pixel8r

Thanks buddy. Was just a thought I had...you know when you get some new go-fast part for your car, and you then start thinking "now what if I ALSO got this and this and..." I've bumped the boost up a little more and it definitely feels slightly quicker than before. Car seems to have no trouble at all keeping up with fuel etc. and cant hear any pinging noises or anything. It just goes! I'm guessing its probably around the same mark as before but could be holding the boost at 12psi instead of dropping back to 9psi like the old one did. The old one gave a big flat spot in the power curve around 4000rpm due to the boost dropping off sharply from 12 back to 11psi. When I first installed it the boost was at about 8psi but I've since turned the screw in about a 1/4 of a turn or so, hoping to get it up around 12-14psi. Since I have an aftermarket turbo, my only real concern is if the fuel pump/injectors can keep up. And at the moment they're doing just fine. I may look at getting another tune (and maybe an fmic) before summer tho... I think its probably quick enough as it is. I know I'd like to have 180 or even 200 kw at all wheels but I also know that I have trouble forcing myself to drive sensibly now...

you joking? I've had a look at prices in the 2 caryards I know that currently have stagea's they're quite over the top expensive IMO. You need to ask yourself if a 3 month/5000km warranty that covers virtually nothing is worth paying $5000-10,000 extra for...pretty simple equation of you ask me Importing one is not without its risks either but I've not read of anyone having any major trouble. I bought mine from a dealer interstate but I would definitely look at importing one through either jspec or prestige if I were to do it again. Other people I know have bought one privately in australia (ie. not from a dealer) and have had good results as well. It depends if you're willing to pay a bit more for the luxury of seeing and driving the car before you buy it.

Short answer, DONT get it Look for the one with the blue screen. This is the SAFC2. These work much better than the old type (the one you mentioned). You should be able to find one either on this forum or on ebay for around $200. The v1 of this model has buttons whilst the v2 has a knob. The v1 is what I have and will do the job fine or you can get the v2 for a bit more money and it gives you the option of 2 different maps and more tuning points. Not long ago you could buy the v2 new (nengun.com?) for around $400ish I think... If you buy it off this forum (like I did) you will be more likely to have all the correct wiring as well

I bought mine from a dealer on the gold coast and it was registered in QLD before I picked it up. All I had to do is drive it back here and change the rego over at regency. The rego changeover isn't the full regency inspection, its actually just a quick check of the compliance plate and a bit of paperwork to change the rego into your name. I was there for about 20 minutes. Only thing to be aware of is that some people have been questioned about the "tint" on the rear windows. They have whats called "privacy glass" or "uv cut glass" (same thing). A lot of modern luxury cars have privacy glass. All it means is that its actually dark glass, rather than tint. It cant be removed. And because its not tint, its not illegal. These cars have passed SEVS and you should get paperwork from the compliancer showing that it passes compliance. When I went in, they tested the rear window with a light meter but then never mentioned anything about it. The things they're likely to look at is ride height, rim sizes, intake mods (I believe a shielded pod filter OR a fmic is ok, not sure if you can have both) and just obvious stuff like that. If your car looks reasonably standard and your compliance plate checks out you'll have no trouble at all.

Or you can come for a drive in my s2 if you live out north Just a warning though, everyone who has come out to see Tangles' stagea or my stagea has ended up buying one Mine now has 60,000km's on it. When I bought it in March last year it had 28,000kms. Not sure if those km's are genuine but everything about the car looked like a car that had been sitting (possibly in a caryard) for most of its life. Very good interior condition and overall true to its auction grade 4 You'll get it cheaper if you import it (ie. through jspec or similar) but some people prefer to see/drive the car before they buy it...

Apologies for posting again so soon, but just rounding up on this thread... I'm happy to say the operation was a success and I'm now running roughly the same boost as before (11-12psi) and it seems to be holding boost a lot more solid. Yay! If anyone's looking at this type of boost controller, my advice is to steer clear of the imitations, and go for the "original" turbotech one.

Yeah I know what you mean. Thanks for the hints on setting up the new boost controller. I didn't install the last one because I needed the SAFC installed and tuned at the same time so I just had the workshop do it. But seeing as this will be a straight swapover it shouldn't be too difficult. The boost controller comes at the "low boost" setting so I can just use small adjustments from there until I get it right. I do have a boost guage but its not permanently wired in. I just connect it up when I want to use it and run the line through the window. Once the boost is set and the nut is tightened it should stay at the same boost (touch wood). I'll get the boost guage installed someday but I'm not handy with stuff like that so I need to get it installed by someone who knows what they're doing. If I did it it would look terrible

