New Go Fast Goodies

JimMueller

dorokusai wrote: »

Jim - I'd love to see some pics of the motor. Sorry for the accident but maybe it will allow you some new changes....trying to be positive here :cheesygrin:

Eh, you can't really tell the difference from the stock LS1 block unless you know what to look for. The manifold and its insulation cover look different as well as the fuel rails & injectors. The external shortblock dimensions are exactly the same, just interior changes like the bore spacing which are different and sensor locations. I can take a photo, but the engine bay is quite dirty. The various engine cleaners I've tried in the past also caused the alternator to overcharge, so I've stopped cleaning it because I'm tired of swapping alternators.

Edit: Found this snapshot of my LS3 on the k-member before it was installed in the car.

Drenis

dorokusai wrote: »

I got bored with audio so I took a break and became absorbed in another hobby for awhile.

Pics Zingo?

Attachment not found.

Beautiful doro...

Dawgfish

I just bought a new for me, 2010 Toyota Tacoma Double-Cab 4X4. I installed an Armour Lid toneau cover last week. I currently have a K&N 66 CAI and a throttle body spacer ordered. They are supposed to be in tomorrow. The CAI/throttle body spacer combo is supposed to get me an extra 14-16 HP and another 3-5 mpg. We'll see. I have been debating adding an aftermarket chip, but I'm leaning on staying with the stock chip right now.

Serendipity

JimMueller wrote: »

I installed 315/35/17 Nitto NT05's on all corners a few weeks ago. Prior to that, titanium brake pad shims, stainless steel caliper pistons, Ferodo DS2500 pads & Castrol SRF fluid.

Here's a thumbnail photo with 315 Hoosiers; Serendipity saw it at PolkFest. The car was in a chain reaction rear-end collision last week, caused by a 50-ish man in an Audi A8 :mad: Still drivable and just cosmetic damage but it's caused me to delay further changes until it's repaired.

Yes, it looks awesome in person. Must be silly fast and fun to drive!

How is your LS3? Any piston slap in the cold winter months?

dorokusai

Dawgfish wrote: »

I just bought a new for me, 2010 Toyota Tacoma Double-Cab 4X4. I installed an Armour Lid toneau cover last week. I currently have a K&N 66 CAI and a throttle body spacer ordered. They are supposed to be in tomorrow. The CAI/throttle body spacer combo is supposed to get me an extra 14-16 HP and another 3-5 mpg. We'll see. I have been debating adding an aftermarket chip, but I'm leaning on staying with the stock chip right now.

Sounds like a plan but definitly go with a chip Dawg, you won't regret it. I wouldn't count on any of the advertised MPG but its a nice idea. This is my fourth chipped vehicle and its just a standard upgrade for me now. Most of them offer a convenience or option to check your own codes and look at things with your laptop which is handy personally.

John - That pic is insane looking....I love twin turbo setups....just pretty. I saw an exhaust turbo installed on a Corvette and a Pickup Truck on HP TV or something like that....really neat.

Sherardp - That's a super smooth ride man. Loved the pics when you originally bought it as well. The wheels have a nice snug look and the brakes are solid. The big seller for me is the wheel arches which you don't notice at first but get meaner as you get into the overall lines.

Poee7R

So bought a 72 Chevelle about 2 weeks ago, 88k original miles, the car is all original except the paint and wheels.

Has a stock 350/350 with a two barrel and thats on its way out. Just got finished with the brakes/master and waiting on a new 10 bolt rear axle. Also have a Bilstein and Eibach combo on the way for the suspension. Gonna keep it kind of mild but with a ton of torque, carb, intake, cam, heads, headers etc. coming up in the next few weeks. Also found some buckets for it, has a bench at the moment, but im a big guy and its a squishy situation.

Ill either find a bbc core and build from scratch, or tear the 350 down and rebuild the bottom end possibly shoving a 400 crank down its throat. Not sure yet, but thats kinda the fun of it.

And thats the start, so much I have planned just to probably sell it when we move across the pacific, may just store it or something. Would be great to be able to bring it with us, but I think the cost involved will be out there.

Btw, some real nice rides in this thread, would be proud to have any of them, even that stinking Lightning. :twisted:


Dave

Sherardp

I'll have to post some interior pics later on. Thanks Doro.

TouchOfEvil

Doro the ride is looking sweet. I have tried to talk the ol lady into a Audi but she has pretty much said no, lol. She wants a R-Design Volvo SC60 and it doesn't look like she is gonna budge.

Ricardo

Nice ride Mark. That's a huge amount of torque you have there.

