(nearly 6-7 years). When I first got the car it was a completely standard revision 1 turbo with broken speedo and knackered synchros. I always knew I'd tune it, just never how far I'd go.The first thing to be done was put the car right, mainly gearbox rebuild
(bad idea as early boxes are poo and a rebuild costs the same as a more reliable rev3 box). The synchros let go again not long after so a rev3 box was sourced...it's been fine ever since (speedo fixed at the same time).Tuning wise, I've always been a fan of the Japanese parts, figuring Jap car, Jap parts
(and the Japs are still lightyears ahead of UK tuners). And tuning should be a logical cost effective progression....hopefully doing things in the right order so new parts are future proof and compliment older parts. My route was thus:
Blitz SUS filter
(ease of cleaning, built to last, sounds fantastic)...getting the car breathing better.Blitz NurSpec exhaust
(one of the best in my opinion for flow, sound and looks). And gutted cat (no point buying an aftermarket one as I wanted a bigger blower down the line).MiNE'S ECU
(not recommended for anyone tuning a car, but good as a stopgap to complement light mods).Apex-i AVCR
(the best boost controller.) Set at 1bar.And that was it for a while.
..nice sounds and nice power at around 243hp at the wheels.I was planning on buying a bigger turbo, so got the engine checked out first
(to avoid any nasty problems). Good job I did as the compression test gave me poor results, basically 2 and 3 were way down (common problem in early cars, due to overheating/lack of fuel to the cylinders)...so faced with the option of stock replacements or silly parts imported for the same price...I decided on the silly option.A few weeks later I had, JE Forgies
(oversized), HKS 1.2mm HG, HKS valve springs (to go with future cams), ARP bolts and studs, 9lb flywheel, TRD clutch, Greddy catchtank and no money.Again, trying to save money in the long run, I sourced a Trust IC and spal fan to be fitted while the engine was out
(easier that way). I also decided on balancing the bottom end and porting the head. Away the car went to be rebuilt.6 months
(yes 6 months later...I was saving to pay the bill) the car was ready to collect. Even running stock boost (I'd removed and sold the AVC-R to help pay the costs) the engine felt stronger, sounded better....good result all round. I quickly racked up the 5000 miles I'd set myself for the pistons etc to wear in. During this time 3 oil changes were done to help the engine out. The car used to smoke sometimes on cooldown after a run, or smoke during driving...but this got less and less as the engine settled down. It's worth noting that engines running forgies will always burn a little oil here and there, as the pistons take longer to heat up some oil can make its way through until the car is at running temp...It was another year after the run in period before I started to source the parts to make use of the engine.
I wanted an aftermarket turbo and was drawn towards the TD06, but I fancied an external wastegate and wanted to ditch the restrictive manifold and heavy cat...and wanted to run high boost pressures so I switched to the T67. No point running an 06 at the ragged edge to get power, better to run a 67 at 3/4. Lots of people warned me that the larger T67 would have lots of lag and be no fun on track...what a load of old rubbish...anyone who has been in the car will agree, lag is virtually non existent and once it's spooled...it's like a train.I turned my attention to the engine management
(wanting to run bigger injectors)...the MiNE'S wasn't up to the job so I chose the number one ECU in Japan, the Power FC...the one I bought was for the revision 3 car, but with an IAT sensor, 3 bar map sensor, loom repin and rev3 coil it brought my rev1 engine up to spec to run it. 800cc Power Enterprise injectors were bought along with matching 255 ltr/hr fuel pump and a custom made fuel rail (putting big injectors in a stock rail seemed like a waste to me...besides, some tests at the time showed that injectors worked around 15% less in an uprated rail as apposed to OEM). Other bits included were the Greddy oil cooler (keep that oil to the turbo cool), HKS 264 duration cams (the stock cams can restrict power in the long run) and revision 6 engine lid fans (to pull that nasty hot air out of the bay).This all went to Rogue and Thor to be put together.
..and again, one month later, the car was ready to collect. Thor had managed to get 380.3hp at the hubs from the engine at a mere 1.65bar of boost, giving me 308 lb/ft of torque and around 376hp per tonne...supercar slaying stats.Other things like bodykit and wheels are personal choice really, the brakes were uprated to rev3+ spec allround which do a good job at the moment.
I know I've missed things out here, and it might sound simple to get to the end result but research is key to getting the results you want.
..and do things in a logical order, it can really save time, money and stress.As for my car, my plans for it now are to get it more prepared for track work, so bigger brakes, new coilovers, running gear, roll cage and braces for stiffness are all wanted, along with some nice race seats and a boot mount intercooler so make for more reliable temps when on full chat.
