turbotom

Seeing as the end tanks are very tight at the top, it can be expected that there will be reduced flow through that section. Given also, that the bumper assembly occludes direct air onto the centre section of the IC, you also get reduced effectiveness if you raise the IC. You might find that you will get better measurable efficiency by modifying the guard panel underneath to allow the IC to get as much of it's surface exposed in the bottom sector of the grille opening, as that is where the majority of the air will flow. just a thought. tom

To give you a more realistic approximation of your torque output, you can calculate it with the following formula: Nm = (kW x 9549) / rpm looking at your graph, I'd estimate your pk torque is about 573 Nm @ 3500 rpm. ie, (210 kW x 9549) / 3500 = 572.94. and your still holding 500Nm at 5500 rpm, so you've got a great constant push in the back right through the rev range.... I gather it's a 4sp auto, as the test was done in 3rd gear. Don't know if you've done any mods to the trans, but your tuner has looked after you by limiting the torque at a sensible level. cheers. tom

1100 Nm you'd need 400kW at 3500rpm for 1100 Nm !

A record price was paid for an HK 327 "Bathurst" Monaro recently .... $220,000 As we old \|/s get older we seek "elixers of youth" the things that make us feel young again..... get us excited about life! problem is, chasing women can end up being too costly financially, and drinking like the old days becomes a serious health concern..... and sporting activities tend to become more passive... but getting actively involved in restoring, driving and racing old muscle cars that we only ever dreamed about as young'uns has a lot of appeal. Driving the ute gives me a heck of a rush... but firing up the 'vette gives me a "hard on!" tom (aka 68vet)

There are different ways of tuning the myriad of load points in the ecu.... Previous tunes have relied on more boost to get power down low, but the best response has come from less boost with additional timing advance... the additional spark advance provides more instantaneous throttle response off boost. Have a word to your tuner..... tom

Did you read the above post and the power figures being produced by the Italian 3.0l diesel? ← yep.... I read it. That's why I stated this is the type of diesel technology (performance) which is needed to win over the Ausie motoring public. Real rev-heads don't care about the technology.....as long as its fast!

You haven't mentioned what actually failed in your trans. My belief is that the ION 4sp auto can not sustain much more than 300 rwkw reliably even after it has been modified. Even with modified internals (clutch plates/band/drum mods/solenoid/line pressure/hardened gear sets etc etc) there is still going to be a limit. It WILL last better if treated with some respect though. It is very easy to get $hitloads of torque by dialing up more boost early in the tune with the EDIT. This provides an exceptional launch with good tyres, but reliability suffers. 1st and 3rd gears seem to hold up well, but in my box I found 2nd and 4th could not cope with the torque output with my race map at BVWII in July this year. Doing an early change into 2nd or 4th put the gear change on a ridiculously high torque peak (estimated at around 900 Nm @ 3000 rpm) and I literally burned all the band lining off. My solution was to retune and limit the torque to around 700Nm below 4000 rpm. I believe Dave at Kewish Trans has been building the boxes for the few cars that have cracked the 10's. I also believe he is working on a solution to specifically improve the issue with the 2nd/4th gear band problems experienced by many who have very high torque outputs. Give Dave a call. tom

The other possibility is the auto is slipping. That new curve produces heaps more torque than the red curve, and the 2nd gear band is NOT real flash in the auto box. If you've been doing early changes into second to catch that torque peak and lay 2nd gear "wheelies", there's a strong possibility you've scorched the band. Have you done any internal mods to the trans? tom

It won't even take a week. It's addictive! Good to see a happy result. cheers tom

Diesels will not be accepted by the general Ausie motoring public until they can provide the performance to match the current petrol engine lineup. For a long time, that seemed highly unlikely. but.... I was flipping channels on Foxtel the other day and came across the American LeMans series. The championship is led by an Audi, which is powered by a turbo diesel. As this performance technology makes its way into general production diesels, we then will see a completely different persepective to the acceptance of diesel power. tom

I guess I really am an old 45000 km, and I've only had to pay for 2 rear Dunlops and a pair of MT's. (I got 4 freebie Dunlops under warranty at 22000 km) I can't complain about the factory 17" Dunlops. tom

Just need a clarification, Paul. I assume those dyno results are rwhp, not kW. Your results page doesn't make that clear..... Good results amongst that group. cheers tom

I'd be getting a custom edit tune immediately (at a reputable tuner). Save your bikkies for a trip to the big smoke, and get it set up properly. The difference is chalk and cheese! If you're in far north Qld, with only 95 RON pulp, you'll need to specify that to your tuner too. tom

A damn sight better than the Magpies, or any other Victorian team, for that matter!

CROWS!!! someone mention the CROWS? Great AFL Club

Unless your chasing big power output (> 300 rwkw) the standard exhaust is very very good. If you want to improve things without spending much, you can just get a bigger (less restrictive) catalytic converter. Some have opted to also replace the primary muffler with a straight (clear) length of pipe (not recommended, but very cheap mod). The problem with aftermarket exhaust systems, is if they are not designed well, they may flow worse than the stock system. Also of bigger concern (to me anyway) is that many aftermarket systems have a very annoying resonant drone. APS have got an exceptionally good stainless steel system for both sedans and utes, but I'm not certain if you can buy them individually (they are available in their Phase 2 and 3 kits) The APS exhaust systems sometimes come up for sale on this site 2nd hand. But you'll have to be quick. Like I said, if you don't intend to chase real big numbers (power wise) save your money for the proven go fast bits.... custom Edit tune, injectors, IC, valve springs.

