Are rwkW the latest rice?

[Laurence]

Lately I have seen heaps of posts on various forums about 200+kW Silvias, 300+kW GTS-t's and 400kW GT-Rs...

Obviously people want different things from their cars and while my ideal car would be something that could do the Bathurst 1000 with the only servicing being putting petrol into it. Other people might only want to go a ¼-mile...

But having driven a 200kW S14 and VL and I realised that in both cases the chassis was completely overwhelmed by the power of the engine. I realise suspension can help a lot but if you want a car for the circuit you will probably make traction worse...

I spent a lot of time (and petrol) recently getting the AVC-R on my friend's 2530 equipped GT-R to REDUCE the power as the turbos kicked in. As it was you would get 1.3bar coming in at about 4,500rpm harder than a coked up pitbull... Fun in a straight line, but around a corner it was pretty horrid.

So yeah... I guess I fully understand the fun of having a car that skates around like a hovercraft as the boost kicks in. But when I see cars wheelspinning along at half track doing while 13second passes and hear drift cars on the circuit timidly cracking open the wastegate before having to back off a second later after 1000rwkW comes in I sort of wonder if people are getting their priorities a bit messed up.

I am probably just old and jaded

So basically my point is have people just gone dyno crazy?

[funkymonkey]

The cool thing to do with imports is to make em dyno queens or drift cars, both of which require quick boost, with drift you have suspension and rigidity issues as well, but most people around here ignore that and just concentrate on gettin a responsive car.

The day of track driven skyline is gone. Its an expensive sport and it works against it in the eyes of the young-uns.

Its far easier to put your car on a dyno where its relatively safer and you can't go crashing into things, and i you don't get stupid you won't crack anything. You can then proceed to boast to your friends that your car does x amount of rwkw. Each to their own.

[Blade]

Exactly...

However every time u meet someone new and they see your car...first thing they ask is how many rwkw ur running

should be what time have you run the 1/4'r in, thats a true indication the amount of power your outtputting can actually give u traction down the straight, big deal u have lots of rwkw....if you want to be a dyno queen go for it.

[riggaP]

So basically my point is have people just gone dyno crazy?

Yep, I reckon. Bigger numbers seem to be more impressive. What some of these dyno warriors dont understand (and that you pointed out) is that a lot of the time, the more power then engine has, the less it is matched to the other components (i.e gears/diff/chassis) so if they reduced the power the car might actually go faster (depending on application of course).

I ran a 13.8 with 140rwkw. Some people with 180+ still have trouble believing it as their best usually isn't much better.

[Roy]

Half the appeal of bolting the turbo i did onto my car is learning how to drive.

On the track with the std turbo there was plenty of grip, so every corner basically just foot to the floor and hang on. Now with my new turbo setup i doubt that will be the case anymore, so will have to learn throttle control.... something i realised i had little of after driving around a Wakefield and Eastern Creek in the wet.

I dont even know what power my car makes, it feels about right the one time i wound 1.2-1.3 bar into it, 3rd gear was a little skatey on shitty street tyres as it came onto boost around a long sweeper (For team Trackday guys... the sweeper heading to the Cricketers Arms from the Great Western Highway)

So with D01Js and my diff shimmed up (or a 1.5) i think the 230-250 rwkws is fine an an R32 GTST, its enough of a loose cannon that my driving will have to improve to get the most out of it which is what im after...

Just look at the power outputs of improved production cars, GTP cars, Commodore Cup, Carrera Cup, but not too many are turbos so go back to the Grp A days, you can throw plenty of power at RWD chasis, just need to do some sorting and learn to drive...i hope i have the sorting thing under control, just have to learn some car / throttle control

But i agree, big numbers are the new RICE, which is cool, but going for a ride in SkylineGeoffs car the other week, reminded how crappy a road car mine is, would have been betteroff with std turbo and 150rwkws if all i was ever going to do was use the car on the road

[DoughBoy]

Dyno shootouts are great! I don't know why more people aren't into this sport. The competition is pretty fierce, and there's no better feeling than beating that guy in his souped up V8 with only a T88, internals, exhaust and a boost controller.

It's pretty cool getting alot of attention when you show people your graph, I mean everyone's like "wow that's awesome" and "that's a beast". When I get my car up on the rollers it always gets a crowd. And the sound of the blowoff valve on the overun is crazy, you just have to hear it to believe it!

Best part is it's pretty easy once you've gone to all the workshops and got the best parts off them. After doing the rounds you've got a pretty good sheet, you can always just pick the best graph and use that. At one place I even made 50rwkw more than anywhere else! Was the best, and I didn't even change the car.

