xlnt6

A very good question and one I wondered myself. The engineers involved weren't around on the day (or at least when I was there) and so I couldn't get a full explanation. Apparently they only have a limited set of adjustments they can do, hence the reason they opted for extra injectors. They guy I know wasn't fully across this area of the car, so he couldn't enlighten me further. Apparently the engine is stock (and so are the injectors), so I would have thought they would have runout of duty cycle, but maybe the BF typhoon injectors are bigger.... Apparently the plenum has double the volume of a stockie, but is similar in design to the stock one. It was a bit of a rush job and an error was made with the angle of the mounting point for the throttle body, which meant an extra angluar sandwich had to be added otherwise the throttle body would have been sticking out the bonnet !!! Prodrive want to add parts like the upper manifold as homologation parts, for limited class type racing, but it was doubtful if this would ever happen, but you never know... Robin.

Xr typhoon and 1axr are correct. ECU moved cause of intake plumbing, and ABS removed as it isn't desirable in a drift car. The extra injectors are currently un-used (next stage) as they don't have the capability in house to Edit the ECU !!!! Cheers Robin.

And the next lot !!!!

All, Here's some pics from the FPV Open Day. The car makes 304rwKw. I know someone who works there, and the car was built by the guys after work on there own time in a matter of a few weeks. This is their "Stage 1", and the hope to modify the car more in the future. The inlet manifold was cast up by one of the senior guys to allow for the custom inlet piping, and the large PWR front mount. The extra injectors are currently unused and the engine is internally standard (BF Typhoon). It was taken to Calder for a Drift video shoot and look what happened to the brand new SP9000's !!! The car has a stripped out interior, upgraded fuel pump, revised intake plumbing, pod with cold air intake from front fog light, volume and flow increased upper plenum chamber, PWR front mount, gauges (not yet connected), race seats, custom fibreglass vented bonnet, plus more that I've already forgotten !!! Cheers Robin.

Rob, Excellent job, you certainly attracted a lot of "lookers" all day long on the car. Well deserved. I noted that a majority were were ham-fisted knuckledraggers (myself included of course), and may I suggest for next years show you add the following modifications to attract the "fairer sex". Obviously this is your desired target audience !!! 1. Rose scented pink fluffy dice. 2. Additional mirrors behind the sun shades and on the front of the steering wheel in place of the airbag. You can never apply enough make-up. 3. Perfume puffers in the drink holder. 4. An undies draw inside the glovebox, and last but not least; 5. A nice airbrush picture of the "Veronica's" on the bonnet. Cheers Robin.

Luke, Cable would have pulled out of the POS plastic bracket on the "pull" tab. Mine did the same thing, you can use a pair of pliers in the interim to pull the cable, to open the bonnet if desperate. BTW you need to open the bonnet for scrutinering for the drags !! Ford replace the whole assembly (cable, etc), and it takes a while to do. You can put it back together yourself, but you need to pull out the handle and clip it back together with the cable in place, and it's not very easy to do by yourself. Cheers Robin.

Depending on damage, loss of compressor efficiency, capability and balance will result. If it's really bad the compressor may rub the housing, but you should be able to hear if that's happening. Some minor damage to the wheel should be "ok". To remove the compressor wheel you need to take the turbo off the car (easier), as you need to get to the turbine wheel, so you can hold on to the shaft, and then release the compressor nut. Remember it's a left hand thread, so don't try and tighten it when your actually trying to get it off !!! The compressor cover is removed first, six bolts and it comes straight off. The problem is you just can't just whack on a new wheel, as it has to be re-balanced, and that's a job for a turbo place. In short try Ford warranty ??? Or unbolt it and take it to a turbo place. The new wheels are about $300 ??? Cheers, Robin.

All, I noticed the Group4 kit is currently "on special" with a $400 pay back deal. Currently I have the standard Kings SSL/SL combo with the stock shocks, but I have found it to be a little low (scrapping on bumps, driveway, etc). I need to go up by about 10mm to alleviate the problem, and like the idea of adjusting the height as required. So anyone else care to comment on this kit and how they have found it on the street ? Cheers Robin.

