Sydneykid

I heard on the grapevine that the dramatically increased volume of items being purchased from overseas via the internet has caused Australian Customs to revise their guidlines. They seem unable to handle the volume and have issued new guidlines to speed up the processing, plus they don't have the storage space. Previously they let items through without Duty and GST up to $200, some time ago that seemed to be revised to $400. This new guidline is apparently $1,000. So any shipment under $1,000 declared value will not be charged Import Duty or GST. Would someone in the customs industry like to comment further? PS; this doesn't affect US sourced items as they are covered by the Free Trade Agreement and don't have any duty regardless of their value.

The words "axle tramp" and "Bilstein" are not something I would normally see used together. It might pay to give them a quick check, look for top seal oil leaks, that is usually the first sign. My best guess would be subframe bushes, for around $100 and 1/2 an hour to DIY fit they are a worthwhile upgrade. As posted above, set for max squat they make a noticeable difference. Then it's wheel alignment time, particularly rear camber. Kings lows tend to result in 1.25 to 1.5 degrees static negative camber, which is much more than is ideal for the drags. The standard rear camber adjuster are only good for around 0.25 degrees of adjustment. To get to the more launch friendly zero camber you will need a set of adjustable camber bushes. For around $150 plus $100 to fit (not DIY) they will maximise the tyre contact patch. Hope that was of some help cheers

The torque converter takes the load (torque) and transforms it into heat. If you boil the transmission fluid it will stuff the gearbox. There is very little shock loading transferred to the gearbox, like there is if you slam it into drive with the revs up. cheers

What the? R32/33/34 and Stageas have double wishbone suspension front and rear. So adjusting the strut has no effect whatsoever on camber. You have to adjust the upper control arm to change camber, for example via an adjustable bush kit. There is limited camber adjustment standard on the rear, via the upper control arm inner mount. If you need more, then you have to adjust the upper control arm via an adjustable bush kit, which gives much more adjustment than the standard adjusters. cheers

Hi Stan, for a start lets forget totally about boost, it's irrelevant. Then it is simply a matter of numbers; 1. Standard injectors at standard pressure (36-38 psi) 370 cc = 370 bhp (~210 rwkw) Use adjustable fuel pressure regulator to get pressure up to 45 psi and the standard injectors will flow a bit over 400 cc’s. Which is enough for 400 bhp, ~240 rwkw. You will need a fuel pump that can flow 400 cc’s X 6 = 2.4 litres per minute = 144 litres per hour. Any of the standard GTR fuel pumps will do that, and a bolt on Nismo FPR ($150 from Nengun). 2. I wouldn’t be targeting a 400 bhp turbo, the GCG high flow at 450 bhp (275 rwkw) is a much better proposition, bolt on, no mods, no fabrication, looks standard etc etc. You need to efficiently make the airflow, no stretching of the turbo to anywhere near its limits. 3. Tuning the SAFC is the trick, take some fuel out via lowering the AFM voltage that the ECU sees and the ignition timing advances. So it’s a go around, A/F ratio versus ignition timing and eventually you simply run out of compromises. 4. The trick is to make the power by lowering the restrictions, split dump, hi flow cat, 3.25” (min) exhaust, air filter, cams, porting, intercooler etc. That keeps the inlet temps down and delays the onset of detonation caused by the advancing ignition timing. 5. Have a look around and see if you can pick up an Apexi SITC (Super Ignition Timing Computer), for $200 or so they are good for lessening the compromises by giving some independent control over the ignition timing. 6. Don’t be overly concerned with max power, average power over the used rpm range is what makes a car fast. I haven’t seen an RB25DET make more than 215 rwkw with an SAFC only, but #4 and #5 should get you the extra 25 rwkw and maybe a little more. Hope that was of some help Cheers

Yeh Yeh, I hear ya, I just need more hours in the day. I want to fit the magic cat before I get into tuning. Plus I have a 99% completed A/F ratio meter that I want to tune it with before I stick it on the dyno. Anyone got any hours for sale? I need about 10 extra hours per day for the next 4 weeks. cheers PS; Plus we bought an R33GTST last night, that needs some urgent work. I can see the Stagea stuff slipping further down the list.

