JimX

I got Heavy Weight Shockproof Oil for my gearbox (not put in yet, will do it this weekend) and the guy I bought it from recommended Light Weight Shockproof Oil for the diff. But it costs the same as the Heavy stuff ($100 per container) and it's not like I have to change gears in the diff and I'll never really be able to "feel" the difference. So I'm just going to put in the normal stuff you buy from GP Auto 1 in the diff.

Isn't the Power FC Commander worth like $1500? Why selling so cheap? JimX.

$170, but retail is $180. I got a $10 discount because he was about 4 days late in getting it in (wasted 4 or 5 phone calls chasing it up), but that didn't bother me because I didn't have time to put it in the day before I got it anyway (last Saturday). So the $10 off was a nice bonus

It's a custom box made by Unique Auto, I wrote up a full thread with pics here. If you just want to see all the pics on one page, go here. Definitely worth the money, or at least worth the effort of making your own if you can't afford the $180. JimX.

Once you have everything set up and tuned by the workshop, are you then able to tweak the ratios yourself without the meter hooked up? If you need the meter every time it might be worth buying one if they weren't too expensive. Even if they were, you could split the cost between a couple of friends because it's not like you'd need it every day. JimX.

Oh yeah,well you can do that too I actually did that to put the cold air box in. In retrospect I should have done it to put the pod in as well, but for some stupid reason it didn't cross my mind. I actually had 2 or 3 friends with me at various stages and it didn't cross any of their minds either! Maybe I just need new friends :confused: Ah well, luckily it wasn't difficult to reach the bolt next to the mudguard with a small 10mm spanner, just took about 1 minute to remove instead of a few seconds it fhe AFM had been off. The other underside bolt was a lot easier to remove but still not as easy as it would have been if I'd taken the AFM off! JimX.

Ah fair enough, I thought it would be a similar price to reprogramming an ECU and I thought I'd be up for a few hundred. Where's a good place to get it done in Sydney? JimX.

Well, I've heard a variety of reasons why the pod is supposed to legally be in a box. Any or all could be true, or it could be something else. This ranges from emissions, to noise, to somehow exposed pods being physically dangerous? (backfiring out the pod I guess) I really don't know what the story is, but I do know that the box cuts out absolutely no noise from the pod so that's the least likely. Pods are definitely legal if they're in a box, I guess they *might* break some noise laws depending on the design but the pod won't make much noise if you rev it in neutral with no load on the engine. Which is how the noise testing will take place. JimX.

Oh ok. Can you hire an AFR and if so where from? Or can someone lend me one at some point in the future? JimX.

With the S-AFC, does it "read" what your ratio is from your intake and tell you on the display? Or do you have to hook it up to diagnostic equipment in a workshop and the display is just used to program numbers into it? I would like to hook up an S-AFC and experiment with it myself without having to necessarily worry about getting it tuned at a workshop, but if a workshop is really required to get any use out of it I won't bother putting it in until I can also afford the tune-up. Can I easily hook everything up and just tell it to set the ratio at about 12-12.5? JimX.

TSTG33R, thanks Back on topic, here's the pics of the pod inside the box. I've tried to show both sides of the AFM wire connector. JimX.

Southo, what are you replacing the Quicktrak with and how much does it cost? Are you able to sell the Quicktrack 2nd hand or are you trading it in or something? JimX.

Yep, very very easy to fit, as long as you can reach behind the intake plumbing to get the 2 lower bolts into place. If you're skilled enough to undo your sump plug you can fit this pod (and any pod I know of) yourself. If you've never done it before, set aside half an hour to an hour to work everything out and do the job. Even though the Apex pod has a paper filter, it wouldn't surprise me if it could still flow more than the foam HKS filter (but it's probably about the same). The surface area of the Apex is bigger because of the zigzag pattern and would compensate for the more restrictive material. And it also has that funnel thing that Mick put pictures up of to assist in airflow. JimX.

It was very fiddly, it took about an hour or 2 (I didn't really pay much attention to the clock). But it wasn't difficult at all, just time consuming getting everything lined up and not flexing it too much. I had to temporarily remove: 1. Air pod (with AFM) and securing bracket (not able to be replaced because it doesn't line up properly - but the box holds it securely enough, and I can make another bracket if I want). 2. Both intercooler pipes in the same area. 3. Charcoal pollution cannister and hoses. 4. Air conditioning compressor wire clip. 5. Boost controller relay (the box mounts under the same bolt hole) Then feed all the plumbing through one at a time and get the box into place, and re-attach everything again. I have an APEXi pod underneath which I stupidly forgot to photograph with the lid off, I'll see if I can go take a few more pics of the pod tonight. There's a heap of room inside, the side edge that you see is pretty much the only barrier, the rest of the area in front is just limited by the car. Any pod that has the intake in the standard position will be able to fit in there. The only real issue with the pod is that because of the angle and size restriction of the intake hole, I had to rotate the air sensor around in such a way as to let me connect the pod up properly. The wire has plenty of slack though and it's not stretched at all, just the connector is now underneath and harder to get at than on top. But all you have to do is loosen the pod bracket and rotate it back around if you can't reach the wire as it is. Not that you'd need to regularly disconnect this wire anyway. I'll take the pics tonight and you'll see what I mean. JimX.

