468 replies to this topic

[Acidpopstar]

I'm reading this with interest as I am yet to fit mine. Seems contrary to what the captain was saying about understeer, although that was on road

[Captain Vimes]

I'm not sure my 20 minute drive on cold tyres was enough to come to any meaningful conclusions. Trying to find a track day in July to test it properly.

[CHILL Gone DUTCH]

I'm not sure my 20 minute drive on cold tyres was enough to come to any meaningful conclusions. Trying to find a track day in July to test it properly.

 

croft 25th july

 

Edited by CHILL Gone DUTCH, 24 June 2015 - 10:20 PM.

[CHILL Gone DUTCH]

http://www.vx220.org...-sat-25th-july/

[Captain Vimes]

Good shout but Croft doesn't work - my passport is out of date. Looking at Bedford, Brands or Snetterton.

[Captain Vimes]

Got a chance to test out the new ARB at Brands hatch today with mixed results. 

 

Through the fast surtees it felt very stable on turn in and right through the apex. I don't think I ever pushed hard enough through there. But on the corners where I wanted to accelerate out of them (ie. clearways) the car would push into understeer. I was able to set the corner up to be able to under steer to the edge of the track but it wasn't the miracle solution to suspension setup - maybe there's something else I need to adjust to compensate..?

 

On the plus side, the front tyres seem to have worn much more evenly so maybe it was gripping better than before but I just pushed too hard.

 

 

 

[Captain Vimes]

Overall I should add that I love my car on track. It's brilliant. So much fun and properly quick. I wasn't passed by anyone the whole evening 

 

Best lap times were in the low 55 seconds which is a nice 2 seconds quicker than before the supercharger went on and most importantly I was able to just drive around and have fun without getting frustrated behind BMW's. With some fresh tyres I'm sure mid 54's are do-able.

 

Video of clear(ish) laps (the 350z sounded very nice):

 

 

Edited by Captain Vimes, 29 July 2015 - 10:58 PM.

[Captain Vimes]

In traffic

 

[Acidpopstar]

Looking at those short vids I'd say you were feeling the car's balance through the corners better rather than forcing it to go round and scrubbing the edge off the tyres. Pretty impossible to say unless you're in the car though. Can't wait to fit mine!

[Captain Vimes]

I'll be interested to find out how you get on with the ARB (once you're able to walk again). Now the tyres seem to be wearing a bit more even I really fancy chucking some decent tyres on it (Avon ZZR is where my current thinking is)...

[Acidpopstar]

Yeah same here, get MRI results back next week. ZZRs are where I'm going once I've burned through these RSRs. I've witnessed them first hand and they just don't seem to go off on long sessions.

[Captain Vimes]

A bit more footage which highlights how much easier it is to get past traffic with the supercharger fitted

 

[leevx2.2]

Great driving as usual you do pedal very well ;-)

[Andrew aka Stuwy]

[Captain Vimes]

Great driving as usual you do pedal very well ;-)

Thanks

[CHILL Gone DUTCH]

Great driving as usual you do pedal very well ;-)

Thanks

Did your ARB stop squeaking Mine ha sent made a noise since before I set out for croft

[Captain Vimes]

Didn't take much notice. I'll make a note next time I drive it (in about 3 weeks).

[Nev]

 

Thanks for the info - will drop him a note. Interesting budget creep! I'm thinking of starting my own SC build, anything you would advise with heindsight? I'm set on Dutch software but the spec of the rest of the build is completely in the air. I've already got an alloy rad and a VSE which I hope could keep costs a little lower. If I'm dragging your thread off topic feel free to drop me a PM!

 

Happy to drag it off topic!

 

I've been trying to figure out how the costs got so high and decide to look in more detail at my spreadsheet. I now realise that I'd double counted on parts - DOH!. Final cost is actually £3.2k but that has included the exhaust, alloy main rad and some bits I didn't need. Without these you could come in closer to £2.5k. I'll add a full breakdown if anyone is interested but it's roughly:-

 

 

£760 - Dutch Software

£410 - SC Ancillaries (vxr injectors, pulley, belt, inlet pipe, filter etc.)

£635 - Charger, Inlet, TB etc. from the states - including import duty and dual pass mod

£980 - Charge cooler system including pro-alloy main rad, cc rad, pump etc.

£105 - Extras (coolant, alternator etc.)

£100 - Bits I didn't use (fuel pump, spare alternator, budget pre-rad)

£225 - Exhaust

 

In hindsight... it's quite a bit of work and takes a lot of time reading various threads on here to get all the info you need. I'll reserve judgement on whether it's a great idea until I've lived with it for a while but I'm happy at the moment! I like the fact that I've done it myself as I know that if it breaks, then I can fix it.

 

Let me know if you want the e-mail address of the guy I got my charger from in the states. He was really helpful and it was delivered pretty quickly - just ask him to package it better than he did mine as the inlet manifold was damaged on mine during transit and needed welding up (thanks Dave H!)

 

 

Blimey that's cheap!

[Captain Vimes]

It's good value and I'm pleased I went for some of the more expensive options (pro-alloy rads, Dutch software) but what it doesn't show is the many, many hours of research that went in before hand or the hours of time to complete the conversion. If you include the labour then it makes much more sense to get Lee/Joe to do it for you. But I enjoyed the learning/researching and the knowledge that I did it (mostly) on my own

[Captain Vimes]

It's been a while since I updated this thread so for the sake of keeping it all in one place there's a few updates to add...

 

Work completed:

- Front and rear engine mount inserts added to try and protect the side mounts. Vibration isn't as bad as I'd feared but quite noticeable at tick over.

- New set of PAGID RS14's in the rear. Old set lasted pretty well.

- New GM header tank  -last one only survived 7-8k miles and 2-3 yrs

- And finally the big one today after a trip to Vocky for the timing and balancer chains/guides to be replaced. So pleased it was someone else doing the work, he made it look easy. All done in less than 3 hours from pulling up to driving away!

 

The chains were occasionally noisy on start up so as they were 14 years and 58k miles old it seemed about time to replace them. So lots of £££ later, they're all done:

 

 

 

 

Activity since last update:-

 

Not much... Had a cracking time at Snetterton, it's been well covered in the national thread so I'll just add one vid here for the sake of keeping it all in one place...

 

 

 

 

Plans for the car?:

- Handling:

     Sort out the understeer that the 1" ARB has introduced:- Stiffer springs and maybe some EP steering arms should start to move it in the right direction.

- Brakes

     Brake judder was pretty bad at snetterton and now noticeable on the road. I think it's being caused by pad deposits on the discs so may have to get another set of discs and think about adding some cooling ducts. Or maybe add some ally bells from EP.

- Maintenance

     SC belt is squealing like a pig and the tensioner is noisy since changing the timing chains so a new tensioner and belt will be needed soon

Edited by Captain Vimes, 25 October 2015 - 10:22 PM.