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General => General Chat => Planes, Trains & Automobiles => Topic started by: Ares Helix on March 13, 2014, 09:49:51 am

Title: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on March 13, 2014, 09:49:51 am
So you've built a life for yourself.
Dream girl, dream house, dream car, dream Cat.
Things seem amazing.
Of course, at least from a literary stand point, things are not always as they seem...

With my ER34 GT-t running brilliantly (apart from that vicious twin plate!)
A few road trips, a few track days and more than a few people biting off way more
than they could chew - 2000 Legacy, i'm looking at you (in the rear view) I
was more than happy with the weapon i had built...

...and yet. In the back of my mind there was a niggle. A thought scratching away
like a mosquito bite.

In mid 2012, the next planned modification to my GT-t was down to two options:
Either go with a bigger turbo and manifold or bin the 25DET engine for a 26DETT.
Whilst weighing up the costs associated (including workshop and re-tune) it
was beginning to look pricey, especially since i wanted to go with plan B (new engine)
After weighing up the options my partner (at the time) put forward the suggestion:
"Sell Blue and find a replacement"

After several months of debate and a few more of settling in to our new place,
we hit up Trademe once more to find something new...
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Xsannz on March 13, 2014, 10:28:04 am
Options were?

Drop Girl, Run over cat, Rent out house, live in garage and build a custom build from the ground up???
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Arseynimz on March 13, 2014, 10:41:59 am
Ohhhhhh, an Ares story!! *grabs popcorn*
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on March 14, 2014, 10:02:49 am
In all things there is potential for love.
Whether seen or unseen, heard or unheard, there is always the potential,
the possibility, that we, as creatures of emotion, can find that connection,
not just in one another, but in ourselves and our interests.

I came from an artistic background - son to an English teacher and a Weaver,
brother to an Archivist come Calligrapher - performance music for many years,
followed in to a semi-career dj'ing here and there...

So my question was, and still is really;
Where the hell did my love of Cars come from?

I've lost sleep about this - this unnatural obsession with things of a four-
wheeled nature. It wasn't apparent until i hit about 24 or so either, so part
of me wonders if it's a natural or forced behavior, due to the people i chose
to hang out with.
The fact remains that i'm still unable to resolve the reasons behind my passion
for things automotive and yes, though i know it shouldn't, it bugs me that i'm
this invested in something with apparently no due reason other than;
people like what they like...  ???

One of my oldest friends and long term flatmate, Blackdove (gamer nickname)
recalls how happy i was with my mate Blue and that my now ex-wife began
putting thoughts of changing cars into my head. From my standpoint, it was
something i did actually want, however from his perspective, it's a different story.

Whatever the reason, whatever the cause, trademe came through once more
and after a phone call or two, one to the Guru and one to the dealership, we
arranged a time to meet and test drive the vehicle in question.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on March 17, 2014, 01:17:56 pm
For many people, at least Since the mid 90's or so, their first taste of
true performance motoring came from some form of Video game. The
playstation and xbox game catalog are awash with racing titles; from
staples of the annual F1 simulators, through to the more arcade inspired
Need For Speed games to karting games from LittleBigPlanet and Mario
there's literally something for everyone to be found.

For me, in '99 working at Dick Smith introduced me to Gran Turismo 2 and
the myriad of cars and manufacturers avaiable.
My eyes were opened and I've never looked back

Of all the cars in my garage, my prized possession was my Calsonic R34 GTR.
Setup for Japan's GT500 league, the car was very different from the standard,
but it was more a looks thing. Unlike the 32 and 33, the 34 shape Skyline's
seemed more aggressive and staunch. Possibly because of the angles and
wider stance, possible just on the larger headlights but for whatever reason,
they struck a chord with me.

So it was that in early May 2013, Blue and I made the trek up to the Guru's
temple, picked up Raj and, after apologizing in advance for my inferior driving
ability, headed to the car yard to check out the prospective replacement.

I wasn't terribly hopeful en route simply because of the colour, not only of the
car itself, but also the wheels...
Still when the thing is as rare as these beasties are, you kinda shrug and say
oh well.

As it was, after fighting our way through Auckland mid week, rainy day traffic,
we arrived at the dealership...

...and my jaw hit the floor as we walked in.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on March 19, 2014, 12:05:38 pm
I don't wear Pink.

I have nothing against the colour, or any colour for that matter -
they're colours - but, like Pink, there are many I won't wear, not
for any grand statements about race, religion or sexuality - nope,
i simply don't look good in Pink.

Purple on the other hand is a different story.
Years ago I had an amazing purple business shirt that was ruined
by the careless use of exit mould in the cupboard where it was
hanging. Sigh, i loved that shirt...

Purple has a bit of a History with Nissan as well.
In 1995 they (Nissan) launched a new GT-R as a follow up to the
highly successful and widely praised R32. It was wider, longer and
heavier than its predecessor and because of this, sadly, not as popular.
With the V-Spec variant came several changes over and above the
standard GT-R, however the most noticeable was the option of the now
iconic, inky black, Midnight Purple paint.
A pearlescent  paint that was an instant classic look, it can't really be
appreciated until viewed in person, but when you get up close the depth
to the colour is astonishing.

In 1999, with the introduction of the R34 shape in the previous year,
Nissan revived the now legendary Midnight Purple as an option for the
brand new V-Spec models, but with several 'catches'.
Firstly there would be two colours aptly named; Midnight Purple II and III.
Second, they would be a limited run, 300 cars for II and 175 for III.
Lastly, thanks largely to trends in Japanese car culture at the time, the
colours would be more subtle and subdued...
...wait that's not right, let's rephrase that...
the colours would be bat-crap crazy.

After i was done picking my jaw off the floor, i knew i was looking at
something special, something rare and something far more agressive
than i had remembered.
After a quick walk around the sales guys moved the car out of storage,
i jumped in the back, the guru and yard owner jumped in the front and
we headed out onto the street in a freshly imported, Midnight Purple III,
R34 GT-R Victory Spec.

My first thought was simple - MAN these back seats are comfy!!!
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: toofast on March 19, 2014, 06:30:50 pm
Wow, a r34 gtr vspec, and in purple as well. You are living my dream (except for the purple, much more of a white car person). Must of cost you some serious dosh though.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on March 27, 2014, 02:32:36 pm
Given my propensity for pushing my vehicles hard through tight bends
and my respect for tyres, i've never been one to enjoy drifting. I can
appreciate the skill involved and can do it (in a somewhat limited capacity)
myself but it never really appealed to me. The setup in my GT-t was a
great example of this - although quite capable of drifting - i geared the
footwork (suspension, tyres and brakes) all towards sticking to the road
and getting out of corners fast. That said, when it let go, it really let go!

However, whether you're out to annoy Australians, or just wanting to go
around corners faster than most other cars, the Nissan Skyline GT-R and it's
successors, the Nissan _ _ _ GT-R's, are generally considered some of the
best in the business. So good in fact that they were effectively outlawed
from the Australian Touring Car Championships in the early nineties.

The trick to them was an intuitive all wheel drive system called ATTESA E-TS
I won't bore you with the details but effectively this system, first introduced
on the 1989 R32 GT-R, combined the best elements of a rear wheel drive car,
with the desirable elements of a four wheel drive.
In normal conditions, the car is RWD, allowing for the maneuverability and
agility associated with them. However, when pushed past the limits of grip,
sensors and a specialized computer system, will divert torque (engine power)
away from the rear to the front wheels, allowing for more traction, especially
on entry to and exit from corners at high speed.

With the introduction of the V-Spec models cam the E-TS Pro, using an active
rear differential to 'vector' torque more accurately between the rear wheels.
I'm still a tad uncertain what the actual difference is but from what i've read,
the active rear differential is controlled directly by the ATTESA computer, to
allow more precise opening and locking. Effectively, this minimizes the charcteristic
under-steer so common in four wheel drives (GT-R's especially)

Whilst we didn't hammer it, just a quick up and down the street, I could feel
the difference the extra grip made. More sure footed than blue was from the
get go. The exhaust note was sublime, thanks to the factory fitted Nismo cat
- back and did i mention the rear seats?

We dropped the car back and after running a few errands, I dropped the guru
home and proceeded to my abode to contemplate the massive financial and
emotional decision in front of me.

Should I buy my dream car?

Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Growler on March 27, 2014, 02:38:01 pm
ohhhh!

I am in this boat at the moment (diff car completely) but I have an opportunity to blow $30-40k on my dream car and unsure if I should do it!

I am probably in a much different financial position to you but it still matters!

Do you have a significant other, if so what are their thoughts?
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ninja on March 31, 2014, 08:59:52 pm
me and a few friends are currently building an R33 GTR with the target of making over a thousand horsepower in a daily driven street car, the engine is at RIPS, the body is getting prepped and painted, with aerodynamic peices on the way. For anyone in a place where they can buy a GTR id say do it, that car is absolutely unbelieveable, the potential is endless, it punches way above its weight.

if u want to keep track of our build check out https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tvirus-GTR/489923184459312 (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tvirus-GTR/489923184459312)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on April 03, 2014, 03:06:40 pm
Coming up to my 36th Birthday, i can certainly say that in my life,
things are never straight forward. Sure things may seem that way
but they never really are, still waters run deep and all that...

It took one more trip, with my wife in tow, to decide to buy the car.
I won't say something as cliche as had i known then, or any of the
shoulda woulda coulda bullshit it entails just that i was over the
moon happy with it and life in general.

Given the car was fresh off the boat, it would need to go through
several lots of legal paperwork before it could be registered for road
use. Firstly, given the aforementioned off the boat status, it would
need to be fully stripped for safety compliance. The after-market
adjustable suspension and exhaust would also need LVV certification
and last but not least, due to the age of the car, it would need to
have a special interest vehicle permit squared away. Once that was
done, it could be registered, insured and put on the road.

Prior to all this, i wanted to take it for a drive to make sure it was
actually what i wanted. So i went back to the dealer one last time
and jumped into my GT-R's driver's seat for the first time.

Yeah, scraped the front lip pulling out onto the road from the dealer's.
 :'(
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on April 16, 2014, 11:50:07 am
"Man is this thing heavy."

Not the best first thought about buying a new and relatively expensive
car but it was my first impression, right after;
"The front seats are comfortable too!"

The issue was (and somewhat still is) that after having dumped so much
money into my GT-t, the car i found myself in now felt very different indeed.
When i bought the GT-t an old mate of mine had exclaimed:
"That's 90% of a GTR, TAKE ME FOR A RIDE!"
At the time i'd smiled and agreed - now, not so much.

The weight difference between the two was instantly apparent - the GTR
was not only heavier, but also has a lower center of gravity. The Tein
coil overs fitted to it give an amazing ride comfort wise whilst still staying
fairly rigid, allowing the 18", 265mm rubber wrapped BBS rims to stick even
more securely to the road.

To be fair - I didn't push it in the slightest - just a simple round the block
to get a feel for it. Being used to driving much lighter cars, the weight
came as a bit of a shock, but the car performed well.

Another trip back a few days later and the paperwork was signed...
And the drama began.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Arseynimz on April 17, 2014, 01:28:37 pm
http://youtu.be/4Kj5jpsYM_8 (http://youtu.be/4Kj5jpsYM_8)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Xsannz on April 23, 2014, 01:48:11 pm
must have more updates.....
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on April 23, 2014, 03:16:45 pm
So capital laid out, car purchased - I did my due diligence and began the
calls to insurance companies

The answer was unanimous:
"Until such time as the car has a licence plate, we're unable to insure it."
I get this somewhat, but i disagree with it in principle as there are many
occasions where having insurance legally is a good idea prior to having a
registered vehicle but alas, no one could see things from my perspective
and so I turned my attention to other matters.

Prior to purchase The Guru had put me in touch with a friend of his who
imports vehicles from Japan, we shall name him, in keeping with themes,
the boatman. The boatman advised me of the process we would take to
get the car on the road, all above board and according to LTNZ.
In short, it was A LOT of paperwork...

