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Awesome thread btw. With that 60 to 100 time I personally would leave well enough alone. I'm hoping to get close to that number on pumpgas with the xonas and stock engine without having to upgrade anything more.
lol. Yeah you can adapt to almost any power level, but when I read about those guys with the big power saying that you can't stomp on it unless you're facing straight ahead, it's a sunny day with temp over 20c, brand new tires, the force is with you, then I realize it's not what I'm looking for. Just a bit more thrust for those occasions when you want to be pushed back in your seat or toying around with another fast car.
Well another year has gone by and happily not much to report as the car continues to run flawless Getting close to 3 years of ownership, almost 3 years of E85, 2 years of 63.5mm VTGs and of course all 3 years running on Sam's tunes. My car is not a garage queen, its my daily most days, speaks to what a great platform this is. My experience has been if you take care of it, use the right combination of parts and people it is very reliable even at 800hp.
Now that the public service announcement is over, winter is coming so time for maintenance and maybe something more fun? Queue the winter is coming memes
Recently I updated the taillights with the LED versions, I think it gives the car an updated look (recommended). I also updated exhaust tips to the Tech Arts which I was on the fence about but honestly they do fit the car nice. I have been thinking of playing around with the compressor intakes and exhaust a little to further optimize the car (would be nice to increase or maintain airflow but also introduce cats). Been testing the MAF-less tune from Sam for about a month now, it runs great and have no issues recommending it. This opens the door for changes in the compressor inlets dropping some restriction there if I move the air filters however at the same time I would like to keep the airbox. We will see what happens and how much free time I actually have over the next few months. I have reached out to a lot of members to hear about their personal experiences with multiple products, wanted to thank everyone for being great on sharing their stories. If I do tinker with it I'll update my thread as I have done in the past to share what I have learned.
Looking good. I've had the dectane leds on my car for years, is that what these are?
I hear ya about winter is coming...my car is in hibernation mode while I'm baking in Florida right now.
Looks good Maestro. Glad to hear the car is running good!
I have the fabspeed intake on my car, the one with the carbon shield and two cone intakes. At our power levels, I've always wonder which system is better for the car or does it matter. The stock intake style which certainly drives more consistent cooler air into the intake or mine which is more open, probably sucks in warmer engine air but maybe more air velocity.
Just wondering if anyone has any data comparing the two. I tend to like the looks of the stock or carbon intake like yours but given my car is tuned would their be a disadvantage in power. At some point I'm thinking of going with the GT2 rear wing which has the side ports that allows more cooler air to rush in. That might help my setup even more.
I read MAF-less tune and increased airflow into the turbos. Are you thinking of ditching the MAF part of the box? As to get rid of the size reduction in that area?
What are you thinking for cats on the exhaust? If I have a complaint about my car it is the exhaust smell. But with the upgrades turbos I don't want to choke them and cause increased temperature issues on the VTG turbos.
Bogg yes they are the Dectane ones, I got them from a member here for a great deal
Dguth I haven't seen back to back data comparing the FabSpeed intake vs. a stock airbox to know for sure. Honestly most of the losses I think are after the meters, the compressor inlet pipes. The stock ones are not ideal in any way for performance, they are setup for packaging and lower flows. The aftermarket ones most of us have are definitely better, there has been data shared in the past proving this. I believe we can still squeeze some more out in this area if we get creative. The GT2 inlets look like they would also help.
86merc I know of 1 VTG car that hits the limits on the MAFs and that's Dguth's awesome build. From a flow perspective the meters are fine...sure they aren't as great for tuning the higher we go in flow, response gets steep. 800hp on E85 / 700hp on 93oct is fine for the meters from the data I see and what I have modeled. As you push that you can start thinking to eliminate them or re-cal putting the meters in a larger body (believe Champion tried this approach). As I mentioned above, most of the loses I really think are in the inlets. That's where my MAF-less comment was really coming from...gives me more options for moving or re-doing inlets etc. If I can drop restriction by re-doing inlets and keep my airbox that would be ideal for me. Fender intakes would definitely drop restriction its just not as attractive because you block surface area on the coolers. Nothing new on these cars, many have been dealing with this for years right? We mostly see this when owners swap to larger turbos or do builds. However I think there is performance left on the table while still on the VTG architecture. For cats...ugh that's so tough, so expensive to put restriction back in, goes against everything we do . Just like anything in engineering its all a trade off. Unfortunately to clean up the exhaust we have to put them back in and restriction WILL go up no matter what magic anyone claims they have. Yes I have seen back to back testing from some members here which I appreciate however its missing information that would show deltas. I'm approaching it with expecting some loss to occur thus why I would like to offset it another way. As far as what brand? Well I'm still researching that. There are off the shelf options I have looked at from Kline and Europipe, not sure if I will pursue on of those or just make my own (no one has exactly what I want). Again the free time piece comes back in....tough decisions.
Ok, I was wondering if the MAF tune inside diameter itself was a drawback in the inlet system. But I get what you are saying about the inlets themselves being the issue. I have only seen one of two car build threads with the fender inlets. I can see how they would have drawbacks as well. I am interested to see what you come up with. Being as efficient as possible sounds good but surely becomes difficult when it comes to packaging in small spaces.
I am interested to see what you come up with the catalytic converters. I am sure there is some drawback in performance and increased heat with them. But the trade-off might be worth it to some people. The Europipe with it's 6" diameter, 100 cell cats is probably the best off the shelf solution. I know they claim some pretty low back pressures with their kits. I have a buddy that can fabricate an exhaust for me. But I have not looked to see what is out there for high flow cats. And would we be trying to re-invent the wheel by making our own system?
Anyways, looking forward to see what you come up with and decide to do. I guess if there is a benefit for not driving a car in winter, it is that it gives us time to make upgrades. haha
Yes that's the only bright side I see to the winter, planned time for maintenance and upgrades. I hear you, not looking to re-invent the wheel but, it's also my hobby (before I got a desk job I did fabrication and prototyping on aftermarket parts). I'll keep you guys updated. Burning off the last bit of E85 I have in the tank, it will be stored for winter here very soon. Once I get it up on jack stands I'll take a look and measure what I can fit in the little room we have.
Some maintenance goodies did arrive, fresh set of rears
Tires: 245/35/19 front - 325/30/19 rear (Michelin PSS) - This particular tire model and sizing gives me a very close ratio to stock keeping diffs happy.
Wheels 19x9 front - 19x12 rear (Champion RG5 monolites)
Some have recommended switching to PS4 which I plan to do after I wear out my fronts. Maybe next time I need tires it would require all 4.
I'm making some changes and want to run a stock airbox and silicone inlets. I haven't seen a solution I like better. I had both generations of airbox to compare and decided to use the .2 box for a few reasons, one being less restriction.
The grills, mesh, and sensors in the MAF assembly look like they would have a negative impact on flow. Not using them was incentive to lose them. These are bolted to the .1 box making connection without them more complicated.
The outlets on the .2 box are at different angles than the .1 but they dont have integrated MAFs and instead have flanges. Contrary to what I had heard, the .2 box fits in the .1 without interference anywhere.
I plan to use a 30 degree coupler and straight joiner on the passenger side and an offset coupler and 15 degree joiner on the driver. I'll probably have to trim the inlet pipe back a bit on the driver side to make the connection.
Getting close to 3 years of ownership, almost 3 years of E85, 2 years of 63.5mm VTGs and of course all 3 years running on Sam's tunes. My car is not a garage queen, its my daily most days, speaks to what a great platform this is. My experience has been if you take care of it, use the right combination of parts and people it is very reliable even at 800hp.
