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pixel8r

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Everything posted by pixel8r

  1. who are voluntarily reading and still posting to this thread
  2. Why get a fuel cut defender when you can get a Apexi SAFC 2nd hand for the same money and it not only can be tuned to remove fuel cut (R&R) it can be tuned to give better performance (and potentially fuel economy) at all revs. But then why get a SAFC when for a couple hundred more you can get a GReddy E-manage. Fuel cut is an extension of R&R which is a "safety" fuel map built into the factory ECU. R&R is triggered when the ECU detects too much airflow. It knows nothing about what boost you're running, only the amount of air passing through the Air Flow Meter, which it measures by reading the voltage output from the AFM to the ECU. As I understand it, R&R is triggered when the ECU detects more airflow than it thinks your engine can handle...and fuel cut is just a more extreme form of that, possibly when the airflow exceeds the range of the AFM? Basically, from what I've read about different FCD products, all the FCD does is monitor the output voltage from the AFM to the ECU and when it reaches a high enough voltage that the ECU will trigger fuel-cut, the FCD will instead "clamp" the voltage to just under that, and thereby preventing fuel-cut. The only problem with this approach is that the ECU will be reading less airflow and therefore supply less fuel, which is fine for a stock car because they run very rich as you start raising the boost but after a certain point you will risk running lean and damaging (blowing up?) your engine. It will also still run rich up to the point where the FCD cuts in so its not exactly tuning anything and is effectively just allowing you to bypass the engine's over-boost protection and sending your Air/Fuel Ratios up the creek even more. The better solution is to go for something that can "bend" or "modify" the AFM signal at different RPM points (12 points for the SAFC blue screen with buttons, 16 points for the SAFC2 blue screen with knob). This can be tuned on a dyno to make your car run more efficient, giving an AFR graph thats almost a straight line rather than getting richer and richer as you add boost. You will get enough tuning range from the SAFC to run at least 16psi which is plenty, and possibly more than you should be running with the FCD. I could be wrong about how the FCD works so please correct me if thats the case, but from what I've read on different manufacturer sites etc. this appears to be how they work. My advice is to find a tuner who knows how to reliably tune a GReddy E-manage (blue - the cheaper one, unless you can afford the ultimate) on a skyline and buy one of those (~$400 from nengun.com). One of these will give you way better value for money than either a FCD or a SAFC, there is just no comparison.
  3. I can only comment on s2 since thats what I own... 1. somewhere around 7-8sec 2. somewhere around 15-16sec 3. 180km/h (limited) 4. I'd go with 206kw. = approx 100awkw for S1, and 120awkw for S2 - very rough estimate. however all of this info is pretty much useless. There is a lot more to a car than the max power figure and how quick it does the 1/4 mile.
  4. I found that my exhaust didn't make much difference until I also got the Apexi SAFC installed and tuned. The biggest difference however was in the ignition timing. Got me an extra 10awkw and noticeably more response and better fuel economy. 13-14L/100km before the tune -> 11.5-12.5L/100km after. There are now better tuning options than the SAFC however...depending on budget.
  5. My guess would be the 3.5L 350Z engine would have better fuel economy. Just seems to be more guesswork in getting mixtures 100% accurate in a turbo car. so is this falcon o2 sensor a better sensor than the stock one? or is it just that your stock one was faulty and the falcon one is cheaper than a replacement stock one?