Not sure if people are reading this correctly. My SAFC is already correctly installed and properly tuned for my current boost controller, set at 11-12psi, but the boost controller cant hold boost well and it drops off to 9psi at the top end. What I want to know is if it will damage anything if I replace this boost controller with another one - different brand, same type of controller (search for $22 boost controller in the forced induction section). All that will change boost-wise is that it may hold boost better, therefore giving me 2psi more boost at high rpms. It may also boost up quicker when changing up gears but I dont think this would affect the SAFC tune. So can anyone confirm for me if raising boost means I need to increase the correction values in the safc or decrease them? and the opposite for lowering boost should obviously apply as well. I'm also assuming that if I take the SAFC back to zero correction the car will hit R&R as it did before the SAFC was installed. The SAFC is correcting the AFR's from ~9:1 back up to a more efficient 12:1. Any tips on how to make sure the boost controller swapover is done safely? or should I not bother with it? I'm really hoping to get more consistent boost and more responsiveness from the turbotech controller. As a side note, with the stock fuel pump and injectors, whats my limit as far as awkw/boost? I've got ~160awkw now - is there any room to improve this to say 180awkw with a FMIC and more boost? Not saying I'd reach that but I just want to know where my safe limits are before I require an upgraded fuel pump or fuel pressure regulators. It might be worth my while getting another tune...

I kinda felt that it would work the other way. Let me explain... In my experience with turbo nissans, the ecu is designed so that as it detects more boost/airflow it will keep dumping more and more fuel in until it thinks the fuel system cant keep up, at which point it will hit R&R (failsafe fuel map) to protect the engine. The SAFC only moves the airflow signal up or down by a percentage (as far as i know) so this wont change the actual built-in behaviour of the nissan ecu. In other words, more airflow (or boost) would normally mean more air/less fuel except that the ecu is programmed to increase the fuel as it detects more airflow, thereby preventing it from running lean. It usually goes to extreme levels to do this, hence why most skylines/stageas run stupidly rich with just an exhaust and more boost. If the opposite were to also be true, then lowering the boost would cause my SAFC (with its current setup for 12psi) to overcorrect too far and lean out the mixtures too much, which is what I'm most concerned about. Also how much would the boost curve need to change for it to throw my tune out of line? I could adjust the SAFC settings myself to make it "safe" but this would only be a temporary measure until I get it tuned. Not really worth it IMO. All I want from the new boost controller is a bit more responsiveness and more reliable boost, but if its going to require a re-tune then I wont worry. I'll admit I'm no expert on the whole thing but the above is as I understand it.

Hi guys, Just purchased a turbotech boost controller off ebay (there's a long thread on this forum about them with very positive feedback). At the moment I have a JRD one (also off ebay, same design as the turbotech). Quite simply, I'm not 100% happy with the JRD and want to try the original turbotech that has worked so well for many other people on this forum. What I want to know is, how will the changeover affect the SAFC/tune? ie. If I run less boost now than before, will it run too lean? and vice versa? Just not sure if I can realistically change the unit over without requiring a re-tune. I plan to run the same 11-12psi that its running now, but if the turbotech holds 11psi at the redline, that would be 2psi more than the current boost controller. I'm not sure what to expect. If it requires a retune then I'd be better off just leaving it alone until I have a more significant modification worth tuning (ie. FMIC or something). Any thoughts?

Looks like I was completely wrong on the chaser. And the photos above actually look pretty cool - now if only they came in a wagon... All the same, I still prefer the looks of skylines/stageas and the chaser just makes me think "vip" which totally isn't what I want my car to be.

Thats a huge amount of torque at just 2400rpm - I find that hard to believe...not saying I doubt you though. Just that the only cars I know that have that much torque at such low revs are either diesel or large displacement.

Mine are a light grey colour, not quite white. The marks around the edges of the guages also light up orange when the headlights/dash lights are on, not sure if this is the same for s1? IMO the stagea guage area (not the whole dash) looks quite cheap - just a very simple plastic mould. They could've done a lot better... I do like the whole dash layout though.

I agree that the chaser would be quicker... However if it is 2.5L then I DONT agree that the chaser has more torque than the RB26 (i could be wrong tho) I thought they were 3L which would give them a bit more torque down low... RB26 has something like 411N-m which is awesome for a 2.6L engine. If the chaser has more than this then maybe its running more boost? anyone know what boost they run? just being twin turbo doesn't make it any better than single turbo really, just improves airflow potential. Still, I'm not saying its not quicker - it sounds like it is quicker than an auto or manual R33, but not the GTR. Would never buy one myself though, nor an aristo - they look way too boring. Going fast is one thing, but you have to drive it and be seen in it... then again, I drive a stagea...so I must admit looks are a matter of personal choice...

