bcl

Hi Daniel, The timing of this thread is very pertinent to me. I understand fully your situation. Some times you finish a project, reach a goal or just need or feel like a change, or something changes in your life that forces you to change. We all have mv needs, dd requirements, small or large family drives size of vehicle required, as well as need for speed, either ¼ mile or circuit. Sometimes you just have to let go. My children have grown up, so there is now more of a focus on my wife and I, plus retirement requirements in the near future, and the need to spend the kids inheritance. For me, living in a city, garaging/storage is also an issue. For some of us it is a self indulgent passion. Below are my 5 turbo cars, picture taken last Friday at my place. R35 2 F6’s, blue car has done a 138mph pass on street tyres, grey F6 132mph & 11 flat on pump fuel 2 STi’s, MY06 STi (wifes car stock), MY00 STi for circuit racing, and it set a NSW WRX club record at Wakefield last month on street tyres. I’m in the same situation, and have to downsize “the fleet”. So last Friday I sold the blue F6. That car was the culmination of an expensive project over 5 years, and I believe the first xr6 turbo in the country to have a 1000HP engine. I had to let go. I couldn’t justify storing it the garage anymore, and rarely driving it. I should have sold it 3 years ago. I have owned 10 Ford Falcons, the first was an XY in 1975, so hanging on was more of an emotional rather than rational situation. Funny, I bought a new lawnmover 2 weeks ago. None of those 5 cars could fit it so I took my run-around spare Suzuki SX4! R35 is king, only mildly modded, but off the mark beyond anything I’ve driven Grey F6 with over 450rwkw and ZF box is a great taxi, mostly a dd, comfortable, good torque, but lack of traction is an issue. MY00 STi is a fun car; more power than R35 with only 1300kg & 275 rubber at all 4. Cosworth engine. It’s currently around 1-2 sec quicker around that circuit than the R35. More guys are getting into smaller cars, for circuit use. I bought this car in 1999. More guys that I know, especially those that have circuit cars, are also purchasing 4-wheel drives, for extra storage and practicality, and for use as possible tow cars. I may end up selling my F6 for such a changeover. My wife has put her foot down and said no more cars unless I sell first! So, after all of the above I think it is time to let go of one of your Fords. It will be painful after all the effort, but nothing lasts forever. Regards Brian

I think Cobb have no choice, as they have fallen well behind. Very good to see they acknowledge it, and have a plan to address it. Ecutek are about to release V3 of their software ref http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/177206-litchfield-release-new-ecutek-software.html , currently in beta. The new Motec as well as Syvecs has put additional pressure on Cobb. Brian

I tend to agree with you that an e-map is not a proper tune. After spending $180k on a car I'd prefer a proper custom tune. However I can see that it may be a convenience factor for many. I live in Sydney so there is no inconvenience. Brian

Ecutek links http://www.ecutek.com/Products/ProECU-Tuning-Suites/Nissan-Tuning-Suites/Nissan-GTR.aspx I've almost finished sorting out my STi for racing, and am selling my Ford F6's, so my GTR will be the next thing to look at. I know how well the STi goes on on E85, but I'd like my R35 to run on E85 also, but the reality is that I would not run it full time, and would prefer something for flexible than full map switching. The U.S forum thread is here http://www.gtrlife.com/forums/topic/80414-ecutek-flex-fuel-is-reality/ I will look into what's possible. Ecutek & Cobb can support full map switching, but I'd prefer something a bit more flexible. Brian

Jim at Tunehouse in Sydney did my Ecutek tune. I'm waiting to see about running a flex-fuel arrangement, and release of the latest sotfware. There's heaps of discussion and debate on the U.S forum about Ecutek vs Cobb. From what I read Cobb has fallen behind over the past year due to lack of development. Brian

Bridesmaids had my wife's STi, so just my daughter & R35 where the focus. Brian

I took my daughter. Saved some money, and she was very happy. Probably the only time it would have been better as a convertible. Where in Sydney is the wedding? Brian

Good work. The upgrade requirements are relatively minor. How did you find spool-up? Whilst I haven't converted my R35, I run my STi on E85, and I'm using it as a dd at the moment. Rozelle fuel is very consistent. This week it is reading 86% Ethanol on the Zietronix digital readout. If there was any problem with the fuel it would get a wide broadcast across quite a few forums. Brian

I decided to go along. Was on the Iron Cove bridge and spotted a red R35 in front of me, so I pulled up alongside him, assuming he was going on the meet, which was only a few minutes away. Window down, exchanged greetings, but turned out he was going elsewhere. When I told him I was meeting some other R35s nearby, he tucked in behind me and decided to follow me to the meet. Thanks for organizing. Brian

Rarely ever see another R35 on the road. Maybe 1 a month. Get mine serviced at dealer, but that's at Brookvale. Brian

Congrats on your purchase. The older model does run relatively low boost compared to more recent models. My MY11 runs between 13.5 & 14psi between 3200 & 6600 rpm, peaking at 4500 rpm, so there’s some very easy power to be had with an increase in boost. Fyi, get your tuner to display DIN rather than the old USA standard SAE J1349, so use KW & NM with DIN. That dynapack torque graph is accurate, because it shows the twin torque peaks that occur at around 4000 & 5000rpm in the R35. If you can, do a dyno run straight after the exhaust, to measure the difference, then again after the tune (which is what I did). Good luck. Brian

Very sad. No one can really pass judgement without knowing the circumstances. Extreme care is required with these cars given the power it has, but no matter what car you drive you must remember that you are responsible for the care of your passengers. Brian

Hey Kev, I have a Zietronix analyser in my STi. Reads consistently 85 to 87% out of Rozelle united. Brian

2011 model does NOT have a rear camera. It was an option on overseas models. Enjoy. Brian

Hey Kev, looks good for Time Attack street class next year. Now that it looks like some of our wrx's will not be allowed to race because of the wider fenders, your power level is a step from Marek's, and could be very competitive, although it is getting tougher. Time to break 1:40 at EC. Son David will volunteer to drive if you don't want to drive (lol). He's pestering me to upgrade my R35, so he can drive it! Brian