Why stage 2 and not stage 1 that requires no hardware? I think the gains are not huge, are they? And would be easier to "hide" from the dealer in case warranty work is required.

dorokusai

Ricardo wrote: »

Nice ride Mark. That's a huge amount of torque you have there.

Why stage 2 and not stage 1 that requires no hardware? I think the gains are not huge, are they? And would be easier to "hide" from the dealer in case warranty work is required.

Stage 2 doesn't really need any hardware either, it's just to meet advertised claims and the downpipe doesn't void any warranty. Nor would an exhaust for that matter. Any upgrade vs warranty work has to be attributed to the replaced part to be denied and we're talking one section of the exhaust system which is already SS based, so there shouldn't be a problem anyways. My dealer is very accomodating but if I was replacing the turbo and all the plumbing, I would assume that risk and responsibility obviously.

You're right, the gains at Stage 2 are small in comparison but the parameters are much different and more in line with future tweaks. I'm not sure that I won't get a full exhaust right now and wanted that factored in anyways. The chip is a flash so the dealer will never even know since it can be flashed back and forth between multiple octane programs in a minute, using the cruise control buttons. I honestly don't think they would care as long as the issues being worked weren't my direct fault. We'll see I guess.

ohskigod

JimMueller wrote: »

If it wasn't a daily driver I'd strip it and put a cage in it. I also like the idea of moving the motor to a Miata or S2000 (if I'd fit LOL).

that LS3 will fit into a Pontiac Solstice :-)
search youtube for the crazy **** that have done that.....must be a front heavy oversteering mess but still intriguing power to weight ratio nonetheless

Dawgfish

Doro, thanks for the advice on the chip. After reading your comments, I am totally leaning towards changing the chip. You have a very nice ride btw. There are a lot of folks on the board with some seriously nice rides it looks like. It seems to me we're all a bunch of tinkerers wether it be auto, audio, or whatever else.

evhudsons

I'm welding floor pans in my 1990 5.0 manual convertible mustang. Ill go from there. My wife wants me to get a new car, Nope

cnh

Looks great, probably killer "fast". All the car talk is pretty much Martian speak to me. Tinkering with vehicles, never big in my family. My father probably couldn't even change a tire. lol Well, I'm not that bad. But I have no mechanical curiosity--that does not mean I don't have any "latent" ability. I do find myself fascinated by electrical equipment and have considered studying up on audio repair and buying and learning how to use a good soldering station there. But cars...that's what my mechanic is for!

Carry on. Looks cool regardless. Enjoy the hobby, there are many to choose from!

cnh

gelinas

That carbon fiber intake is very nice looking. +45HP and +95TQ from a chip? What does the chip do? Increase boost? Thats a pretty impressive increase.

JimMueller

Serendipity wrote: »

Yes, it looks awesome in person. Must be silly fast and fun to drive!

How is your LS3? Any piston slap in the cold winter months?

I've done logging to build time-to-speed tables from a roll, no luck from a standing start due to wheelspin. Just street tuned, which is a guess at the optimal spark/AFR. Combining the logs with perfect traction would indicate a 1/4mi time of 11.0 @ 124 - but that's slipping the clutch at 5K which I would never do... 5-125MPH it estimates as 11.3s rolling into it. But that's all conjecture because it's just software pasting together the logging data.

I've not noticed any piston slap, even in our cold winter months (that would be low 40's ) but the only factory part of the rotating assembly is the crank. The heads are stock except for the valvesprings. The cam is designed for a wide torque curve instead of a top-heavy HP curve. Similar LS3's on a dynojet range from a peak of 460-500rwhp, the number dictated by the cam design.

Jstas

Here doro, it's not the same car but a similar setup.



It's going to eat your children.

NotaSuv

Heres the ride and the newest mod LOL

NOS kit 100/150 shot waiting for install
Custom billet TB
Custom coils
Custom pliug wires
SCT dyno tuned b y Torrie at Unleashed
Chromed cal tracs
Belanger long tubes headers
MBRP true dual exhaust
CAI
Custom billet fluid caps and a bunch more................

Going on the dyno tomorrow last time was in Fl and it was oer a 100 in the garage and humidity was 95% so the cool dry air here should help a bit

Ricardo

dorokusai wrote: »

The chip is a flash so the dealer will never even know since it can be flashed back and forth between multiple octane programs in a minute, using the cruise control buttons. I honestly don't think they would care as long as the issues being worked weren't my direct fault. We'll see I guess.

I am familiar with the APR flashes and how they work; I've also heard stories of void warranties on turbo/clutch/DSG damages because of the flash. It is just a chip but they can easily claim it is sending power/torque that the car components are not designed to handle.