I've heard this argument many times, but given that using 91octane fuel (which most regular unleaded is) is risking blowing your engine, ask yourself if it really is cheaper for the sake of $5 a week in savings... In my opinion spending a little extra on fuel (its not that much really) is very cheap insurance and protection for your engine

If it was me I wouldn't just be accepting this as normal. Get your car dyno'd and check the Air Fuel Ratio graph. It should be somewhere around 11.5:1 at the lowest point. Any lower and its likely to be running too rich, which essentially means you're throwing fuel away, with no additional benefit. If you dont have an SAFC or similar ecu to tune AFR's, then I'd suggest this be your next mod. It should cost you $400 all up for a 2nd hand one, including installation and tuning (depending on where u go). And while you're getting it dyno tuned, check your ignition timing at the same time. Its all about getting your engine running as efficiently as possible, yet still safely. With a good tune you should be seeing improved fuel economy and it could pay itself off in 12 months or maybe earlier, depending on how often you drive. I found with my car that even just an exhaust can push your AFR's down to 10 or even lower if you raise the boost. They run rich from the factory and adding more boost will likely make it add more fuel and run even richer. Even an exhaust can raise the boost level and end up using more fuel rather than less. You should be able to easily achieve over 350-400km to a tank provided you dont drive around with your foot to the floor and dont ONLY do short trips (ie. with the engine running cold). So to summarise, some things to do to lower fuel consumption are: - get a free-flowing exhaust - install a SAFC or similar ecu to tune AFR's. - check ignition timing on a dyno - use boost a little less (or not its what you bought the car for right?). hope this helps.

Actually, depending on how much power you want, a 260RS may actually be the cheaper option. And speaking of power, if you're after easy power gains, the 260RS may be your best option too. 200awkw is very easy to reach with the RB26DETT, the same engine the powers the R33GTR. Even without mods, I believe they will do a low 14s or even high 13s 1/4 mile. They're listed as 206kw, same as the GTR, but do a search on this forum and you'll find that the real power figure is a lot higher.

It would be over 1800kg with a couple of people in it. But normally its kerb weight thats listed in car specs, which is 1658kg for my S2 RS4. Not sure what it is for the autech. Stageas are not heavy compared to SUV's and are fairly similar in weight to other wagons of the same size.

My first car was a VL commo which my parents bought me for travelling to uni at the time. Later I bought my own nissan silvia n/a and I've gotta say the difference in ride quality, power delivery and just the overall experience is just huge! I loved the silvia so much I'm now hooked on nissan imports - since then I've owned a second silvia (turbo this time) and now the Stagea. The stagea is by far the most comfortable to drive and its performance now would rival that of my turbo silvia (stagea has ~160awkw, silvia had 133rwkw). Comparing the stagea to a HSV isn't worth your time IMO. The only thing the HSV can match the stagea in is straight line performance, and maybe comfort...and of course this is my opinion, but I'd say in most other aspects the stagea would be a better car to drive all-round. Better handling, brakes, drivetrain, and I would suggest it would be more fun to drive. Turbo cars will accelerate much quicker than a similarly powered n/a car, although the 1/4mile times could still be similar due to turbo lag etc. but for normal driving, if you're already in gear then turbo lag doesn't exist and the car will feel a lot more responsive due to the ability of the turbo to build the engine's revs very quickly. The differences between RB25DET and RB25DET NEO is improved VVT (better midrange), and approx 20kw more although this is partly due to the different turbo. One may argue that the differences between the two engines is not worth the difference in price...its your call in the end. The other advantages the stagea will give you is AWD, more boot space, A LOT of attention from pedestrians and other drivers, and a lot of driving fun. If you just want simple mods, an exhaust, SAFC & boost controller on a S2 stagea will give you ~150awkw at 11-12psi (the stock turbo wont take more than about 14psi before shattering). This should only cost you about $1500-2000 if you buy everything brand new. Add a Front Mount InterCooler (FMIC), fuel pressure regulators (or some other way to adjust fuel pressure), bigger fuel pump, Z32 Air Flow Meter (AFM), SITC, bigger turbo, and bigger brakes (you'll need these), and as tangles mentioned you'll be looking at 200+ awkw at ~16-18psi(?) for a total of $5000-6000 plus the cost of the car, depending on where u get stuff from etc. A good hi-flow turbo may cost you several thousand $ or otherwise there are very good cheaper models getting around - see sliding performance (username slide on this forum) for more info... Good luck with your decision, hope to see pics of your stagea WHEN you buy it BTW if you want to compare power-weight ratios etc. add ~20kw to the awkw figure to get rwkw. Its not a 100% accurate conversion but its pretty close. If you remove the front driveshaft of a stagea making it RWD only, it will give about 20kw more than the awkw reading...and AWD has more benefit than any drivetrain loss.