All cars entering NZ must go through what's called 'Compliance' essentially
this is the stripping down and re-assembly of your car to check for structural
defects, including rust and of the like, sure, but more to ensure the car hasn't
undergone any treatment for which the silly "Serious Crash Unit" producers
would pay good money to secure the royalties to.

Next up and done at the same time - though not always required - is an LVV
certification, commonly known as a cert. Adjustable suspension and major
power changes are usually the reasons for this, however more radical changes
(front wheel drive to rear wheel drive for instance) are also reasons to get this
squared away. Once done, you're provided with a 'plate' to be affixed to your
car, detailing the modifications and specifications for them, so Mr. Plod doesn't
have to think too hard if he decides to get grumpy about things.

From here, you're normally all set to pay your initial registration and get the car
on the road.

However, that's not enough of a cliff-hangar for one of my posts now is it... ;)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on May 07, 2014, 01:39:12 pm
If you're a petrolhead, or indeed a motorist really, there are certain things we
take as read.
We need a warrant and registration to use our vehicles on the road. We
understand that part of the registration we pay is for ACC in case of emergency
and that our rates pay for maintaining and paying for new roads.
The government structures things in a "fair and reasonable" way for the majority
of its citizens (or at least it should...)

In 2001 and 2007 the government passed into law two distinct bills that changed
the performance and classic car scene, especially for importers such as the Boatman.

The first, was a law around the requirements for frontal impact standards on any
and all imported vehicles. The reason to begin checking this was to provide safer
motoring for all road users, including pedestrians.

The second, in 2007, was a law centered around exhaust emissions, in an attempt
to stem some of the CO2 build up happening not only here in NZ but all over the world.
Part of this was also geared to limiting the age of imported vehicles to no more than
eight years after production.

Whilst the success of these two laws is still very much debatable, one thing we are
certain of, is that it meant that a lot of high performance or enthusiast cars were no
longer able to be imported.

The government created yet another rule to alleviate this, called the Special Interest
Vehicle (SIV) scheme.
This allowed a very limited number of vehicles to be imported, complied and registered
for road use, all the while circumventing the other two laws.

PHEW

The interesting thing about this is that it only applies to vehicles over 8 years old but
younger than 20 years old. After 20 years old I'm told that things go back to the standard
entry procedures as outlined above.

But wait, there's more!

To qualify for an SIV permit, your car needs to meet three out of four of the following:

1: The car (sub-model and all) is classified as a classic by these magazines...
     (insert random car magazines here - no seriously...)

2: It was manufactured in annual volumes of 20,000 or less

3: It is either a convertible or coupe

4: It's considered to be a high performance car

NZTA also required proof that you have another car to use day to day.

So with hoops a-blaze i began a leaping.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on May 08, 2014, 11:38:56 am
With the car delivered to the Boatman for storage, the process of compliance
and registration began.
Initially things moved with rapidity - compliance was done in a matter of days,
so to the LVV certification.

Prior to application for an SIV Permit, the Boatman suggested we apply for an
emissions exemption - a more cost effective way of doing things than the SIV
process.

With all paperwork filed the wait began.
Of course when dealing with Government departments, this almost always takes
far too long, and this was no exception.

In the mean time, with the car having been processed, we arranged to move it
into storage at the Guru's, as it had been getting a few looks and comments whilst
in the Boatmans's care.

To do this, we used a dealer plate and set out for, what was probably the most
harrowing and stressful drive of my life. A mate had volunteered to come with me
for moral support and to act as an extra set of eyes during our drive, which took
us from the Boatman's warehouse, to the Guru's garage.

Of the route's available, neither was overly appealing but i opted to head along
Lincoln Road (Henderson) to the North Western motorway for the run north to the
Temple. If you've ever driven along Lincoln Road on a busy day you'll be aware of
how nerve wracking an experience it really is.
Now put yourself in a very rare and very uninsured car worth more than your
annual salary.

Thankfully the fates were kind and we made it to the open road north. In spite of
the lack of traffic i still didn't really feel comfortable pushing the car, due to the
dealer plates and the aforementioned insurance - however the car stuck to the
road like duct tape to a cat's feet.

We hitched a ride back to the Boatman's in his 300ZX, after chatting to him and
the Guru for a little while and then headed home to wait for the paper work to
come through.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on May 15, 2014, 10:23:36 am
If you met me, or spoke to my friends about me, they would describe me
in many ways. A bit of a dick. A bit of a geek. Loyal, annoying, sucks at
telling stories, passionate about driving and music...

Whatever they would tell you, i can hand on heart say that they would NOT
describe me as patient.

I can't remember how many times i called the LTANZ to try to hurry things
along, but in the end all I could do was hurry up and wait.

I HATE waiting.

Sigh.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on May 22, 2014, 11:49:43 am
Governments are terribly inefficient beasts.
I'm certainly no economical or political expert, but it seems to me that
a government's main role is to provide as many jobs as possible to
accomplish as little actual work as they can.

After weeks of waiting I received a call stating that my application for
an emission exemption had been declined and that to register the car
for road use I'd need to apply for an SIV permit.

After hurriedly getting my paperwork together and getting it in to Land
Transport, I heard back within two days that I'd been approved and was
now able to register the car which also meant I could insure it.

HUZZAH!

Sadly the Guru had left the country that morning for a two week holiday.
...
...sigh.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: playerB on May 27, 2014, 01:11:52 pm
MOAR
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ninja on May 28, 2014, 01:51:57 pm
for those lacking their GTR fill here's a video of a mates old car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB2qsj4Tzm0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB2qsj4Tzm0)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on May 29, 2014, 12:07:36 pm
As much as people will tell you in your life that you need to learn from your
past and move on, as we humans are creatures who learn by doing things,
this is intrinsically flawed advice.
Sure, the idea of learning from experience, filing it away and then not thinking
about it ever again is appealing but the practicalities are a little more difficult.

In short - sure it'd be nice to let shit go, but sometimes it's not that easy.

Regardless of our ability (or inability) to let them go - it is true that we learn
more about ourselves during times of adversity than times of peace. Whether
on a personal scale or global scale, we define ourselves through "the struggle
of human existence" and in general, once the dust settles, we usually find
ourselves in a much better place.

July 2013 marked the beginning of a very trying time for me. I was pushed
beyond my breaking point and have never felt so utterly terrible in my thirty
six years drawing breath, however, i found strength i never knew i had, i
fought through pain and loss with that strength.
I endured, however, and i thank whatever powers that be for those who
helped me through that time.

Upon the Guru's return from his much needed holiday, everything was in place
for my car.
Complied, Certified, SIV sorted, road registered and insured i arranged to pick
it up from the Guru's and get it to a security specialists to get the alarm squared
away.

With my erstwhile cousin behind the wheel of his trusty little Vitz, with brand
new licence plates and car washing gear in hand, we headed to the temple.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on June 04, 2014, 12:43:01 pm
This was it.

With my life in turmoil and severely depressed, getting on the road early
and heading up to the Temple would go a long way to relieving some stress.
If that didn't do the trick, the fact I'd be driving my GTR back home certainly
did.

We'd left early, but still hit a bit of traffic on the way through the city - though
once we got past Spaghetti junction things moved quickly and soon we were
pulling in to the Temple.

Now, this is where I remind you that the names of those participating have
been changed for privacy etc. However, right from my first visit the Guru's
garage really did feel special and still does every time i go there. Aside from
the nostalgia, thinking about all the weird and wonderful machines that have
been through the place, there're usually one or two interesting vehicles there
having this or that done.

Today though, it was about the Purple GTR tucked away in the corner, all
safe and warm under its blanket...

As the battery had run flat, we moved it outside by hand - stuck the battery
charger on it and fixed the LVV cert plate to the boot interior. We then got to
giving it a bit of a wash (no wax though!) whilst the Guru worked with
another client on the dyno.

Once all clean, the last thing to do was to attach the license plates and then
head out.



Course, it didn't start...
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on June 11, 2014, 08:51:02 am
There are some things in life you can count on in a positive way, yet it seems we
are all to accepting of "Murphy's Law" - anything that can go wrong, always will
and at the worst possible time.

Whether you're running late for work and hitting every red light or getting to the
Bakery in time to see them sell the last of your favorite Pie, you can rest assured
that all human's everywhere have experienced this.

For me, Turning the key to the GTR and not hearing a thing, was both infuriating
and hilarious in equal measure but either way, with all the other dramas, wholly
expected.
What followed was the Guru and I, pulling apart of the boot of the car in a manic
fashion - both of us cursing more and more with each passing second.

This was to be my first taste of just how different a Skyline GT-R is underneath the
skin when compared to my (now very familiar) GT-T, or any other car for that matter.

You see, we were pulling apart the boot, to get to the battery...
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on June 26, 2014, 11:31:12 am
I get a lot of questions asked about my car.
Chief among which is "How much did the paint cost" and "Why did you choose that
colour?" - sigh.

The next most popular one is "Why didn't you get a (R-35) GT-R?"

As stated earlier, to me the R-34 is the pinnacle of the RB powered GT-R family, for a
number of reasons. The looks? Sure its a handsome brute, but more than that is how
it performs.
When I announced my plans to purchase one to the Guru he asked me why i didn't go
for the new one. I replied that whilst i could respect it and its capabilities and performance,
sadly looks wise i found it ugly as sin.
This follows through to my thoughts about the R-32 and R-33 variants. Given what i now
know about them, shape wise i prefer the 32, HOWEVER the 33 is an all around better
car performance and handling wise.

During their development, Nissan did extensive testing around structural rigidity and
aerodynamics. Whilst the 32 was a good looking car, it was prone to understeer due
to a less rigid construction and had some major aerodynamic flaws. The 33 took steps
to correct this and as such, though it was bigger and heavier it still managed to be faster
around a track, due in no small part to advances in the all wheel drive and all wheel
steering systems, to be sure, but also increased turn in response from having a stiffer
chassis.

The 34 built upon this further and made vast improvements in both areas. The results
were massive, cutting lap times even further - an impressive feat given the test track
in question was the Nordschleife circuit in Germany.

So, what does it mean for our story?

Simply put, Nissan moved the battery into the boot area from the 33 shape to improve
weight distribution. Nestled alongside it are the all wheel drive and all wheel steering
computers, which take up the entire space between the rear seats and boot lining.
However to get to the electronics, you first have to remove not only a strut brace,
running between the rear wheel arches, but also a massive metal reinforcing plate.

Once it was out of the way, we checked out the battery - disconnected it, reconnected
it and after a brief charge, were able to turn the engine over.

HUZZAH!

We then put everything back in place, with the engine still running and headed out for
the run south.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ninja on June 26, 2014, 04:42:15 pm
having worked with various GTR's and with doing our research for TVIRUS, i agree with everything you just said haha, people way underrate the 33. stoked that it was a *relatively* simple problem haha
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on July 02, 2014, 12:32:02 pm
Pulling out onto the road from the Guru's place heading back to Auckland in my
now fully insured and road registered GTR was such a great feeling.

With my cousin in law in tow in his little Vitz, i was careful not to leave him behind,
but even so, once we'd made our way to the motorway on-ramp, i felt duty bound
to open the taps a bit.

Whilst lacking the same boost pressure as Blue, the GTR hit 100km VERY quickly.
The initial torque and the way it gripped the road were unreal, especially given i
was used to feathering the throttle to keep Blue's rear wheels in line until i could
find some traction! No such dramas with this beastie however, with the digital
guages set to monitor boost pressure and torque split, i could see how the car
diverted power up to the front as i charged down the on-ramp, the ferocity of the
car's acceleration matched only by the size of my grin.

We settled into a casual pace for the cruise across Auckland and back out South.
I didn't notice it at the time but Cameron told me that people were staring at the
car we passed them, with the odd one or two taking pictures with phones. We
stopped in briefly to my wife's work as she was eager to see it as well, then we
dropped it off to get the alarm installed.

It was a short run home from there to prepare for my wife's birthday a few days
later, still buzzing about owning my own zilla. It was a great day, but the last one
i'd have for quite a while.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: playerB on July 17, 2014, 03:53:30 pm
moar. i demand moar
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on July 22, 2014, 04:11:18 pm
Never take anything for granted.

