Sydneykid

OK, so what we need is a "box" that stores the updated stuff and dumps it to the ECU, everytime the engine is turned on, via the Consult port. I can tune the ECU on the dyno/road via the lap top, then store that in the "box". The "box" doesn't have to be that smart or fast, as long as it has finished updating the ECU by the time I have driven out of my driveway, that would be good. Sounds simple, so can you electronics tech heads get on with it please. cheers

Thanks for the info guys I will have a deaper look into the AEM during the racing off season. Quick responses follow; 1. The R34GTT, R34GTR, Stagea S1 and S11 all have the later ECU plug version that the AEM doesn't fit. 3. $US1,700 = $A2,300 + freight from the US + GST 10% + freight from Queensland = $A2,900. Same price as a Motec or an Autronic, depending on options and models. 6. Have you configured one of the spare 4 injector drivers to run the ignition? Or are you runnng wasted spark using 3 ignition drivers ? 8. I saw that the Z32 AFM was there, but I expected that due to the popularlity of 300ZX's in the US. Are there GTR and Q45 AFMs on the list now? I did notice that I would have to load them from the table, that they weren't menu selectable. I had a bit a chuckle at that, and the PNP claim, as you also have to load all of the maps. It's like a Wolf, it's sorta PNP, except after you have plugged it in, you have to do lots of other stuff before the car will start and run. The PFC is still unique in that area, as all you do is literally plug it in and drive away. I suspect that's why the AEM hasn't been very successful here, it costs the same as a high end race ECU (Motec, Autronic, Bosch etc) and yet isn't as easy as a PFC, which costs a third as much. Maybe if they halve the price and do dedicated 6 cylinder units they might sell a few. cheers

$500 for RDA rotors $240 for EBC pads $170 for labour $910 total The old Group Buy price was $450 for a pair of DBA slotted rotors, so $500 retail is OK. Bendix pads are half that and personally I don't believe EBC are worth the price. $170 for labour to change rotors and pads is OK, not cheap but OK as long as brake fluid and bleeding are included. If you did it yourself, you could do it for around $600 in half a day, working slowly. The question for you is, is the extra $310 worth it for someone to do it all for you? cheers

Hi Caz, I am more confused than ever, let me have another go; 1. You make a change to the injector opening via the Consult port and it is permanent? In say a 1996 R33GTST S11? I thought changes via the Consult port were temporary (NewKleer uses the term "active test") and you loose them when you turn of the ignition. 2. So you don't have on board A/F ratio monitoring, what about knock monitoring? If so, how is that achieved? 3. That'll teach you not to do laps of the lighthouse. 4. Detonation yes, overheating no. Retarding the ignition timing moves the combustion process to later in the cycle, this means more heat is passed into the water jacket particulary around the exhaust port. Which is a hot area, hence the high concentration of water jacketting. The EGT is a dead give away, as is the water temp. I would have thought that idlng in traffic would be closed loop running, hence stoich A/F ratios. So to richen it up you would have had go out of closed loop, is that temporary (lost when you turn the igntion off) or a permanent change? If it is permanent, you can do it via the Consult port? 5. Wasn't really meanto be a trick question, it was about the software versions and hardware (chip) changes and what (if any) were necessary to achieve permanent changes? Sorry to ask so many questions but that's what I created this thread for, to exchange ideas on uses of the Consult Port and the software available for doing so. cheers

This is a how to in the Stagea section, with pictures from the Nissan workshop manual. The RB25DET is pretty much the same as the RB20DET, except for the VVT on the inlet camshaft. http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...showtopic=73824 cheers

I haven't changed the exhaust system yet, but soon, as there is Magic cat (from the Group Buy) on the way. So that should push me into finishing it. I couldn't use anything but the rattle gun as the crank would turn and being an auto I couldn't lock it in gear like a manual. cheers

