Nathan

I'm fairly sure that Grahams car had small brakes on it, but not 100pc. Stick a digipic of the rear caliper up on this BBS and you'll be answered soon enough! Cheers, Nathan TDI PLC

I agree with all of Petes comments. Anything other than a bog stock Supra should be on SUL though. Even one with breathing aids such as aftermarket exhausts/decats etc. For sure, those that can afford an exhaust etc can sure as hell afford to put SUL in it anyway! I take your point about location to a SUL outlet though.....but look at it this way....it gives you a chance to drive the car!! I'm not saying I was as sad as to drive 5 miles to a SUL outlet in a town centre when I had another SUL oulet around the corner down a backstreet or anything.... Cheers, Nathan TDI PLC

So true!! Tell that to all the people that compare HKS USA prices to UK ones!! Pete, what problems do you have with the Bosch sensor? Thats the one we use with our Motec wideband and I thought it was a pretty standard heated sensor? Cheers, Nathan TDI PLC

No, not really. They are both as bad as each other. This can be realised when you have actually tried it. We have fitted GT2510's to a standard manifold with machined plates to mount them and the inlet/outlet/downpipe made to match. There really isn't that much to be gained. Not for the cost v power equation anyway. Like Terry says, good cars can still be made using the hybrid route but I personally wouldn't get involved with trying to squeeze the factory manifold/turbo/sequential setup more than about 450bhp. Regards, Nathan TDI PLC

Ian- 22mm mate. Make sure you buy a socket which would be suited for use on an air impact driver. They are built much more solidly, and are normally matt black in colour rather than chrome vanadium. A regular socket will normally go south at a couple of hundred foot-pounds, let alone 300+... Cheers, Nathan TDI PLC

My 2p..... I personally consider ANY fully synthetic oil to be of a high enough quality for road cars. As regards to grade, a 5W, 10W or even 15W will be fine. FWIW, we use Valvoline Synpower 5W/50 mainly because it is a high grade oil, of the right viscosity, and is cheap(er) to boot. I like Mobil 1, as I do all of the lesser known types such as Silkolene, but Synpower offers all you need for a high quality road oil. Mobil 1 is overpriced IMO, probably to fund the horrendous advertising costs and to subsidise F1 racing by sticking it's logo all over the place. Regards, Nathan TDI PLC

75mm??!!! Standard size is 87mm!! Sorry, thats for the HKS forged items. I think standard is 86 or 86.5, but either way I think the phrase 'sausage up an alley' would be quite apt. Regards, Nathan TDI PLC

Well, thank the Lord that the thing hasn't fallen apart. Anyone would think that just one test drive without full diagnostic gear could bust an engine...... Honestly, glad to hear shes still OK. Regards, Nathan TDI PLC

Hi there, With all due respect, I really don't know why you are trying to make life hard for yourself. Graham told you not to fit the 1st ring because it overboosted to 1.65bar. We told you not to fit the ring because we could confirm what Graham said. You now have a 2nd ring and are still fighting to get boost below dangerous levels. You already have a boost controller on there. It gives an accurate, dead on 1.2 bar, all the time. No hassle. You can also bring boost down to 1 bar with it if you wish. I can't work out what you are trying to achieve. I'm not saying don't use Chris' 3rd ring but I'm just trying to work out why. Sure, you may reduce EGT's a little but they are not too high anyway. The main reason people go for de-catting is because it's a cheaper option than trying to get 1.2 bar with a boost controller, which you already have. I've heard so much about this car overboosting that it honestly scares me for it's future longevity. Especially when theres no need for it. Please don't take the above as a dig at anyone, but maybe I'm missing something here? Cheers, Nathan TDI PLC

An EVC is worth having on a turbo car at any spec so thats pretty much essential IMO. The problem with the rest of it is that you don't really need it UNTIL the big turbo goes on. You can get a fairly good gain (and peace of mind) from fitting bigger injectors with a hybrid setup but if you're looking to go big single or twin then you won't be thinking about hybrids anyway. Likewise the clutch. A multiplate will be WAY over the top for a car on stock turbos. Unfortunately, you need to look at a big single/twin upgrade as a package, only adding extra things as you go like possibly gauges, water injection, more sophisticated management etc etc.... My advice is, as always, keep your money in you pocket and appreciate the car for what it is until you can do a big chunk in one hit. Your car will thank you for it Oh, I would reccomend an uprated fuel pump on ANY Mk4 running higher than stock boost. Japs especially. Cheers, Nathan TDI PLC PS- if spending your budget on servicing and tyres is preventing you from carrying out mods then maybe you don't need to be fitting big singles and getting through tyres at 3 times the rate.....