It is not that straight forward to find out the car has been chipped, but it is possible. You would think that if they see an APR intake it might give them a hint. That's why I would probably go stage 1 only on a new car.

I hope it's just my paranoia and you never need any warranty work.

Jstas

Ricardo wrote: »

I am familiar with the APR flashes and how they work; I've also heard stories of void warranties on turbo/clutch/DSG damages because of the flash. It is just a chip but they can easily claim it is sending power/torque that the car components are not designed to handle.

It is not that straight forward to find out the car has been chipped, but it is possible. You would think that if they see an APR intake it might give them a hint. That's why I would probably go stage 1 only on a new car.

I hope it's just my paranoia and you never need any warranty work.

Actually, it's pretty easy to prove. As soon as you plug in a professional level code reader or diagnostic computer, it's going to take a snapshot of the current parameters running in the ECM's memory. The flash program's specs will be out of line with the stock specs and any mechanic familiar with flash programming will recognize what he/she is looking at.

However, the allowable specs are actually much wider than most people think they are. The stock specs are made that way to not only keep people from killing themselves but to meet silly stuff like C.A.F.E. and C.A.R.B. standards. Often times simply advancing the timing will net you a large amount of power and that's not a warranty voiding change. If all you do is tweak the programming to allow the stock components to perform at the level they were engineered for rather than the level they were legislated to, you're not going to really void a warranty.

As far as intakes and exhaust go, again, they aren't increasing performance enough to cause the breakage concerns you're talking about. Contrary to the Innerweb's copious amounts of bench racers, you don't get to add the power levels that parts claim and come out with a sum of all the parts. If that were the case, just changing to synthetics in my truck alone, I'd have over 700 horsepower. A cold air intake just moves where the engine gets it's air from and allows for cleaner and cooler air. The stock tune is completely capable of compensating for that and actually making a bit more power. But the real benefit you get there is better throttle response, better fuel economy and a bit more cool noises.

Exhaust systems don't put extra stress on engines either. They actually relieve stress because they reduce backpressure. That helps to increase exhaust gas velocity which aids in combustion chamber scavenging. That means that more of the exhaust gases exit the chamber faster through the expansion of the hot gases instead of having the engine expend power pumping them out. You're not really gaining power as much as you are recovering what was lost. In a turbocharged car, free flowing exhaust gases that move at a higher velocity means less turbo lag so your power band comes in earlier in the RPM range. It doesn't necessarily make more power. It just makes that power that's already there come in lower in the range and extends your power band so you stay in the meat of it longer. Doesn't make the car faster necessarily. It really just makes the gear changes more efficient so when you shift you have less time out of the power band or you shift right in to the power band and you can use your power better exiting a turn and such.

But the damages you're talking about with broken clutches and stuff, I've read about too. But most of those damages come when people start messing with boost levels and making alot more power over stock. Changing the boost level changes how the engine delivers power and how much shock hits the driveline. Just like speakers, it's not the amount of power delivered as much as it's HOW the power is delivered. A smooth, steady delivery of power is easier to handle than changing the boost and hitting your peak much lower and faster in the RPM range. If your peak is high in the RPM range then the majority of the time, you're already moving when you hit peak. That's good because it takes less energy to increase velocity of an already moving car than it does to take a stationary car and get it moving. There is much less stress and shock that way than there is if you're hopping on it from a standstill. That initial shock is very jarring and stressful for the entire car and that's when weak links often fail.

The other thing is, most of the people I see breaking stuff are kids who lack experience and understanding of what they are dealing with. It's not that they are stupid or anything it's just that they are young and full of hubris, thinking they know more than they do. It's not that they are lacking intelligence either, it's just that they don't know that they don't really know as much as they think they do. Ignorance is not a crime but ignorant hubris should be 'cause if someone who knows is telling you you're crossing a line, you shouldn't laugh at them and call them old. I've seen that quite a few times. I even know one kid who was "the best turbo tuner in NJ!!!!11" who is being sued by someone with a Subaru and a $111,000 JDM engine that is now a hunk of high quality scrap aluminum because this "best turbo tuner in NJ!!!!!111" didn't listen to the other Subaru tuners who were telling him the engine couldn't take the boost levels he was tuning at and it was going to break. Kid blew up the $111,000 engine on the "test run" on the street in front of his garage. That must have been a fun phone call to make.

