Ryno

You're absolutely right, by keeping the runner diameter smaller you are maximizing the gas speed at all times. This in turn will bring the boost on much earlier. A mate has a R32 setup up for drift which uses a MX Performance (small diameter runner) twin scroll and gate manifold. His RB26 produces around 400 rwkw with good response for drifting. So even at that power range the smaller runners are producing the goods.

Go the Mx Performance manifold, it will shit all over a 6 Boost manifold in that power range. Mine has transformed the car, it's one of the best upgrades I've done.

My car has greater than 260 rwkw and has 100 rwkw by 3000rpm. This is on regular 98 octane, and I'm confident I could push the turbo harder to achieve closer to 300 rwkw - but it is really not needed as my car is a daily driver and I don't ever seem to use the high boost setting as it is. My setup is a HKS GT-RS turbo mounted on a MX Performance exhaust manifold. The key to the response and power is this manifold. It has 1" runners and smashes the exhaust wheel to produce positive boost at 1200 rpm and 5 pound by 2000 rpm. You have to run an external gate though, as with the internal gate it will struggle to avoid over boosting. I ended up welding the internal flapper shut and used a Turbosmart external gate. My car has more power everywhere in the rev range when compared to the stock turbo and is unreal to drive on the street. I have a build thread in the Projects section if you want more info and pictures.

Thanks Glyn, yeah I'm very happy with the exhaust... it looks the business and the sound has reduced nicely while still maintaining the unique note from the twin pipe setup.

I last read your build thread a few years ago when you were still in Wagga... I must say things have gone a 'little' crazy since then, with the RB30 etc! I've often thought about putting an RB30 in mine, but always decide against it due to bonnet/stay bar fitment... How did it go in yours? Did you have to cut out the bonnet supports?

My latest drama to fix was a leaking Power Steering rack... I was able to swap it for a reconditioned rack that cost $350. But at the same time I wanted to finally fix a problem that has been bugging me for around 10 years! Ever since swapping to the RB25DET engine and removing the HICAS I've been living with heavy steering as the power steering goes into a limp mode due to no speed input. The solenoid on the power steering rack gives full assistance with 12 volts and the assistace reduces as you reduce the voltage. So I purchased this voltage step down module from Jaycar... I have wired that direct to the Power Steering solenoid and can adjust the voltage as I see fit. It is still not going to be speed variable (like stock) however I can tweak the voltage to find a happy assistance that works ok at all speeds. Checking the output voltage... Where I've mounted it in the car...

Since going to my new exhaust manifold setup the car has been a fair amount louder. I finally decided to tackle it back in November and swapped out the rear cannons and centre muffler with new Magnaflow mufflers. Out with the old... Rigging up the new...

I found that the bolts and washers that hold my MX Performance plenum top down onto the lower runners weren't really up to the task and the washers had deformed. So I ordered some titanium flanged hex head bolts to replace them. Out of interests sake, I wanted to know the weight saving, seemed like a good job for the wifes Thermomix! So for around $100 thats an awesome weight saving of 100 grams! I'll only need to spend another $500,000 on titanium bolts and I should be able to get the weight of my car down to the same as a Lotus Elise!

Time for some updates... Pics of the new Aircon condenser and Heater Core that I put in... I ended up reusing the plastic heater core fittings not the metal ones shown in the picture.

This is the setup I use..... As with any RB25DET plenum setup you will see that the coolant exits the block/head through the large orifice on the lower runners of the plenum. As a result the coolant will heat the lower runners and plenum top (plasmaman or otherwise) through conduction. As I said in my earlier post, if the phenolic gasket went between the lower runners and the plenum top you could keep the plenum top cool, but unfortunately the only phenolic gasket I could find goes between the head and the runners, therefore the performance gain would be minimal in my opinion.

I use a phenolic intake gasket on the inlet manfold for my RB25DET. My inlet plenum uses the standard lower runners with a MX Performance plenum top (similar to a Plazmaman manifold). I don't beleive the intake temp changes would be very significant, as the coolant runs through the inlet manifold. This will heat up the inlet manifold to what ever temperature the coolant is at. Conversly if you were running a standard gasket, the plenum may be a touch warmer, but the coolant will then do the opposite and try to bring the temperature of the inlet manifold down to the level of the coolant. So there's probably only a few degrees in it either way. I would have preferred to use a phenolic gasket between the lower runners and the plenum top (provided it could seal correctly) however I wasn't able to find anyone who makes them.

