Mods, Exhaust And Pod...

[myRB25DETT]

hi everyone, i signed up here at Sau bcoz every skyline owners in australia comes to this site to discuss anything about skylines, so here is my story, i recently bought my first skyline, its the RB25 dett or otherwise knwn as r34 gtt, now, for some reason, i have been reading magazines like imports car, and they show a list of mods for r34 gtt and how to save but still got the horse power, they basically said to go for local names and it doesnt have to be branded product,so i decided to go really cheap, firstly, i got a really cheap pod filter, i bought it from a local shop around, its worth $100 altogether including the ring that connects the pod filter, pod filter itself was $25, australian brand...dont know if its good but it does the job still..and secondly, cat back exhaust, DRIFT brand, i dont think its loud enough compare to other exhaust but its good for me..now, should i change any of the mods?? is it worthy?? how big is it really the difference if i go with the big names like Apexi pod filter or N1 exhaust??can someone shade some light here please?thanx heaps for ur time..

[Pattygtst]

It would be helpful to know what pod you have?

Cheap pods generally are crap but there was a 3aracing pod that was rated number 1 pod filter over everything. So expensive is not always better.

Dont know much about drift exhausts but an exhaust is just a pipe so you cant really get the performance wrong. Only bad thing could be the quality maybe be crap and it may wear out/warp. I think your safe with the exhaust though and pods dont make much difference on power for mild mods.

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

i'm thinking if you ask in a few more sections it might imporve your situation

[Munkyb0y]

$100 for a cheap pod? thats a bit much. You can get the Apexi pod off here for under $100, no adapter required.

Also, if you want to use 'better' brands, you cant go wrong buying used stuff off this forum, or wherever you find it.

[Wacky Dee]

the pod doesn't give you any extra power .. it just makes a cool sound and it sux in hot air from the engine bay (unless enclosed properly, which i highly doubt you've done) so stick with the standard airbox with a paper panel filter.

[TaKz]

for more gains you should complete your exhaust 3" dump/front pipe and high flow cat.

oh and your engine should be RB25DET unless it's twin turbo? correct me if i'm wrong

[myRB25DETT]

for more gains you should complete your exhaust 3" dump/front pipe and high flow cat.

oh and your engine should be RB25DET unless it's twin turbo? correct me if i'm wrong

my car is RB25DETT NEO R34GTT...im actually looking for a good hi-flow cat at the moment..anyone knows where i can pick one here in Melb.??

[Basti]

no its a RB25DET NEO R34GTT. go get a 3A pod. usually cost round 40 bux. everything needed is in the kit

[PhilKenSebben]

Enclose a decent pod ($100 is ludicrous!) and cold air intake it or piss it off right now. Some noise suppression inside the box will get rid of that sucking noise on boost. A full turbo back exhaust will be your best bang for buck right now and accomodate some later mods. The stock r34 SMIC is a good unit so leave it till later. Unfortunately the next thing is a CPU upgrade, and you get what you pay for, so no cheap shite here. This'll keep you happy for a while, although personally I would work on the handling package before power, it'll be more fun.

That said, most noobs (myself included) first up the power (it's so easy!!) THEN realise that handling would be best, so heed these words, unless you just wanna race twits at lights in which case be warned, there's a LOT of cars that'll be faster.

[gtrkiet]

- cat back exhaust - hi flo cat (or not cat if your cool like me) - dump/front pipe $1000

- trust airnix air filter $140

- gtr front mount, or cheap fmic kit $300-450

- turbo tech boost controller $30

$1500 all up your cheering, maybe even have some change for few stickers to add more kw's

[DSTROY]

my car is RB25DETT NEO R34GTT...im actually looking for a good hi-flow cat at the moment..anyone knows where i can pick one here in Melb.??

So your saying you have a twin turbo RB25 because your car is a GTT?? or do you have a custom twin turbo setup??

[madbung]

So your saying you have a twin turbo RB25 because your car is a GTT?? or do you have a custom twin turbo setup??

I think his t-turbo has a st-stutter, better get that fixed first.

Why is this thread on pods and exhausts in the styling and cosmetic mods area?

[GTR-N1]

I think his t-turbo has a st-stutter, better get that fixed first.

Why is this thread on pods and exhausts in the styling and cosmetic mods area?

...cause cheap pods look PRETTIER than apexi! hehe

Do you have an AFM sitting behind your pods?

If you do, and to free up breathing, I'd go for Apexi Pods + 3" dumps + 3" Hi Flo Cat + larger rear piping

'cause apexi is a high quality DRY filter

If you don't have an AFM (because some people have an ECU like HKS F-Con Pro that operates without one), I'd go for K&N + 3" dumps + 3" Hi Flo Cat + larger rear piping 'cause K&N is a high quality WET filter. Apexi is still perfectly OK here too.

Like someone said earlier tho' a panel filter loses very little to a set of pods. In fact, it's possible to get a K&N panel.

Re-oiling has to be done with care and AFMs don't like it if excess oil is applied to the filter.

HKS pods performed poorly in tests for both i) flow rate and ii) filtering efficiency.

There are links at Toyota Forums (if not here) about efficiency of pod filters.

So if you continue to use cheap pods and you live in a smoggy district, I'd tend to chuck them out (for new ones) every 20,000Km unless tests say otherwise.

[gtrkiet]

trust airnix are proven to be the best!

[myRB25DETT]

...cause cheap pods look PRETTIER than apexi! hehe

Do you have an AFM sitting behind your pods?