The easiest method is to check the top of the front shocks for some form of adjustment, knob, allen key hole or screw driver slot. Clockwise is harder, anticlockwise is softer. Be aware that adjusting the shocks doesn't change the spring rates and most Japanese kits have rediculously high spring rates. If you want to check the springs rates have a look at this thread, do the measurements and I will work out your spring rates for you. http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...showtopic=79157 cheers :

Legal height is a tough question because the exhaust systems vary from 2.5" to 4". This means what is a legal 100 mm clearance with a 2.5" system is an illegal 62 mm with a 4" system. The additonal circlip grooves on the Bislteins in the Group Buy kit mean that you can adjust the height to make sure it is legal. The Whiteline springs are a higher rate than standard, usually 20% to 25% higher. The standard springs are ~3kg/mm so an 8kg/mm spring is not a road spring, in fact it is fair bit higher than what I would use circuit racing. Hope that was of some help cheers

Yep, the Group Buy is still open for all parts. cheers :

Hi Ice, has it arrived OK? If not, you can check its progress on the Toll website, just use the con note number I PM'd you. cheers

Free height is not an indicator of installed height. There is no difference between 2 door and 4 door springs. Lowered rear springs usually have progressive windings which collapse (sit on top of one another) as soon as the weight of the car is placed on them. That is how they remain trapped at full droop (legal requirement), but still result in a lower ride height. Post up some pictures of the rear springs and I can most likely tell you how much progression there is from the free height coil gaps. cheers

My guess, in the "after tuning" A/F ratios the lean running at high rpm is nothing to do with the DFA. The sudden upwards flick is generally a sign of a failing fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator on the way out, blocked fuel filter or dirty injectors. I would have those potential issues eliminated before trying any further tuning. The lumpy power graph is a dead give away for the standard ECU rich and retard mapping. So is the random black smoke (rich). R&R is triggered by AFM readings outside what the ECU expects, so any unexpected deviation from normal causes the ECU to adopt R&R mapping. The 0.2 volts difference between input and output voltage is unacceptable, that is more than many of the correction factors you will input. It really needs to be trimmed out. If it is consistent (eg; always 0.2 volts higher at all input voltages) then it doesn't matter if you are tuning on the dyno, because the mapping will compensate for the input/output difference. It certainly matters if it is not consistent (eg; 4.6 volts in doesn't always = 4.8 volts out) or if you want to compare settings with others. Yours will always be several load points different to compensate for the 0.2 volts error. If it is a consistent 0.2 volts out at all input voltages, my first check would be the resistor values. An incorrectly placed resistor will most certainly cause that sort of issue. cheers

Ok I'm confused; 1. The RB20 ignitor is designed for 6 coils, so if you use it for 3 coils you are feeding its own trigger voltage back through the wasted spark coil. This is not good for ignitor life, it might work for a while, but........ 2. Why would I want to convert a 6 coil on plug system to one running wasted spark with 3 coils? You loose 50% of the coil recovery time, plus you have ignition leads with 2 connections. 3. I am not so sure that it's a good idea to use a coil pack designed for an engine with a 5,000 rpm rev limit on an engine that standard revs to 7,500 rpm easily. Personally I don't see that it is a worthwhile modification, it looks to me like a downgrade/price trade off. cheers

I have been watching the AEM ECU's for some time, we have some of their other hardware on non Nissan race cars. The reasons why we haven't used their stuff to date are; 1. They use the same ECU only where the wiring harness is the same. So R34 units are different to R32 and R33. Like PFC's they don't suport autos, which was a dissappointment considering the American's love of autos. 2. There is only one Australian agent located in Queensland and there is little, if any, support in the other states. 3. The price he quoted was $2,900 delivered, which is up there in Autronic and even Motec territory. 4. The last version of AEM software I saw was very clunky, not friendly, slow and cumbersome, not all nice to use like a Motec or Autronic. In fact not even as easy to use as Datalogit for the Power FC's. It seems to operate on its own logic which is totally different to almost every other ECU. 5. I couldn't find one tuner with the software loaded, we would have to supply our own. 6. All units ran wasted spark ignition, as they only had 5 ignition drivers. I couldn't decide whether it was a 4 cylinder unit trying to run a 6, or a V8 unit. This is confirmend by the CDI where they only have 4 cylinder or 8 cylinder CDI units, no 6 cylinder. 7. Processor speed was difficult to tie down, they quoted 16 bit in some places and 32 bit in other. 8. There weren't any tables for upgraded AFM's, only the standard AFM for that model. From memory there were a few minor other issues, so they are CLOSE to being a good competitor but not quite there yet. cheers