Yes I do, but I don't want to have to plug it in every time I want to make a small change. I'm also not keen to drive around with a laptop plugged in everyday - This isn't "The Fast and the Furious"!

The thing I love about my Power FC is the ability to tweak the tune on the fly with the hand controller, as I have a wideband permanently fitted. A tuner usually only has the car for one day, so there's always part of the map that you can perfect over time, and the hand controller gives me that ability. Do any of these "High end" map ECU's have a hand controller style tuning option?

Sounds like you're after my setup... MX Performance exhaust manifold (with 1" runners), External wastegate with HKS GT-RS turbo with internal wastegate removed and welded closed. With this setup the turbo is just as responsive as stock ~ 5 psi at 2000 rpm, however it has around 280 rwkw. Economy wise, I average around 10litres/100km. My car is a daily drive, so I wanted no compromises on driveability... Check out my build thread for more info... http://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/409509-rynos-r32-over-a-decade-and-counting/

This is a great concept, but obviously will only work on twin scroll turbo's. Also I imagine this wouldn't work too well if you had a fully divided twin scroll exhaust manifold, as you'd be completely blocking off three of your exhaust runners. If I ever go to a larger (twin scroll) turbo, I'll be looking into getting one of these.

If you look closely you will see the engine is a RB25DET, the plenum top was made by MX Performance in Sydney... I'm not sure if he's still in business (as I can't find his website anymore) however I'm really happy with it - similar quality to Plazmaman and a little better price wise. I also run a MX Performance exhaust manifold, it has 1" runners and spools the turbo much earlier than the stock manifold.

I personally like stainless braid, but go with whatever makes you happy as you'll be the only one that sees it. This is what my engine looks like...

It could be worth checking the contacts on your ECU plug. I had a similar issue with one injector not firing and it turned out to have a bad connection for that injector on the ECU plug. I closed the female connection a little, plugged it back in and the problem hasn't resurfaced.

I run one on my RB25, though I'm not sure if I would believe the hype about improving the performance due to having a cooler intake manifold. Heat is still transferred to the intake manifold through the coolant galleries. I wonder if anyone has done a before and after comparison with a heat gun?

I'm going to have to ban myself from going on SAU... I don't have any miss-fire issues, but after ready this thread I really want Ricks LS coil kit!

I use a Venom Cat with 5" body, that should allow you to hit that power goal. See link... http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3-Nissan-VENOM-High-Flow-Cat-Skyline-R32-R33-R34-GTST-GTR-S13-C33-A31-/251462134106?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a8c4fa95a As for replacing the muffler with a resonator, it really depends on the quality of both. But typically a resonator should muffle the sound reasonably well at low RPM's, though at higher RPM it will change the note but not muffle the sound as well as a standard muffler. I'm currently looking to do the same with my car - I've found these resonators which seem to have pretty good reviews that I'll probably go with: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Vibrant-ULTRA-QUIET-Resonator-3in-inlet-outlet-x-14in-overall-length-/281208154580?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item41794fe9d4

It's a shame you can't upgrade the ECU... I was blown away by how fast the NISMO Leaf was lapping at Clipsal - only 10s slower than the R35 GTR!

I've done a fair bit of maintenance to fix a few ongoing issues over the last few months. The car now has all the rubber suspension bushes replaced with Whiteline/Nothalane. It also has a new air conditioning condenser, heater core and rear wheel bearing replaced. Of note, my car has had an intermittent steering wheel vibration at around 100 kph, that I've been living with for as long as I can remember. It wasn't because of a wheel imbalance as I've had several tyres/rims over that period with the vibration always persisting. What fixed the problem was replacing the front inner/lower suspension bushes. My upper camber and caster bushes had been swapped swapped out for urethane years ago - so the lower ones were the last rubber ones remaining.

Check out my build thread here.... http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/409509-rynos-r32-over-a-decade-and-counting/ You will see a pic of the manifold (before it was fitted) at the bottom of the first page.