If you do, and to free up breathing, I'd go for Apexi Pods + 3" dumps + 3" Hi Flo Cat + larger rear piping

'cause apexi is a high quality DRY filter

If you don't have an AFM (because some people have an ECU like HKS F-Con Pro that operates without one), I'd go for K&N + 3" dumps + 3" Hi Flo Cat + larger rear piping 'cause K&N is a high quality WET filter. Apexi is still perfectly OK here too.

Like someone said earlier tho' a panel filter loses very little to a set of pods. In fact, it's possible to get a K&N panel.

Re-oiling has to be done with care and AFMs don't like it if excess oil is applied to the filter.

HKS pods performed poorly in tests for both i) flow rate and ii) filtering efficiency.

There are links at Toyota Forums (if not here) about efficiency of pod filters.

So if you continue to use cheap pods and you live in a smoggy district, I'd tend to chuck them out (for new ones) every 20,000Km unless tests say otherwise.

my car isnt twin turbo btw, its ER34 rb25 det gtt..its single turbo...

...cause cheap pods look PRETTIER than apexi! hehe <--- so true lolz...and the cheap filter only last every 10,000k so i have to change it anyway, but im thinking of getting the apexi filter next time..i hope its reusable??

[GTR-N1]

my car isnt twin turbo btw, its ER34 rb25 det gtt..its single turbo...

...cause cheap pods look PRETTIER than apexi! hehe <--- so true lolz...and the cheap filter only last every 10,000k so i have to change it anyway, but im thinking of getting the apexi filter next time..i hope its reusable??

Reuseable? Yep!

It came 2nd and 4th in tests for flow and filtering as I recall in one set of analyses.

[gtrkiet]

lol @ rb25deTT NEO thats epic....

[parkie]

I think his t-turbo has a st-stutter, better get that fixed first.

Why is this thread on pods and exhausts in the styling and cosmetic mods area?

LOL, gold.

My 3A Racing pod was heaps cheaper than that and its rated 1st in flow and 2nd in filtration, compared to all big brands. Cheap exhausts sound bad, Kakimoto all the way! As long as the exhaust is 3" or above from the Turbo back(dump pipe, front pipe, cat converter, cat back) you should be fine. If you knock out the insides of a cat converter out you gain some extra power. Just pray the cops don't notice.

[Wacky Dee]

if you gut your cat EVERYONE driving behind you will notice because of the stench coming out of your exhaust ... and you're risking a $10,000 fine afaik all for a measly 5-10hp extra ? Please don't give idiotic advice to newbies..

Edited April 13, 2009 by Delta Force

[smok74]

With my previous setup in my RB25DET (R33), I was running the standard airbox with a hi-flow paper filter and pushing 270rwkw with a hi-flowed standard turbo, it wasnt until upgrading to a GT3582R (hi mounted) that I went to a pod filter, this is because of the 4 inch inlet on the GT35 compressor that I had to change the inlet pipe leading into the turbo from the filter, so I installed a 4-inch pod.... I didnt see the need in changing to a pod until I needed to.

With a relatively standard low mount setup, there is really no need in going to a pod filter unless you want to be a cop bait. In terms of performance, what I found that is more important is the actually the factory rubber induction pipe going from the air flow meter to the turbo, this factory item tends to collapse and suck itself close under higher boost... a good mod is to replace this with an alloy/metal item, I've seen an alloy version of this pipe with all the necessary clamps and hoses going on Ebay for around the $100 - $120 mark... a good investment if you want to give your Skyline a mild boost-up.

With the exhaust, everything from the factory after the turbo are considered as restrictions....ie dump/down pipe, cat convertor etc... It doesnt really matter what brand you use, go with 3 inch minimun (including the cat convertor as this is probably the biggest restriction in your system !!) and it should be sweet for a long time. What I would do with your first stage of tune is to go with a split-style dump pipe where there are two seperate pipes for the main dump and internal wastegate merging into a 3 inch down pipe (around $200 - $300 on Ebay), a 3 inch cat (Ive seen these by X-force for about $170 on Ebay) and a 3 inch system after the cat - you can go for a cheap chinese stainless system for about $300 all the way up to a all-out ridgy-didge system for over a grand....a pipe is a pipe.....as long as you have a decent muffler somewhere in your system to keep it below 91 db or the EPA and/or cop will give you grief.

Keeping in mind that a 3 inch system would support up past 400rwkw, the only thing that you would need to change later on is the dump pipe if (and when) you decide to go to a high mount setup such as I have.

the factory ECU is okay for the factory injectors, once you push past the limits of the factory injectors, then you would want to stick in a Walbro intank 255lt/hr pump and a adjustable fuel pressure regulator to up your base pressure to squeeze a bit more out of the factory injectors... However, the better option is, use the Walbro intank pump to feed a surge tank (rather than a boot mounted, one that you mount under the car is a better option in terms of avoiding defects) then use a Bosch 044 (capable to support 350rwkw) to slam the fuel into a set of 720cc.. THIS IS WHEN YOU NEED TO UPGRADE YOUR ECU to something like a PowerFC (extremely user friendly) or a Haltech (Every Tom, Dick & Harry knows how to tune one of these !!) to drive the new injectors as these are now outside the scope of the factory computer.

There are a lot of morons with Skylines that make UNNECESSARY MODS to their cars and all it seem to achieve is score themselves defects galore.... ONLY make changes when its necessary to enhance the performance by removing the restrictions imposed by the factory parts..... AND go thru the small effort to get any mods engineered and you will have no hassles by the cocks....oops...cops.

Happy Skylining....