In my opinion.... NO! Have a read of the number of issues guys have when just using generic tunes. Some have good reults, many have mediocre improvements, and some develop issues which create hassles galore. Save your money up and arrange for a trip to a decent tuner and get it set up properly from the start. You'll be much more satisfied, at not only the real performance gain, but the improved reliability, driveability and improvement in economy when it is setup properly for your car. Custom tune will give you a real smle on your face, and peace of mind too. tom

1st is never engaged for long enough to be appreciated. 2nd provides the biggest push in the back (when it hooks up) but it's all within tolerable speeds. 3rd gear (in 4 sp auto) is the one. Overtaking is effortless on the highway..... The torque is always there, and the speed builds up very high and very quickly. Like others have said, it takes no time at all to see the speedo needle in excess of 160 kph.... (about the time it takes to cover the distance of a semi on the highway ) tom

Hey crans... It's obvious from the dyno results that in your case, a custom tune will indeed make a big difference. Assuming that you have no mechanical issues, you should be getting over 240 rwkw with a custom tune on a stocky.... especially being a manual. What worries me is the way your power drops off so rapidly at upper rpm. Cam timing may be out...... I seem to recall a thread which provided a solution to re-aligning cam timing???? something about cranking engine with foot flat down on accellerator or something.... can someone recal that thread? tom

hey dags.... Is this what you mean?

Any of the trans builders can transform your 4sp ION auto into a much stronger box capable of handling some mods. The real issue is the way the engine is tuned..... Torque is the killer of these boxes. Engine tunes that provide lots of boost at low rpm have that fantastic push in the back sensation.... but the torque production is massive and that is what destroys the box. For reliability, have your tuner ramp up the power so that torque below 3500 rpm is limited to a safe level. My modded box copes well with around 220 rwkw at 3000 rpm (~700 Nm), but a race tune which delivered 260 rwkw @ 3000 rpm (~830 Nm) fried the band and scorched the drum. I've now reduced the power below 4000 rpm to flatten the torque curve. The issue with getting sufficient clamping force of the band onto the drum is the biggest limitation of these 4 sp boxes at present. Most of the other problem areas have been sorted out, but if wanting to pull some big numbers, the 2-4 band is where problems occur. I believe Kewish is working on a modified valve body to address this issue specifically. This is for mods where power is in excess of 400 rwkw! Give Dave a call to get an update. I think quite a few of us would like to get this problem sorted. When it is, there'll be many more 10 second T's on the street. tom

I'd have to agree with deano...... Your band is slipping on the drum with the extra torque of the CAPA box. You're going to have to mod your trans to cope with the additional power to get good reliability.... It's NO good just getting the stock band replaced, as it will go again. You're obviously an enthusiast, so get the job done properly if you want to get the best out of your T. Continue with slippng band, and you WILL score the drum as well..... even more cost. tom

They say dogs are smart and can be trained to be great for security.... I'd have to agree. My mate had been having problems with someone messing up his refridgerator.... Would always leave a real mess. His golden labrador found the culprit .... caught in the act! Managed to restrain him, too!

reading here that quite a few question the necessity for fiddling with a tune.... I for one, believe that if the tune is set up properly, it should NOT need any more fiddling. The reality is, you will NOT optimise a road/race tune in one go with the edit. Tuning can be spot on for max power and afr's and good torque etc etc etc, but when you put the car on the road or on the drag strip or on a circuit, in the real world, load factors change. This is where the ability to fine tune some parameters is a good thing. It is especially good if you have the data logging capability, AND (it's a very big AND) you can interpret the data to make knowledgable changes. I have had my tune touched up several times to eliminate some minor issues. Mainly to do with the road tunes to ensure coping with additional load in the rear (ute) or with varying fuel quality from state to state. Each time necessitated a trip to the tuner. I guess I could see an advantage that with the ability to make slight reductions in timing advance, or reducing boost or adding fuel it would allow me to get the best performance under my driving situation at the time. Whilst that sounds like a good thing, how many of us want to be playing around with incremental changes to our tunes every time we fill up with fuel, or add a pallet of tomatoes in th etray, or tow the ski boat? In my situation I have detuned slightly to get reliability under my worst case scenario. It has meant a slight drop in performance, but gives me peace of mind. I am happy. I'll make one more point about fiddling with tunes.... The major problem will be those guys that have their tunes optimised for power, and then push for that little bit more with fiddling due to their belief that the cooler conditions, or the dose of C16 they dropped in the tank, or simply the fact that their mate only just pipped them by 0.01 seconds at the track. With your helmet on, you CAN NOT HEAR any of the tell tale sounds of pinging. Sure, you can check the logger..... after you finish the run and note the lumpy idle! tom

here's some news for you NOS..... The VIN lock is to protect the investment dollars that CAPA have put in and I would also assume, that the deal with SCT is such that the source code can NOT be released for public consumption. It's called intellectual property. Good results are being obtained with the XR6T's because the database of tunes has grown enormously with many users.... You sound like you've had a bad experience.... but then again, it appears from your sig that you have a normally aspirated Ford running NOS. Your situation is compounded by the lower number of people going down that path. At least your tuner has a means of modifying the factory computer with edit...... If it is inadequate, then go for a complete new computer such as Motec etc. But be prepared to dig into your pockets even deeper. A good tuning tool costs money... but a good tuner is worth much more. Don't blame your situation entirely on the tuning tool. tom