TD_D mod journey. From stock to the 'bastardmobile'

Td_d

Commander In Chief
I bought a silver GR in late 2009, instantly fell in love with it, and within 400km had a pro-tune done. Stock was 167wkw, post tune, 191wkw. After this brief encounter with modding, I really started getting itchy to get some serious power out of the car, but I was hesitant initially, given I would lose the warranty and a maintenance plan (3 year). So I turned to the forums, and posted this up in mid Feb 2010:

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This is not your run of the mill "I'm new to STI, how do I get 3 billion BHP, blah blah" - I have a very specific power goal, identified the parts / mods and have already discussed with a very reputable tuner on this side of the world.

So... my issue is this. I have a late 2009 GR, with 10,000km (6250 miles) on it, protuned stage 1 already from 400km (250 miles - can I stop converting now
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) and always running on a minimum of 98 RON, generally more like 99/100 RON (see toluene thread if you're curious). Since I went stage 1, I've been itching to take this car to where it can really go as a safe, but brutal DD - 300 WKw (400 odd WHP).

Now, this means a pretty serious sacrifice - the warranty completely voids - and so will 3/4 dealership services, up to 40,000 miles. Now before I get a whole "it won't be voided, just the part modded, and must be proved, etc." - this is not the States. Touch the car here, and strike 3, you're out, with basically zero recourse. I can quote multiple cases, so I have no illusions there.

I'm sure I'm going to get asked, why not just wait till the 40,000 miles? Well - I was going to, but then I thought - why wait 2 to 2 1/2 years, and mod with an older engine, when I will always be itching to mod now. Rather cost it intelligently, and make an informed decision.

Two questions:

- those of you with GR's out there, from 6000 miles to 40,000 - what kind of 'standard service' costs, or parts, did you have done as part of the services? basically, I'd like to cost it realistically, and not the bs figures that the dealership throw at you (always inflated). The independent shops here are also far cheaper than the dealers i.t.o. work.

- Who had seriously expensive problems in this mileage range? And what kind of issues? Please - I don't want to start up a ringland failure thread, I have read it throughly, plus the car is running good juice, and was tuned very early on in its life. I also would do the built block route (and know the costs) should the engine give me grief.

I'm seriously ready to pull the trigger on this one, just interested to see the views of this very committed, and informative forum (I've been lurking for months ;-) )

</ends thesis>

What I forgot to add was that I'm not going to mess around with the mod path, and go straight to 'stage 4', including a new turbo, meth, larger intercooler, etc.

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The rest is history, as they say :cool:. I decided to go BIG build. After a torturous, and frustration filled 4 month long process (about half a year including periods where I actually drove the car!), I got my baby back in early Nov 2010, and it's just been pure joy to drive. Even on the break in tune, it was a rip, never mind the final high boost, meth tune (373whp).

Now on the last stretch, currently in for some final suspension and fueling mods, after which we can seriously crank up the boost - aiming for mid 300's wkw (470-480whp)!
Mod list below.
 

Td_d

Commander In Chief
Mod List:

Engine/Fuel:

-Custom Made TRB CAI and aluminum intake pipe - IN
-Turbo smart eboost street 40 - IN
-Coolingmist CMGS-FS - IN
-Bosch high pressure fuel pump- IN
-NGK Iridium 1 step colder spark plugs- IN
-Tactrix / Romraider- IN
-Fuel rails / injectors - FUEL RAILS IN, 1100'S INJ BEING INSTALLED NOW!
-Blouch Dom3.0 XT-R
-Larger Custom fabricated TMIC - IN

Engine Build -

- Sleeved 2.5l - IN
- Manley Conrods- IN
- Manley Forged Pistons- IN
- ACL race bearings- IN
- Kelford 264/264 cams
- ARP stud kit - IN
- Cosworth 12mm high volume oil pump- IN
- (Oil cooler - make?) - currently being installed!

Exhaust:

-Custom made SS exhaust - IN

Drivetrain:

- All bushing replaced - currently being installed.

Suspension and brakes:

- Coilovers (BC's) - currently being installed
- Rotors / calipers (Vari Racing) - IN
- FP pads - IN
- Goodridge SS lines- IN
- AP racing brake fluid DOT 6- IN

Exterior:

-Zip, nada! Well, other than the **** who 'modified' the passenger side of my car recently...

