Hawt Ridez!!

Sendarie · Post by **Sendarie** » May 13, 2004, 8:30 am

Nice setup...no boost controller? I kept waiting for that in the mod list and didnt see it.

How about an APEXi AFC?

How much boost you running?

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » May 13, 2004, 9:11 am

19 PSI atm.

No boost controller because the stock turbo efficency drops rapidly after 18 PSI. A boost controller would give me a bit more power in 1st and 2nd...but it's already easy to smoke the tires in those gears so I'd basically be paying money to reduce drivability....the new computer reduces the boost in 1st to 9psi and 2nd to 15 or so....but it does it for a reason.

If I get a new turbo (which is probably atleast a year off) I'll probably get the Profec B.

But my next mods are thermostat, eyelids....because they are cheap and my current job for the last 8 yrs ends in 7 weeks...company went downhill after 9/11 and never fully recovered /sigh.

Then were going to focus on suspension for a little bit after I get a new job. Coilovers, stiffer sway bars, and a rear strut bar. Maybe a full bushing kit. Possibly new rims so I can fit some additional rubber on there. Stock tires are only 205's I'd like 225 before I add much more power..

After that comes the turbo and EBC. Maybe a larger FMIC. Maybe a new clutch and axels out of necessity.

It's pretty easy to get this car to 500+ wHP/torque. I'll probably just shoot for 350-400 though. The stock internals give out somewhere around 550 (I know a guy who purposefully tested this, funny thing is he is going for a 2nd try...he thinks it might have been fuel related detonation). There is a highly modified one out there pushing over 900...maybe up to 1000 now.

Edit:
There are 2 SRT-4's pushing 1000+ hp now.
RaceDeck's and the one from Mopar. I can't find a page from racedeck giving current stats, I just have read some posts from them lately.

http://www.racedeckracing.com/cars.asp
http://www.forwardmotioninc.com/html/news.htm

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » May 13, 2004, 12:51 pm

Pils,
I am truly sorry to hear about your cousin. I hope you do realize that most of the time if I "flame" here it is in good-natured fun and not meant personally. I know how it is to loose someone so I know how you feel.

Your car actually looks pretty nice. I might have swapped the rims out and gotten wider tires, but you mentioned you might do that (am not a huge fan of those rims.. personal taste only). Also, why the eyelids? I don't think those enhance the car really, quite the opposite.. same with the "bling" stickers as you mention.

I think part of my dislike for the SRT-4 is the same as my dislike for the Neon itself: I HATE the front and the front headlights. It looks nice from behind and ok from the side, but I really can't stand the front heh..

If I was you I would keep the car looking as "low-key" as possible for the kind of car it is. Less cop attention, less asshole attention on the road (you know, the souped up Civic!) and a bit more wolf in sheep's clothing style. It looks very clean now which (personal taste again) is a good thing.

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » May 13, 2004, 12:53 pm

Kelshara wrote:Also, why the eyelids?
....
I HATE the front and the front headlights.

Because I hate the headlights even more than you I guess. I don't mind most of the front except that. However little humps near the headlights back like a porsche (but not as much) might have helped. And have the hood come a little further forward and smaller headlights.

The bumper should have ended under the headlight not going up the side of the car making a 3 way connection bumper, fender, hood..ina tight area.

The ass end has to be lowered...well the whole car but the ass end more.

The rims are not that good looking either, but they grow on you.

There are many cars out there that look better than mine. I bought mine for cost/power/functionality.

Not worried about Civics...I haven't seen any come close to me...they rev up and then fade in my rear view...I'm not sure if they let the clutch out or not. I've raced 3 or 4 souped up civics...I drive poorly and even my stock with 3 passengers...no contest. I even gave them headstarts on a couple occassions.

Cops on the other hand I do not want thier attention, that's why the stripes and such will not go on. The windshield banner is gay that would have enver made the cut anyway. But the stripes seems like a neat little way to make mine stand out..but eh...I was wavering pretty hard on it..because it is a little much for my tastes.

Sendarie · Post by **Sendarie** » May 13, 2004, 2:05 pm

Kelshara wrote: a bit more wolf in sheep's clothing style.