Hi Andrew, It won't matter one jot what angle it sits at. Cheers, Nathan TDI PLC

OK........... So lets skimp and do it this way: Drop the EVC and use a bleed valve (we're really scraping the barrel here). Saves £425 Run an AIC instead of 1000cc setup. Saves about £50 Drop the ignition amp. Saves £450 Drop the cams & pullies (assuming you have a UK/US spec). Saves £780 Drop the F-Con and use a pre-mapped VPC. Saves £450 Drop the multiplate and use a heavy duty single like an RPS or CentreForce. Saves £670. That works out at about £3320 with VAT. A fair chunk but you're still looking at £10,700 excluding labour. Granted, it will be a laugh but you'll never shake off the fact that you really have cut serious corners. You'll be worrying about the clutch letting go on the 1/4 mile and the boost going wobbly from day to day. Just what you want on your maxed out fuel system. Sure, you can expand on what you have rather than going for it all at once; most people do, but we're talking an overall budget so that doesn't really count. The problem is that the high value/high labour items are the ones you can't get away without buying. Just my 2p. Cheers, Nathan TDI PLC

I'm not sure to be honest! I think it's partly down to several factors. One is the cost of the parts- taking one example alone, the turbo kit for instance- £5,100 inc VAT. You quote $4K. So thats twice the price on the turbo kit alone. Again, you quote $2K on fuel system. An F-Con on it's own will cost that, let alone the rest of it. There might also be an element of decent cheaper labour. I've absolutely no idea what you need to pay for good spannermen in the States, but I'd wager that it's less than over here. Heres an idea for example, of parts cost: Most are based on HKS parts, bought from a UK supplier. Bear in mind that this list is an absolute MINIMUM required. As you can see it's not very long.. Super Drager £545 Front pipe £145 T04R £4350 FMIC £1385 EVC-5 £445 Fuel rail, reg & injectors £1220 Spark plugs & ignition amp £540 Cams & pullies £780 F-Con fitted & mapped (approx) £1200 Multiplate clutch £1250 Add the VAT and you've got 14K's worth of parts. That excludes labour, and any other items that most people go for ie gauges, dump valves, suspension, brakes etc. Neither does it go anywhere near the bottom end. I'm not going to go into whether anyone feels the parts are priced inappropiately. It's just giving an example of how it mounts up. Like I said, it's very easy to hit 20K.... Cheers, Nathan TDI PLC

I agree with Chris on the cost front. Replacing the VPC Rom was just a suggestion to get you going (after all it worked for a long time on mine and CD's car) and WILL give you the power but it really needs an ECU to do it properly as Chris says. We would fit and map an F-Con if it was here. Do not underestimate the cost of going big single/twin. Big boys power, big boys numbers and big boys cost. I could give you several examples of big twin conversions, drive in/drive out costing 20K, singles 15K. Still EXTREMELY cheap power if you ask me. Name me one other car that gets you even close for twice that price..... (and don't mention early Diablos for 50K cos they'll cost you dearly to even do shopping mileage in.... Regards, Nathan TDI PLC

The HKS part numbers for the Hiper on the TT and NA are different if thats any help.... Cheers, Nathan TDI PLC

Agreed. There are pistons and there are pistons. The stock items are certainly NOT as good as anything else available. I believe that the pistons are the only bottom-end mod the car had, mainly because the bores were fairly worn and also because Brian had bigger plans for the car. FWIW, a mk4 with forged pistons is a good find: it gives you a lot more scope for (reliable) power hikes. Regarding turbos, yes I would probably opt for an HKS TO4 if I wanted 500~600bhp. As I've mentioned before, a pair of 2530's would be REALLY nice but HKS don't offer a kit. Major shame We fitted 2510's to a stock-manifolded Supra back in the early days when hybrids were unknown. Worked well, especially as the sequential was retained, but the cost would outweigh the power gain when hybrids can get near it these days. Would love to do a custom manifold running 2530's and sequential but the cost would be horrendous. If you're baulking at the cost of a TO4R kit then don't even think about it Funnily enough, it was Brian who was the closest customer we've ever had to going for it. He was NEARLY there.... Regards, Nathan TDI PLC

