mad082

that is only for the newer alloytech 3.6L v6 (which isn't supercharged), and the better of the 2 versions. the base version is 175kw and 330nm. if you look at the figures for the old 3.8L they aren't as good. the supercharged version only put out 171kw, but had more torque at 375nm, and the NA version is 152kw and 305nm. so if you compare the engine that was originally talked about in this thread, you are looking at a 171kw engine vs 184kw from the rb25. now the torque of the commodore is more, but the other thing to remember is that the rb25 can be tweaked to be making 50 or 60kw more and only be limited by the ecu and turbo. the stock internals will take a fair bit more. in the case of the v6 the stock internals won't take that much more. the other thing to consider is the fact that the supercharged v6 only came in auto form, so you have to go through the hassle of converting it to manual, which isn't as easy as converting other cars (if you want it manual that is). as for the commodore race series, etc, the engines they use in them are rebuilt, that is why they are reliable. yes there are aftermarket parts that will make them reliable for race use, but the stock parts won't take power increases that well. i too would either be going an LS2 or RB25/30 or nissan v8. basically anything other than the holden v6

so the fact that the buick motor was in a car that probably only weighs 700kg has nothing to do with it...... also nothing to do with the fact that it is a 4.2L v6 buick motorsport engine and has no parts in common with the holden v6...... also the v8 it replaced was only 3.0L. that is like saying the holden v6 is better then the v8's used in the v8 supercars because the lap record of a formula holden lap record is about 8 seconds faster than that of a v8 supercar, despite the fact that the v6 is only putting out about 270kw, in a car that weighs 650kg and has more downforce than the v8 supercar, which puts out over 450kw and weighs about twice as much at 1355kg. but that doesn't mean anything. the v6 must be a better motor because it powers a car that does a faster lap time....... and the 1.6L motor in the formula fords that puts out less than 100kw must be a better motor than the v8's in the commodore and falcon utes because it can lap around eastern creek around 12 seconds a lap quicker. that also has nothing to do with the fact that there is about a 1000kg weight difference between the 2 cars..... as for that drag car, bit hard to compare that to what is found in the commodores, considering it is bored and stroked out to around 4.5L, runs 2 massive turbos, etc. and there are sr20's running close to that time. and 2jz powered cars are into the 6's, so they are obviously better, and they are smaller. but the point still remains that bang for buck, a v6 out of a commodore is going to give less power and reliability than a stock rb25.

it is probably due to the rear muffler they use. the body of the cannon probably isn't quite big enough to allow enough packing between the baffle and the outer body to take enough noise out of it. also being stainless probably makes it a bit louder. if you still don't like it in a week or 2 just go to an exhaust shop and get a better muffer put on, like a large 3" oval muffler such as a lukey ultra flow. that will make it a fair bit quieter.

should be able to get a decent turbo back exhaust for under $1000 that will do the job nicely. just jap stainless bell mouth dump/ front pipe: $199 x-force or catco 3" cat: $175 and you should be able to get a x-froce mild steel cat back for about $600 or less. or i just found this. turbo back exhaust for $800 http://www.tweakit.net/shop/product_info.p...roducts_id=2283

it could possibly be that you have a remapped ecu, or your tacho reads out by a fair bit. pull your ecu out and have a look at it. if it has a tuning company sticker on it then that will be a good indication it has been. otherwise open it up and post a pic of it and we will be able to tell you if it has been chipped or not.

ok after paying a bit more attention to the picture this time, i would say that the design of the turbo is the problem. the fact that both the turbine gases and the wastegate gases have to go out such a small hole, and the wastegate gases come out of the wastegate and basically hit a wall and have to change direction and then are getting slowed down by the gases coming out of the turbine. the best analogy would be to imagine you are driving down a road. lets say it has 4 lanes and all the cars are going at 40km/h because it is extremely busy (peak hour) and it drops down to 3 lanes up ahead for 100m then goes into 5 lanes and the traffic there is moving much faster because of extra lanes and the fact that now people aren't trying to merge in and make people have to slow down. so basically from the moment people enter the 3 lane section they can start speeding up again. now imagine that there is a road off to the left that branches off just before the 3 lane section and joins back up with the main section a bit further down. now in the case of an external gate or an internal gate that uses the same sort of rear housing as the stock turbo, this road would join back up after the 3 lane section has finished so they can basically merge into 1 of the lanes without having to really slow down much as there is plenty of space. however in the case of your turbo, this road that branches off and goes to a sharp turn that makes you slow down, and then joins back up in the middle of the 3 lane section at 90 degrees to the road. now you have to find gaps to fit into and the amount of cars being able to take that route is much lower, meaning more cars have to take the main route. you really need a split dump pipe setup for it. looking at a pic of a kkr650, they look to have something you can take out to get at the wastegate. i would look at getting a pipe made up to go into there and then into your dump pipe. i would say that doing that would solve your issues. as for how much it costs, i couldn't say but i would guess it would be cheaper than going external gate by the time you buy a wastegate then get the manifold setup for it.

the issue with the stock turbo is the ceramic exhaust wheel. when they are highflowed they usually have a steel wheel put on (as where it sits is made larger so needs a larger wheel). the limit to what you can run then is then down to mods and what pressure it stops making power, but would be well above 15psi

what intake pipes are you running from the turbo to pod filters? are they rubber or steel? if rubber, could they be sucking closed a bit at high rpm? the other thing is, what sort of intercooler are you running? it may be a restriction at high rpm. might be worth putting a boost gauge before the cooler piping and 1 after it to see what sort of drop you are getting across it. what manifolds are you running?

yeah should be ok then. is that the same shop that sorted you out with the fork issue?