Like the Weather, everything can change unexpectedly and without warning.
The one thing you can count on is that life enjoys throwing us curve-balls when we are our most
complacent.

For me, my world blew up when i asked my wife if she still loved me and she quietly said:
"I don't think so."

I won't dwell on it here, it's not the point of the story, suffice it to say that it marked the end of my
marriage and threw my life into turmoil.

Having taken the day off for her birthday and with the car still at the security installers, i made
arrangements with a friend to get a lift down to it and collect it.

After catching up with my mechanic buddy (the one with the Subaru Legacy) I picked up the car and
drove it home, in a rather less enthusiastic manner.
Sitting in my garage I flicked a mate of mine, Chang, a message seeing if he was free.
Sure enough he arrived shortly and we began compiling a list.

Given the similarities between the two cars, i'd decided to swap some components from Blue to
the GT-R. This included the entire Stereo, air con filters, several bulbs, pedals, headlight lenses and
front door windows.

The other section was comprised of little things to be adjusted or removed from the car that weren't
necessary or in "my vision" of the car i wanted. This included the terribly tacky cigarette lighter
adapter, the Japanese toll road credit card system and factory fitted, Japan only, GPS.

With our work cut out for us we started stripping things out of the both cars respectively, fully aware
that we weren't going to get anything completed, but that the busy work and companionship would
be very therapeutic.

We knocked things off at around eleven pm and headed out for a wee drive into town. Too late and
not in the mood for the usual Friday night meet up, we ended up heading along Tamaki drive and then
through to the Museum, then back home.

He headed home shortly after, but given the events of the (now previous) day I stayed up and swapped
over the new pollen filters, finishing up around 3:30 in the morning before heading to bed.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Xsannz on July 29, 2014, 01:44:46 pm
MOAR  Need MOAR
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on July 29, 2014, 11:58:40 pm
The next few months went slowly.

I found myself facing very difficult decisions and ultimately the end of my marriage, saying goodbye to someone
who was by my side night and day for almost ten years.

As stated, I'm not going to go off topic, suffice it to say that even with the car road worthy and operational, i
found scarce little enjoyment in its ownership.

Even so, i began making my list of service items, evaluating the car's performance and getting used to the
differences between it and blue.

I decided from the get go that a new ECU was a must - fuel injection has come a very VERY long way in the
last fifteen years as has Engine management. After how well the Link G4 performed in my last car, i wasn't
going to muck around with anything else - save the money and go for the good shit.

As far as the rest of the car was, well for that i headed out driving when i could sometimes to meet ups,
sometimes to visit friends or my big brother, sometimes just to clear my head. Yet all the while i kept thinking
about how the car felt through corners, responsiveness to throttle inputs and front torque split, made easier
by the in car display.

As my knowledge of the car grew, so did my understanding that there were other tweaks that needed to be
made.

(there were also parts to be ordered, but that's more speedhunter's fault than mine...)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on August 03, 2014, 05:09:42 pm
Brand new versus second hand.

I've been asked this question quite often and while, yes, in certain things brand new can be better
(new cel phone, i'm looking at you) it can also be mixed in with a hefty downside (24 month contract,
i'm also looking at you).

When it comes to cars, a long time ago i decided that i'd only look at second hand. The price of a
new car in New Zealand is, like the cost of Petrol, vastly inflated for, as far as i can tell, no apparent
reason. Yep, we're further away than other countries but our taxes are considerably less and even
with exchange rates taken into account, to me, the massive initial cost simply doesn't add up. This
is most evident with European brands especially, with purchase prices quite often commanding four
times the price our friends in Europe or England would expect to pay.
On its own, that would be enough to put me off, add to that  massive depreciation and I'm done!

Nope, to me a good second hand car will always be more appealing but they aren't without their
pitfalls either.

Aside from the engine (including intake, exhaust, ignition and fuel systems) it's worth remembering
that any second hand car WILL need some time and money spent to sure up its footing. The big
things are easy to remember on a whole. brakes, tyres and even replacement suspension need to
be considered but just as important are squaring away any worn components like bushes, links and
sway bars.

This is even more true when the car you're looking at would have been driven hard, as the extra
stresses will take their toll. As such it's my advice to anyone that before you look at more go, get
your second hand beastie to a stable and reliable place prior to performance work.

Firstly, maintenance of this type will almost always improve the steering responsiveness and handling
of your car.

Second, for reliability, replacing this shit early can save massive headaches later!

But most importantly, it'll give you a better understanding of how the car feels to drive, which in turn
will start you thinking about what you're trying to achieve, performance wise. Laying this groundwork
now will allow you to hone in and focus on things that can be done to improve performance in the future,
that will also work with how you like to drive.

In my case I began to weigh up my options from day one. Suring up the footwork would be my number
one priority, with an aim for a good reliable Street and Track build, with the very occasional run at
Meremere.

As such, taking inspiration from Speedhunter's own project GTR, I began to look at ways to improve
things, settling on parts from Midori Seibi and Spoon...
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on August 03, 2014, 09:46:52 pm
Sorry all, was a bit rushed to pop up last update, have popped in a few edits to
clear up a few points i thought were kinda garbled.

Hope this makes more sense :)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on August 26, 2014, 01:39:34 pm
If you had the chance to go back in time ten years - what would you do?

Would you make big bold changes? Maybe try to stop the death of a friend or family member?
Would you kill someone?
I would ask if you'd play the lottery, but we all know that's a given! :p

With the last BNR34 rolling off the assembly lines in late 2002, aside from a few special variants, it's
safe to say these cars were the total pinnacle of Japanese performance, for that time.
It's also safe to say that as good as they were, they were hampered technologically speaking, in two
important ways.

Firstly, as is the case with all mass produced cars, they suffered from accountant syndrome. This is
something that us military hardware geeks are all too familiar with and we may also see from the likes
of Dell and HP. This is the simple fact that as good as part A is, part B is ALMOST as good, and half the
price, so we'll use that.
The reasoning is quite sound - if amazing components were used everywhere, the cost of the vehicle
would skyrocket, meaning less sales. Remembering that at the time Japan's auto industries were in
agreement about power and performance figures for top of the line sports cars and it's not too difficult
to see why.

To raise the second point, I'll ask you this:
What are you reading this topic on?
Perhaps a PC?
Perhaps a phone?
Perhaps a pair of glasses?
Perhaps a small dog (WiFi compatible at least!)
Whilst I've yet to see any really cool new inventions in recent years, we've come a hell of a long way
in improving stuff we already had! Laptops took over from PC's, then Tablets, then Phones. This rate
of technological progress can be seen in every facet of society, right across the globe, so doesn't it
make sense that some of that progress could be applied to the automobile?
Of course, we know this is true, with cars capable of driving and parking themselves, hybrid technology
reversing cameras, in car displays rapidly becoming standard...
The list goes on, but what about older cars?

At the heart of the RB Powered Skyline GTR's is the ATESSA four wheel drive system, as previously
mentioned. This system requires feedback however, which means a suite of sensors and inputs
feeding information about all facets of the car, through to a computer (in the boot) to determine
how much power goes where. Aside from tying into the ABS and Throttle control systems, in the
dead centre of the car, buried under the cup-holders and hand brake, is the G-Sensor, which feeds
information about acceleration, braking and cornering, directly to the four wheel drive system.
At the time of production, this sensor was state of the art.

At the time of production of the 1989 R32 of course...
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on September 12, 2014, 04:13:13 pm
So the somewhat fighter jet lingo-ish named "G-Sensor".
What is it?
Truth be told i had very little idea and didn't know about it until reading about an
R34 GT-R on the Speedhunter's website. This particular car has served as my
inspiration for a few of the modifications i've now done and i've been following
its development very closely but i digress.

After reading an article about the new digital replacement sensors and how they
worked i began to understand where i wanted my own GT-R to go.
Like the owner of that car, i also feel that modernization should be the focus of my
build, focusing on areas that could be improved with modern technology.

So the sensor itself is described as:
"A spring mounted pendulum, suspended in oil."
To me this sounded like an antique clock...
However as previously stated it is one of the most vital components of the four
wheel drive system. Whilst the analogue pendulum thingy worked well, replacing it
with a digital version meant that the car could react faster to changes in motion,
road surface, etc. meaning that torque could be more actively sent to the front
wheels when needed.

I was able to track one down online and arranged a deal with a friend whereby he
effectively bought the part for me and i gave him the rights to my Eve-Online account,
which truth be told, he got for an absolute steal.

Shortly after the stereo was swapped over to the car I received the new sensor.
Just like the part it was replacing, it looked fairly unremarkable. It took a little bit
to install, thanks to Nissan going out of their way (and rightly so) to protect the
factory unit.

Once in i have to say that the results were not earth shattering, however in wet
weather it's definitely noticeable, with more power being delivered to the front
under load.

The true test came when heading into town one night for a meet up with some
friends. An STI blasted past me and not one to be cowed, i threw the stick down
a few gear and eased on the power.

As the car gained RPM i noticed that this wasn't translating into actual speed
however and realized that the clutch was slipping.
I eased off the power and let the Subaru go on his merry way.

YEEEEEEEEEEEP...
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Xsannz on November 19, 2014, 06:51:43 am
NEED MOAR
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Xsannz on November 20, 2014, 07:51:51 am
addign to your topic, so tempted to buy this and store it.

http://www.turners.co.nz/Cars/Search/Nissan/Skyline/13055199/ (http://www.turners.co.nz/Cars/Search/Nissan/Skyline/13055199/)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on December 18, 2014, 08:05:04 am
Hey all

Sorry for the inactivity but have been very busy with moving and selling houses and dealing with the ex's lawyers.
Will update you all as soon as possible, but if not before, have a wicked Christmas and New Year.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on January 15, 2015, 02:55:11 pm
Choosing the right parts for your ride is always a challenge.
The old adage of:
"GOOD - CHEAP - FAST : pick two" comes into it a lot, not helped by way too many people who'll
talk your ear off about why XYZ is better than ABC because their brother's friend's aunty's baby's
mate's half cousin's one is MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAN.

After a few calls I was able to source a new heavy duty Exedy for a good price. I briefly weighed up
other options but with memories of the GT-t's twin plate still fresh in my mind i decided to err on
the side of caution.

Once i'd called in another favor or two, i headed up to the Guru's with a bright pink box in the
passenger foot-well.
All up it only took an hour or two to get the new clutch in, during which i decided to take a moment
to remove a "blockage" from the exhaust *COUGHCATALYTICCONVERTERCOUGH* to allow things
to flow a fair way more freely.
After a few adjustments were made for the pedal, the car was dropped back down and i headed for
home once more.

A few weeks went by before i'd been able to clock up around 600km as a bed in time. Having had
clutches replaced in several vehicles i'd previously owned, i never thought much of it after the initial
getting used to the new bite point. However staying true to form, with the GT-R the difference it
made was huge. With power now being sent back to the differential more reliably, transfer of torque
to the front began happening more frequently as well. This had a compound effect, as after the run
in time i began to be a bit more liberal with the throttle. Still something was off.

During a rather spirited drive the in car display i noticed that the fuel injectors were getting to 100%
duty cycle. For those not in the know - this is bad.
This was initially only happening when the boost controller was on but soon became an issue when
running on the factory tune of 10PSI.

Not good.

With the end of the year fast approaching, i decided to leave things until after the Christmas holidays.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on January 22, 2015, 12:20:44 pm
The Christmas holidays of 2013 were rough - not being a fan of the holiday season in
general combined with the drama of the previous months and all that...

With the car running and clutch replaced I spent a lot of time with friends, getting
together going for drives and just generally hanging out.
There were many late night runs out to Piha and Muriwai as well as the obligatory
day time meet such as cars and coffee and hard park.

In the first few weeks of 2014 i ordered a new, AEM fuel pump off a listed seller on
Trademe and arranged to install it at a friend's place.

The pump was situated inside the fuel tank (as most are) which ordinarily wouldn't
be an issue...
However above the fuel tank in my car sat the four wheel drive and steering computers
and battery. Once moved and tank opened we were able to rig up the new (and a lot
smaller) pump and re-assemble everything.

