Keith C

Ah - just remembered that a mate of mine has a wideband sensor and meter. Have to see if I can pursuade him to help me get it on my car for a test. Can I temporarily tie the 2nd O2 sensor out the way somewhere and use that hole, or would that result in funny readings?

Cheers for replying Nathan With less than 70,000 miles covered I'm hoping the pump will be ok, and yes, making the spoiler inactive won't mess up most people (would me though, ironically - I have a nasty dip as I come out of my garage block). It's the insurance thing which I reckon would probably be the main reason - if you can get insurance for a reasonable price on a big FMIC, then that's obviously the best way to go. It's young owners, or those with a 'checkered' driving record (or, like me, both ) that are stuffed though, and an SMIC made by anyone has the happy advantage of being classable as an OE replacement part, and therefore doesn't need declaring to insurance. I know I've heard rumours that not everyone has told their ins company everything they have fitted but I also know that I personally can't take that risk, especially if a bit of bacon decides to pull me over and check out my docco. Sod it, I'm selling up and getting a Micra

Nathan, you say the stock fuel pump is barely adequate - does that include UK-spec fuel pumps? While the FMIC is only a bit more expensive, it suffers the problem of knocking out an active spoiler if present, slowing airflow through the AC and water rads, and worst of all, needs to be declared to insurance. It's this last that meakes it a no-goer for me. Changing the fuel filter - is that as much of a bastard of a job as it is on a MKIII? What's the best way to get the fuelling checked when running 1.2bar? (No, I can't afford TDi prices ). How about getting the timing adjusted - does that need doing as well? If so, how?

A lot of said hotter climes have better quality fuel than we do.

So, can we have a recap on confirmed SMIC wanters at the moment? So far we have Wolf and myswlf, but how about Paul E or Peter S?

Shh, stop trying to sell him a FMIC, otherwise I won't be able to get my SMIC

No - a properly ducted, exposed and installed FMIC will be better than an SMIC every day of the week. What Chris' SMIC allows is a 'plug and play' straight swap with no need to mess about, duct, chop, upgrade other bits, etc. A full FMIC requires more cost and work than just buying the unit.

About 4-5 weeks he told me, as he'll have to get them made up.

Dunno how it works, but I imagine it does, otherwise your fuelling would go to pot everytime it snowed or got sunny

Answering for Chris here (as I asked him the exact same questions). A big FMIC has two main drawbacks: 1) By slowing/blocking airflow to the water rad, it can increase water temps around the engine. Bad. This really requires an upgraded water rad to sort, which is obviously more expense. 2) To get proper use out of a big FMIC requires it to be properly ducted etc, otherwise half the air goes round the fmic, rather than through. In addition, on a stock bumper about a third or so of a big FMIC can be covered by bits of bumper, meaning you either have to get a replacement bumper, or chop up the stock one, etc etc.

Right, just had a word with Chris, and he says the IC's are £528 including VAT and postage. That's half the price Toyota want for a new one, cheaper than one of the bit Blitz/HKS/etc jobbies, and best of all does not need to be declared to insurance (it counts as an OE replacement part). The problem is that Chris needs a minimum of 4 orders before he can get them made up. I'm one, just need three others. JB? I know your car has a 20-a-day habit and could do with a healthier lifestyle. Anyone else? I'm going to have to turn down my boost somewhat until I get this fitted, as I absolutely *cannot* risk a failure in the summer months, so the faster we get an order together, the faster I can go faster again Chris says fitting should be straightforward if you want to do yourself, nothing more than fiddly at worst. So - come on, roll up roll up, get me back in the land of boost

Grumble. More expense. How much for a replacement IC Chris, and is it something that I can fit at home?

UK's have an extra O2 sensor just behind the no.2 cat.

Total amount of heat generated will be the same (a car travelling at xxxmph has the same amount of kinetic energy, irrelevant of what brakes it has). What you want to change is the temp change per unit area on the discs, and make that as small as possible. You can do this by removing the heat from the discs faster, by making the area of the discs bigger, or both.

They said WHAT?!?!? Never heard such nonsense - my local dealer happily sells me anything I ask for over the counter...

Ah - yeah - the EGR is leaking at that - I know cos I've seen it do it. Right - how do block/remove the damn stuff.

Just had the car serviced today at my local dealers (who are used to dealing with Supra's), and they say that the turbo-manifold and turbo-downpipe gaskest are blowing a bit. Does this sound likely? I must admit that there's a bit of a 'rushing air' type noise when then car is on boost, but it's been there since I got the car, and wasn't mentioned at the last service. Could it just be that the bleed valve is confusing them somewhat?

Iridiums it is then Cheers. Alex - what do you need?

Not desperate, but should I get the IK's then as opposed to normal NGK's?

Well life, I'm not too fussed about - provided they last relative to their price - ie a cheap plug I'll happily replace every 9k, a mega expensive one I want to last a bit longer. Denso's are the factory fit jobbies (which, interestingly, show *perfect* wear for their age, mileage and use, which is nice), but NGK have always struck me as a classier brand. However - Alex - how much for a 6-pack of Denso's? Shiny doesn't bother me, cos as a superior UK-spec owner I'm above such pettiness (Joke! I'm drunk...)

At 69k miles, my plugs are probably due a change... So, as I'm running increased boost (due to that impossible to find air leak, officer), up to 1.2bar at peak, I've been told I should go a grade colder than stock. Is this right, and if so, can someone give me a part number for the NGK's I need? Cheers

I've always thought "Torque is what you can do, power is how quickly you can do it"

...and that's the last stage; the Skyline owner takes full credit for everything that happened, and claims that's what he had planned all along. (Only teasing )

See - that's what happens when you get a Skyline, you get used to vaguely hinting at what you want to happen and let it all sort itself out while you go off and make a coffee :innocent:

I dunno, it's a bloody long way away. Oh, go on then. Hope you realise it'll be costing me a fortune in juice...