Tuned

Well has been a very busy last few days. Got the turbo off on Saturday night, The thread for the studs on the GTRS exhaust manifold were stuffed so off to Nick to get them tapped ready for installation.

Then got up early on Sunday and started installing the new turbo. Had a braided water feed line in the garage, so installed that while putting the new turbo on. Got the turbo in and then had to modify the oil return line to suit our setup, managed to bend the oil feed and water return to work, will be replacing with braided lines when we have something suitable to put on. Also installed a Greddy plenum. Then off to ST hitec on Monday to get tuned on Tuesday.

Made 273kw on 1.4 bar, Was maxing out the boost controller because we have a small wastegate spring. Could make more power if we used a higher spring, but the power we  are making now is perfect for what we use the car for. Still have to install the front brakes and have now got a larger swaybar for the rear. Also going to have the car on Show at the WRC on the 8th of May at Hampton Downs.

Garageh De-actuator

Here is the prototype of one of our 2010 parts. Advantages are it makes blocking off your actuator alot easier, can be put on easily in place and removed easily if you want to go back to an internal wastegate. Currently in the devellopment stages, will be alot more streamlined in the final design.

And also some C-spanners for adjusting your suspenion, save your collars form screwdriver abuse!

Rear brakes are now on the S14, Will do fronts and brake booster this weekend!

Am now unable to make the trackday this Sunday as car is booked in for a tune on Monday, which means we will be spending the weekend installing turbo/plenum and giving the car a good checkover!

S14 Upgrades

After going to a few J-spec Pukekohe trackdays, I have found that our car(whilst definatly being set up for drift) is struggling very hard to get through the corners without drifting. Through the Sweeper(First corner on the racetrack) I am just able to hit 150k’s with average street tyres and a drift alignment. Went out in a factory Honda Integra Type R(with a few small engine modifications and Semi-Slick tyres) and he was hitting the corner at over 180kph. So to stop getting eaten through the corners we bought some 240/625/17 Dunlop Slicks and a set of 17×9 +18 Wheels to run them on.

Another big problem was braking. The factory 4 pot 280mm front disk, single pot rear brake(with piston handbrake) just wasn’t doing the job! For Starters when pulling the handbrake up to initiate a drift, the piston brake does not fully lock up both wheels instantly and is unreliable. The last couple of drift days we have been to it has been stretching the cable due to the amount of force you have to put through the cable to get it to lock up the rear wheels! On grip days I am having to brake 50m behind the racecars to stop in time for the hairpin at Pukekohe. So I am upgrading the brakes to the GTS25t R33 version of Brembo brakes for now. The 296mm Front disks/4 pot brakes with Endless brakepads(later upgrade to slotted rotors) and  2 pot rear calipers with the internal drum handbrake setup(locks up ALOT easier than the piston setup) will make for optimum braking! Have also got a set of braided brake lines to complete the package.

Have also bought a HKS GT-RS .64 rear housing turbo which should upgrade our overall power to well over 250kw. Making up a Garage H De-actuator rod (more detail on this product in the next post)  and a few other bits before it is installed. Have also got a genuine Greddy intake plenum for it. Booked in for a tune on the 27th of April, so should have a super responsive, reliable and powerfull package ready for the up and coming competitions!

Nick has just finished modifying/painting the tyre rack(Garage H Wheel-E bar) will update with pictures as it all comes together. Looking at attending quite a few events in the next month, some include:

-25th April – Pukekohe Grip Trackday(Grip)

-1st  May – Meremere Drift day(S-club Drift day)

-9th May - Meremere Drag day(Evolve Dray dray)

-22nd May – Pukekohe Drift day(Drift)

-29th May – Slipway Advanced Drift day(Drift)

Thanks to the following for helping us out:

-Precision Wheels, Zach your help  in sorting us out with tyres to drift/grip/drag on is always apreciated, without you we would be drifting on nothing!

-Luxury Sports, Thanks Bruce and Ryan for your help in getting our car set up with quality parts, always appreciated!

-Garage H, The quality of Nicks engineering is never ending, your qualilty and Simons idea’s area a great combination!!!(3rd person ;P)

Road trips made easy!

Have been working on this wheel/tyre rack over the weekend. Previously were were struggling to fit 6 wheels inside the car around the cage etc. With the rack we can fit 10x wheels on it(and 4 easily inside the car if we need to) and still drive to the events, making it alot more affordable to drive down south. Especially now that D1NZ is holding the first round down there, we have been wanting to head down for some pre-event practise.

Nick made the lower rack first, its designed to fit 4x 17×9 wheels but also fits 18′s on. Next he made the upper rack cantilevered over the boot, it has a removeable rack which we simply un-bolt to get into the boot!

Its still not quite finished, we will be running a couple of extra braces. Planning to head down to Ruapuna for the final of the Drift South series on the 9th of May. But now we have it sorted we will be driving down to Taupo/Manfield and Slipway alot more!

Also Nick had a good drive at the Meremere Manji day on Friday, by the end of the day he had the hang of it.

Thanks Dan for the photo, I highly reccomend checking out his blog if you havent already. He has one of the cleanest R32 GTST’s I have ever seen!

Life

Cars are life. Havent done much this week, S14 is a bit straighter after the Slipway crash. Have spent a bit of time sorting out the rear end on the R1, Tail/Brake lights now work! Have a casual day at Meremere tomorrow drifting, Nick is driving so will get footage up asap!