Similar to Alex, the standard torque converter allows around 2,250 rpm for launch. Higher rpm as the power goes up. This gives 10 psi with the standard turbo. If you flatten the accelerator and drop the hand brake and foot brake simaltaneously it shouldn't drop below 10 psi and will instantly hit 2,500 rpm which is heavily into the torque curve. I find if I don't use the handbrake the rear wheels spin a little, sorta line locker style. But the ATTESSA then kicks in and it drives throuigh the front brake, so both foot and handbrake are the go. With good suspension and some seriously sticky 245/45/17's and 150 4wkw I can't get any wheelspin, even in the wet. It will be interesting to see what 200 4wkw will do. Should get to the speed limit even faster. Warning, don't hold it against the torque converter for the whole of the red light, they get very hot. And I already have a large transmission cooler. cheers

Brakes are still great, bit too much dust. Now that manufacturers are back from Xmas close downs hoping to try one of my all time favourite compounds. It's the taxi, ambulance, police car, fire engine compound, they last well, good heat and low dust with an OK CoF. Update shortly. cheers

Quick update still at 4 degree retarded, no dyno tuning yet. cheers

RB20/25/30 cranks have narrow oil pump drives, same as early RB26's. Later model RB26's have wide flange oil pump drives on the crank N1 = N1 (production cars circuit racing class) homologated part for GTR There is no such thing as N1 homologated parts for GTST (or GTT) Personally I would never use a high pressure N1 oil pump on a crank with a narrow drive flange, I have seen too many cracked oil pump rotors with obvious signs of angled narrow flange loadings. You can get a crank collar (Proengines make one) that converts a narrow flange oil pump drive crank into a wide one. The crank needs to be machined to fit the collar, so out of the car. cheers

This is an RB30 engine thread, and you are asking a gearbox question. Oh OK, you use the top (electronics) half of the the R33 speedo drive with the bottom (mechanical) half of the RB20DET drive so it fits in the gearbox. Do a search for the R32 speedo drive in an RB25DET gearbox, the thread has pictures. You are basically just doing the reverse. cheers

You got it Matt. cheers From a recent post.............. Firstly, knock sensors are simply microphones, they are calibrated to hear upper cylinder pre-ignition frequencies and pretty much ignore all other noises. Unfortunately there are quite few noises in cars that have similar frequencies to pre-ignition and the knock sensor can't tell the difference. Being a microphone, they simply transfer the noise into electrical signals that the ECU receives and interprets. The displayed knock is simply a number, it's not knocks per minute/second/hour.....it's just a number. In the case of a Power FC (my terminology) 100 is really bad (stop right now and fix it), 80 is bad (stop soon and fix it), 60 is almost OK (get the tune checked as soon as you can), 40 is OK (maybe get the tune checked if you are worried), 20 is perfectly safe (press on) and 10 is too low (the engine is not tuned close enough). These are consistent numbers under load, not random flashes on overrun. cheers

Same as the above, but with a split dump and 1.1 bar = 200 4wkw. cheers

From the BP web site.............. 2. How can I boost my octane? The octane of a fuel can be boosted by adding proportions of a higher octane fuel. Also available is toluene, which can be used as an octane booster in both unleaded and leaded fuels. Generally each 5% addition of toluene will increase the fuel's octane rating by one number. It is not recommended to add more than 30% of toluene to the fuel. Because of the dangers with incorrect mixing, individual motorist are advised against mixing additives with fuels without first consulting their car engine manual or their fuel supplier. So check with the Tassie guys where you can get toluene. cheers

