Sydneykid

No need for payment yet. Still a few left to go, I am working on the manufacturing timetable at the moment. More news later in the week. Cheers Gary

Well lets start with the technical stuff; 1. There is no one single right alignment settings for every R34GTT. It depends on what you do with the car, how you drive it, how much power it has, what other suspension modifications it has, what height it is, what tyres etc etc. A simple example, if you use it on the track then 2.5 degrees of negative camber is probably OK on the rear, but if you drive to work on a freeway every day then around 0.75 degrees is better for tyre wear, but if you use it at the drags then you need around 0.5 degrees positive camber. Without sufficient detail no one can tell you what alignment settings you should use. 2. Without the current alignment settings, no one can tell you which direction to go in adjustments. So what are they? 3. Changing only the rear upper control arms is a not a good solution technically speaking, you should adjust the traction arms in tandem with the upper control arms, otherwise you end up with undesireable bump steer (not that any bump steer is ever desireable in a performance car). Maybe that's what the alignment guy was trying to tell you? 4. "lowered roughly an inch and a half", lowered from what? When they role out of the factory they are 390 mm front and 380 mm (centre of wheel to guard). After 1,000 k's or so they settle at 385/375. After 60,000 k's or so they are usually at 380/370. By that time the standard shocks will be stuffed and if they aren't replaced the springs wear out faster and so the car will drop to around 375/365 fairly quickly. So if you are 1.5" (~40mm) lower then you could be at 340/330, which is actually 50 mm (2") lower than when it was new. There is only one answer, get the tape measure out and measure the height, centre of wheel to guard on all 4 corners, then you will know for sure what height it is. Then we can help you. Cheers Gary

Tell me how that's going to help? The 18" tyres will be lower profile than the 17's so the height will be the same. Cheers Gary

Simple question, not so easy to answer without the data; What tyres? What swaybars? What spring rates? What height? What engine power? What weight? Cheers Gary

1 inch lower than what? When they role out of the factory they are 390 mm front and 380 mm (centre of wheel to guard). After 1,000 k's or so they settle at 385/375. After 60,000 k's or so they are usually at 380/370. By that time the standard shocks will be stuffed and if they aren't replaced the springs wear out faster and so the car will drop to around 375/365 fairly quickly. So if you are 1" (25mm) lower then you could be at 350/340, which is actually 40 mm lower than when it was new. There is only one answer, get the tape measure out and measure the height, centre of wheel to guard on all 4 corners, then you will know for sure what height it is. Cheers Gary

Nope Cheers Gary

250 lbs/inch (4.5kg/mm) Cheers Gary

HKS had the 3 kits (single turbo, twin turbo and supercharger) at SEMA, my pick was the twin turbo kit. My reasons for not choosing the the HKS supercharger kit are pretty much the same as for the Stillen kit, except for the whine of course. Both the supercharger and single turbo kits come complete, every required nut, bolt, washer and clamp is included. Compared to the twin turbo kit which leaves a fair bit to be fabricated on the inlet side. Although it's a perfectly acceptable solution, I am not a big fan of the single turbo kit. I don't like the cross over exhaust pipe, the heat transfer into the rear of the engine block and, to a lesser extent, the firewall. Plus it adds distance between the RH bank of cylinders and the turbo while placing the LH bank right at the turbine. This manifests itself as minor differences in exhaust gas temperature and turbine acceleration (lag if you like). With the single turbine exhaust you end up requiring a diverging ("adaptor") pipe to get a twin exhaust system to fit. To me a twin turbo system on a V engine seems a much more logical solution and also offers some technical advantage to do with the packaging compromises of a single turbo. That said, the single turbo would be easier to comply, emmissions wise, as the single cat would come up to temperature faster. But Nissan managed to get the R35GTR to comply, so its obvioulsy possible to achieve with a twin turbo layout. To support that logic I received an email last night from a guy in the US that I talked to at SEMA and he had his Z33 with HKS twin turbo kit (GT2530's) complied using the standard cats. Cheers Gary

The turbos are rear/low mounted and consequently in the exit airstream from the engine bay. Based on the comparison of the low mount RB20 turbo (using the Group A R31 exhaust manifold) versus the standard mount, the low/rear mount turbo ran much cooler and the under bonnet temperatures were remarkably lower. As usual, I will thermo wrap the pipework wherever possible. For cold start emmisions I will be locating the cats right at the turbo dump pipes, that ensures the fastest heat up time. The V25 single turbo actually has 2 cats, one small one at the turbo dump for fast heat up and one further back for running. Keeping that logic in mind I will keep the cats physically as small as I can, there are 2 of them so they don't have to be as big as a single would. "Small" doesn't mean restrictive, the matrix is smaller so it heats up faster. The downside is more frequent changes of the cats as the matrix wears out faster. The "no tune" power increase for the turbos is exactly the same as the "no tune" power increase for a supercharger. The Stillen kits simply adds an injector downstream to add fuel when its needed. There is no reason why I couldn't do exactly the same with twin turbos. It's just a simple single (or twin) injector controller, they are cheap, readily available and easily tuned. They are just not able to be tuned accurately enough for larger power increases, plsu they have ignition tuning deficiencies. I have long term plans (forged internals) that will mean more power (~700bhp), so a tuneable, piggy backed ECU is the go. Cheers Gary