This is a much discussed topic, do a search and you will find that THE most popular upgraded ECU for Skylines are Power FC's, by a huge margin. A search will show you that the Power FC is the only ECU that is truly PNP, in 5 minutes you can drive away. With standard ECU driveability, nothing else offers that. As far as AFM versus MAP there is no comparison as you would have read a number of times if you had bothered to do a seach. An AFM driven ECU actually knows the airflow going into the engine, a MAP sensor driven ECU guesses the amount of airflow based on RPM, throttle position and pressure. The Power FC does everything on your list if used with a Datalogit (www.fc-datalogit.com), which you would have found out if you had taken the time to do a search. As for the cost; $860 (Group Buy) - $260 (sold the Commander) = $600 PFC Boost Control Kit (Nengun) $360 Datalogit (Group Buy) = $425 Total = $1,385 As for tuning, yes a search would have helped here too, the PFC has such great basic mapping that it is a simple tuning job. With many tuners all around the country keeping the costs low, around $400 should easily cover the cost of tuning an R33GTST with 400 bhp (~230 rwkw). If you want any more details on any of the above I strongly suggest that you do a seach first, as it is unlikely that you will have a question that 100's of people haven't had before. cheers PS; did I mention that you should do a search?

I have a few questions; 1. What ECU versions does this work on? 2. Are you using an on board A/F ratio meter for this or just guessing? 3. Couldn't you have just retarded the CAS? Or driven at lower boost via the throttle? 4. Retarding the ignition timing increases the temperature, adding more fuel was a better idea. 5. What ECU versions does this work on? cheers

What Ian said......plus they need oil flow restrictors in the block (where the cylinder head joins). The oil pump (especially a high flow one) pumps too much oil at higher rpm for the drains to return the oil to the sump. Depending on the rpm you are using, you may need to block off 1 of the 2 oil feed holes and fit a restrictor in the other one. cheers

The front gaurds on R32/33/34 Skylines are cut higher than the rear guards, if the car is parrallel to the ground (measured at the sills) then the front guard gap (to the tyre) will be larger than the rear, usually by around 10 mm. Some guys like to have the guard gap the same front and rear, so they lower the front more than the rear. This gives a nose down look which most people find appealing. Plus it enables them to carry rear passengers/luggage/subs and still have some suspension travel left Lowering the front of a GTR more than the rear is not a good idea due to the large amount of wieght over the front wheels. Most of the experienced GTR suspension tuners know this and don't lower the front too much. So they tend to sit flatter, with not as much nose down. Hope that helps cheers

A couple of things to think about; When you put lowering springs in a car they have to be a higher spring rate, to abosrb the bumps in the shorter distance. The standard R32GTST shocks don't handle the standard springs very well, even when they are new. So expecting 15 year old standard shocks to handle ~20% higher springs rates is a bit of a stretch. You have to remove the shocks to change the springs, so if you find that the shocks don't handle the higher spring rates, you will end up paying for labour twice. If you DIY then you will spend twice as long doing it. Hope that helps cheers