Another good thing is that you can talk to people while they're ramping it up on the dyno. Really gives you a chance to relax and watch other people get the most out of it.

All in all I can understand why it's such a huge event at car shows. I wouldn't dream of taking it on a track, such a waste of time, money and petrol.

[benm]

And the sound of the blowoff valve on the overun is crazy, you just have to hear it to believe it!

1 of the highlights of my day at the last EC trackday afew thursdays ago was listening to your wastegate as you went between turns 3-6, aweeesome

[Laurence]

LOL... consider the urine extracted... or wait. No, oh dear... you're not joking? Irk...

I didn't get enough sleep, people are confusing me :headspin:

[ferni]

hahaha nice one DoughBoy...

i never really thought about it, but i guess it is kinda rice... since its not really a direct comparison... the dyno really is a tuning tool...

that said, i usually do ask what power people are running, along with other questions, times they run, mods/turbos etc.. they have... is that bad?

[knore]

Theres nothing wrong with RWKW numbers, anyone with a car they care about for performance need to have dyno tuning and therefor rwkw readings.

Yeh some dynos may be out, but they arent out as many people think they are.

Rwkw is a reference only, doesnt have any creditation like a 1/4 time does.

But in the end, Are all the threads about rice recently actually rice themselves? :wassup:

[Laurence]

Dude you have totally (EDIT2: partly) missed my point...

EDIT: Meh, my bad... I knew this thread wouldn't work out. Whore away...

[Roy]

1 of the highlights of my day at the last EC trackday afew thursdays ago was listening to your wastegate as you went between turns 3-6, aweeesome :)

...and he didnt even fly me in to give me a drive

If you have a 300rwkw Skyline and never have been near a circuit or a drag strip, i have to question wht ...other then for RICE. Each to their own, and ppl should feel free to mod their cars as they please, but for the life of me i dont understand why they spend the money only to run around waving a dyno sheet, the fun is in driving the wheels off the things not spending money modding.

I cant talk, at least their cars are running... Doughboy can you express post your R33 down to Melb, i need some wheels for the weekend

[GTRgeoff]

I'm hunting more power but the choice of PFC was so i could detune for road use and then get back on the track with the full tune..

The really scary thing about a lot of power is the goddam corners come up so quick and with more power you are braking so much earlier and not getting the same benefit as on the strip or the rollers. Catch 22. My view is a car is to be driven/raced. If all you want is a dyno queen (no offence to you doughy as you obviously are getting on the track) than just bring the thing in a trailer and forget the car, you can then bolt up the engine to the engine dyno and not pretend you can actually drive it.

And threads about rice are only rice if you make them into stickers and put them on your car:D

[knore]

dont be so quick to assume ive missed your point

i just posted what i think

if you want to build a 300rwkw car then go for it, its your money, but just because they have a 300rwkw car that theyve never taken to the track or 1/4 doesnt mean its rice or they have gone dyno crazy.

I think recently rice is becoming more of a generalisation than a term

Back in the day 'rice' was a lancer with a milo tin and HKS stickers, now its 300rwkw or xxxrwkw dyno cars?

I know exacly what your saying, dyno figures seem more important than 1/4 or track times, but thats only for the people who dont know the difference

[GTRgeoff]

I think real power is not rice (just to clarify my recent drug induced ramblings) even if it is just a dyno sheet.

Rice is a fiberglass bathtub WRX with less power than a stock rex even though it has a BIG shiny hairdryer.

[Merli]

Yes, people are overly concerned with their dyno figures... It's funny to see how workshop-to-workshop readings for the same car can vary so greatly... It's even funnier to see how state-to-state readings can be so completely out of whack

But by FAR, the funniest thing is how angry people get when you point out to them that they spun up 500kw @ wheels and only run 110mph on the 1/4 mile

[DoughBoy]

Or 258rwkw @ 124mph?

[Laurence]

I know exacly what your saying, dyno figures seem more important than 1/4 or track times, but thats only for the people who dont know the difference

You have sort of got what I mean... not quite

Perhaps I should say, I am concerned that many cars are "overpowered" for their desired application or supporting components. This does not mean that I expect everyone to take their car on the track.

If you want a street cruiser then that is very cool, if you want a racing car then also cool. But having driven a few cars that were "all engine" after about 5 minutes of being silly I wondered what the point was.

If you can't use the power you have then I think the extra power is only there for the sake of the number.

[GTRgeoff]

Care to share that DoughBoy?

[DoughBoy]

I think what you're trying to say is that cars need more balance in them, rather than all motor?