Ryno

Wow, you're right about it going to be loud! ... Awesome

Purely a 'bling' item, but I purchased an Alloy Footrest (or deadpedal) that was apparently an OEM option for the R32/R33 Skyline. When I received it I noticed the lower grip pad was missing. So I decided to replace all the grip pads with carbon. The left picture is how I received it and the right is after the refurb. And here's what is looks like installed in the car:

A brand new ECR33 gearbox has been ordered from Just Jap... Hopefully after that's installed it will be the last major expense in making my R32 the perfect daily drive. In any case, I'm out of ideas on how to make the car any better!

Rolls, here's a comparison of what the manifold change has done to my power curve (same dyno/same boost/same gear). The increased spooling isn't so evident on this graph, though on the road the change in response in incredible.

Do you still have the main drive shaft (tail shaft) ?

I'm planning on doing a R33 gearbox conversion on my R32. Therefore I need the forward section of the tail shaft that goes to the gearbox. The going rate for a tail shaft seems to be around $50, though I can't find anyone wrecking a R33 near me. Preferably after one in either Nowra, Wollongong or Sydney.

The problem I have now is that the R32 turbo gearbox has started to make a fair amount of bearing noise, so it is not quite as happy with the new found torque as I am. A R33 gearbox is definitely now on the cards.

And here's footage that shows pretty effectively the power it puts down to the road right through the rev range - 4th gear roll on from 1000 rpm

My car has now been tuned properly and the results are even better than I imagined. When driving the car, it feels like it is supercharged as the turbo response is almost immediate. It makes 2 psi of boost at 1000 rpm!! Here's a power run that wasn't fully wound out, but you get the idea... And here is a comparison of before and after the inlet and exhaust manifold changes at the same boost level...

I cut the spacer out of a piece of nylon chopping board ~ It's around 6mm thick. I have no problems closing the bonnet, though I'm running a carbon bonnet, not the stock one (with the support braces underneath etc).

Also have standard RB25DET exhaust manifold - $20 Heat shields for said manifold - $20

Could also be a vacuum leak, but you'd probably also notice a high pitched noise on boost and the car running rich if this was the case.

This manifold makes my GT-RS so responsive that you can hear the turbo whistle as soon as you blip the throttle from idle. Mike at MX said he has fitted this manifold to a RB20 with a 3076, and it hits 20psi at 3600 rpm!

I also have for sale a couple of R32 front strut braces. The Carbon one pictured below is $150 and I also have a standard GTR brace (painted black) for $30

The only downside for me in fitting the MX Performance plenum, is I am unable to fit my existing carbon strut bar... and as you can probably tell, I'm pretty fond of having as much carbon in the engine bay as possible! I've now fitted a Nismo Strut bar in its place, and fabricated a spacer to sit underneath (on the drivers side) so hopefully the plenum won't rub. Here's what the engine bay looks like, with everything back it its place...

Exactly, when you look at how small the collector to the T3 flange is, it seems bizarre when you read about people increasing the size of the exhaust ports. My mechanic has a drift car with well over 300 rwkw that runs a similar manifold with 1" runners and the small runners don't seem to choking his power output. As you've said, it's all about keeping the gas velocity as high as possible to spool the turbo hard.

Once I get it tuned for 18 psi I'll put up an overlay so the comparison is evident. The manifold I have used utilises 1" runners and merges into a collector that smashes the turbo and provides the increased spooling. Looking at a dyno graph for my previous setup, the GT-RS hit 5 psi at 2700 rpm... So a 700 rpm improvement is pretty cool.

Due to the collector design it has increased the response of the turbo, it now has response as good as the stock turbo ~ 5 psi of boost at 2000 rpm and full boost before 3000 rpm. Due to the temperature today I was unable to get a full tune completed, however with the new setup it has achieved 235 rwkw at 14 psi. On the same dyno last year it put down 230 rwkw at 18 psi (on a colder day) - So the results so far have been quite positive.

New piping and dump all completed and installed this morning... this is how the cute little GT-RS looks mounted high and proud: Unfortunately it is over 40 deg in Nowra today, so we only put it on the dyno to do a quick tune to ensure it is safe to drive. We did only did a couple of power runs on the low boost setting (wastegate pressure of 14 psi only) and this is the power it put down... Even though this is only 235rwkw, it is quite remarkable considering that with my old plenum and standard exhaust manifold (on this same dyno) my car only put down 230rwkw... at 18psi! Also that was on a 20 deg day, not the 40 deg plus we were seeing in the workshop today. On the AFR side of the equation, because of the temp today we left it a little on the rich side for safety (around 11:1). When we can find a cooler day, I'll get it back on the dyno to give it a full tune and wind the boost back up to 18 psi. On the response side of things the GT-RS is now every bit as resposive as the stock turbo. I'm getting 5 psi of boost at 2000 rpm and full boost before 3000 rpm.

Here's a picture of the new dump pipe and wastegate return.

Rolls, you misunderstand what I'm doing. The manifold and external gate is going on to make the car as responsive as possible. I don't track my car, so warping of the GT-RS turbine flange isn't a concern for me. I'm just curious to know whether this could prevent the warping issue. I was after some intelligent discussion, though this is hard to find on here at times.

I apologise for the blurry photo, but this is how we decided to lock the internal wastegate shut. We did it this way so that if I ever wanted to swap back to the internal wastegate (or sell the turbo) I can just grind the tab off and it'll be back to stock. The new dump should be bolted on today and hopefully it will hit the dyno tomorrow!

Checkbuzz I realise this is you originally started this thread, but you clearly do not understand the concept of what is being done to my car with the GTRS... Rather than quoting the one line that Elite Racing has written that you obviously love: THIS TURBO IS TOO SMALL FOR TRACK APPLICATIONS, how about you read this part of what he has said "All heat is going to gather at the entry to the scroll where the housing begins. It's warping the manifold and the turbo but only at the flange face." and consider that all my wastegate gasses are going to be diverted to the wastegate prior to this point. You have no idea what background people have on here, so rubbishing every one's qualifications (to comment) other than your bosom buddy Elite Racing is a little delinquent.

This has been an interesting read... I've been running a HKS GT-RS turbo for at least the last 6 years, I haven't experienced any of the warping mentioned in this thread, though my car hasn't hit the track to really push the setup. I'm in the process of fitting a tuned length exhaust manifold with external wastegate, so the internal wastegate of the turbo will be locked shut. I'm wondering if you did this option would it fix this issue of the turbine housing warping? The reason I'm thinking it could help with this excess heat issue, is that wastegate gasses are going to be diverted to the external wastegate before going through the turbine housing... Less gasses go through the housing, less pressure buildup at that point and less heat. Thoughts?

Sorry Jez, I don't.... The first time the MX Plenum will hit the dyno (hopefully by Friday) it will also be with the addition of the MX Exhaust manifold and external gate, so it won't be an accurate comparison of plenum performance. Also I wasn't using a freddy plenum, it was the copy of the Jun plenum (made it Thailand and sold on eBay).