers into turns above 80km/h, more so as speed increases, to weight-up the steering and stabilise the rear-end. Some people will tell U that it's only to make the car change lanes more squarely on the freeway (slight crab-crawl), but that's crap. I've got a dodgey speed-feed to my HICAS box, which disables it if it's without signal long enough, and I can assure everyone, that the meaty steering feel that (working) HICAS brings is SWEEET. Get used to it, and Learn to trust it. I think alot of people get creeped-out by the rear-steer intially (I did), and alot of folk get electronic gremlins (like Me) which messes with the HICAS Computer, hence the large numbers grabbing lock-bars. When it's working properly, I think it's a terrific asset. It seems NISSAN did too, or they would've dropped it after R32, instead of making a new electric rear-rack for the R33.

Ta honkeys.

Yeah. P.I. will do that ! ! My mate with a Ducatt's 999s EATS the LHS of His rear tyre there, He's gotta save ex-P.I. tyres for Broadford, where it's nearly all RH. Turns. Congrats on the '51 Andrew, I'm SO coming gunning for that time once I've got a fit ride, and a BIG rear wing to stop the high-speed oversteer I got at P.I. ! ! That'll be deep into brave-territory tho, sounds like You'll be eeeking more out of the black beast once you've got some clear track and plenty of brave pills ! High-Five for the Fastest time, btw.

If You're comfortable that You know how HICAS works well enough, that You can relocate the control Box and not mess with the sensors in it, then by all means . . . . . knock yourself out Tiger ! ! Here's the work of art, that is My sub Box: The big relief on top is to clear the HICAS Box, As U can see it's a TIGHT fit to get the 2x10" cones in, that box runs the entire height of the under-parcel-shelf area. It's 38 Litres, Which gives a flat response curve down to 70Hz, where it starts dropping away (like most sealed boxes do) to lose 3db at 45hz, & more below there. That's okay tho - I just give the 45hz boost on the Amp a lil' tweak to compensate. NoiCe ! !

Hey hombre's - as the title suggests, a Mate is chasing the E-Manage software, and data cable if possible. (I put it in Vic-section, coz I'd rather do pickup+ca$h, and in case someone's got it around, but not looking actively to sell it) Ta.

2x10" JL's for me. They're not actually in the box here, but they juuusssssst fit up on the section next to the battery. I'll take more detailed/useful pics if You want. I can get the space saver in&out no probs, but I've gotta trim the bottom of the box to get an inflated full-sized tyre past. I listen to a fair bit of rock & metal, so I really dig the tight, punchy bass from the 2x10's, plus they still push out plenty of SPL down low for hip-hop & Dance! - Volume is plentiful, with only 50Wrms per sub ! ! ! ! oh, word: if U mount a sub box under the parcel shelf, it CANNOT touch the HICAS box, which is slung under there.

dude - that's 99% of Max.Signal . . . . . on a Z32 afm? what're U making, like, 300rwkw ? ! ? ! ? ! NIIIICE !

If You're really, REALLY good at confrontation & people-skills, I say call the M.I.L on what she's doing, face to face. Nail that beeeaatch down on what she's doing to your g/f with the guilt trips etc, ask her why She's trying to stop her daughter being happy. Or, do something else ! ! (so far I've been blessed with non-mental g/f's families - I got no more advice ! )

Don't make Me swear at You . . . . . it's an oil cooler dude. LOOK at the size of the hoses coming off it . . .

I've got the Tomei short shifter, really good, short throes, but the nylon bush/sleeve on the very bottom of the shifter is worn, and loose - need a replacement. Does anyone know if there's a Tomei service kit available? It just adds an unnecessary amount of slop to the shift.

PM'd ! !

That puts You in "Clubman Heavy" with about 10kgs of ballast onboard. (this comes with my kart ;-) Get down to 75kg and You can do Clubman Light with no ballast. As far as I know, You've still gotta do Your P's in a 100cc (or less!) Kart, which pretty much automatically means Clubman with a Yamaha KT100s. Some clubs MAY still be running Formula Australia, which uses the ARC100 . . . . basically the same performance as the Yammy tho. After You've served an apprenticeship in Clubman (with the kart U bought from Me ;-) the only 2 classes I'd look at moving up to are ROTAX, and Leopard. Both use watercooled 125cc motors with Electric start, but the ROTAX engines have to be "sealed" & tagged, with only a select list of Kart shops being allowed to work on their internals. p.s. Buy my kart.

How'd You guys go checking it out on the weekend? Did U end up down at Todd Road (under the westgate) . . . . pretty RAD track eh? I say buy all my gear, get a foothold & see how serious U wanna get, and then go for broke with new kit in whatever class takes your fancy. You can't walk-up & start in one of the big $$$ classes without competition history anyway, and if You've got do$h, I'd recommend getting into Leopard after You've learnt Karting for 9->12 months.

When I was shopping/asking around for a dump pipe, I heard literally EVERY single theory about split Vs. all-in-1 dumps, and this wasn't just from 1 or 2 dudes, we're talking 10+ professional opinions, nearly ALL different ! ! It pretty much came down to these 2 theories: Pro-Split: The nice smooth run of pipe out of the exducer flows better, and helps spool-up, because the gas's inertia isn't upset by the turbulence You get with the wastegate in the same pipe. Anti-split: The gas coming out of the exducer is rotating and as turbulent as it's possible to be, it can't get any MORE turbulent, so as long as the pipe diameter is there, and there's no big blockages, it's all gunna flow as long as the backpressure is kept low. The gas has done all the hard work, now it just needs low backpressure & a place to go ! Make up your own mind, I got My X-Force 3" (non-split) dump for $150 in mild steel, not bad eh?

YO ! I've done 4 or 5 years, no time to write a thesis on how grouse Karting is, and what the costs are now though. I can sell someone the complete Clubman start-up package, Kart, KT100S motor, enclosed 2-kart trailer, tools, spares, push-start trolley, tyre changing rig (bead breaker) . . . . . . The works ! I'll even throw in as much advice as U can handle, a help/test day and my suit (don't worry, I washed it!). I don't think I'm gunna get back into it, I've had a ball racing wheel-to-wheel, but it's occasional trackdays for Me a.t.m. . . .