Adam W

Some guy at work thought mine was a diesel and that's why it was so noisy "Set of glow plugs for a Supra please mate"

Great stuff! I have tried to do the same thing in the past, but I didn't spot the function of the lump of plastic on top. Now I know it's a pin retainer and it has to be removed, I'm sorted!

I happened to see in the TRSM for my Mk3 last night that the test for the O2 sensor involves seeing how many times it cycles between 0 and 5 volts at different revs, with the engine warm. I don't know if you can get yours to run for that long though!

Wahey! I got it right! Anyway . . .rev limiters (let's see if I'm on a roll here!) The rev limit would be unaffected by the cam profile. It's a function of how strong and well balanced the engines internals are. If you wanted to raise the limit you would have to uprate the entire valve train, and probably the reciprocating bottom end parts like the conrods, maybe the crank? Not sure. However, if you fit a really wild cam you may shift the powerband so far upwards that it's beyond the stock rev limit, meaning you would then be forced to uprate everything to get any benefit. Is that what you are thinking of?

I would say more like 20 bhp . . . from speaking to Chris Wilson last week, the stock cams are pretty well optimised for the stock turbos. When you fit a bigger turbo with much less restrictive exhaust housing (ie not hybrids either, something like a big single), uprated cams would then be useful to take advantage of it and optimise gas flow through the head. That's my understanding of what he was saying anyway, I'm sure someone will let me know if I have it wrong Does anyone have some before-and-after dynos from when they've put cams in? Some people seem to think they're great, others are disappointed . . .

How do you define "improve" though? If you want the car to corner better you're going to have to stiffen it up, if you want it to ride better it will have to be softer . . . everyone is going to have a different idea of what the ideal compromise is, aren't they?

What's a back box?

I've just got a hybrid for my Mk3 (arriving today, yippee!), and I paid just under £700 for it all in from Turbo Technics. Identical spec turbo from Fensport was about a grand . . . good company but don't buy turbos from them! Especially if they are expensive *and* they don't know what they are talking about!

I always thought that they sounded a bit like someone sneezing . . . perhaps you can alter it from mild hayfever to full on bronchial pneumonia or something? I just had a quick look on the web and it appears you have to change the insert to change the sound, and the only adjustment referred to is for the spring tension pressure, so you can set the back pressure required to make it fire.

Why, will he have to change his home computer as well to run on higher octane? For your £1k you will get a fully remapped ECU I believe, with plenty of features besides running high octane fuel to it's best effect.

Well, all modern brake system are "dual circuit". There are two totally independant brake lines which are pressurised by the cylinder, one for the front brakes, one for the rear. this is a safety feature so that if one of the brake lines bursts you still have brakes on one axle. So, you only plumb the line lock into the brake line which feeds the rear wheels. Hit the pedal, all brake lines are pressurised, lock the rears on, release the pedal and the fronts are no longer pressurised but the rears are still locked on.

Oh, and the Jamar PK1 listed above is exactly the unit I saw, so if that company will ship to the UK then that's what you need!

No idea about a website for the part I mentioned. I can dig out Rally Designs part number and contact details when I get home, but both will be three years out of date . . . worth a shot though! And yes, you will need to route the rear brake line to the device, which needs to be mounted where you can press the knob on it. One advantage of an electronic device would be that you could put the device in the lines and you'd only need to route some wires into the cabin. Plus it would be an excuse for Pete to put some more flashing light type stuff in his car?

Just dug out my elderly Rally Design catalogue (1999) and it has the correct device listed - it's called a "Hydra-Lock", the picture shows a label with "Jamar" written on it so that might be the maker although it's listed with Wilwood parts. "A simple device to hydraulically hold brakes locked Use with your existing brake system - supplied with metric fittings Press once to lock un-driven wheels, press again to unlock Gives that dragster style start" £59.50, does exactly what it says on the tin! What do you need all the electronic stuff for?

No Phil, perfection would be all that AND two foot flames on every gear change Mmmmmm . . . . attention seeker? Moi?

It's a UK car, J-reg IIRC.

The Mk2 MR2 does NOT have self levelling headlamps, at least my stepdads doesn't. It does have a dial-adjuster thingy in the car though, which must control some motors as described above.

Errrm, mainly for the cool noise it makes! There's no point having a moster of a car if it sounds like a sewing machine at WOT. What about if you put a really short, 3" unsilenced exhaust exiting behind the front wheel somewhere (ie about 2.5' in length) - would that do horrific things to the driveability/power delivery?

That is deeply, deeply cool. What's cooler than cool gadgets? Cool gadgets hidden in cool places with a cool motor to whir them all about. Totally . . . . brilliant :biggrin: That's *exactly* the kind of thing I'd like in my MkIV (if I ever get one!).

In my experience, well made, but very quiet. Hardly any louder than stock.

That sounds interesting Mycroft - how can we all be sure we are getting new stock (when they arrive - how long is soon?) rather than the dregs from Kwik-fits warehouse? IE If I go and ask for a GS-D3 will a tyre outlet know what I am talking about?

I had real POS tyres on my supra when I bought it, and noticed an immediate improvement in the ride quality (ie less bumpy) and road noise when I got F1's on there. I'm sure that any good quality tyre would have improved things, but it was just so dramatic it was like driving a different car (honestly!). And it cornered rather better! Plus they look sexy, they are brilliant in the wet (better than the Bridgestone S0's I believe), really good in the dry, and they are pretty hard wearing for a "high-performance" tyre. I recently changed to Kumho Ecsta Supras all round after a wheel swap, and they are pretty good, but noisier, and noticeably less grippy (though far from dangerous). When the time comes to change them, I will be going for . . . well, you guessed it, I see no reason to use anything different to . . . F1's!!!! (Edited by Adam Wootten at 11:09 pm on Mar. 29, 2002)

Out of that list I would definitely go for the F1's, you'll love em.

I believe it is quite an unusual size. Rather than changing the aspect ratio (the effective height of the tyre) go fo a slightly wider tyre, something like a 255/45, as you will get more rubber on the road, but maintain the same rolling radius so your acceleration and speedo accuracy are unaffected.

Goodyear Eagle F1's - excellent grip wet or dry and much more wear than the S0-2's. Also brilliant ride and minimal road noise compared to other brands I've tried.