You really need to measure the heights, centre of wheel to guard and quote them. The "2" lower" is not much use, 2" lower than what? There are 5 standard Skyline heights, so which one is it 2" lower than? There is only one camber kit for the front, every Skyline so far (all sorts of heights) that I have fitted a kit to has been able to achieve the desired camber settings. So I don't think you wil have a problem with the front. The rear camber is more tricky, there is a standard adjuster on the upper control arm at the inner mount. If this is set at max positive camber and it still has too much negative then you replace that bush with an adjustable one which gives 3 times as much adjustment. This is pretty easy to do as the bush is actually located in the arm, so you can remove the arm and push the old bush out and the new bush in with a press (around 10 tonnes). If you need more adjustment, than just replacing the inner bush gives, you need to replace the outer bush as well. This is not as easy as the bush is located in the upright, so you have to remove the upright (drive shaft, shock, rotor calliper etc) and put the whole upright in the press. This obviously involves far more labour cost or time if you DIY. A few suspension workshops around have special tools that they can use to remove the outer bush with the upright still in the car. Check your local workshops. Armed with the height table you can easily tell whether you need 1 or 2 rear kits. I should mention that if you need 2 kits, then the car is really too low for good handling, ride comfort or power (poor drive shaft angles). So it will pay of to raise it to a more realistic height. Hope that helps chers

Hi, the DFA is simply a voltage changer (same as an SAFC, EManage etc) it takes the voltage output from the AFM and lowers or raises it (depending on your mapping) so that the ECU sees different voltages. This modifies the A/F ratios a lot and the ignition timing a little according to the standard ECU mapping. The components used in the kit are all high quality and very stable in their operation. I built my unit more than 10 months ago, it has travelled 15,000 k's in all sorts of conditions. The voltage output mapping is precisely the same as when I installed it. Every time I have checked the A/F ratios they are exactly as I mapped them. I have made several steps in the modification process and the DFA has been able tune for all of them so far. If the DFA fails, it will stop working and the car will stop because there is no AFM signal getting to the ECU. You then have 2 choices, you can restart it and drive it home in limp home mode. No more than 2,500 rpm, super rich running, retarded timig, slow but safe. This is exactly the same level of protection as Nissan built in for AFM failure. If you want you can simply disconnect the DFA and join the AFM input and output wires together and the car will drive exactly as it would with a standard ECU (ie; no mapping changes). If the DFA partially fails, voltage spikes, etc the ECU will see this as faulty AFM readings and go to limp home mode. Talk to your mechanic about the above, if he still thinks it's a toy, better off that you find another mechanic. cheers

"Power" isn't really the right description, the ECU expects to see a particular load (impedance) and a certain dwell time for the ccil. There are also negative switched and postitive switched and high and low voltage switched ignitors. All up there are about 30 possible combinations. If you don't have the right ignitor for the ECU, you will either fry the ignitor or the ECU or it simply won't work at all. If the dwell time doesn't match the coil, they won't fire either. That's why I would always suggest using the ECU manufacturer's recommendations for ignitor and, to a lesser extent, coils. cheers

No flaming from me on that one, for 100% drift car the suspension set up needs to be quite stiff. But I believe the best way to achieve dual aims like that (road 99% - drift 1%) would be with adjustable stabiliser bars. cheers PS; I am not sure that comparing Japanese suspension with Japanese suspension actualy proves that Japanese suspension is best. There are a few guys now running Australian suspension. One particular WRX, with what is basically circuit race Proflex in it, seems to be doing quite well lately. After having no joy with Japanese drift suspension.

I did a bit of logging last night and the first thing I noticed was the lambda sensor readings where all over the place. I have never played with a standard lambda sensor before, all of my experience is with F&W ones. After it warmed up the idle lambda readings where around 0.2V, as you would expect for closed loop running. But after a good thrash it would never drop back to there, it stayed at 0.7V, which is very rich. This a new lambda sensor, so I know it isn't that. Anyone else had that experience? cheers

Have a look in the Stagea section there is a Group Buy thread in there that answers most questions. Around 10 of the guys have kits, so plenty of discussion. It was a bit tricky to set up the kit as not many Stagea around when I engineeed it, but all the bugs have been ironed out now. PM me if you need more details cheers