  6. ATTESA also uses the ABS sensors...as well as g-force sensors.
  7. This wouldn't be worth it IMO. Just about any mod you remove from the engine/tuning side of things will require a re-tune, costing ~$150 - hardly worth it for the money you'd get back from the parts. Its true mods dont add $$ to the car price (well not much anyway), but I still say that give it better value and may be the difference between getting a sale and not getting a sale. I'm no good with selling price, but my general rule is, price it at somewhere around what YOU would pay if you saw one. People generally dont want to pay a fair price, they want a bargain. So getting what its worth has a lot to do with how much you perceive it is worth and how much it really is worth... Every time I think of selling mine I come to the conclusion its worth a lot more to me than what anyone would pay so I may as well keep it. Plus I dont think any other car could replace it entirely. There would be compromises. Even now I'm only spending maybe $20 more a week on fuel than if I owned a small car, and the benefits far outweigh that. I'm more than happy to rent a house and own a good car. Its a lifestyle choice and for me the uncertain interest rates, house market, and so many other unknowns like white-ants etc make owning a house too risky. Each to their own hey
  8. Welcome to the Stagea clan!! Enjoy the awesome wagon that is the Stagea....the enormous boot space, the comfort, the handling, the performance (potential), the traction, the not-so-great fuel economy, and last but not least, the puzzled expressions and long stares from bystanders and passers by as they try (in vain it seems) to work out what on earth that car is... Have owned mine for nearly 2 years, increased its power output by about 40awkw, and still very happy with it
  9. You may trust us all with your mobile number (dont blame you, the stagea forum seems to attract a great bunch of people), but be aware this forum is able to be viewed by anyone - even without signing up or logging in. Topics will come up in google searches and all sorts so its not just us the number will be seen by. If it was me I'd be removing it, but its your call Hope you get the problem sorted. Did the car have a major 100,000km service? and was the gearbox serviced regularly (supposed to be done every 12 months, and by a professional auto trans specialist, not just an oil change). The reason I mention this is because I owned a S13 n/a silvia and at about 125,000 km its auto gearbox started losing gears, first 4th, then 3rd and so on until I was driving into town to get it fixed and by the time I got there I only had 1st gear lol! My car after that was a S13 turbo silvia, 1 year newer, with over 130,000kms on it and when I sold it at 160,000kms it was still going strong... Maybe I just had a bad egg, but not knowing much at all about cars at the time, never did its major service at 100,000km (it has a timing chain so that part is ok, just all the other fluids that weren't changed etc), and never serviced the gearbox until about a year before it crapped itself. The turbo silvia had a good service history when I bought it and I kept it up and looked after it a lot better. Not suggesting yours isn't looked after. Sometimes things like this just happen All the best with the new auto if you go down that path and yes put the fuse back in. AWD is awesome.
  10. Its not a stupid question I wasn't having a dig at the question, just saying its been covered a lot lately on the forums. There is another thread on the first page a bit further down covering all the same info in more detail. There is a LOT of info on this forum that can be found by searching. Nothing wrong with posting questions on here at all, but a quick search may yield better results and faster Cheers.
  11. Sorry to hijack the thread but this is still on-topic... Does anyone know why the stock intake "tube" is shaped like it is? If changing it to a metal pipe will improve airflow, why is it not metal from the factory? Not trying to flame, just innocently asking the question. Is it just so its more flexible, being all rippled? Cos I would've thought that the ripples would cause more turbulence with airflow. A metal pipe would also get hot and possibly affect intake temps...maybe? Can anyone offer a good explanation of which is better between the stock thingy and a metal intake pipe and why? Just curious to know. I'm just reluctant to change mine cos it may be shaped like it is for a reason.
  12. I beg to differ. I switched from a 2L SR20DET powered silvia (s13) to a 2.5L RB25DET (NEO) powered stagea and the torque the stagea has is better right across the revs. At low revs it puts the silvia to shame even though it is ~600kg heavier. I cant speak for the R33 RB25's - they do have a little less torque than the RB25NEO and around the same max torque as the SR20DET (weird huh). (Just as an aside, people often compare max power between the 2 RB25 engines (r33 and r34) but the extra torque in the r34 is what makes all the difference. The VVT gives it noticeably more torque at lower revs and about 60N-m more torque above about 3200rpm - thats quite a gap). The RB will also rev quicker than the SR, so arguably you get into the better torque range quicker, giving the feeling of more torque as well. I feel that the SR is better suited to the lighter cars it came in, but the RB is better suited to skylines. The RB sounds better (very few people will argue that after owning both) and I believe it has more overall potential. Basically you cant compare the cars based solely on the engines anyway, if you did an engine transplant, the S15 would benefit more from the RB25 than the skyline would from the SR20. I believe the RB is more economical too but thats only compared to the older SR20's, not sure about the newer ones. Other differences are: the redline starts 500rpm higher in the SR. Turbo has steel wheels so boost is not a problem. Stock turbo in the SR is smaller than that of the RB - which wouldn't be necessary if it had more torque than the RB...although I cant comment on how they'd compare if you put the RB turbo on it. But all these differences dont make one a better car than the other. They drive very differently, and which one you prefer to drive will likely have nothing to do with the engine differences above. It'd be more about weight, handling and how it delivers its power
  13. This light will light up when you first turn the car on and then turn off a second later. This is normal. But if it turns on later or stays on while you are driving etc. it may mean you have a faulty sensor or blown fuse (hopefully) or issues with the AWD system (called ATTESA - Advanced Total Traction Electronic System for All). People who disconnect the front drive shaft and take out the fuse will have the light on all the time. Pretty sure its the fuse that would do it - best to check it out straight away because the system isn't designed to run like this for too long. Puts strain on the clutch packs etc.