Once back together the car refused to start at all - with the added bonus of an error
showing in the four wheel steering system, leaving it inoperable.
As it was getting on for three AM at that point i opted to leave the car with my mate
who continued to work on the issue eventually calling me to let me know the thing
was running again.
I collected it after work that day and was bitterly disappointed by the results. Not only
had HICAS (four wheel steering) stopped working but the issue of the injectors being
starved of fuel still remained.

As I began investigating options around getting HICAS working again, i got a call from
a friend of mine who happens to be an organizer for the Cannonball Run NZ, asking
if i would like to help him out on the day of the event.
Not one to say no to a mate asking for help i replied - sure, what ya need?
"We'll be needing you to drive as a Pace Car at Pukekohe track..."
"Done!"
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Xsannz on January 22, 2015, 01:07:44 pm
moooooar.. i need to know mooooar  i am like a randy school boy hanging on the fence as the girls school cheerleaders run practice.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Lias on January 22, 2015, 01:09:55 pm
moooooar.. i need to know mooooar.

This!
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on January 27, 2015, 01:17:19 pm
If someone were to ask if i were a gentleman, i'd be in a quandary.
It's a loaded question you see, as one of the qualities of a gentleman is humility,
so what do you say?
The best answer i've heard would be to say:
"I'm unsure myself, but i'd hope that if you asked someone else if i were, they'd say yes?"

I can't claim that answer as my own, i think it comes from the great Stephen Fry and
similarly, joking with friends aside, when asked about my driving prowess i hope to
aspire to the same lofty ideals that my ability speaks for itself - in whatever capacity
that may be.

When i was younger this wasn't the case. My late teens and early twenties were filled
with horrific examples of self aggrandizement - some of which i remember in shame,
some which old friends remind me of from time to time. I learned that it not only wasn't
endearing to others but that i really don't like blowing my own trumpet, as the saying goes.

So when Big V called and asked me to be his driver for the day of the 2014 Cannonball Run,
and to act as a pace car for Pukekohe i was quite humbled!

The day started well - a quick stop to a friend and photographer's at Herald Island and
then to the meeting and staging point for the day's drive.

The usual walk around the car park was great. Seeing familiar and new vehicles, catching
up with friends, the usual story.

After the safety brief we headed out - our route heading a short way north from Hooton
reserve, Albany - up to Kaukapakapa where we met up with the other pace car - a brand
new Ferrari 458 Italia in white. It's a comforting thought that whilst looking at the two
parked next to each other, money no object, i'd still prefer to take home my Datsun :D

From there, we headed south through some of my favorite roads. We stopped in at a few
of the "missions" on the way but it wasn't long before we settled into the run south to
Pukekohe Raceway Park - via a gas station of course!
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on February 02, 2015, 01:20:35 pm
I've mentioned before that i find it weird that i'm a car guy.
Can't make sense of it in the slightest and again, as mentioned earlier, i've come
to terms with that.

Thing is - i'm not your typical car guy.
I don't enjoy shows like the 4 & Rotor Nats, i'm not big into drifting or drag racing,
don't set my cars up with flashy exterior mods or guages everywhere inside and i'm
REALLY not into the V8 super tourers.

This said, i do keep up with mates in the scene and will go to a meet from time to
time, but i'm usually pretty disappointed by the "do a skid/spark it up" fraternity.

Around 2012 somewhere, the Pukekohe track was redesigned for, as i've been told,
the V8's. If you hadn't been before, at the end of the back straight there was a gentle
right hand turn, which fed you straight into a hairpin corner. Due to extreme speeds
without adequate braking, the big V8's had a tendancy to understeer off into the
armco at the end of said back straight. So to correct this, the track was significantly
redesigned with a dogleg style corner built just prior to the hairpin.

The last time i'd been on the Pukekohe circuit was for BMW Driver training, using
2010 530D's in M sport mode to belt around the old track. It was great fun but today
was my own car which made me excited and nervous in equal measure!

At Pukekohe the rules are similar to most other tracks - Overalls and Helmet are required
to allow you to romp around the track - however a good chunk of the Cannonball's
contestants are families or groups of friends out for a mad day in the Sun and as such
generally don't have the above. So Big V had got me and the Ferarri in to act as pace cars,
with people to stay at a steady pace behind us.

It didn't last long - but it was the thought that counted.

The first couple of laps i did were taken quite steadily, to get my eye in so to speak.
After a brief pit in though things started to get more serious.
I took a few people around who made a few positive comments about my driving ability -
a little embarrassing but kind none the less! - but it wasn't until my second to last run of
the day that i felt truly proud of my driving.

After about half an hours rest, spent talking to friends and checking out some of the
great cars around, i jumped in and was herded down to the front of the traffic waiting to
get onto the track. Sitting at the front of the queue was a very worked RX7 FD3s - to
this day still one of the prettiest cars ever built in my ever so humble opinion!
We waited for about ten minutes or so before we were given the go ahead to head down
the pits onto the track, however, just before we did, the 458 came into view right behind
me.

No words were exchanged, none were needed, we were waved onto the track and, at the
end of the pit lane it was on.

I managed to hold him off from the pits down to the first corners, the GT-R's legendary
acceleration holding true. I pushed through the tight and familiar lines of the first s corners
and down into the long extended right hand turn on to the back straight.
As I was on power all through the turn a opened up a considerable lead here, but with the
458's power it was almost eaten away by the right hander into the new corners.
As the Ferarri's driver wasn't as experienced he was on the brakes sooner. After the new
turns and hairpin i'd once again opened a bit of a bigger gap which continued through
the last few corners and on to the home straight. At the start/finish line he screamed past
me but i honestly didn't care. In my broken car that was untuned, running very rich on factory
boost of 10PSI i'd been able to hold off one of Italy's greatest driving machine's for a whole
lap of Pukekohe.

Yep, that was a hell of a good day! I honestly think you could have seen my smile from space!
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on February 23, 2015, 02:17:39 pm
Whether you're getting accounts in order, organizing a get together with friends or
planning ahead for a holiday - there's a certain something about getting small tasks
out of the way. Sitting down on a Saturday for lunch is infinitely more rewarding
knowing that you don't have to get up in 20 minutes to do the vacuuming, as
another example. I suppose it's to do with being raised to value work vs reward, as
most of us are, from a young age...

With the Cannonball behind me, it was time to focus on some tidy up issues.
With a warrant looming, the terrible Indoradial tyres were of concern, as was the still
unresolved HICAS steering issue.

It took some time to get money in place to get this sorted but upon receipt of the
money from the sale of Blue, I placed orders for a few parts.

First on the list were Spoon rigid collars. For those unfamiliar with Spoon, it's a tuning
company that's known for tuning and upgrading Honda. Unlike Mugen, Honda's own
in-house tuning company, Spoon are a separate entity and as such, are at liberty to
develop parts for other manufacturers as well. I managed to find a set of the collars on
a forum, as the purchaser had found his vehicle already equipped with them!

Next up was ordering the new ECU through the Guru. He placed the order and had it
shipped to his place for safe keeping. As with the GT-t, i decided to go with a Link G4+.

To go with the ECU, i ordered up-rated Siemens fuel injectors, a Nismo fuel pump to
replace the dodgy AEM that wasn't performing and a Tomei fuel pressure regulator to
ensure fuel flow was consistent.

Tyres were next up and through a friend I was able to get a damn good deal on a full
set of newly released Falken FK453's. Whilst not top of the line they were a damn site
better than the terrible tyres I had on it from purchase!

With parts lined up I began to book the car in to various shops to get things rolling.
First on the list was to sort the HICAS issues. After a few calls around getting quotes
for labour and fault finding that would make lesser men weep and further diagnosis by
a friend at Nissan North Shore, I found help in the most unlikely of places.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: playerB on August 19, 2015, 09:25:55 am
aaaaand then?
man i forgot about getsome and this epic thread
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Lias on August 19, 2015, 10:29:05 am
aaaaand then?
man i forgot about getsome and this epic thread

+1
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on May 23, 2016, 06:49:12 pm
 ;)

So yeah - i've been busy.
Lemme apologize...
https://youtu.be/N1wF2bC10lA?list=LLIS6DXToe-9aX0pkJrKsT9A (https://youtu.be/N1wF2bC10lA?list=LLIS6DXToe-9aX0pkJrKsT9A)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on May 24, 2016, 01:15:51 pm
Issues issues issues.
Unless you're a magazine company, people in general have issues with having issues.
Could be something easy: My toe nails are too long, i should clip them.
Could be something hard: Hmmmm, seems i should have stuck to meters for programming,
maybe the next Mars lander will do better.
Either way, we all deal with them in our own way.

Though i'm not a superstitious person, when it comes to my stupid purple car i'm slowly being
convinced that it's cursed. Fixing one issue has generally led to something else, which has led
to something else, leading eventually back to the first issue.
Circle chases, gotta love 'em!

After a largely fruitless search for assistance and a couple of Diagnostic readouts that confirmed
that there was an issue with HICAS but annoyingly didn't give any description of where the issue
was.
In desperation, I called Bob and he agreed to get the car in.
A nervous day was spent waiting and hoping but I got the call at around 4:30pm advising that
they'd fixed the issue and that i could collect the beastie.
After a quick chat to Bob and his team, they showed me the rear wheels doing their thing whilst
the car was up on a hoist and I drove away with a now working 4 wheel steering system.

One thing down, many many more to go!

The next week I had the car in to the team at Pit Stop botany to get my collars fitted and a couple
of bushes replaced. A day's worth of in and out and they were sorted as well.
Sadly though with funds being very tight and the car in desperate need of new Tyres and an
alignment the difference wasn't totally apparent afterwards but thankfully I wouldn't have to wait
long!

That Friday I had the car in to Discount Tyres, once again at Botany Downs, for the new Falkens
and an alignment. The whole process went quickly and smoothly and upon picking the car up I
was once again amazed at the difference.
I'd gone from a very benign, almost sterile driving experience - a friend of mine described it as
"dead" feeling - to a more responsive steering feel with far more feedback through the seat and
steering wheel, thanks largely to the new bushes and Spoon collars. The tyres were (and still are)
a great blend of performance and economy but they do tend to get pretty loud on coarse chip seal.

It still wasn't perfect, but it was a massive improvement!

If only there was a way to change other areas too... ;)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on May 27, 2016, 10:48:19 am
It's easy to get caught up with what other people are doing, how they're doing it and why,
peer pressure and all that.
The problem being is that you loose focus. You get pulled into what the neighbors are doing
with their lawns, what your family are doing with their relationships, what the cat is doing
with the ball of yarn...
It seems that as a species, we work in a pack (or herd if you're a fan of the Ice-Age movies)
for the betterment of our'society' and for the sake of human advancement.

Of course this isn't without its pitfalls.
Whilst it's beneficial to work together for a common goal, working in close proximity with
others will generally lead to issues, tall poppy syndrome is a very real and very detrimental
thing not only in social circles but in work and home life too as is falling into the same
'groove' as people content to coast along putting in the bare minimum of efforts.
Also and more importantly, this leads us to loose sight of our own goals and ambitions,
over time substituting them for the the goals of others around us, which can lead to the
abandonment of our own dreams.

Woah, heavy stuff for a Friday morning indeed!

In car circles, keeping up with the Jones's is a terrible idea.
For a start, what works well on one vehicle is potentially terrible for another - even if
they're the same make and model, no two vehicles are the same. Even from factory,
whilst very similar, there will be subtle differences, not to mention its service history or
wear and tear. Further to this, and to the point - what one person wants out of car can
sometimes be very different to what someone else wants.

Recently I've had a few off hand comments about HP figures heading my way.
I won't go into the specifics about where the car's at (SPOILERS MUCH!) but what i can
share is that i have no interest in building my car to a billiontymillion horse power.
To me balance has always and will always be my main priority and i don't believe that's
achievable with that sort of power under the hood.
Thinking about where I drive MOST of the time, a solid responsive tune and decent money
spent on handling will win out over big numbers any day of the week - absolute power
and all that.