Rather than start a new thread on the same topic, I thought I'd post in here... I'm up for new tires soon, and the placard on my door also says both 205 60R16 or 225 50R16 (which I have at the moment). The current tires are cheap (simex) brand and I'd like to improve this with my next set. But I need some info. The current tires' sidewalls bulge a fair bit which I presume would affect handling negatively. Would a better quality tire improve this at all? And I'm not looking at paying a lot, just want tires that aren't too cheap and nasty and aren't too expensive either (say in the $150-200 range per tire, but hopefully closer to the $150 mark). I'd prefer longer lasting tires than super handling... Any recommendations? I figure its probably best to stick with 225/50's as thats whats on there now. Not sure why they list 2 different widths anyway... And can anyone confirm what pressure they should be at? I've always filled them to 38-40psi thinking that was better. Never noticed that the sticker says 29 & 32 psi Is the sticker wrong? cheers

Turbo'ing a GT isn't as simple as just bolting on a turbo. Its actually easier to replace the entire n/a engine with a turbo one...and for that matter, its easier and cheaper to just get the GTT to start with. There's also a lot more to the GTT than just the turbo. I'm not sure of the specifics but at least the brakes will be bigger on the GTT, to counter the extra performance. Whether you wanted a turbo or not, I'd still recommend the turbo car. The n/a would just feel a bit lacking in performance and at some point you'd find yourself either wishing you'd got the turbo or selling it and buying the GTT anyway. (I did exactly that type of thing with a nissan silvia s13. sold the n/a one and bought a turbo'd one that was almost exactly the same except for the colour). So as far as advice goes, its very simple. Buy a Stagea nah just kidding, I'd say get the GTT - you wont regret it

Set your expectations at about 110awkw just so you dont get disappointed if its not what you want. Remember that all dyno's will read differently from each other and also possibly different on any given day, as your car will run better some days than others. I had my car dyno'd at 157awkw on a ~35 degree day and I only have the standard S2/R34 SMIC so I'd argue that it would definitely get a better reading on a cold day. I can notice the difference after driving for say 20 minutes, ie. cooling issues. It always feels faster when its cold (ie. engine heated up to efficient running temperature but intercooler and intake temps still cold). Tangles (and others), thanks for the compliments - I was just putting together most of the things I've picked up from this forum and my own (limited) experience with turbo nissans. When my car was stock I got 13.5-14L/100km in town and 10.7L/100km on the highway. Now with significantly more power (had an exhaust manifold leak when I bought the car which gave it only 100awkw, compared to ~160awkw now), I'm getting 11.5-12L/100km in town and have seen 9L/100km on the highway (brisbane to goondiwindi, early morning). Thats a huge improvement in fuel economy AND performance which is a very nice achievement in my opinion. Mostly thanks to the exhaust for freeing up the engine and the bigger turbo for keeping it off boost in town. I too have ~160awkw at 12psi, although as my sig states, at the top end of my dyno its actually only running 9psi (boost controller cant keep up) so if it had 12psi all the way through I could pick up maybe an extra 10awkw? My wishlist for the car is a mile long and realistically none of it will probably happen. I have so many maintenance items now coming up that I need to pay for otherwise I wont be able to afford to even keep the car Things like new tires, brakes, possibly radius rod bushes, possibly front shocks and springs, and its due for an engine and transmission service...it all just creeps up on you. Its a lot of money that I would have happily spent on a FMIC and SITC (hello 180+awkw@14psi!!!) but we all know that part of owning a car is keeping up with all the boring stuff like servicing etc.

That looks AWESOME!

If you have a think about whats going on with a bigger turbo, its not as easy as saying "same boost and mine was faster". The stock turbo is noticeably more responsive than a GT30. The GT30 also needs more boost than the stock turbo to hit its peak efficiency. Its not comparing apples to apples. With the right mods a skyline with a GT30 will easily beat a stock skyline, but will have slightly more lag. The GT30 really needs like 14+ psi to hit peak efficiency. I have the same turbo setup (from ATS) and even at 12psi it definitely wants to boost higher.

Going somewhere else isn't going to magically solve the problem. It looks like Shaun knew what he was doing and did solve the problem whilst charging almost nothing! My suggestion is that he has FIXED the knock problem which may have been masking another problem that affects fuel economy. Your engine was obviously running quite lean (hence the knocking), which will also give you more power and use less fuel (because running lean means you are using more air and less fuel than if it was running rich). So all he has done is make your AFR's safe (like it should have been before), so rather than blaming that for your poor fuel economy, look for another problem elsewhere. I'd go with the recommendation to check/change your O2 sensor, check tire pressures, ignition timing, Air filter (every little bit helps), intake temps and anything else you can think of that may affect fuel economy. You should have an AFR graph from your last dyno which should help to see where the problem lies. A good looking AFR might still mean there are sensors not working 100% correctly.