Interior/ Electronics:

-Zip, nada - thusfar! Intending to swap out HU and speakers, plus sub when possible. Debating whether to install CarPC or HU. Waiting for Fujiwara to install his, make all the mistakes, and then copy
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Countermeasures:

-Antilaser G8 (been running this for yonks already)

Current Dyno:

pre-install - 191wkw (265whp) / 425 NM (314 lb/ft)
post-install - 275wkw (373 whp)
post-injectors install - aiming for 350'ish wkw (470-480whp)
 

Td_d

Commander In Chief
Later this year, Kelford Cams (264's) will go in, and of course, when the stock clutch craps out, which at these power levels will be sooner rather than later :lol: will look at a stronger clutch to handle the torque.
Couple of pictures (sorry, loads of crappola cellphone shots!):

From the build process -
The shop:
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Td_d

Commander In Chief
Oh, and of course - the original stage 1 tune dyno (don't have the recent one, will post the final when I have it).

baseline-1.jpg
 

Td_d

Commander In Chief
So - quick poll - sway bars have not yet been done, since they were coming in landed originally at ridiculous prices. I'm still really keen on doing them though... so I'm going to see if I can make a plan with some mates in Australia to bring some whiteline gear in "adventurously" ;-)

What do figure I should go for (size wise) back and front? Too lazy to do the research tonight, looking for some quick gratification! Chuckle...
 

Td_d

Commander In Chief
^ awesome! I need to factor in to account that the BC coils are going to quite fundamentally affect the body roll. Will have a proper discussion with the shop tomorrow when I pick up the STI, it's likely that I'll need less of an intervention with the coils - i.e. smaller bars.
 

Td_d

Commander In Chief
Wish I had the extra funds - the shop's insane car - it's a real beaut - a 2 door STI type R (200kg lighter than the GD body) - is up for sale. Could pick it up for R100,000 (about $14,000) without the engine, what a project car this would be, it's an absolute monster, well above 400wkw, breaks traction on _all_ gears at WOT. Sheer insanity...

Here it is in action, this car is absolutely insane:
 

Td_d

Commander In Chief
Everything's on, but major hassles tuning in the ID 1000's - rich, lean, rich, lean, arg... landed up with less WHP than on the stocks, so putting on RC 750's until we can figure out what the issue with the larger injectors was. Scalings FTL...
 
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Td_d

Commander In Chief
Any suggestions? The tuner / mechanic is well on top of his game, so not an issue of skill - I know that both on the road tune, and then a good couple of hours on the dyno, he struggled to get it to behave across the RPM range - low range was uber rich, he'd fix that, top end would go dangerously lean, and so it went on for the whole afternoon and evening, until he quit - had to totally dial it down (250wkw at 1.5bar) to get it safe - less than the stocks...

I don't think it's the overall fuel pressure - new Bosch pump in there, so PSI/volume should be sufficient. Any ideas? I'm sure the 750's will be a vast improvement (and safer), allowing us to crank up the boost, but I'm sure it's not at the top end of the potential of the Dom3XTR... MOAR power! God, this is like an addiction! :D

Calling out Bluedemon_II - you offered help on tuning, chuckle...
 
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Td_d

Commander In Chief
Hmm... now having problems with the 750cc injectors - not as bad, but a problem. Perfect on top end, but leans out badly around closed loop / open loop transition (like the problem with the stock tune). Beginning to wonder if this is not a fuel pump regulator, or fuel pump problem.
 

Td_d

Commander In Chief
Yeah, possible - mechanic's also not convinced, since the setup worked fine (albeit maxed out) on the stock 550's... There are options, thankfully.
 

Td_d

Commander In Chief
Thanks - I'll do some logs tomorrow to demostrate the problem as it was presenting itself on the dyno - shop will sort me out, but if I can get some pointers would be helpful (also might allow to at least tweak the tune in the meantime to lessen the annoyance of the hesitation at around 3000 RPMs - much more severe than the stock, before anybody points me to the Romraider thread!)
 

HolyCrapItsFast

Drinks beer!
This sounds vaguely familiar. This is exactly the problem we are having with Fuji's tune right now. Pig rich in the low end of the maf and lean up top.

This is an issue with injector latency and must be addressed before tuning injector scale. Very often the published latency by the manufacture is not even close to what it actually should be.

In this situation the latencies needs to be decreased from the sound of it. This should level out the errors in the MAF and make the bottom end errors the same as the top.

Once that is done then you can adjust fuel injector scale to bring those errors up or down as needed.

If you can't do this your self then you can suggest this to your tuner.

What is your fuel pressure at right now? Fuel pressure will change the latency.

Any suggestions? The tuner / mechanic is well on top of his game, so not an issue of skill - I know that both on the road tune, and then a good couple of hours on the dyno, he struggled to get it to behave across the RPM range - low range was uber rich, he'd fix that, top end would go dangerously lean, and so it went on for the whole afternoon and evening, until he quit - had to totally dial it down (250wkw at 1.5bar) to get it safe - less than the stocks...

I don't think it's the overall fuel pressure - new Bosch pump in there, so PSI/volume should be sufficient. Any ideas? I'm sure the 750's will be a vast improvement (and safer), allowing us to crank up the boost, but I'm sure it's not at the top end of the potential of the Dom3XTR... MOAR power! God, this is like an addiction! :D

Calling out Bluedemon_II - you offered help on tuning, chuckle...
 
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