With a couple of basics handled, the collars fitted and new Tyres on, it was time to get to
the Guru and sure up the tune.
The weekend prior to heading up we ripped into the fuel tank and got a genuine Nismo
fuel pump in, after the success of the unit i installed in Blue, this was always going to be
my first pick (let's not mention the dodgy AEM unit, ahem) and the difference between
the two was night and day. Much, much louder than the stock, but flowing much, much
more - the injectors were now no longer starved of their go-go-juice. HUZZAH!

Whilst at the Temple, new siemens injectors were fitted, wiring was done and MAP sensor
mounted. Things were progressing well over the course of the day at the temple, even the
Guru was in a great mood!
"Wait," I hear you cry, "You said it's a cursed car!"

We got the Link G4+ into the car aaaaaaaaaaaaaand it decided to bust out it's not starting
routine.
Cue Shatner:
"KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN"

I arranged a lift home with Dave, who'd very kindly picked me up from the Temple and
arranged to head back up to collect it the next day - fingers crossed and all that.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Lias on May 27, 2016, 11:17:09 am
Yay for 2 updates in a week. More more!
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on May 31, 2016, 12:38:31 pm
There are times where things go right, in life, that by in large we all take for granted.
Though i try to remember to be thankful when things go well, i'm very much guilty of just
taking it as read that things are going well.
It's usually when we're in our moment of calm that life throws a spanner in the works to
keep us on our toes - to serve as a reminder not to get too comfortable.
When s**t goes sideways, we need to take a moment to process things, get to grips with
whatever has us stymied and do our best to find a solution.
This is where I get a bit stuck.
Too often i come down on myself too hard, beating myself up over my own glaring (to me)
ineptitude and incompetence, leaving me grumpy and depressed. The worst thing is when my
friends think i'm angry at them which simply isn't the case.
I try to reign some of this in but it seems ingrained in me from a young age...

So, i arrived the next day in my work car (Toyota FunCargo) once again with a very heavy heart
expecting to be in for a day of much cursing and little progress however i was to be in for a bit of
a pleasant surprise.
The Guru had narrowed down the problem to the newly fitted injectors simply not doing what
they should after the Link had been fitted but he'd never had this issue previously. The issue was
quickly identified after a few calls to Link NZ.
They suggested that the biggest difference between the 32, 33 and 34 (for tuning at least) is the
fact that the 34 uses a series of micro-controllers to individually control various components,
commonly called a CAN (Controller Area Network) bus, wheras the 32 and 33 are more traditional
in their component setups.
What this meant was that the injectors were isolated on a specific controller sub-section which
was tied into the factory installed Siemens security module. As it would turn out, the previous
intermittent starting issues, experienced with the car since its arrival in NZ were caused because
of this security unit totally disabling the injectors.

No fuel, no go. Pretty straight forward really!

With a whole bunch of stuff making much more sense, the Guru isolated the issue with the Link
and all of a sudden the car started.
After a bit more tweaking we corrected the incredibly advanced timing (geared more towards top
end RPM) removed the somewhat over-protective security module (the new alarm was taking care
of things anyhow) and re-routed the injector control.

Things proceeded quickly and after a few Dyno runs we had a fully tuned and operational BNR34.
We settled on a high/low boost option, similar to that in Blue, a simple toggle switch to change
between 9PSI low boost and 15PSI high with the redline pulled down from the factory 8,000rpm
to 7,000rpm on account of the old valve springs. The difference was night and day and we ended
up with 305kw at the engine. A few other little bits were taken care of at the same time, like
tidying up the NISMO installed lap timer button next to the gear shift but the fact the injectors
were now getting to around 50% duty on high boost was a massive improvement for reliability.

Half a day later and i finally had a GT-R that wasn't totally sluggish and problematic!
YAY!
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on June 07, 2016, 09:59:26 am
So coming up on a year's worth of ownership and I was slowly making my way through
some carefully selected modifications and a lot of basic tidy ups that were desperately
needed. With a few Km's under the belt and a bit more of a feel for the car I took some
time to get used to what had been done and began planning for a few more choice
selections and improvements.

So let's look at things, leaving out oil and filters:

Certified,
SIV permit,
VIN Tagged,
Registered,
INSURED!!!!

Reverted from HKS F-Con IS to factory ECU
Removed Japanese toll Credit Card reader
Removed Turbo Timer
Removed Japanese GPS
Removed single DIN A/C and Stereo
Installed S2 large A/C panel (from GT-t)
Installed double DIN DVD unit
Removed previously mounted Pioneer stereo speakers
Removed factory 6 disc cd changer (boot mounted)
Installed speakers, sub, capacitor and amp
Replace lap start/stop button

Replace g-sensor (Midori Seibi spec Digital)

Replace worn clutch & release bearing
Remove catylitic convertor

Replace fuel pump (copy/fake AEM, lesson learned)
Break HICAS :(

Fix HICAS :)

Spoon rigid collars,
Front castor bushes,
Tyres (Falken FK453)

NISMO Fuel pump

HKS EVC boost controller removed,
Link MAP sensor installed,
Re-wire and replace lap start/stop button (second one died),
Siemens "body control module" removed,
High/Low boost switch installed (9psi / 15Psi),
Link G4+ ECU fitted and dynotuned (239kw / 305kw)

With a significant amount of progress made I can say that the difference to the car was
night and day but i still had a long way to go to get the damn thing working as it should.

One thing I'll stop and fill you in on are the Spoon collars, an amazing upgrade for such a
small and simple thing.
During the production process of all mass produced cars, tolerances must be allowed for
the robots involved with vehicle assembly to be considered accurate. Where a hand built
car allows time for every bolt and screw to be precision fitted and torqued, on an assembly
line we need to allow for errors.
This means that a bolt hole will generally be much much larger than the bolt that holds things
in place, not an issue in some areas but some of these bolts include the sub frame and chassis,
potentially leading to issues with wheel alignment.

The rigid collars from Spoon fulfill two important roles then.

First they properly align the bolt in the hole, allowing for a more correctly centered fit and
second they create a smoother surface for contact, forming a crush flat surface between
the two areas being bolted together.
Phew!

With this amount of work completed it was time to do some testing - rude not to really...
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on June 13, 2016, 01:18:19 pm
Let off some steam.
At some point we've all heard someone say some variation of this.
They should go...
We need to...
This boiler should... ...or it might explode.
You get the drift, to effectively manage our lives, we need to relieve stress.
For some, this could be as simple as going for a run, having a coffee or a smoke,
playing some TDM or CTF or watching a movie.
For a fair few people across the globe, it involves getting into a car and getting their
drive on.
Whether you're popping tyres drifting, shaving .02 off a lap time, getting the volume
up into the red without noticeable distortion or simply going for a drive, the calming
clarity that comes after such is usually a massive relief.

With time running out on my residence in Manurewa, issues with flatmates, my employer
at the time and of course an ex-wife and her family making things difficult for me at every
turn, having a car that was finally fit to drive was critical to my survival and sanity.
Aside from the odd run to Tauranga or Whangarei to visit friends there were (and generally
are still) three main runs i'd find myself gravitating to.

1: Whitford / Ardmore / Maraetai

2: Kaukapakapa / Welsford / SH16

3: Waitakere Ranges / Muriwai / Piha

4: Bombay / Miranda / Kawakawa Bay

Each route holds different challenges to tackle, from the long straights out on the West
Coast to the technical, clench inducing roads around Miranda.
Regardless of the terrain, the car performed well but to be fair, i had a lot of doubts about
its abilities.
Whilst it was still a vast improvement from where i had started, something still wasn't right.
The car struggled to get to 200kph, which even in factory form shouldn't have been too
difficult to achieve. Thinking back, you could have described its performance as asthmatic.
Along with this was a cramp-inducing vibration through the gear shift, a tendency to bottom
out on dips in the road and very poor fuel economy overall.

Time to call the parts guys...
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on June 20, 2016, 04:40:12 pm
Horsepower or kilowatts?
Pounds per foot or Newton meters?
Millimeters or fractions of an inch?

In the end, how you measure things is as much a personal
preference as to how much power and torque you're making.
It's a simple way for our heads to make sense of a vehicle's
performance but comes from a purely mathematical place and,
aside from bragging rights and wow factor, bigger isn't
always better.
As I've mentioned before, when it comes to modifying cars,
my standards and reasons for doing things are quite removed
from the standard 1200hp drag strip monsters that it seems
most Skyline owners are after. After seeing the Guru's 1600hp+
monster R32 GT-R run a few events I can certainly see the
appeal but how often do I run the drag strip?
Never.
I've never been the type for it.
So what about the car?

A few months back I saw a post on social media requesting
"a 1000hp GT-R for an article and photo shoot"
On any other day I may not have given two hoots but for
whatever reason I piped up and asked why? Wouldn't people
be more interested in cars that were built for more than
simple straight line speed? I mean, there's always going
to be something faster out there (AMS Alpha anyone?)
No, for me, I'm not going to chase down that sort of a build.
First off it's expensive but more importantly i want to be
able to drive around town and on open roads without any real
difficulty. I feel too much power would hinder that.

With the engine running well (ish) I began to look at ways
to improve the already formidable handling.

First on my list were new, stiffer Nismo engine and gearbox
mounts, to reduce engine flex and replace the 15 year old,
factory mounts. The Tein comfort sport suspension was to be
replaced and i managed to get a great deal on a set of Ohlins
coilovers and some Cusco front and rear camber arms to allow
for a more full adjustment.
The other area in need of attention were the brakes, which
were in need of both new pads and discs. Having had great
success with blue's breaks, i went for a similar setup with
DBA rotors and Endless pads.
I also placed an order for a new front limited slip differential
(LSD) but the supplier really let me down here and after
waiting eleven months i cancelled the order as he wasn't able
to get the product to me.

This was to be my full upgrade handling wise but i also managed
to pick up some Goodrich braided brake lines, a Cusco master
cylinder stopper to reduce wasted hydraulic movement of the
brake cylinder in the engine bay and brand new Motul fluid.
Further unforeseen circumstances were also afoot, but hey, let's
not get ahead of ourselves now...
;)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Pyromanik on June 20, 2016, 06:58:41 pm
For a fair few people across the globe, it involves getting into a car and getting their
drive on.
Whether you're popping tyres drifting, shaving .02 off a lap time, getting the volume
up into the red without noticeable distortion or simply going for a drive, the calming
clarity that comes after such is usually a massive relief.

Do you participate in any kind of show or competition yourself?
Or do you find the tuning process and the road driving does enough for you?
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on June 20, 2016, 10:23:52 pm
Do you participate in any kind of show or competition yourself?
Or do you find the tuning process and the road driving does enough for you?

I'm itching to get back to Pukekohe again, now the car's in a much better state - just
finding the money is difficult at the moment.
In general though I'm more than happy to go for a run on quiet evenings and early
mornings but usually on back roads.

As for shows and competitions - not really entered in anything major, though was at
big boys toys with it in 2014 (McGuiars car products) but it's not something i'd do
regularly.
The attached pic was taken just after we'd left BBT. :)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on June 22, 2016, 11:21:03 am
When we were young we were often warned of peer pressure and how perilous it
can be to bow down to its influence.
Whilst it's great advice for young and more impressionable minds, it's something,
that i personally think, a lot of adults would do well to remember too.
It's a fine line to draw between tagging along to try something new and substituting
someone else's values/lifestyle for your own.
Oddly enough, i've seen this happen in some of the strongest people i've met, where
those, seemingly more inclined to follow other's leads have stood fast to what they
believe.
Regardless of any personal feeling on the subject, it can be a good thing to get out
of your comfort zone from time to time as long as we don't allow this to re-shape
our own dreams or goals and we learn from the experience...
Well, you get the idea :)

So with the parts ordered whe wait began.
The first to arrive, about six weeks later, were the new mounts for the engine and
gearbox, which were shipped straight to the Temple. With my aim to freshen things
up and improve the feel of the car overall, the new, stiffer Nismo mounts would
help keep the engine in place and translate more power (albeit not much more)
through to the drivetrain. The improved gearbox mount would also help to relieve
some of the nasty gear stick wobble.