From behind the headlight There's no scoop or a provision for one. I'm not sure how it compares to the factory intercooler, but I've got 2 FMIC pipes blocking off the area that I'd be able to run a piece of PVC pipe down to the front bumper to give it a bit more of a scoop. I might have a better look one day and see if I can rig something up. JimX.

Today I put in the cold air box I got from Unique Auto yesterday. Here's what it looks like: Well, I like it It's only painted fibreglass but it's very nicely finished, it's either pitch black or like a mirror depending on the angle. If anyone has a pod filter sitting exposed in their engine bay, I would advise them to get something like this. The engine is a lot more responsive and pulls straight through to redline now. Before this it would suck in lots of hot air and I'd get considerable power drop as the revs increased. JimX.

No, I really don't care It's not like I would have been insulted if they had looked at the M3 and not my car, it wasn't even something I was thinking about beforehand. It just surprised me, I wasn't expecting it, and just something I thought I'd write a post on because I got a bit of a big head over it. I've gone from owning a loud V8 VS Commodore the past 4 years, where the only looks you get are "where the hell is that obnoxious noise coming from?" No one's meant to take this to heart, not even the guy who owns the M3! I know he has the more expensive/better car. JimX.

I bought one because of this review. I had a craparse Redline one on before, which you could actually see through! It had some visible holes in it, so it was pretty useless as a filter. The Apexi one actually seems to flow better though because it has a better design. Before I got it I temporarily swapped my Redline for my friend's HKS. The Apexi seemed to have a little more restriction at high revs, contrary to what the review above says, and I was a little disappointed. But when I took a look at both pods, it seemed to just be that the HKS was more able to draw air in directly from the front, whereas the Apexi was more likely to draw in some from the sides and behind, where all the hot air from the engine was coming from. So I *think* it was just because it was drawing in more hot air, not because it was flowing less. I put in a cold air box today and that's fixed the "restrictive" feel of the Apexi pod, it now flows better than the HKS did without the box. Not sure if the HKS would flow better in the box as well, but I doubt there'd be much in it. I don't know if I trust the gtrowner review for the power gains, but the filtration results are probably correct. I'd rather save my engine getting dirt in it at the expense of a few hp (and I don't even know if I'm paying those few hp). Summary: Very happy with Apexi pod! JimX.

Who cares who'd rather have what or which car is better? If it was about speed or even lap times around Eastern Creek, my TLR would probably ownz0r the M3 anyway, but who really cares? I never said my car was better than an M3, and I never said the M3 sucked. All I was talking about was a bit of attention my car got, which made me feel a little special. That's all. I'm allowed to have that aren't I? Soopamarcus, my car's not externally visually any different from stock (well, unless you count the FMIC and 3" exhaust). It does have a T04 turbo and Apexi pod in it though, which makes for some cool induction noises. That could have been what made the first guy turn his head in the first place. JimX.

No, nothing to do with racing, just head-turning I was behind an M3 last night in heavy traffic going towards the city. At one point on the side of the road was a bunch of guys standing around talking. One of them looked my way and pointed, and the whole group all had a good look at my car as it went past. I didn't notice any of them pay any attention to the M3! JimX.

Ah, thanks! Is there any way of looking up what the heat range of my plugs is based on the number on it? What heat range should it be? I've got a T04 turbo running at 10psi, not sure if this makes any difference to what heat range I should be using. JimX.

I have a set of NGK Iridium plugs left over from my previous car, a VS Commodore 5.0L V8. I was going to see if they would fit in my Skyline, but then I realised that even if they had the correct thread they still might not work properly. Does anyone know if they will fit and operate properly? JimX.

I assume you mean when you're going slow like over a speed bump? Usually that's to do with an aftermarket blow-off valve, an air flow converter like Apexi's S-AFC can fix this. Could also be something wrong with your ignition wiring and bumps are jostling it loose somewhere momentarily. JimX.

$27k might be a little high. I paid $22k for my '95 R33, and it has more mods than yours (though the wheels are only 17" Circlar, with 235/255 rubber). I think I got a pretty good deal but it was advertised at $24500. Anyway good luck in selling it, looks very nice. JimX.

My driver's side floor mat is wearing out, the rest are in good condition so I would like to avoid buying the whole set if I can avoid it. Prefer new or nearly new, and can someone tell me if there is something to better afix the mat to the hook? Mine keeps slipping off. Either my hook is worn out or maybe there's some clip that goes over the top to stop it slipping off. So yeah, I need that fixed too somehow. (hope it's not a design flaw) JimX.