  14. time to try the "S"earch button on the forum
  15. Sounds like a similar service to SlideWize (SAU sponsor) http://www.slidewizeimports.com/ import monster just has flashier pictures on their website but that seems to be the only major difference. I'd prefer to go with an sau sponsor but thats just me.
  16. Any idea how many pages these "manuals" are (the ones in the original post)? I have a small A5 sized bound booklett that came with the car (I presume the dealer made it up?) that is only 30 pages or so. Doesn't go into a lot of detail but was a good introduction to the car at least. Doesn't really cover servicing or anything like that and has about 5 pages just on seatbelts and baby seat tie downs etc. but not much info on other things. Hopefully the one in the link is better because there's no way I'd pay more than $10 for the one I have. There was one on ebay or something that was like 200 pages a year or so ago. About the same price if I remember correctly...
  17. People are saying the S15 will get more power with fewer mods - I find that hard to believe. I think what they mean is it will be QUICKER with fewer mods (due to being a lot lighter). Am I wrong here? Just curious because even though the skyline engine is older, it wasn't changed much for the R34 and the technology has been tested by time. Definitely if we compare the R34 skyline to the S15 (built in same year roughly) I'd take the R34 anyday. Just a better car all round and better value for money IMO. The RB25DET revs a lot quicker than the SR20DET and also has more torque at the lower revs. The reason you may feel otherwise is again related to the weight of the two cars - the skyline has more to pull. But as far as which engine will cope better and respond better to a 50-80% power increase - I'd put my money on the RB25. I'd expect you'd need to put more money into the SR20 to keep the same response as the RB25 once you start getting bigger turbo etc. This is where cc's make a big difference. Correct me if I'm wrong... I agree that S15's are over-priced. Just my opinion for what its worth. Still, if you do decide on an S15, I wouldn't say it was a stupid decision, just not what I'd choose.
  18. modbury. its in there right now. I'm actually quite impressed with the level of service. Very friendly and they great to deal with over the phone. Seems like they had no dramas with it (didn't expect they would) so I'm happy
  19. Got it sorted. Thanks anyway guys. Managed to get into profix (wouldn't normally go there otherwise but figured any place would be ok to do it). Beats doing it myself.
  20. I've owned an S13 silvia and I believe the S15 has less power (slightly, more power for jap version) and is heavier...although you can remove the boost restriction and it will make 184kw. At the end of the day though, the S15 is lighter than a skyline and will therefore be quicker...but they are also more expensive and $$ for $$ the skyline would be the better choice IMO. They are quite different cars in almost every way, except for the number of seats & doors. Skylines sound better IMO. power would come easier for the bigger RB25 than for the SR20. But I could be wrong. Best way to decide is go for a drive in each. Talking to people on here or ns.com is only going to give you biased answers - this one included. Also, hopefully the build quality of S15's is better than S13's. The S13 silvia build quality was not as good as even R32 skyline build quality. Not a bad car however, and the 1150kg kerb weight was awesome.
  21. It will drive basically as a 50:50 awd - ie. constant. The only thing to remember is its NOT the same as the constant awd used in most other vehicles (ie. subaru wrx, mitsubishi lancer evo etc). Its just telling the computer to prefer 50:50 torque split instead of 5:95 (F:R). The computer will still override the "preferred" torque split if it feels it needs to, and so even in 50:50 mode if you're cornering fast etc. it may choose to transfer torque to the rears...but as the g-forces decrease and things return to normal, it will work its way back to 50:50. On the other hand, when the button is OFF, it prefers 5:95, and will transfer torque to the front as needed, but take the pressure off and it will work its way back to 5:95. Clear as mud?
  22. I believe there are 2 different effects you may feel. One is when the engine switches to the "failsafe" fuel mapping that is R&R - this feels like a sudden flat/dead spot and doesn't really accelerate the same. The second is when the ecu detects excessive airflow or something (maybe the AFM maxing out?) and cuts the fuel/ignition briefly or something like that - i dont know exactly, but I have felt it and its like everything cuts out, for a half second or so, and then cuts back in just as suddenly and keeps going. I think these 2 things are just different manifestations of R&R and are cured by the same thing, some kind of tuning for the AFM to "trick" the ecu into believing all is ok. As for what ecu's are available, as Gary mentioned, look at a "shift kit" (valve body upgrade) for the auto first, and then you have more choices. My choice (always budget conscious) would be the GReddy emanage blue. Its not as feature packed as the ultimate but very affordable (<$400 from nengun) and way better than an Apexi SAFC as far as tunability. However, I've never done this before so I'm only guessing these can be used. They are a piggyback so your stock ecu is still working, it just taps into the sensors etc. and uses your factory tune as a "base tune" to work from. A while ago some people had issues with coilpacks packing up with the emanage (ultimate i think) but this issue has long been resolved now. Plenty of people use and recommend this ecu. The powerFC is the most common by far but a little more expensive...and is a standalone replacement ecu rather than a piggyback. Bottom line is whatever you choose, make sure your tuner knows how to install/tune them, or choose a tuner that knows how to tune that specific one on your car, because in the end that will make more difference than the ecu itself.