I found some time (and money) to get the car back up to the Guru in the first few
months of 2015 and left it with him for a day to get the mounts sorted, which went
very smoothly at his end of things but did lead to a revelation.

When I picked up the car in the evening of the next day the Guru advised me that,
during their installation, he'd found an issue with the Intercooler outlet pipe.
For those not familiar with Turbo setups, they use exhaust gasses to spin one end
of an impeller. This is linked to a turbine on the intake side of the unit, via a (usually)
steel shaft. Simple principle really - exhaust gas spins one end on its way out of the
engine which in turn spins the turbine on the intake side, which forces more air into
the engine (aka BOOOOOOOOST)
Because the Turbo is being fed by HOT exhaust the charged air gets very hot as well,
which isn't good for combustion! So in between the turbo and intake manifold we
usually find an Intercooler which is designed to dissipate some of this heat.

Phew, techy talk done!

The Guru informed me that the outlet pipe from the Intercooler was mis-aligned and
had been all along! This meant that whilst on low pressure (9psi) there hadn't been
any noticeable difference, on high boost (15psi) it had been enough to cause a boost
leak.
I didn't think much of it at the time and given we were cutting into his rare and
valuable family time, we said our goodbyes and went on our way, prepared for an
uneventful drive home...
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on June 24, 2016, 03:50:09 pm
Do you participate in any kind of show or competition yourself?
Or do you find the tuning process and the road driving does enough for you?

I'm itching to get back to Pukekohe again, now the car's in a much better state - just
finding the money is difficult at the moment.
In general though I'm more than happy to go for a run on quiet evenings and early
mornings but usually on back roads.

As for shows and competitions - not really entered in anything major, though was at
big boys toys with it in 2014 (McGuiars car products) but it's not something i'd do
regularly.
The attached pic was taken just after we'd left BBT. :)

So looks like i might be attending the Greenlane Speed Show.
I'll update you guys regarding this as soon as everything's confirmed :)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on June 27, 2016, 12:37:24 pm
Sometimes life throws us curve balls.
Usually when we're at our most comfortable and complacent life/God/The Universe seems
all too ready with a snowball to our metaphorical faces.
It can come in many forms.
Your wife of many years up and leaving you for a Toilet salesman.
Getting to work on a Monday to find your operations manager has resigned.
Going to a New Year party last minute, when you're down and out, and meeting someone
amazing.
The main thing in these situations is to accept that this is your new reality.
Make the adjustments you need to, get used to the new way of being, change what you're
able to and learn accept the parts you can't.
This isn't a revelation, we've all been through this in some form or other; regardless of the
circumstances and scale of the issue, it's the surprise that has the potential to catch us off
guard.

So it was that, within a minute of leaving the Temple i was in for a game changing surprise.
I've said on multiple occasions that, so far, whilst every step of the way the car was feeling
more and more like a GT-r, there was still something missing.
Leaving the Temple we headed along the sweeping left hand corner along the edge of his
property, into a tightening right hander up to and over the crest of a small ridge, then down
the other side onto a decent little straight where I decided to flex the car's muscle.
I switched the display to boost level and front torque and flicked on to high boost at the top
of the ridge, just as we were straightening out, putting the foot down, expecting 15psi.

The engine roared and the car shot forward accellerating far faster than i'd expected as the
boost meter instantly read close to 2 bar (29psi) and ATTESA desperately shunted power
forward to keep us heading in the same direction.
I instantly backed off the gas and switched to the main display to show temperatures,
throttle usage and more importantly injector duty (in a percentage of maximum).
Thankfully everything was in the green - a welcome sight as GT-r turbos do very bad things
when overboosted.
The upgraded fuel system had also helped, ensuring that even though the car was was
overboosting in a big way, at least the injectors had been able to keep up with the fuel
demand.

I flicked over to low boost and we cruised home but even low pressure was a good five
or six psi over where it should have been.

As soon as we got in i called the Guru and booked in for a re-tune at earliest convenience
and had a wee bit of a sit-down to calm my nerves.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on July 04, 2016, 02:20:57 pm
I struggle with mathematics, fractions, integers quadratics (SHUDDER)
can't stand it.
It's useful to know some of the basics though and, as much as people
will tell you it's largely a waste of time, not a day has gone by in
my career where i haven't used some form of basic maths to solve a given
problem.
Whether it's a raw calculation we consciously make: if my customer orders
72 units of something and there are 12 in a box how many boxezzzzz...
Or more obscure uses like the on the fly vector calculations we all make
when driving but aren't consciously aware we're doing so.

As far as anything performance car wise goes, maths is key to almost
every step of the way, especially when it comes to working out what's
gone wrong and where.
In my case; i'd expected a shift of about 15% up in power by selecting
high boost over low. As previously mentioned, my boost gauge had shown
far more than that, but in the back of my head i knew the gauge was
somewhat inaccurate with a tendency to show more boost than the car is
actually generating.
Regardless of this, the resulting 22 or so PSI (about a 40-50% increase)
was definitely not something i'd been expecting.

So the main fault had been found but now I needed yet another re-tune.
The Guru had a busy schedule but I managed to get a time squared away
and at least this time would be a faster turn around.

So I sat back and waited to get the re-tune squared away. Not one to spend
time idly, i formulated a plan to make the most of the dyno time. With
the lack of restrictions due to the Special Interest Vehicle permit, i
decided to open the exhaust and intake a bit.

Firtly i found a second-hand Apex'i front pipe on Trademe for a very reasonable
$250.00 which I picked up quickly from Cambridge, the owner having recently
upgraded his Turbos and to a new Trust/Greddy pipe for his R32 GT-r rebuild
project. The new Apexi pipe is a fair way larger than the stock item and as
such, allows more air flow out of the Turbo's and into the exhaust. Enlarging
it should allow more flow up top and a slight increase of initial torque,
not to mention a subtle change in exhaust note.

Second, when i swapped to the Link G4+ ECU the car was converted from the
factory twin air flow meter (AFM) system to a manifold absolute pressure
(MAP) system. In doing so it rendered the factory AFM's useless and causing
a minor blockage on the intake side of things. After some digging around,
i contacted RIPS in Rotorua and was able to get two AFM delete pipes made
and shipped up to me for another $250.00

I attempted to install the AFM delete pipes on my lonesome, corrected by
Dave, who kindly installed the new front pipe for me as well, since i don't
trust myself when it comes to mechanical work and we were working in my
garage with very limited facilities.
With the new (and used) parts installed it was time for yet another trip
to see the Guru, hopefully for the last time for this phase of my end goal.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on July 14, 2016, 08:14:06 am
Many years ago, someone from Electronic Arts went to the movies.
Maybe they were wanting a Soap Opera and didn't read the title?
Maybe they went along fully aware of 'car culture' as it's now termed?
Maybe the took the left turn at Albequerky?

For whatever reason, EA shortly released Need For Speed: Underground.
It was a colossal success and as we've seen with so many IP's,
spawned Underground 2 - to this day still considered one of the
best underground racing and street culture games of all time.

My tricked out Miata was awesome!

Since then, EA's efforts have been met with mixed success and
criticism, with the likes of NFS Shift and Pro street. With fans
of the franchise the world over crying out for a re-make of the
classic NFSU2, EA has to date, tried several times to get back
to this winning formula in all but re-skinning the original, but
has consistantly fallen short with the dismal Need For Speed (2015)
and the addictive but still lacking No Limits on iOS and Android.
Friends of mine ask - why don't you stop wasting your time with
NFS, GT (PS) and Forza (XBox) and play some real stuff like Corsa Asetti etc?
I still by and large find them fun enjoy the package of gameplay
and music offered by the more arcadey sims with less of the headaches
continually losing by 0.000002 of a second.
Really not my bag.

(Readers: For a car build thread this guy talks a lot of...)

In Forza, GT or NFS (to a lesser extent i suppose) before opening
the hood and trying to get more ponies from your straight six,
flat four, V10 or EV, i will generally up the Tyre quality and
look to the suspension for gains.
Better brakes mean braking later.
Better suspension means sharper turn ins and early apexes.
Less weight allows factory power to be brought to its full potential.

Amongst the engine side of things i had been able to squirrel
away some mods in these areas - with many more on their way.

It's an area of the vehicle that i always consider vital as far
as performance goes and it's staggering the number of vehicles
i've seen where every dollar has been spent in the pursuit of
power, with no thought to how to translate that to the road.
Adjustable Coilover suspension has become a standard on most
performance cars out there but when mated to a poor set of Tyres
the results can be, at best, lack lustre and at worst, outright
dangerous.

With all this weighing in heavily in the back of my mind, here i
was at the Temple, yet again to fix the on-going tuning issue.
Dyno runs are a mixed bag of emotions. It's cool to see what your
car can do but you need to be working with someone who knows their
stuff as a few wrong numbers in the wrong area of the fuel map and
things start going very wrong.
Thankfully the Guru produced the goods.
With the new pipes in, the Tomei fuel pressure regulator installed
and the boost leak fixed, we now had a GT-r on our hands.
We reset the system to the correct pressures (9psi low, 15psi high)
and saw a gain of a massive 24kw power and 18lbft torque gained.
The main bonus was the fact boost pressures were now holding up better
later in the rev range allowing the car more solid feel at higher
RPM.

All up it was a massive result!

Now to get on with the handling!
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on July 14, 2016, 12:28:05 pm
Here's some Dyno charts!
:)

Additional -

Sorry, been a crazy week and wanted to put these up for you guys.
The two Dyno charts show the initial tune on the Link G4+ ECU - Will have a look
to see if we did a print of the initial run, pretty sure we did, will be in a box somewhere
:)

Page two, by comparison, is after the work done to where we're up to in the story.

The date states the 31st of July (though a little hard to read!) almost exactly a year after
the previous tune.
Whilst the step up of power wasn't huge, notice that it's all happening to a bigger scale
but more importantly, lower down the rev range - not to mention a decent chunk of bottom
end torque on low boost!

Engine wise I'm calling stage one complete - i'm almost exactly where i wanted to be HP
wise and the car's engine is running really well.

If only the damn suspension and brakes would show up...
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on July 26, 2016, 12:28:49 pm
With the Winter months here it can sometimes get difficult to
remember that we live in one of the most beautiful places on
Earth.
Sure, those of us born here do tend to take it for granted and
yes, there are amazing sights to be seen all over the globe but
that shouldn't diminish lil ol NZ.
It saddens me a little to think that when people do talk about
our country's scenery they generally tend to overlook the North
Island in favour of the South when truthfully, both have their
good and bad qualities.

Heading into Christmas 2015, with a busy year behind me of selling
a house, moving house twice, changing jobs, developing a new
relationship, fighting off what escalated to be a very nasty
divorce and dealing with a company who, after taking my money
were making every excuse to not deliver the parts i'd ordered,
i was in dire need of blowing off some steam.
I got together with some friends for a bit of a shakedown cruise
and catch up meet.
I met up with Buddy, a friend of mine with a fairly worked 32,
at my place near central Auckland and we cruised out to Westgate
to "collect" another friend, Rider and his 650cc sport Bike.
From there we headed across to the North Shore to meet our friends
at the Park and Ride carpark, Silverdale.
On our way we came across a Legacy Wagon who decided to take us
on, so we each had a go, from a rolling start, lining up and
putting the boot in. Sadly for the Legacy, it wasn't even a contest
and though he kept up with us at motorway speeds, he wasn't able
to when we let rip, poor chap!

It wasn't until Silverdale, where we met up with some more of
our group, that Buddy and Rider told me about the fireball that
emerged from the exhaust when I downshifted.
"Dude, your exhaust was glowing afterwards!"
So seems the de-Cat had already paid dividends (i always wanted
a fire breathing exhaust!)
We were joined on our journey by a 350z and RX7 (series six)
both in various states of non-stock but incomplete tune.

