[Strapped]

tastefully done..nice drop with the RCE springs.
by looking at the pics the fronts seem to have a bigger gap than the rears with the stock wheels that is.
couldn't see the difference with the grams though.

[importmike]

Such a clean drop, looks good man.

[crand002]

Thanks for the comments. I think the springs have either settled more or it might be the alignment changes but the front is now lower than the back

[crand002]

I just back from Harman with a new turbo set-up. Last week I had my car towed up there from San Diego because my car was smoking at start-up and I was having trouble boosting. Assuming it was a blown turbo I decided to get an upgrade. I orginally was planning on getting a 20G and injectors but my tuner talked me into a APS SR40 ball bearing turbo. Because San Diego has been a hot spot for ref tickets I wanted the car to look visually stock but with a little more punch. With this turbo I decided to keep the stock inlet and intake with a K&N panel filter. The only other mods are 740 Deatschwerks side feed injectors and a prodrive boost controller.

After I dropped the car off at Harman they didn't seem to think the turbo was blown so they continued with a leak down test and compression test. Everything seemed normal but the oil level was way high. The night that my car first started to smoke was following an oil change. Well it just so happens to be that I had my car towed 120 miles for them to tell me my oil has been overfilled. Dan immediately called me and told me my car was fine and I could come pick it up. I was shocked and a little bummed so I figured what the hell, my car was up there and I might as well get the upgrade done.

I get to the shop and they show me the numbers the car put down with new turbo. Needless to say i was disappointed but I should have been expecting that. On 91 the car only made 304whp and 325wtq and on 100 it only made 331whp and 360wtq. In January when I had my car protuned at stage II it made 290whp and 320wtq on 91 and 308whp 353wtq on 95 with just a TBE and fuel pump. Unfortunately for the APS SR40 turbo the playing field was not the same. It was 90 degrees today and 65 degrees on the day of the original tune. Not to mention Jon tuned the car and he is a little more conservative than Dan which is exactly what I was looking for. We are sure the car would have safely made at least 10hp and 10wtq more on a 65 degree day.

They told me to drive it around the block and report back. To my suprise the car pulls hard!!! Of course it was on the 100 map (which is all I use anyway) but it feels great. The power comes on similar to the VF-39 but continues to climb. The difference feels more drastic than what the numbers show. When I got back to the shop they explained to me what i was feeling. At 7500RPM's (yeah they raised the rev limiter ) the car makes 315 whp and 230wtq on 100 octane where the old 95 STG II tune made only 272whp and 199wtq at 7000RPM's. That is a 43whp and 31wtq gain at fuel cut!!! For reference at 7500RPM's the new 91 map made 295whp and 216 wtq and the STG II 91 map made 263whp and 193wtq at 7000RPM's. That is a 32whp and 23wtq gain at fuel cut!!!

Many would think this is a waste of money but the car drives so much better. The best way to explain it would be a STG II EVO IX with a stroker motor. Harman is confident that they left about 20-30whp on the table with keeping the stock inlet and intake but I dig it for now.
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[crand002]

Originally Posted by crand002

Engine:

APS SR40 ball bearing turbo
Titek 3" down pipe (catted)
JIC Titanium catback full 3" (w/Kart Boy extended hanger bushings)
Cobb Accessport V2
Walbro fuel pump
Deatschwerks 740cc injectors
Prodrive boost control solenoid
K&N Panel filter

Motul 300V 5w-40 synthetic
Harman Motive Protune:
91 Octane: 304 whp 324wtq (stock intake, inlet, TMIC, and catted)
95 Octane: 331 Whp 360wtq
100 Octane: coming soon

Drivetrain:

Factory short shifter w/Kart Boy short shifter and bushings
Cusco motor mounts
TIC rear diff bushings w/Whiteline rear subframe lock bolt (Unibomber's Sexy Rearend)
Q-Rack 12:5:1

Brakes:
Goodrich SS brale lines
Pagid yellow pads
ATE Super Blue fluid

Suspension:

RCE non lowering camber plates (-2.6 fr and -1.6 Rr)
RCE springs
Ohlins fixed perch struts
Whiteline front strut tower bar
Whiteline 27-29mm front sway bar
Whiteline 24-26mm rear sway bar
Whiteline ALK (sport)
Group-N Rear top hats
Kart Boy front and rear endlinks

Misc.:

Defi Controller with single boost gauge

Thanks for looking.

[DCH]

Holy smokes...nice one! Yeah I figured that numbers are numbers, I was still stoked with my results, however when I took her out for a spin, it *really* made me happy with the end result. I will admit that the 91 map is great, but I fell in love with that 95!

[crand002]

Originally Posted by DCH

Holy smokes...nice one! Yeah I figured that numbers are numbers, I was still stoked with my results, however when I took her out for a spin, it *really* made me happy with the end result. I will admit that the 91 map is great, but I fell in love with that 95!

Yeah when I was Stage II I only ran the 95 map. It's hard to drive your car knowing you have the ability for more power.

[Marcus]

Awesome review man, glad you're happy with it. I'm thinking about having my car protuned at Harman as well. What are your thoughts and the tuners thoughts on going 1 step colder plugs before a protune? I've heard both sides, and was considering making the upgrade before the tune (stock turbo BTW).

Oh yeah, car looks good as always Have you considered blacking out the headlights?

[crand002]

Thanks man, my tuner is high on them although I forgot to request them on the turbo install so I didn't get them. You can never go wrong with Harman. Your drive back home will be very fun.

[Marcus]

Cool, I'll add it to the list. Any brand recommendations, NGK, Denso?

[crand002]

Originally Posted by Marcus

Cool, I'll add it to the list. Any brand recommendations, NGK, Denso?

Honestly I am not sure. Check the Harman galleries, the mod list on each individual car should give you that answer.

[munky69]

holy crap!! damn that's cool bro. i hate you even more though

[crand002]

Wahts up dude, when you do back?

[rekedevoate]

nice set up.

[TheLimitedProject]

Glad the turbo was fine. Now keep your wheels. Don't sell them to the vultures on NASIOC - sell your stock turbo to help offset costs for a bit.

AW + Goldies = very nice.