I also vote for the large single fan. Cheers Gary

Which "stock" oil pump are you comparing the N1 to? An early R32GTR "stock" oil pump? The N1 pump has the wide drive flange, the early R32GTR oil pump doesn't, they have the narrow drive flange. The N1 oil pump also has a different rotor configuration and the higher oil pressure relief valve. A late R32GTR "stock" oil pump? They both have the wide drive flange,but the N1 oil pump also has a different rotor configuration and the higher pressure relief valve An R33GTR "stock" oil pump? They both have the wide drive flange, but the N1 oil pump also has a different rotor configuration and the higher pressure relief valve An R33GTR V SPec "stock" oil pump? They both have the wide drive flange and the same rotor configuration, but the N1 oil pump has the higher pressure relief valve An R34GTR "stock" oil pump? They both have the wide drive flange, the same rotor configuration and the higher pressure relief valve Simple isn't it? But wait there is more. Nissan has superceded some part numbers, so even if you order an early R32GTR pump you will most likely get a late model one anyway. Cheers Gary

Raise it up, it's too low, it should be 350 mm front and 345 mm rear. It will handle much better, ride more comfortably and won't wear out the tyres so fast. And it won't foul the arms. Changing arms is a defect anyway, so doing that won't fix your legality problem Cheers Gary

Most people don't notice any difference in ride comfort with such small increases in swaybar sizes on a relatively heavy car. It's not until we start using 30 mm bars on light weight cars that come standard with 14 mm bars that we get any ride discussion. I should mention tyres and to a lesser extent tyre pressure, their effect on ride comfort is often over looked. So it may pay to swap tyres with the car you are comparing. Cheers Gary

Can you post a picture Tim? That may show me what the progression is. Otherwise you will have to measure the gaps between the coils. They should measure something like this, 3 mm / 5 mm / 5 mm / 5 mm / 15 mm / 20 mm / 20 mm / 20 mm / 20 mm /15 mm / 3 mm Cheers Gary

No Cheers Gary PS; have you thought about raising it up? It will handle much better, ride more comfortably and won't wear out the tyres so fast.

Lots of things not set up for good handling, ride comfort or decent tyre wear; Front Insufficient caster differential, shoudl have at least 0.25 degrees more caster on the LHS front to help prevent the drift to the gutter (caster kit $110 on the Group Buy) Too much negative camber, get it down to around 1 degree (front camber kit $183 on the Group Buy) Too much toe, should be around zero (use the standard adjusters) Rear Way too much negative camber, get it down to around 0.75 degree (rear camber kit $125 on the Group Buy) Too much toe, should be around 2 mm toe in each side (use the standard adjusters) Judging by the exaggerated camber it's too low, the best height for handling and ride comfort is 350 mm front and 340 mm rear (centre of wheel to guard). Raise it up before you get the alignment fixed. Cheers Gary

You can't directly compare spring rates and swaybar rates, the chassis dynamics are very different. Salad covered the 2 wheel versus 1 wheel scenario, but there are other considerations. The swaybar tries to duplicate what is happening to the wheel in recoil (from the bump) with the wheel that isn't. Plus the bar acts directly through the chassis mountings in the reverse direction. These actions and reactions cancel each other out to some extent. Compared to the single spring impact with has a simple pass on effect on that one wheel only. The term "reset springs" always worries me, it's a complex process and very hit and miss regardless of the experience and quality of the resetter. Polyurethane bushes add slightly to the "vibration" item in NVH, particularly link bushes. Since you have most likely only changed the D bushes, the effect is miniscule as the bar rotates freely, hence passing on very little of the impact directly to the chassis. My guess would be that the standard shocks simply don't have the damping capacity to control the increased anti roll, let alone the reset springs. They didn't have it when they were new, so they sure as hell don't have it now. A Skyline is a sports car, it suspensions system was designed with that in mind. They aren't a limosine and never will be, no matter what you do to their suspension the basic design criteria will always win out. Cheers Gary

I want/need an S1 grill like this ASAP; The Stagea is ready (has been for a several weeks) to go to the panel shop for painting of the DAYZ side skirts that I got over 12 months ago. I am sick and tired of searching Import Monster and Yahoo every day for the last month and not finding one single grill. So how much and when can I have it? Cheers Gary PS; The auto is the best for my purposes, I have no use for a manual tow car.

