#96

doesn't look too bad. ps, whats with all of the "blah blah blah, wont make that much power" crap? the engine IS a proven 580hp unit. did I miss something?

Good news on the tint! Means I only have 2 windows I'd have to replace if I got a licky now.

I'm learning

fun facts from the internet. so the flywheel figures are accurate.... driveline loss means this monster is still going to be fast... so very fast.

the driveline has had a substantial upgrade, as per GM's request, to ensure quality is not lost. axles, diff, gearbox and clutch. my understanding is this is one of the main reasons for the jump in price. that and the additional expense of the engine. sadly, I don't think it will be quite as "HSV'd" as any will expect. simple things like the tail lights. on the VE, they are completely different shape size and location to the holdens. this car will simply have LED tails, in the same shape and location as the holdens. ps, boss335 or what ever your name is... cubes are cubes. there is NO replacement for displacement. this thing will sh*t on the fords, in august when it arrives. just like the ford, its a boosted 8, but with 25% more volume. $95,000 not including dealer and on roads is the claimed price too. yes, its pricey.

cheers kyle. a few tips in there. got both filters done now.

just done mine at 43xxxkms fuel looked ok, but was onto the ground, so maybe, who knows. the 'out' end just wouldn't stop leaking. have put copious amount of force on it and seems to have stopped for now... will need to keep an eye on it. (got the old one off easy as, bit of a heave, but really nothing out of the ordinary)

while I'm in here, can any one tell me where the fuel filter is? can see the rail has line running down toward the main chassis, so guessing when I jack the side up ill be able to get to it somewhere bolted to the chassis? ps, torx keys on the air filter lid? seriously ford....

no doubt in my mind a 12.9 is possible, but it would have to be very clean. 12.8 might need some mighty cold air and a tail wind I think.

sometimes my exhaust make noise when I use the throttle too. can anyone tell me why? (video clip or a description of the noise might help) for example, mine goes ewwwwwwWAAAAAAAAAAAH pssschtyeah, ewwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaHHH. how does your turbo sound?

nice. ran 13.01 @105mph into a headwind in my manual, with a 1.95 60' including naffed 3 year old oem dunlops. ballsed the 1st-2nd shift a bit, and probably cost me 1-2mph and a tenth comparing some of the other cleaner, but slower runs. #stupidautosbeingsodamnfast while I'm here. has anyone actually gone under 13.00 in a manual? I've not seen one yet, and was so ticked off coming so close...

got the car serviced by Dave at Precise automotive and suspension in Wangara (long time family friend, and f*cking top mechanic) yesterday. told me to do the air filter and fuel filter, and replace the cutch fluid too (slave cylinder is inside the gear box, and as old fluid absorbs water and corrodes the seals, it will leak into the box, and that's bad) myself, as he basically done the log book stuff for me, knowing I'm not a complete mechanical numpty. being the good bloke he is too, he confirmed on my invoice that my wiper motors are noisy, the diff is leaking, and the #diffbush is torn. also pointed out I have a small rear main seal leak, none of which he cleaned or sorted, so when I see ford on Tuesday it will be hard for them to argue against any of it. the one that stumped me though, he PH tested the coolant, and said the stuff is basically water. given my head got replaced <10,000kms and 5 months ago, the coolant should be brand new! theory is, they didn't drain the old stuff, and just replaced what was lost when the head came off, with water :( also confirmed that this work should have been stamped into my log book, as it should have basically been noted as an interim service. I'll be chasing them up on the service report I never received to see if the lazy pricks even changed the oil. be good to get all of the little niggly bits sorted out. side note: where do the warranty clad cars go these days? not overly impressed with the mob in Wangara atm.

Booked for a service Wednesday, and then to ford next Tuesday for warranty issues. (also, no "turn you lights down" flashes from anyone yet)

I've got a pair of XR6T FG utes I know, will put it to them. also a VE SS (that sounds just so sweet) I'll try and drag along. (these aren't XR6T exclusive are they?)

gave the new tires a bit of a beating today... high speed is definitely different. done a 'spirited' river and burbs run the other night and loved it, but today on Flynn and old Yanchep, the rear does feel like it wanders a bit. might try a bit more pressure, but its at 40psi now. like I said, low speed is great. squeeze the throttle, and it points the nose around the corner without spinning up, or sliding. it really has helped eliminate understeer. but high speed corners do feel a bit loose. anything I should check in the suspension? (ie nothing else that would have that loose, almost low pressure feeling in the rear)

ouch... with all of those ponies, warranty would probably be a long shot too eh?

I may be wrong, but I think you are wrong. Ford's "launch control" is nothing more than a 2-step. Ie, a secondary rev limiter. It cuts spark on intermittent cylinders, but keeps fueling them. When sparked, the fuel ignites through the turbo, allowing higher boost at less rpm and throttle % than would normally be seen. It is not linked to your clutch, or tc/esc as far as I am aware. That burnt clutch smell you got? That soft clutch you had? That's not normal. That's what I had twice (out of the 50+ times I've used the "launch control") A mate's VE had a habbit of sucking the clutch pedal to the floor on hard launches too. But his did it lots. And there was something Expensive Daewoo did about it. Remember woody. These things have LOTS of torque from low rpm, there's a good chance you simply had your foot into it and the clutch never locked up. Kinetic friction is lower than static friction, so if you never get the clutch to lock up (static) it will be quite easy for it to slip the entire gear (kinetic). If it cooled down and now grabs, I wouldn't worry, unless its a regular thing.

you can if you have a mate with a dad with a workshop, a carton of jacks for payment, and about an hour and a half spare. We didn't bother with the 2nd one, paid a tire shop to do that. was a bit more difficult than they expected

will see how they go come dark tonight, but the bulbs looked damn close. where the hid lights from (not exactly a filament, but yeah, anyway) has a shield on the lower 180deg, just like the H4. it also appears to be mighty close to the same distance from the mounting part of the light. when you switch over to high beams, to prevent having to have the bulb warm up again, the bulb moves back about 5-10mm, into the same spot that the second filament is located on the original H4 bulbs. hoping they don't annoy everyone, but time will tell...

manual? did the clutch pedal come back when you took your foot off? I have launched on two occasions and had the clutch pedal get sucked back to the floor. no idea what causes it, but both were using the 2-step, and riding the clutch off the line.

HID kit and 265 rears. HID bulbs have a shield when in the low beam position, so hoping I don't blind too many people.

265/35-18 nankangs on the stock xr rims. I don't think it bulges too much, and driving feels fine. (noticeable improvement in straight line grip too, though those dunlops were pretty old) though it did take us about an hour and a half to bead the first tire... gave the second one to a shop to do. $25 bucks later and they did mention it was 'more difficult than we expected' hahaah.

am I doing it right?

Echoing the Friday night theory. Plus. Go a little later, and the traffic can really drop in the right places. Fingers crossed ill actually be able to make this one.