Anyway, the tune doro has, I don't see it voiding a warranty. Especially if it can be reflashed at will. If he knows he has to take it in to the dealer for service, reflash it a day or two before and drive it for a few hours to clear all the info and let the ECM relearn it's environment. The intake and exhaust aren't going to void the warranty and they'll never know about the reflash once the ECM learns again. If they ask why there's no historical data, just tell them that you disconnect the battery when you'll be away for a long time so that the battery doesn't drain and damage the computers. The reflash will wipe the historical data from the Stage 2 tune. I really doubt it's going to break anything in the car too. It's barely a 20% increase in power and the reflash itself didn't get him 45+ alone. It'd probably only be about 25 horses without the better intake and exhaust. They just make things more efficient and allow the tuned engine to exploit the environmental variables better. Besides, those peak power numbers are ideal condition numbers. Power output of any engine changes with the atmospheric conditions.



Oh and doro: http://www.shockwarehouse.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=SW+-+Bilstein+Top+KW+E

I got my Bilsteins there. Dealer wanted almost $800 a set for them for my truck. These guys sold me the whole set for $275. Check them out. Might get you your Bilsteins sooner.

vwfred69

Nice car! I had a fully loaded apr ecu on a 24v vr6 gli and loved it. my ecu died after a wreck and apr reflashed my new ecu and coded it to my key and cluster for free, great company! I would toggle to stock and lock the ecu when I took it to the dealer, nice option.

Ricardo

Jstas wrote: »

But the damages you're talking about with broken clutches and stuff, I've read about too. But most of those damages come when people start messing with boost levels

And isn't that exactly what the APR flashes do? Raising boost from 12 PSI to 18-20 PSI. And the diverter valve is the first one to go.

And just for the record.....I am too looking forward to a stage 1 in my new, soon to be delivered car....

Jstas

Ricardo wrote: »

And isn't that exactly what the APR flashes do? Raising boost from 12 PSI to 18-20 PSI. And the diverter valve is the first one to go.

Ummm...to get that big of a jump, you have to change turbos. If the reflash does increase boost that much and all he gained was 45 HP with a reflash, an intake and minor exhaust changes then he got ripped off. With 18-20 PSI, he should have seen over a 100 HP increase easily.

I'm not 100% sure which turbo the Audi is using but you're not going to get a boost level change with just a reflash unless it has programmable and adjustable impeller vanes in the turbo and/or a programmable wastegate or blow-off valve. I've only seen factory hot rods like a GT-R or a WRX STi come with something like that. An A5 is not a factory hot rod. It's a run of the mill Audi. If it was an S5, yeah but even then, it wouldn't come with hot rod parts like that. Not in an Audi. Maybe in the race cars or the R8 and R10 Audi is using that kind of tech but I'd be very surprised to see adjustable stuff like that in the A5. The tech is not cheap at all and would push an A5 out of it's targeted demographic and price range.

But I could be mistaken. It's very unlikely though.

BTW, 14.5 PSI is 1 BAR or 1 atmosphere of pressure. 12 PSI is roughly .70-.75 atmosphere over the 14.5 PSI that already exists in the atmosphere. If you are running 14.5 PSI, you are doubling the pressure of the outside air which doubles density. To jump from 12 PSI to 20 PSI, you are roughly adding another 60% of pressure over the already doubling of the atmospheric pressure. If you only get 45 horses over stock doing that, you're doing it wrong.

dorokusai

John that Mustang is just plain sick.

Jstas is correct and the flash is not going to cause any problems. I upgraded the diverter valve(AWE) anyways so that failure point is fairly moot. I'm just going to stock flash it when it goes into the shop. I've already spoken to them about modded vehicles and we're cystal clear in regards to warranty matters aside from blatant abuse. The warranty problems I've read about are USUALLY flagrant abuse or doing way too much boost....kids, boy racers, etc. I've never had a warranty problem not covered in 6 vehicles so far, 4 of which were clearly not stock.

The A5 is like John said, a standard 2.0TFSI engine with nice bodywork. It's the most modified motor family in the Audi stable and has been since the 1.8T.

The APR turbo upgrade is actually supported by Audi and was designed with their help. That doesn't mean they say sure, no problem, upgrade away but you get the point. Disclaimer from website:

Will it void my warranty?
Yes and No: according to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act:

"No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumers using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name..." (15 U.S.C. 2302?)

So basically, if you have a warranty claim, the dealer (or warrantor) must prove that the part that you modified directly caused the failure. For example, if you chipped your car and the exhaust falls off, then the car is still under warranty.

Of all of the chips that APR, LLC has sold, as well as pretty much all other chip manufacturers, there just really aren't any problems in chipping the car. Your Audi/VW was so well engineered, that you really are not stressing anything that was not designed to take the changes that a chip produces.

Ricardo

Jstas wrote: »

But I could be mistaken. It's very unlikely though.

he he he...