This is the kit If I add up the parts, turbos, manifolds, sump, inlet pipes, fittings etc (even using Garret turbos), I don't think I could do it for $6K (the US price). Certainly not significantly cheap enough to make it worth my time engineering it myself. Cheers Gary

The 1989/90 models of R32's are lighter (about 40 kgs) than the following models, so there must be some extra stuff in there. Side intrusion bars are definitely a difference for a start. Cheers Gary

You got it, but every US tune I have had anything to do with is very unresponsive due to a general lack of ignition advance. When I talk to the tuners they all use the "low octane" excuse for the dowiness. Then avoiding the combustion pressure hit at low rpm should be a priority, a softer, more progressive boost build would be my objective. I actually think turbos and autos go together very well. The Stagea is brilliant, just load it up against the torque converter and make 12 psi or so for take off. It never drops off boost because you don't lift off for gearchanges, there is a constant stream of exhaust gases. I can't see how a supercharger would be any better. CARB rules are a bit unusual, they are in general terms tougher, but the California temperatures, rpms and speeds for measurement of emmissions are unique in the world. I wouldn't feel confident that just becuase a car passes in California that it will pass Euro 3. The fuel differences just add to that. Not everywhere, because it soaks up power driving the supercharger itself, so you actually get less power until the boost reaches a point where the horsepower produced exceeds the amount soaked up. Have a look at the idle A/F ratios, throttle bypass and the amount of ignition advance required to keep a stable idle with the supercharger load added to the power steering aircon and electrical loads. I'm not convinced that a supercharger is better than a turbo charger for an auto. As for meeting the standards, that would have to be proven locally. Precisely my point, I don't think it's a good thing. Remember the Yanks like to make every engine feel like a big cube V8, lazy, unresponsive torque is the target. They don't want a responsive lively engine, they want a slugger, hence the aftermarket responds to that requirement. I have zero experience with the kit, plenty with superchargers though. I have enough confidence in Stillen's previous stuff (I have used a few bits over the years) to believe that the kit will do what it's supposed to do. My personal difficulty is that I simply don't like what it's supposed to do, plus I am not big fan of the endless supercharger whine that Eatons generate. That's just my own preferences and may not reflect other people's desires. Cheers Gary

I have also done the research and I have ended up with the HKS twin GTRS as my upgrade of choice. Why; 1. The larger turbos build boost slower and so don't hit the conrods and pistons with lots of torque loading at low rpm, which is their weakness 2. Ditto the tailshft, gearbox, diff and driveshafts 3. It won't need a heavy clutch capable of holding the torque, it's a much gentler operation for the turboed engine 4. I don't like choking an engine that revs freely standard, if I use a supercharger that gives low rpm boost then it limits the effective engine rpm. 5. I am not a big fan of no intercoolers when running petrol, it's OK for methanol, but for a road car in Australia you need an intercooler. Water to air intercoolers are efficient in their cooling but they are heavy, and all of that weight is in the front of the car. 6. If an R35GTR passes Euro 3 emmissions then there is no reason why a twin turbo V35 won't do the same 7. I don't like the supercharger sucking up power (and petrol) all of the time, a turbo consumes almost no extra power to run it. A supercharger uses more power (and fuel) than airconditioning. 8. Due to #7, for the same amount of boost a turboed engine will make more horsepower and use less fuel than a supercharged one. 9. The HKS kit only has the necessary parts, the rest I can source myself locally. 10 The turbo kit will give better weight distribution (lower and further back) than a supercharger 11. I get to tune it for local fuel and conditions. Japanese tunes are usually a bit too ignition advanced (they tune for 100 ron) and US tunes are too dull and unresponsive due to their very low octane fuel availability (they tune for 91 ron). I'm comfortable with my choice. Cheers Gary

I dont think so, there is competition in the supply of 92 ron and blended ethanol, Shell have to match the price of the competition. Whereas with VPR they have a monopoly, they can get away with charging a couple of cents more, us enthusiasts will pay for it. Try it on 92 and the Wallys will just go to the next servo. No matter which way I look at it, it is a bad decision based on the reasons they have given. Sheel are going to look stupid if there are other reasons and they are simply hiding behind the false demand numbers. Like maybe they can't make it reliably because the local refineries are not up to the quality, in which case own up Shell, don't lie about it. Cheers Gary

Centreline Suspension (Glen or Chris) 72 Lipton Drive Thomastown VIC 03 9469 2914 Traction Tyre & Suspension (Andrew) 65 Kelletts Road Rowville VIC 03 9764 2811 Trutrack (Ralph) 52 Leveson St North Melbourne VIC 03 9326 5392

They run out of travel, the camber change angles turn to crap and they develop some bump steer. My guesses, the Japs have better roads, smoother tracks, they don't drive very far so ride conmfort isn't as important and they care more about looks than handling. Cheers Gary