depends on what sort of driving you are doing. if you are doing any track work, etc then 11psi without a fmic isn't the best idea, simply because the small stock intercooler suffers heatsoak pretty quickly. in winter it isn't as bad thanks to cooler temps, but still worth saving up for a fmic as your next mod. and +1 to getting an actual boost gauge that reads in psi. the stock gauge should be reading a little bit over half way at 11psi. if you are running your boost at 7 on the stock gauge, then any backfires are a result of the ecu trying to save the turbo by dumping in extra fuel and backing off the ignition.

oh and as for warranty, cannondale are only crap if you actually have to claim, LOL should be fine though. partly comes down to the shop as well

i would go 09. spec will be similar but about 10% cheaper going off prices i have seen from other companies so far. plus if you can get an 09 on special it will be better again. won't see too many 2010 stuff on special until after xmas

price seems good. the work to do it wouldn't take that long but i know what you mean. but hey if you don't mind wasting money, you can't go past a cannondale. just make sure you give it a thorough check over before it leaves the shop because, between you and me, cannondale's warranty isn't worth the paper its typed on. this has nothing to do with cannondale themselves, just the jerks who work for them, LOL. that is a bit harsh though, some of the time they are good on warranty....... but yeah stuff made by mexicans in america is always better than asian made........... just look at their cars......... LOL

ok, fixed wheel bikes are really one of those things that are hard to say whether they are good value or not, simply because they have so little to compare. first of all i will say don't bother about what gearing it is running. that is relatively cheap to change. a new front chain ring will cost 40 or 50. a new freewheel will be less. generally 1 tooth difference on the back is equivilant to 3 teeth on the front. also the cost can be a bit higher on them due to the low production runs that they have to do, so setup costs are spread over lower quantities. as far as price goes, it isn't too bad. but just as an alternative, something else you could look at is getting a normal road bike and turning it into a single speed. this has a few advantages. first is that it will give you a bigger range of bikes to chose from as far as looks go. secondly is that you can sell of some of the gear componentry and get some money back. the cost of changing to a single speed is only relatively small for the basic setup. then the cost of changing cranks (although the stock items would be more than fine) and brake levers to items somewhat better suited to single speed bikes would be a fair bit less than what you could sell the old stuff for. a set of shifters off a road bike are worth a few hundred dollars. basically to set up a road bike as a single speed would cost about $150 in parts. $200 at most (this would be for new brake levers, a singlator kit for the hub and a chain tensioner). then you have a cassette, shifters and derailleurs that you could sell. the shifters alone you could sell for $200 easily, even the basic sora ones, as $200 is below the wholesale cost of them.

i've never heard of air cleaners in vacuum lines...... i would be worried if you needed them, because dirt in vaccum lines = dirt in motor which = damage. it also means main air filter isn't doing what it's supposed to you are sure you aren't confused with the air filters for breather hoses?

what sort of exhaust did you get for it to be super loud? i had a 3" off the turbo to cat then 3.5" from cat back and it wasn't very loud at all. does it still have the centre muffler in it? as for it taking 8 hours, wow. i'm guessing a broken bolt/stud on the turbo, because otherwise it is a very straight foward job and shouldn't take more than about half an hour.

and a new slightly trimmed stock fan will be better than both.....

+1 for a nistune. pretty much best bang for buck ecu upgrade around.

adding a dump pipe won't increase the boost unless it is a poor design and doesn't alloy the wastegate to flow properly. unless you have an aftermarket ecu you won't be able to run 15psi anyway, although you would gain power from doing it, but you may find your turbo doesn't last very long before it goes on a diet (and the exhaust wheel comes off the turbo and makes friends with your catalytic converter) if a dump pipe is costing you $1500, i really suggest you find a new place to shop unless you get a shag every night for a week from a really hot chick with it. just get a cheap split dump pipe for about $100. i had one on my 33 and it worked fine. i would also get a fmic kit, especially if you are running 12psi through the stock one. the stock cooler will suffer heat soak after only a few hard accelerations and basically won't be doing much cooling after that.

a nw o2 sensor can't hurt. if the old one is still working though it won't make a difference and you could probably just give the old one a clean with some carby cleaner. aftermarket ecu will give you gains in both power and economy. most fmic kits require some cutting to the front bar. not sure of any that don't, but since i'm guessing you have an aftermarket front bar you might not. you can get cooler kits that using the stock piping route that saves you having to cut a hole for that though.

technically speaking the boost shouldn't actually rise at all. this is because the boost is controlled by the wastegate and it will still open at the same pressure. i never saw a boost increase from full exhaust and cooler. however other people have.

i had a hybrid kit and i just took the corners off the back of the blades. took a section about the size of the top half of your thumb off each blade and it cleared. that way the blades were still the full length but just not quite as wide at the tips

i know it won't without the rail (due to injectors being different), but it may possibly work with the rail...........

generally if it is only light load it won't be anything to do with ignition (however there are exceptions) as they normally more happen under load when there is mroe stress on the system. i would be looking at things like IAC or AAC. if these get a little bit sticky they can be slow in opening and every now and then stick a little bit and cause a bit of a miss/flat spot. could also be your o2 sensor playing up and make the car go from running lean to rich and back to lean again which will make it feel as though it has lost power for a second.

that is very weird that the cap is altering the temp. never heard of that before. i know it can alter the boiling point, but never heard of it altering the running temp. but i would still look at the thermostat. no matter what the radiator, etc, your temp will ultimately be set by the thermostat as that stops any coolant leaving the block until it's opening temp. so i would guess that it isn't sealing properly. that causes lower temps and longer warm up time, and higher fuel consumption