Yes sleepers are teh win. Thats the direction I'm going with mine. Beside the Greddy EVO exhaust you wont even know that mine is modded.
I'm even going with the aftermarket SMIC to keep that hidden in later stages.

Pilsburry wrote: There are 2 SRT-4's pushing 1000+ hp now.
RaceDeck's and the one from Mopar. I can't find a page from racedeck giving current stats, I just have read some posts from them lately.

Thats Darryl Cox's team I believe, you should be able to find it searching for his name in MOPAR related websites. I think him and his SRT-4 were in a recent issue of Modified Mag.

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » May 13, 2004, 2:33 pm

Yeah I do hate the headlights I just think the eyelids make it even more cheesy

I am a huge fan of very clean cars, with clean lines etc. And I do agree with lowering it being a need though.. not really sure why it was designed with it's rear end sticking up like that.

The main reason I call SRT-4s ricey is that all the ones in the area here look like the second one you posted.. full of decals, window stickers in all windows and other stuff I really can't stand. A clean SRT-4 is not ricey, I'll give you that for sure. Wish people around here would get some taste, but when you have old lowered S10s with tiny wheels, rear spoiler etc doing burnouts all day.. *sighs*

Not saying you had to be worried about Civics beating you, I just find it annoying when young kids in their shiny POS cars mess with you. My ex gf drove a Vette and whenever I drove it I had everyone from trucks to god knows what trying to mess with me. It just grows old fast for me.. Hence why I also love sleeper cars

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » May 13, 2004, 3:12 pm

Sendarie wrote:Thats Darryl Cox's team I believe, you should be able to find it searching for his name in MOPAR related websites. I think him and his SRT-4 were in a recent issue of Modified Mag.

Ya it is...I just didn't think you would know his name. The Mopar one is his and he is affiliated with race deck in some fashion.

Another guy in town with an SRT-4 just put the darrel cox race head on his the other day. And he has a T3/T4 on order from Psi-Fi...with his other mods he will be 450'ish hp. There are like 4 SRT's in the area and his happens to be the only other black one....anyone who races him once or sees him in action will probably leave me alone...unless they notice my windows are darker and I have a sunroof.

We have some rice action here too...huge sheet metal spoilers, body kits....that never get painted. Racing stripes. Lots of fart cans and those little lights on the windshield washer jets. You can get away with some of that in my book if your fast. But most of these guys are running 120hp at the crank with even less torque...in cars 10 yrs old.

If all you can scrape up when you buy is $300....don't spend $30 on lights to draw attention to yourself...spend that money on the darkest tint you can get...and make sure noone is looking when you get out.

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » May 13, 2004, 4:12 pm

Ok I did some checking to see why our cars rear is so high up.

It has to do with us being FWD.

When you launch a car with a lot of torque the front end of the car lifts up and the back end feels heavier.

In a RWD car that's great....more weight on the wheels needing power.

In a FWD car that's horrible. It makes us more likely to break traction.

Our weight distribution(64/36) and higher ass end help combat this.

---------------------

RWD's other features is less wheel hop from the engine slamming around right above the drive wheels.

And of course the fact that your wheels your turning with have less forces messing with them...so you can steer better on turns under hard acceleration.

Better weight distribution helps keep all 4 tires planted on turns as the front tires don't lose grip faster do to more weight being applied on 2 tires.

----------------------

FWD has a few perks....
In snow we have more weight on the drive tires so we get stuck less...we don't need sand bags in the trunk. So we are better from a stop...but on a turn..I think RWD still has us beat.

Really fast cars (like sub 9 secs 1/4 mile) sometimes need wheelie bars...the whole front end lifts off the ground...I'm still unsure how the hell those guys stay going straight. In a FWD vehicle you can't lift the front of the ground because under that much power you lose traction first as the front tires break contact.

FWD is cheaper and lighter.

-------------------------
AWD is of course the Shiznit.

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » May 13, 2004, 4:44 pm

I am a huge fan of RWD, even in snowy/icy conditions. I grew up driving my parents' old Volvo 240 (heh a few of us had those, nicknamed them "the tank squad" for obvious reasons) and then my sports car was RWD as well. I don't have a problem with the rear end slipping some since most good RWD cars now are well balanced and slip to a certain degree and then can be held there around corner. I could put my cars completely sideways and it only once slipped completely (and that was so my fault I sure as hell can't blame the car). I prefere that to FWD which slips later, but when they first slip.. god help you!