We headed through Silverdale and up over the hill heading north
via the old coast road, eventually joining up with highway 1
at Puhoi. Our plan was a nice quiet drive up to Welsford where
we'd grab a bite and catch up.
We made good time and soon we pulled in and hunkered around a
table to shoot the breeze and chow down on some Maccas.
With food in our stomaches and fuel in the tank, we headed back
south via the almost deserted state highway 16.

Heading out from Welsford, it starts out as a section of 70km
ridgeline running before an uphill right hander launches into
about 45km of roller-coaster like highway.
Taking point, I flicked on to high boost, dropped a couple of
cogs and thundered down the road.
After a few turns and straights I lost sight of my group but I
didn't have time to think about it.
Corner, brake, turn, feed on throttle whilst straightening the
wheel, nail it, repeat.
By the time the 50km at Kaukapakapa came into view i was running
solo, so decided to pull over at the Hotel/Pub to regroup with
the team, who arrived a few minutes later.

We took a breather for a moment or three, letting brakes and
engines cool for a few minutes before we continued on our way.
We carried on South through Kaukap, continuing on to head along
Peak and the Old North Roads. After a blast through the hills
we then connected up to Riverhead Highway, where the group split
up, the RX7 and 350z both heading East to get home whilst we
headed west to link back up to the North-western motorway back
through town which we took at a leisurely pace.

The run had really given me a taste of the potential of the car,
which was still hampered somewhat by its less than ideal suspension
and brakes.

Here's a pic of us at Silverdale :)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on May 06, 2017, 06:07:13 pm
Life in all its glory teaches us that, by and large, victory requires sacrifice.
Staying away from the lofty heights of this weeks Hollywood blockbuster or endless other pop-culture
tropes, we can see examples of this in every day life;
Yeah, i want to stay home, watching shows and playing PC games all day but if i do that i won't be able
to pay the rent/ get a new graphics card/pay off the car/ eat so i suppose i better go to work.
I suppose if Descent Freespace's mission designer taught me anything (rather than just giving me headaches)
i believe we can call this a boolean statement of types - no real point here, i just like the term boolean,
it's also fun to say - yay for algebra!

To get to a point, this is a theory you always consider with any performance modification;
This exhaust will help my car go faster but it'll be really loud...
This bigger turbo will make more power up top but i'll lose some down low response...
I really like these chrome spinners but can i be bothered cleaning them?

I finally took delivery of the long awaited brakes and got the car into a workshop on the shore to
get things on the go.
First off was the trade up from the squishy Tein Comfort Sport shocks. As previously mentioned,
i was never able to set them to a stiffness that worked for the car. When set at their hardest,
the bump steer was terrible and at their softest the car seemed to wobble around the corners,
not to mention that regardless of the setting the car would bottom out, scraping the bolts holding
the rear diffuser.
The Ohlins DFV shocks are recognised globally as top tier suspension and off the shelf they provide
a kit specifically for the 34r aptly named "Road and Track"
The shocks themselves have a unique twin valve system and are height and damper adjustable,
which the car is already complied for as you know :)

I chose to add Cusco adjustable upper camber arms front and rear as well, replacing the fixed
factory arms. This would allow for better alignments, meaning more Tyre on the road through corners
or massive negative camber should i ever go insane. Though cheaper options were available here,
nightmares abound of issues caused by cheap suspension.

Though not considered grade a product, i couldn't fault the combination of DBA rotors and Endless
pads that worked so well on Blue. If i had to knitpick they would sometimes get squeaky when
hot, not something i cared about. The setup i'd be running in the GT-r was the same paring,
though newer generations; Endless MX72 brake pads and DBA 4000 series rotors with the
factory fitted Brembo calipers. Combine these with a Cusco brake stopper, to reduce the brake
master cylinder moving under pressure, brand new steel braided Goodrich brake lines and new
Motul high performance fluid and i was expecting to see some real improvements!

Once again the car's ability to highlight the results of work done were evident when i picked
it up a few days later. For a start the car was sitting slightly higher than previously; at my
request we went with about 2 mm lower than Ohlins' recommendations.
The gearbox felt a bit tighter with the fresh oil and the re-alignment was noticeable straight
away. The first big wow moment came in applying the brake at the top of the garage's drive.
WOW.
The pedal was much more firm and even under light braking the car pulled up in a much
shorter distance. I was stoked!
The new coilovers were also on point, though they'd need some tweaking over the following
months, they were far better suited to harder driving than the Tein but as i mentioned,
there's a trade off here. Whilst amazing whilst rolling on the motorway and for giving it the
beans on a track, but down a couple of ill maintained side streets the ride could be considered
too hard.

So i made the choice to sacrifice a bit of comfort in the pursuit of better handling into and
out of corners.
And i'm damn glad i did. ;)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on September 15, 2017, 02:00:25 pm
I should update this...
;)

Wonder if anyone's still reading it...
hmmmmmm.........
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: AvatarFACE on September 15, 2017, 10:21:19 pm
I read it.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Lias on September 15, 2017, 10:33:03 pm
I read it.
What he said
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Spigalau on October 01, 2017, 04:46:24 pm
I read it.
What he said

I thaought that was 'she'
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on December 13, 2017, 12:41:09 pm
Heading into another Christmas - some 3 years after the aforementioned highway 16 run,
(yeah, i got the year wrong, was 2014, the perils of writing in retrospect right?) - and once
again i find myself getting nostalgic and somewhat wistful...
Could be the fake snow...
Could be the Christmas music played everywhere...
Or maybe it's PTSD from a few too many Christmas carols as a Chorister all those years ago...
*SHUDDERS*
No matter the cause, this time of year is always one for reflection, not only for me but for many
in our (fast becoming non-secular) wee corner of the world.

The last year in particular has been a literal pain in the ass (yes, literal, no you don't want details)
and I've found very few chances to get out into the silly purple car and just drive. Fewer still to
find money for upgrades and modifications!

The new Ohlins DFV suspension has now settled and the brakes have bedded in well.
I'm contemplating slightly softer springs as the car rides a little hard at the moment, though i've
not made any further setting changes after my initial tweaks. I'm contemplating different springs
to complement the shocks if i cant get the balance between filling loosening stiffness vs sticky
date pudding softness quite right. At the moment my partner is reticent to come for drives as her
girl pillows get mighty sore mighty fast when we're out on runs!

I've started getting ready for a few things which will need to be attended to in 2018 as well.
Primarily a belt, seal and water-pump change. Once that's sorted i imagine i'll be needing new
Tyres as well - if the charity drive over the weekend was anything to go by!
The other thing on my immediate list comes from an acquaintance in Hong Kong.
A few years ago i replaced the cracked and UV damaged Multi-Function Display the 34's interior
was renown for. The new unit arrived only about two days after ordering and thanks to his
friendly instructions, took me, a muppet with tools by any standard, only about half an hour
to install and was a massive positive change to the interior.
The clever cookie he is has been working with the displays from 34's and 35's making kits to
retrofit them into older 32's and 33's, complete with custom trim to match. The thought of a
35 display in my 34 is tempting, what's of more interest is the plug in kit he does to give my
beastie a much needed reversing camera! As the rear window from factory is stupidly dark,
this little plug in unit will add a whole bunch more usability, especially for parking and reversing
at night, which is a total PITA even in well lit areas!

Once i've got those not so little bits sorted then it'll be the biggie.
As the RB26DETT is getting quite long in the tooth it's due for some freshening up. If money
were no object, a new single turbo setup would be on the cards, with the Borg Warner EFR
range leading the charge. Also on the cards would be an engine rebuild featuring HKS forged
pistons, crank, rods, cylinder sleeves and pins, all correctly balanced and blueprinted - yum!
More realistically, i'm looking at a refresh of the valve train featuring the HKS VCam system,
new valves/springs/retainers etc...
This is definitely a long term goal but is something I'm quite serious about.

The step beyond this involves lightening the bodywork - The 34r V-Spec is the second heaviest
in the entire RB powered GT-R series, outweighed only by the M-Spec (heated leather seats
anyone?) A point made clear by the fact the M & V-Spec II both featured carbon fibre bonnets
and several other clever weight reduction techniques.
Of course all of this comes with very hefty price tags - not eased by the fact Nismo have started
a heritage parts program, where they've started to manufacture new parts for older R's. Whilst
many thought this would ease the prices of parts, the opposite is true with part prices beginning
to head the way of NZ's 98 octane fuel (OUCH!)

Anyhow, i hope this post finds you all well and please, do remember to take care on the roads
over Christmas and New Year! I hope it's an epic summer for you all! XD

PS:
Just a random thought:
Do Atheists and Agnostics work through the break? :p
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on February 14, 2019, 11:46:00 am
"Life is what happens when you're making other plans"
- Allen Saunders, 1957
- John Lennon, 1980 (ish)

So after a whirlwind of 2018 I find myself in a new job with a new company, working hard to
make a difference and to help out those clients who depend on me and my new company.
Whilst the road ahead will be challenging I'm pretty lucky to finally work somewhere that not
only values its customers but also its staff.

That said, as I mentioned 2018 was a hell of a busy year. Starting off with a new kitten, a second
Marriage and a visitor from the States. A few medical dramas, a few financial dramas, i turned 40
and a whole bunch of selling tools to amazing clients in Auckland as a mobile tools salesperson. I
learned a bunch from my time at that company, it wasn't all sunshine and roses but at least it's
lead me to the place where I am now.

"But what about the caaaaaarrrrrrr?"
Well, last year I think I drove the GT-R about 5 times in total.
Of those 5 times I was pulled over twice, once for a 110km offence just before Christmas (my
fault, but i was being overtaken at the time?) the other instacce I was pulled over for an expired
warrant - whilst on my way to renew it and actually making me miss the appointment. Now I'll
admit that driving a bright purple Skyline is a giant kick me sign to the boys in blue, however it
shouldn't be, as they should be fighting actual crime rather than harassing motorists.

So where does that leave things for 2019 and the GT-R?

Last year, in spite of a new job and a some great contacts in the auto industry, my finances didn't
allow for more than maintenance so I'm definitely wanting to push on with the build this year.
I'll fill you in on where to next in the next few weeks and, as I acknowledge how slack I've been, I'll
make an effort to do a few more updates.

In fact, we need to talk about a fabulous investment opportunity.
Have some capital? Want some financial gains? Just ask me how ;)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: DarkVirus on February 14, 2019, 03:43:58 pm
Nice story, we are on discord now too btw

Alot of us are more active there than here.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on February 15, 2019, 07:47:46 am
So, should i stop posting?
Maybe I should start  blog - are those still a thing?
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Lias on February 15, 2019, 08:03:33 am
So, should i stop posting?
Maybe I should start  blog - are those still a thing?

Nooo, keep posting.. but come chill on Discord too ;-)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on March 07, 2019, 09:17:43 am
Gather 'round team, it's time for a story!
*GASP*
"A story within a story?!? How meta of you Ares!"
"Heh it's an inception kinda moment..."
Ok maybe not but pay attention, there's money to be made!

Back in the distant past of the 1990's the good people in charge of the
US of A changed some laws to help the environment - good call I say,
the environment needs some lovin'!
One of the laws they passed was to do with vehicle emissions, if you're
gonna save the environment may as well do it one exhaust at a time!
(being fair, this was many exhausts at a time) This law doesn't impact
us in lil ol NZ so i hope you'll forgive me for being a bit light on the
definitions but one part in particular would spell disaster for stateside
lovers of Datsun's. You see, in order to check the vehicle in question an
emission test device needed to be plugged in to the internal diagnostic
port, commonly called an OBD2 port. "Pretty straight forward - let's get
cracking!" i hear you shout but hold your hand-grenade there chief...