Yep, filled 'er up with petrol so I don't need a fuel gauge any more. cheers

Oil temperature, courtesy of Castrol...... In order for motor oil to perform its major function - lubrication - its viscosity (the measure of its thickness or resistance to flow) must be capable of holding up under your engine's extreme temperature conditions. Oil thins when heated and thickens when cooled. Choosing the proper viscosity grade for the ambient temperature of your geographic location becomes vitally important. A monograde is an oil whose viscosity is defined at only one temperature, either high or low. A multigrade must meet both high and low temperature viscosity requirements simultaneously. This makes multigrades an easy and popular year-round choice for drivers who experience hot summers and harsh winters. They are easily recognized by the dual viscosity designation (i.e. 10W-30 where the 10W is the low temperature, or winter designation and the 30 is the high temperature designation). It is the viscosity modifier additive that produces a thickening effect at high temperatures but is dormant at low temperatures. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have never ever had a Castrol technician advise me that the oil temperature is too low in one of our engines. So we don't run oil thermostats, never have. Water temperature There used to be a general rule that engines produce their maximum power with water temp around around 85 degrees. Run an engine at 95 degrees and 75 degrees and (without changing anything) it will produce more power at 85 degrees. Due to ideal vapourisation of fuel, metallurgy of components, combustion temperature etc. More recently it has been found that lower temperatures (than 85 degrees) can in fact produce more power. The idea is, the resulting lower cylinder head temperatures allow more ignition advance (and/or compression) to be applied before detonation sets in. The advanced ignition produces more power than is lost by the lower combustion temperature. This requires closer to the edge tuning than most road cars would tolerate, they have to survive in 45 degree heat, with the air con on, dawdling along in the traffic etc. In a race car this is not really an issue, so we can tune much tighter. Having a 72 degree thermostat simplistically means that the thermostat opens fully at 72 degrees. If the cooling system is sufficiently large enough this means that the engine should never get over 72 degrees. If the engine does get over 72 degrees then having a 72 degree thermostat is pretty much a waste of time. Well, it is, until you get a cooling system that IS capable of keeping the temperature at 72 degrees. Since it gets over 72 degrees, it isn't advisable to tune it (with ignition advance) for more power to take advantage of this lower temperature. Unless you have water temp compensation mapping that starts at 72 degrees. Hope that was of some help cheers

No more inevitable than any other ceramic turbine equiped turbo. Keep the boost within the well know limits and you are pretty safe. The "well known limits" can be found by using the search button. cheers

Yep cheers

My opinion too. Since he already has all the stuff for GTSS's, the 2530's was an easy answer. cheers

GCG ball bearing hi flow, very similar response to standard, up to 265 rwkw, more power EVERYWHERE on all 3 RB's I have fitted them to. Bolts back up exactly as it came off, no making stuff, buying extra bits, things that don't line up etc etc. cheers

38 mm wastegate should be plenty big enough. What manifold is it? cheers

Gotta POD? Dirty AFM, try cleaning it with spray on brake cleaner. cheers

Get a quote cheers

No apology required, whatever floats your boat. The objective for larger diameter piston (in the shock) is to move as much oil as possible through the valves with each stroke. The more oil that moves, the better control the valves have. It also means the more oil that moves though the valve the less harsh the valving is for the same dampening force. A larger piston also means room for larger valves, this means better control. Or more valves, this means more stages in the valve control. The larger the piston, the bigger the bore for the same length shock, which means more room for more oil. More oil means less overheating and less airation of the oil. When oil boils. the valves get bubbles going through them instead of oil, this means a loss in dampening control. A larger bore also means more surface area for the nitrogen to work against, so the gas pressure is spread accross a larger intermediate piston. This means better airation control and a less harsh effect of the gas pressure on the ride comfort. So, you could say that piston size in a shock is somewhat important. A cheap 50 mm shock may be better than a cheap 40 mm shock, but it's still a cheap shock. cheers

The objective is to pull the wheel forward for more positive caster. So the eccentric should be set for (effectively) shortening the radius rod. cheers