Of course, the day I took my driving test it was such a bad blizzard I could not see the road.. how they let us drive at all that day is fairly shocking.

Still not sure why the SRT-4 is so high in the rear.. other FWD sports cars are not are they? Or maybe I have missed it?

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » May 14, 2004, 1:17 am

I'm not sure if they are or not.

I can't think of many FWD sports cars that have enough torque where it would matter much.

Evo and STI are AWD....most muscle cars are RWD.

Were talking Celicas and Civics etc...they got like no torque.

And even if they had the torque...it depends if they want fast acceleration or better handling. Because for handling purposes it's still better for FWD to be flat..actually...might be better for a reversed angle..front up back down heh.

And really the "rake" is what's important, the angle that the rear is at compared to the front...it's still too high regardless. It would be a little less noticible if both came down an inch or so...the wheel gap in the rear is huge.

Of course that helped when I went off-roading in it last weekend heh. J/K I just took it maybe an 1/8th of a mile on a grassy hill...I was stuck in a parking lot (all exits blocked for atleast 2 hours). Lady in the booth said she could get me past the 1st 3 cars (out of 20 cars back and 2 lanes across, all facing me) but I would never get up the driveway...I took that as an authorization to find an alternate exit.

As for RWD in the snow once I got the theory of handling down I think I agree. RWD seems to handle better in snow EXCEPT for starting to move. And that's the best time to not be able to get a grip..because if you can't move, you should maybe not drive. However if you lose traction while moving(fwd), the problem is much worse.

I drove a RWD volvo I think it was on a ski trip over the winter, and also a FWD intrepid. They handled well on most roads (because they were clean). But when it came to handling on snow..volvo did slightly better.

When it came to getting up the hill to the Chalet...the volvo could not get enough grip. The Intrepid had a hard time but made it every time. The Volvo failed like 13/15 times.

The Intrepid was easier to unstick too..it was a gravel driveway and when the volvo tried to unstick with us pushing...not only did ithe intrepid grip better...but the Volvo sprayed us all in the face with rocks...we are lucky noone lost an eye.

Note: We didn't take the SRT-4...because the stock tires are 3-season...not even rated for snow. Handled like shit in snow.

Sendarie · Post by **Sendarie** » May 14, 2004, 9:07 am

Hmm sounds like dropping it would cause some undesirable wheel hop and traction issues.
Are they making/selling the poly filled motor mounts for the STR-4 yet? That would help a lot (it did on my Spec-V).

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » May 14, 2004, 10:11 am

Yeah you're right about the torque issue, can't really think of a FWD car with the same amount.

I lived on a dirt road with some pretty nasty hills back home, and it turned into pure ice heh. Only times I couldn't get my RWD sports car up was the few times it was ice from ditch to ditch with water on top. That was fun

But basically I floored it and went up on speed alone. And yeah it can be easier to get a grip with FWD, but you got more tricks you can do with a RWD (easier to bounce it up and down, slide it sideways, rock it back and forth etc).

Skogen · Post by **Skogen** » May 14, 2004, 11:58 am

SRT-4 runs at 19 psi!? Holy crap....I hope you have 94 oct. where you live.
I am going to face trouble with the STi here in california, where 91 is the highest...100 is availible in some places, but very few. Do you have any pinging problems?

Mawafu · Post by **Mawafu** » May 14, 2004, 4:27 pm

Since Celicas were brought up...

I drive a 2003 Celica, great handling but shit for low end torque

Some pictures from Toyota's site, mine is dark blue though.

I think it's a fun car, and didn't break my bank account to have a sports type car.

Dregor Thule · Post by **Dregor Thule** » May 14, 2004, 5:01 pm

My ride could kick the shit out of all your pussy rice racers. Bitches.

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » May 18, 2004, 12:15 am

SRT-4's run like 13-15PSI stock. 19 is with Stage 2 on.

You can make some octane booster from Toulene, transmission fluid, and mineral spirits I think....link HERE I have not tried this and to be honest the concept scares me but you can attempt it if you want. I read other similar items saying to mix gas/toulene at 80%/20% and then a couple caps of ATF (auto trans fluid).

