R35 Power

[LSX-438]

I am constantly surprised at how good the R35 is; my car has just basic bolt-ons and an E85 tune. About 390awkw and the thing is docile as a Maxima. 10.7 @ 132mph, great circuit times too, yet anyone could drive it to the shops. It's an astonishingly versatile car.

Cars with similar power can be total P!GS to live with.

However, it's becoming clear GTR's are capable of much bigger numbers.

Question is, how much is too much?

700awhp, 800, 1000?

At what point do we start destroying the drivability of the car?

With other cars i've had, i can isolate the point at which i crossed the line, the car stopped being fun, it became a chore to live with, and the gains on the track were not as linear as you would first imagine.

Anyone with honest/frank thoughts on this? (for R35)

Edited October 5, 2010 by LSX-438

[handbrake]

My car runs 450awkw with the willall turbos and e85. Drives like stock.

[g35me]

LSX-438 what are the basic bolt-ons that you have, I remember reading a post that you had done a midpipe and tune only. Has there been anything beyond that now? What is the E85 tune, is that much different to the Stage 3 Willall tune?

[LSX-438]

My car runs 450awkw with the willall turbos and e85. Drives like stock.

Mark, how do you feel about 450awkw, do you think the car can take more power (and use it) on the circuit?

[handbrake]

Mark, how do you feel about 450awkw, do you think the car can take more power (and use it) on the circuit?

interesting question. I would say another 50-70 kw would still be useful. I really have to feather the throttle in corners with that power for much longer than I did when stock but it is linear and controllable. the extra power really sees the time on the straights plummet.

I also reckon with more experience I will obviously be able to progressively use more power earlier. I am carefully monitoring how early I am getting on the throttle, % throttle inputs and time to full throttle on my lap data, a handy feature with the Vbox can module. you can see the % throttle input on my videos, it isn't much coming out of some corners before I feel it getting loose. mind you I have never tracked with new tyres, always used second hand slicks which I personally get a an extra couple of days out of to save money on rubber! next year we are looking at a new custom turbo and exhaust manifold setup to get another 70kw or so, challenge will be responsiveness and linear delivery. if you want an out of the box solution the HKS 800 or the Alpha 10 package from AMS may get you this over the willall turbos, I dont know. the AMS guys seem to run pretty high boost though I think and I have no idea how linear there power delivery is. I suspect they start suffering the trade off top end power/responsiveness.

The willall turbos though do a great job and the balance of top end and mid range responsiveness is a big improvement, easily reflected in lap times coming down. they are a pretty cheap option too when compared to other turbo solutions

[LSX-438]

The 2nd hand slicks are great value for what they are, but there is nothing like the grip with the new ones. You have to try them. It's almost a crime to use 2nd hand slicks, given the capability of your car.

I wish there was a way to make them more affordable.

[adis]

U bought a grt but cant justify buying new slicks. Cmon man! Its like buying a gtr and using cheap fuel to run it.

[LSX-438]

U bought a grt but cant justify buying new slicks. Cmon man! Its like buying a gtr and using cheap fuel to run it.

New slicks are $3200/set and (depending on compound) may last as little as a single day.

It's pretty simple.

2nd hand ones are great for practice/setup and working out what works in terms of diameter/width etc etc.

Even 2nd hand slicks can be WAAY better vs r-specs (costing 10x the price of 2nd hand ones).

[Beer Baron]

personally I reckon at 450awkw you are getting close to the limit of what LSX is talking about. With much more power the car will start to become a real handful on track and times won't necessarily improve, on top of that reliability will start to become questionable and of course costs for consumables goes up. as you've found in the past, as maintenance costs go up at some point fun goes down.

it's all speculation though, maybe the happy point on a 35 is more like 500awkw, but personally I reckon around 400awkw is the happy point. you can get there without spending a fortune on bolt ons or internals, car still behaves nicely, electronics aren't having too much of a fit all the time, and maintenance costs shouldn't be much worse than a standard one. so you are getting a lot of fun for not much money.

consider though in a 32 GTR that happy point is more like 280awkw. after that it's big money on turbos, reliability gear etc and drivability starts to suffer from 350 onwards. so things have certainly improved!

[handbrake]

I recently had Paul Stokell drive the car. he was really impressed at the performance. looking at the data he sets the car up faster and gets to full throttle much quicker. an example is the hairpin turn 6 at QR where he gets it on full throttle 40-50 m earlier. this results in about 7kmph higher terminal speed in the straight. there are a few other tricks to the circuit but I wont divulge them all here

despite all this we reckon technique and set up are still yet to be maximised to make use of all that power in the corners

after planning the next few mods for this summer we have decided to leave the car at current power levels (435awkw - 580awhp) with the willall turbos

we have further lightening mods, a roll cage and some suspension tuning to happen for the new year.

new track wheels arrive next week! 10.5 up front and 12 inch out back.

12 inch rears should help get the power down better out of the corners

[Martin Donnon]

I think the trick is balancing lag with power as the R35 is a heavy beast to get moving out of the corners, give it a torque hole for another 500rpm and it will be slower. We choose a mild turbocharger upgrade for this very reason. Lowering the weight should improve - everything

[Neil Switzer]

That is why we designed the P800 package, 700awhp provided in a linear fashion to keep stock drivability. Spools just like stock, makes 800hp at the crank, and can be ran through the stock transmission.

[Martin Donnon]

Neil you will find that the Aussies will be gobsmacked with your 700awhp figure as they most done understand the variance between Aussie and US dyno numbers. For those that are interested 700awhp on a Dynojet or similar is almost spot on 420-430awkw on a Mainline over here in Aus