You see, by the 1990's most car manufacturers had agreed that OBD2
was THE standard to use moving forward. It would make it easier for
all automotive manufacturers and mechanics moving forward...
Nissan agreed to this as well but got there a bit late as they used their
own proprietary plug type (CONSULT) until about 2004.
This meant that, according to the new import laws in the USA and as no
adaptors were allowed to be used, Skyline GT-R's could not be emission
tested and were therefore not allowed to be imported to the states.
So those are the facts.
The supposition starts with the follow up to a small indie documentary
called The Fast And The Furious aptly titled;
2 Fast 2 Furious.
:p

Whilst later iterations of these movies have grown to an out of proportion
action movie, allbeit featuring some amazing vehicles, the first three had
a real focus on street racing and in so, brought the Skyline GT-R back into
the limelight 'states-side (if it was ever out of it).
The iconic circuit race from the beginning of the sequel featured some of
the greats from Japan; Toyota's MkIV Supra, Honda's S2000 with a supercharger
strapped to the FC20 motor, Mazda's RX7 (the same car used in the first
film if legend holds) and Nissan's R34 Gt-R (it was a GT-t with a kit, but hey,
it's a movie, hush!)
The race ending with Paul Walker sliding up to the crowd grinning like a cheshire
cat and that was that, the R34 was an instant icon.

"We know this, what about it"
Well, to explain that - have you heard about supply and demand? Countries the
world over have access to these cars, EXCEPT the USA who, let's face it, have
a fair few car collectors that have a lot of spare change.

My point?
If you have some spare money and want a good return on investment;
1: Hit up Trademe
2: buy a Skyline GT-R (preferably about six years ago)
3: ? ? ? ? ? ? (wait a few years)
4: export it to the USA
5: PROFIT!

Prices have risen in some instances by 100% some more than that!
So what are you waiting for, go go go!
Oh wait, the price rises are happening here too?
Well f**k.
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on April 10, 2019, 12:35:04 pm
Our species, at least in more recent times, is obsessed with
the idea of time travel. It's a holy grail for science and a
cornerstone of science fiction writing.
Whether we need to know the future to predict the Weather or
the winning lottery numbers, to travelling back in time to
right wrongs, see past loved ones or MESS UP THE TIME STREAM,
as a race we're fascinated by it (causality be damned!)
What would you do given the chance?
Head back to the future to see what it's like?
Go ride a Dinosaur?
Flying deLorean?
Whilst time travel is out of reach for most of us, the team
at Nissan & more specifically, Nismo, have you covered in a
very specialized way.

Given the popularity of Nissan's RB engines - most notably the
Skyline GT-R's RB26-DETT - the aftermarket support has stayed
strong long after production of them finished in around 2002.
It's no secret that Japanese performance car enthusiasts put
the engine near the top of the food chain (if not at the top)
with Toyota's answer to it, the 2JZ-GTE, usually somewhere on
the same list!
"So if I want to time travel, i just use a Turbo straight six?"
"Well, kinda but not in the way you'd think"

If you went to a manufacturer of "things" and asked them to
make you a one off "thing" it will likely cost a lot.
If get together with a few people who also want that "thing"
and get a group buy going, it will likely cost less. Scale of
economy - the manufacturer can spread the costs of their work
across the units made, bringing the per unit cost down and
making the whole process more economical.

With this in mind, in 2017 Nissan announced the creation of the
Nismo Heritage Parts program - whereby Nissan would dust off the
original molds and get to making RB's again!
":O"
"IKR!!!"
The initial roll-out of the program just covered the original
Godzilla, the BNR32 (1989 - 1994) and in broad sweeps, covers
things like body panels, wiring looms and main engine components.
In short, they've had a look at what most people need but can't
get from aftermarket suppliers.
Following on from this, in 2018 they found some more of the old
dies and announced that they were expanding the lineup to the
R33 & 34.
Included in the list are two engine block options; Either the
standard block or the somewhat legendary N1 block (for significantly
more dinero!)
The N1, having been built specifically for race environments,
is significantly tougher than the standard block and is widely
regarded as the go to block for any really serious modification.
Surprisingly (especially to me) the pricing of these heritage parts
is in line with where other companies prices are for similar
parts. The difference? These are brand new and in terms of engines,
that's a massive bonus, as you never know the condition something
that's been sitting in the back of a storage room for years.

Whilst still too expensive for my meager earnings, it's heartening
to see large companies recognizing their own customers and a great
tip of the hat to the glories of the RB's illustrious history.

So if you're up for some time travel, check out the link below to
be transported back to the Mid-Nineties, non-translated webpage!
(yep, non-translated. Told you time travel was involved)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on April 15, 2019, 06:02:40 pm
Heh,
helps if i put the link in;
https://www.nismo.co.jp/heritage_parts/ (https://www.nismo.co.jp/heritage_parts/)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on July 19, 2019, 01:27:42 pm
When I was a young Warthog,
(When HE was a young WartHOOOOOG)
I used to make things out of Lego. Lots of things.
Things I didn't even understand. Mainly out of spaceship Lego cos i'm a big
Sci-Fi geek. Giant space scorpion things, planetary bases, moon buggies
- i made a bunch of random crap.
When I look back on that i think that i had some amazing designs but
mechanically they didn't work well and would, in the instance of the ground
vehicles, lead to many trips to the chiropractor. I didn't understand that the
wheels were held on to the car through suspension, not just an axle. I couldn't
grasp things such as "engine bay" or interior layout. Looking back i guess they
were more drones or ai units and maybe i was ahead of my time (haha) or
more likely, i was a geeky little kid having fun with Lego.
Either way, my designs were cool (says me) but nowhere near perfect.

In the car world, engineers or designers will often come up with concept vehicles.
Flights of fancy brought to life by incredible, passionate people who often work
long hours outside of company time, on projects they WANT to see turned into
a reality. It's how some of the greats came into being; the Jaguar E-Type, Shelby
Cobra, various Ford GT's and more recently the Toyota FT1. It's even led to
Polyphony Digital's vision GT ideas in Gran Turismo games showing off some
seriously crazy ideas! This is where we get the term "Concept car" it's an idea,
a notion, an indication of not only what is possible but of things we can't even
conceive of, the cutting edge of motoring rendered into something tangible that
you can see, that you can touch, that you can experience.
In a world obsessed with SUV's and family motoring, i applaud any manufacturer
for daring to dream in this way.

The downside of this creative process is that, if the concept proof becomes a
manufacturing project at some point along the way physics will dictate the
shape will likely need changing to be more aerodynamic and potentially less
cool but it doesn't stop there.
Once physics has had its way, the accountants step in asking pesky things such
as: who will buy this? Does it really need all that? What about this stuff, could
we use this instead? It can be considered a bad thing BUT it's necessary to
make cars actually affordable in some sense. I point out the A90 Supra / BMW
Z4 fracas that's currently going on. Yes they're basically the same car but if
BMW and Toyota hadn't collaborated, we wouldn't have either of them which
to me is the bigger shame.

When the accountants got to the RB26 they really had a rough day. For all the
RB engines vaunted reliability, potential and the aftermarket support for them,
the engines have noticeable deficits when compared to other options.
I've previously mentioned the lack of variable timing that can be corrected by
aftermarket options only, there's also the oil pump's drive collar being a bit short
on first series R32's that had a nasty habit of stopping the oil pump, usually with
catastrophic results.
Less obvious is the CAS or Crank Angle Sensor which is responsible for providing
crankshaft position to the ECU to control ignition timing (making sure the spark
plugs fire when they're supposed to)
Nissan decided to base this information off a sensor mounted to the Exhaust
Camshaft which works well in theory, however as the Camshafts are run off belts
this can lead to issues.
Not only do belts stretch and deform over time but just in their operation they are
prone to movement both forward and back due to the belts being jerked suddenly
upon starting and shut down that can throw out their timing by a long way!
The long and the short - they aren't all that accurate.
Ross performance have the solution here, a new sensor setup that uses a timing
wheel installed on the crankshaft itself to more accurately control things.
It's one of those little things that improves efficiency and baseline accuracy, allowing
further improvements to be more effective.

So yeah, this is on the steadily lengthening modification list!
I can't wait to actually get things moving on these upgrades but first, a word from
our financial department!
"Oh, right, ahem, YOU BROKE"
Back to saving for me!
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on November 01, 2019, 11:10:26 am
I have an apology to make, one i've already made on social media recently but one i feel
should be echoed in as many places as i have access to.

If you have suffered or are suffering from toothache, I am truly sorry.
If i know you, i may have not fully understood the situation previous to recent events.
Hopefully i didn't come across as dismissive of your plight.
If i don't know you personally, i am still just as sorry and hope you can find relief and a
long term solution soon.

In case the above was a bit obscure, i've recently been struggling with near debilitating
pain from a tooth with a hole in it, thanks to a neighboring wisdom tooth growing into it.
It's now been extracted but i'm struggling to eat harder foods and still living off pain killers.
YAY!
With more dental work looming all plans for this year's upgrades and modifications are
very much on hold, which is enough to give me a whole other type of headache.
"Life is what happens when you're making other plans" and all that.

The real kicker (and believe me, i'm kicking my own arse hard about this) is that if i had
been more on to keeping my chompers clean and on top of dental appointments, i could
have potentially saved my toof and a lot of physical and financial pain.
The same can be said about the ridiculous paint on the silly purple car in the garage.
I've mentioned the Midnight Purple 3 paint previously. It gets quite a few comments (some
of them positive!) yet people don't realize that the paint itself can not be touched up or
blended. A scratch or stone chip means a whole panel will need to be repainted and, at
175,000km, my Skyline has many paint chips and scratches.
MANY.
Most were present before it was mine but a good number have popped up in the last six
years. I do wish the previous owner had taken care of things the way i should have taken
care of my teeth but i get it, life quite often takes us in different directions than we had
planned.

The money no object option would be to get the whole thing resprayed and ceramic coated,
with skirts, rear pods and a new set of non-UV-cracked headlight lenses to finish things off.
The money i have option is to try to keep things from getting worse.
As such, i've driven the car three times this year (This makes me a bit sad to be honest)
and have recently given the thing a full wash with a polymer coat kindly given to me by one
of my work's suppliers.
The stuff, Rejex from CorrosionX went on like wax and buffed up well, so so far, so good but
this really is a stop gap until i find money to get things sorted properly.
Or until the thing rusts.
Whichever happens first!
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on November 01, 2019, 11:12:45 am
In light of the above, have a pic post washy.
(though you'll likely need to log in to see it)
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on May 05, 2020, 01:05:04 pm
So 2020 huh?
Wow.
This year has been brutal.
Iran v US.
China v bats.
Global lockdowns and mayhem.
Information given about little green people with fancy vehicles.

I've heard tell that later in the year we can expect the discovery of a lost
continent teeming with plesiosaurs.
Regardless 2020 isn't taking any prisoners and all bets are off as to what's up next.

For me this year has seen the passing of my best lil buddy, shortly before lockdown.
Skittles got very very sick and we ended up having to say goodbye which was devastating
to our little family. Our two young lads miss their big sister and spend good amounts of
the day looking for her, truth be told, so do we.

Things with the R have not really progressed much though there's one small update for
you.
A while ago i began looking at options for a cooling plate for the front of the engine bay,
as a way to improve airflow through the intercooler, radiator and into the front of the block.
Cooling panels come in a fair few forms but most being aluminium or carbon fibre.
They're a simple beast to get your head around:
By blocking off the gap at the front of the engine bay, above and spanning across the IC
and rad, the panel creates a physical barrier to channel air more effectively through them,
improving cooling efficiency when moving.
The down side is that if sitting in traffic temps may rise a little as the heat radiating upwards
is trapped by the panel, which adds to the heat soak most forced induction vehicles are
naturally prone to.
A few months back i made contact with the team at J-Tune who actually had some old stock
of seibon CF cooling panels, including an option for the silly purple car.
It didn't take me long to pop down and grab it, along with an HKS circle Earth system to
strengthen the old lad's electrical systems.
I added a couple of new billet radiator mounts from Franklin engineering, for good measure
(with new bushes too!) so as not to detract from the CF beauty, the old ones were quite flogged!

I'll get some images up later - i took before and after pics for once! but for now, sit tight,
keep your bubble secure and look out for each other as best you can.
Hang in there guys, stay safe!
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on May 08, 2020, 03:57:44 pm
(let's try again)

Before:
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on May 08, 2020, 03:58:04 pm
During:
Title: Re: New Car - New Life - New Challanges
Post by: Ares Helix on May 08, 2020, 03:58:28 pm
After!