  23. Sorry to hear that. And I can feel your frustration too because I too bought one of these JRD ones first, before I heard about the turbotech ones. In my case I was lucky in that it seemed to work. It would spike to 12psi but would then drop instantly back to 10psi and then fade off to 9psi by the time it reached the redline And to make things worse, it was quite unpredictable, ie. it didn't give the same boost response between gearchanges or even on different days...it just wasn't reliable enough for day-to-day driving! Without something to compare it with however, I didn't pick this up until after I switched to the turbotech If you're wanting an IEBC anyway, then that will be your best option in the long run due to better tuning capabilities and in-cabin switching of boost on-the-fly. But if you're willing to try the turbotech you'll (hopefully) be impressed by how well it performs. There is a thread on here ("$22 boost controller" or something like that in the subject) where many people have had excellent results from it, and for the price it cant be beat. There is a member on here who sells them but I'm not sure if he still goes on SAU...I bought mine from ebay as he sells them on ebay primarily. The newer ones have a tiny hole drilled in the back of them which apparently improves boost response between gearchanges and it seemed to work for me When I changed from the JRD to the turbotech I noticed an immediate improvement, not just in holding boost better, but it also boosted up quicker and made the car noticeably more responsive in lower revs. I would never recommend the JRD to anyone based on my experience with it, but I would 100% recommend the turbotech. As I said before, I've been using it for ~6 months now and its been flawless. Holds boost around 10-11 psi all the way to redline I'd need to upgrade my fuel pump to run higher than that so this is the only reason for the low boost at the moment
  24. I have a GT30 turbo (hybrid - mated to standard R34 exhaust housing) on my S2 stagea and at my last tune it had ~180rwkw. Boost would spike initially to 12psi but fade off to 9psi by redline. I also only have minor supporting mods, so not enough to run higher boost in mine. A better fuel pump would get me to 200-220 rwkw but at the moment I dont have adequate tuning to compensate for lag so more boost at the top end is out of the question right now. For your setup, you may get more than 180rwkw with the same boost as what I had but I'd guess around 16-18psi for ~280rwkw... Good luck with it Just be aware that you'll lose some low-end response with this turbo. Big numbers for max power is all well and good but if you want overall responsiveness, I'd recommend no bigger than a GT28. Just my opinion, depends what you want. Its not that the GT30 is super laggy or anything, it should be good enough with the right tuning, but you may miss the almost-instant boost you get with the stock turbo. Max boost with the GT30 is usually around 3500-3700rpm (maybe lower with better tuning). I believe max boost on the stock turbo is around 3000rpm depending on what boost you're running...correct me if I'm wrong... I'm looking at getting a GReddy Emanage (probably just the blue - will do fine for what i need) sometime within the next 6 months which will hopefully significantly reduce lag and improve things a little. In colder temps, I have no issues with it, it revs to over 4000rpm before I'm all the way across any intersection....its just when its like 35 degrees with a/c on it takes longer to get onto boost...but again, your mileage may vary and I could have issues with my a/c. I dont know.
  25. also just a quick note about the turbotech controller (and any aftermarket boost controller), make sure the stock solenoid is actually closed off, ie. plug the ends of the hoses with something, either before or after the solenoid - doesn't matter. Basically the standard setup should all be disconnected and the turbotech should only have one hose going to the actuator and one to the rear/middle of the turbo. Thats all. All other boost lines should be closed off. Also check that the controller isn't installed backwards, as mitchy suggested. You should have received a diagram with it that tells you which way round it should go. When you get it it should be preset to about 8psi. Mine was. If you wind it out further it should go down a little, but its impossible to go below 5psi just with the controller. Winding it in tighter will result in more boost, but be aware that a 1/4 turn can raise boost by 1-2psi, possibly more as the boost goes up....ie. once it starts getting tighter, the boost will raise by more and more with each 1/4 turn so be very careful and do it in very small increments, maybe 1/4 or 1/8 turn each time between tests... Once set, tighten the lock nut thingy against the controller so that it wont move, preferrably tighter than just finger-tight. If that still doesn't work, its possible the ball bearing and spring have been dislodged - this can apparently happen if you wind it out too far. They can be reseated fairly easily so I'm told.
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