As for the motor mounts. Yes they are offered. I have the top mount done already...with inserts, it's a ghetto temporary fix.

Drag racing is harder than I thought. Everyone there said the track was sucky and adding .2 to times that day. I ran a 14.4 because I never launched before and burnt through 1st, 2nd, and most of 3rd. The STI I ran against ran a 13.81 ...if that's any indicator of the track conditions.

I let my friend drive it and he ran a 13.9. The civic my friend raced my car against ran a 19.89 lol. My friend also has 2003 SRT-4 and had run a 13.9 in his car last time I saw him...which had 50hp less, 35 torque less, and no LSD (compared to what I was supossed to be at w/Stage 2, he was stock on his last run....his car is in the middle of quite a few upgrades atm so he couldn't drive it Sunday)

I was also boosting oddly. It was spiking to 19 and then droping like a rock to 10. I thuoght it might be normal for stage 2 but it wasn't. We tried to trouble shoot at the track but couldn't get it pegged down. Today I made some adjustments and found some possible boost leaks (things weren't tightened enough at the factory, enough for stock boost sure, but 19PS and they let some out). I went for a test run and ran 17 dropping to 15...which is much better overall. And I know where to crank the boost back to 19 if this holds for a couple days.

My car should run a 13.5 with stage 2 (working properly) at a decent track on stock tires (12.7 on slicks). But unfortuantely those conditions were not met....I have work to do if I want to reach the cars potential.

I'm not big into drag racing though. I just want to learn how to do it good enough maybe a few small tweaks to get a little more power from it and then move on to autocross (and suspension mods) for a bit I think.

I did drag racing first because it seemed easier and was more "useable". People try and race me all the time in this car...I don't usually comply but the few times I have...I won. Yesterday was a good example.. A 2003 Mustang GT tried and lost on the hwy. Most f them are like cavaliers or civics...not worth it...

Breagen · Post by **Breagen** » May 18, 2004, 2:38 am

Going to be building my '66 Mustang Fastback with my brother this summer once school is out.

Probably going to model it after the one my brother already built, appearance mostly stock with almost all of the modifications under the hood and on the chassis/interior.

Sparck · Post by **Sparck** » May 18, 2004, 7:42 am

I think the absolute best part of drag racing for me is the launch. There's nothing quite like dumping the clutch at 5500 rpms and pulling the front tires off the ground while the cassette I have sticking out of my stereo flies out and hits the back window. Good times

The second best part is when I'm neck and neck with another car and slamming through the gears while crossing the finish line at 120+ mph for teh win!

Sendarie · Post by **Sendarie** » May 18, 2004, 8:24 am

Here is a damned good way to find boost leak. It saved my turbo's already.

It will try to produce the same amount of pressure however the turbo is working double time to produce what the actuator is set at with a boost leak.

You can make a leak down tester really cheap.

Here is what you need to preform the test and to make the tester.

Get a standard PVC Pipe cap in a 3" diameter.
Tire valve stem
epoxy or superglue

Drill a hole in the cap at the top big enough to fit the tire valve in there. Grind down the threads on the cap so its smooth all the way around the cap. Make sure the valve stem is put in the PVC pipe cap correctly so that you can attach the air attachment to it to pressurise the system. Glue the valve stem in place. Let dry for about 15mins.

Take off your intake cone (if you have one) or air box and fit the PVC cap in the spot where your MAF goes(in the "T" rubber assembly that attaches to your two intake pipes leading to your turbos) Clamp down very good to ensure no leaks.

I would limit the pressure to around 15psi..anything over that could cause seals to blow. You will hear the leaks once you pressure test the car..they will be very prominent.

take care

You'll have to adjust the size of the PVC pipe to fit your intake but all the rest will apply. Works very well and is widely used in the 300ZX community and from what I hear in the Supra community too.

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » May 18, 2004, 12:32 pm

Ya we use this, same thing....

http://www.vfaq.com/mods/ICtester.html

I just don't feel like building one...plus I'm not sure if it's a boost leak or a problem with the stage 2 wastegate actuator or what. I figure I'll just tighten all the possible leak areas before trying to build that thing.