Welcome to the BBS! Ahh...the fabled Supra with red tints, camera on the roof, Veilside kit and of course those talked about Aston Martin badges... I remember Brian explaining why he had them fitted- it was because someone once commented that they thought the car looked like an Aston (well, the DB7 side profile is pretty close) so off he went and put Aston badges on it! Each to their own I guess. As for the pistons, indeedy, nice bloke as Brian was, it's fair to say he did get a little mixed up now and then.... Suffice to say the invoice says 'forged pistons' which I'll go along with as being alloy, not titanium. I'm fairly confident that it won't reach 500bhp either; I certainly didn't quote that and I'm pretty sure Mark didn't either. Around 440 I reckon if it's running as it should. Be interesting to see what it makes. If you go to G-Force please let the BBS know. The car is itching for a big single or twin but Brian couldn't be doing with the lag. Various options were talked about at the time, including 3.4 but Brian never got around to it. You will indeed need the HKS fuel rail, regulator, 1000 injectors, fuel dampener bypass and maybe a dual pump setup if you want to go big single/twin. You will also need another VPC ROM (chip). I don't remember speaking to you about this purchase- maybe you spoke to Mark. Hope you enjoy the car! Best regards, Nathan TDI PLC

I bet they were clean out of Amyl Nitrate for sure..... Nathan TDI PLC

The best lubrication we have found by far is caburettor cleaner. (yes, no jokes please.. It makes it real easy to get pipes on and it evaporates quickly so that you are left with a nice dry relatively high-friction joint. Oil, grease, WD40 or indeed margarine isn't the best solution... You must have done them up very tight Mark! Cheers Nathan TDI PLC Oh, and no other real help on the thread as others have already said it....sorry Paul..

Ah......I think I know what you are thinking....... If it makes any difference, several people were unsure how to help Chris with his limiter, not just one..... Anyways, no worries Cheers, Nathan TDI PLC

Regards Chris, was just trying to point out that a comment made about the car was subjective, and I wanted to clarify that a 1/4 mile time is not indicative of the use for which it was built. Regarding side-swiping, absolutely none was intended, and I've no idea where you got that assumption. Sorry if anything I said gave offence though. Cheers Nathan TDI PLC

Terry, I don't understand what you mean by the above but if you are suggesting that the thread ends then cool- don't want to start anything cheers, Nathan TDI PLC

But you still openly quote it as being of 'poor performance'.........??! Don't get me wrong, I'm not having a pop but don't take it's 1/4 mile times as anything other than a laff. If you HAVE to take any of the figures as being of importance, use the trap speed..... Ian- too right on the 155 limiter.......funnily enough Christian said that no-one was sure how to remove the speed limiter too......odd Yes, she has F-Con S on her now, but is essentially exactly the same as she was when built some 4 years ago:) BTW, Do you still speak to Paul W? Is he still into Porsches? Cheers, Nathan TDI PLC

Hi Syed, Not actually the one I was thinking of but is still a very good read: 'How to install and use nitrous oxide'. SA design. Joe Pettitt. ISBN 1884 0892 24. BTW, may I respectfully point out that I don't feel your comment 'the poor performance of the TDI car at TOTB' on the GTR forum is entirely fair. I wish people would remember that the car was never built as a 1/4 mile car. Phil simply wanted a car with blistering performance, and off-the line speed was never a criteria. He had absolutely no interest in drag strips. As far as we are concerned the car does just what was asked of it. 187mph isn't to be sniffed at and proof of it's roll-on power was shown at TOTB when although it's 1/4 mile time was low, it blasted through the timing lights at 128mph- the 2nd fastest Supra on the day. I hope this clarifies things. Keith- book on it's way mate. Cheers, Nathan TDI PLC

I agree, it sounds like the compressor impeller/s could be touching the housing. It's easy to get the inlet pipes off. Get your fingers in there and try to spin the impeller at the same time as applying sideways pressure. You'll feel if the blades 'scrape' on the housing. If CW is less than an hour away though it sounds like a better bet unless you like getting your hands dirty:) Cheers Nathan TDI PLC