Danno, To answer some of your earlier questions. The wastegate actuator is upgraded as the stock spring rate is to weak to hold / maintain good boost control when boost pressure is increased. It varies as to what PSI it works to, but about 12-14psi is about it. After that the exhaust back pressure pushes the wastegate flap open, and maximum boost is capped at that point. The replacement type is a direct fittment garett actuator (which has a stronger spring), which sell for about $150 from a garrett agent. They have an adjustable rod length, so you can pre-load the wastegate and prevent wastegate creep. This results in faster boost rise rate and the ability to hold much higher boost at high RPM. I fitted mine myself as I run 18psi. It can be done without removing the turbo, but it's a b**ch as the actuator is located between the turbo and the engine, under the exhaust manifold. You need long extension bars to reach the two small nuts holding the actuator to the mounting bracket, and then you need to undo the circlip at the turbine housing. Once out, it's a sh*t of a job to get the circlip back on once the new actuator is in place. Also the actuator pressure line is not on the side like the factory one, it's one the end so the hose may not be long enough. Cheers Robin.

All, Had the unit replaced, and used an upgraded coupling (Nizpro sources them thru a bearing place), which is meant to be stronger. I guess this might be the LS1 type Ben was talking about. It was alot dearer to, so let's hope it's worth it.... $285 !! Ben, does this mean rotating the coupling by one bolt hole ? The coupling has a thicker and thinner section which alternate (three of each), as it has a three bolt flange on the yoke and tailshaft. I looked at the Ford manual and it specifies which way it must go. To me, given a clockwise rotation I would expect that you would have the gearbox yoke bolt > thicker section > tailshaft bolt, which appears to be opposite to the manual ??? But in the manual it says if you install it incorrectly it will prematurely fail. If this isn't what you mean can you clarify. Many thanks, Robin.

Hi All, I dontated $50 the other day (about 1.5 weeks ago) thru the paypal link and sent a PM to the Admin, but nothing came back, no acknowledgment, etc. I note, I am still just a "member". Do I need to do anything else ? Cheers Robin.

Yeah, but only driven on weekends to church by a little old lady Cheers Robin.

Hi Silverman, I met you quickly at Nizpro on Thursday. That's a pretty good result (+100 kW) for a Stage 1 upgrade, enjoy. Certainly transforms the car, and make driving much more enjoyable. The only problem is once you get use to it, you'll be hungry for more. Have fun. Cheers Robin.

Hi All, I was under the car doing some "stuff" and noticed the rubber donut between the gearbox yoke and the tailshaft had severe tears on every bolt hole, half way around each hole. I did a search and couldn't find anyone complaining of this problem before. Does anyone know of an upgrade or modification to alleviate this problem ??? I figured putting in a solid coupling would add extra unwanted driveline shunt. Maybe I can get it replaced under Ford warranty ???? Or maybe not ...... !!! Pic attached. Cheers Robin.

Ask Simon @ Nizpro, I'm sure they tried heat treating/nitriding the standard cranks and ended up with distorted cranks which then either required machining to return to true or subsequent replacement. As machining removes some of the harden surface, the gain is lost. When they did my engine, they ended up tossing the treated crank and fitted a brand new crank. Hi-po engines have billet cranks, which like you said cost mucha dollar. I think based on discussions with Simon the stock crank is able to handle about 500rwKw max. This is assuming the suitable bearings are used and crank tunnel in the block has been made true. Cheers Robin.

Silverman, I went with the Cobra Stage II, and can agree with the previous comments. Throttle response is much improved, and on the street makes driving much more pleasurable. Most of the time on the road will be at partial throttle, rather than at full throttle, so improved responsiveness (to stabs at the throttle !!!) will be really appreciated. I made well over 300 rwKW with the stock exhaust. Once your happy with the Stage II and now have caught the "bug", you can go with the SMB dump/cat, etc to gain more (but you'll be on the verge of requiring upgraded internals anyway). Cheers Robin.

Hi, I have the SMB dump pipe and SMB cat. After it was on the car for about six months, the exhaust was checked and in particular the cat. I'm happy to report it looked as good as when it went on. It was not blocked, or collapsed, etc. On the other hand I have seen a Magic cat that had started to collapse. The color of the Cat "block" indicated good AFRs as well. While my SMB cat was fine, it is feasible for "another example" to be severely degraded, as it has a lot to do with the tune of the car. A cerametallic honeycomb cat is designed to be resilent to high exhaust temps but that doesn't mean it can take everything you could throw at it. ie if your tune is severely overfuelling the soot/carbonization can cause it to be blocked up. These cats don't have seperate air feeds so rely on a a fine balance of exhaust heat / residual fuel to stay in good shape. Also a lean AFR can result in excessive exhaust temps, which can damage the structure and collapse a Cat. The lower the CFM rating of the cat, the more the backpressure/exhaust temp experienced by the Cat is like to cause such effects on a hipo car. BTW The point I am making above doesn't mean an SMB cat is better than a Magic Cat. They both share a very similar design, and may infact be the identical cerametallic block. Cheers Robin.

Well, I guess, they look the same, cause a gearbox is a gearbox is a gearbox..... No seriously, the first pic is the T5 and the second pic is the T56. Look at the bellhousing they are different, also the rear gearbox mount is different. The T56 is much bigger (ie thicker). Robin.

In addition to the original article as quoted above, here's a few more comments that may help you out. I'm pretty sure the V8 and I6 have different bellhousing (to suit the engine). So the XR8 T56 bellhousing is no good for your application. Also the T5 and T56 bellhousings are also different and can't be swapped (see attached pics). The clutch / input shaft combo are the same between the T5 and T56, so the clutch should be able to be carried over. But you'll need the appropriate clutch slave line, etc. Robin.

Glad to hear you got the T56 in all OK. When I fitted mine I also connected the reverse gear lock-out solenoid to save yourself from inadverantly selecting reverse from 4th to 5th upshift. You need to put your foot on the brake to select reverse, which is something your not usually doing when your shifting up !! Cheers Robin.

If your chasing pads for the Brembos, or even the Brembos themselves or two part alloy hub/rotors to suit, Cebco in Melbourne have them in stock. A set of front pads is someone between $300-$400, and these are Texstar pads. They have a website as well. I purchased my complete Brembo set-up as a bolt on kit from Cebco. Very happy as I have been using them for over 12 months. Cheers Robin.

Hi Muzza, At the time of this install the BF wasn't released and the Mk II BA parts were next to unobtainable. Now I would just go in and ask for a BA MkII or BF yoke, like you said. Anyway you should be fine either way. Have fun. Robin.

Hi, I was wondering the same thing, so I rang and spoke to Garrett Australia (refer to turbobygarrett.com.au) as they put together the turbos specifically for the XR6T. They were extremely forthcoming with information, and stated it was a GT3582R that the 0.5 AR compressor cover has a 61 mm compressor wheel and that it could be upgraded by fitting a 69mm wheel from the next series GT up. The wheel cannot be upgraded alone (unless some major machining of the compressor cover was done, but this is not recommended). At the same time the 0.7 AR compressor cover (which has a 4 inch bellmouth) was recommended and a matching backing plate also. I think it was about $500-$600 in parts alone, and they recommended that it be rebuilt (new bearings), but optional, at the same time. Of course this would entail a re-balance as well. The turbine housing (they told me the wheel size, but I've forgotten...), is 1.06 AR and there are no upgrades available, and that changes to the exhaust housing are not warranted as the internal wastegate is already at it's limit. The recommended changes here were to upsize the wastegate flap button and a minor machining of the port to match. The standard turbo is good for around 400kW before it's at it limit and the above changes should be good for another 50-60 kW. Beyond that the next step would be a GT42 ball bearing turbo with matching external wastegate and custom extractor type exhaust manifold. They have 70-75 mm compressor inducer sized wheels, and support up to 1000HP. Check out there website, it's got a lot of useful info, and they can recommend someone in your area authorised by them to do any crazy sh*t you like !!! Cheers Robin.

I'm looking at using Bilstein as well and spoke to Centreline Suspension @ Thomastown. Are you able to advise who fitted/supplied yours and what the costs were. Thanks Robin.

Four 3 inch tips for me.... SMB Flared Stainless Steel tips RT253 Cheers Robin.