Photoshoot samples

Last Monday was a fun, but very long day of magazine shoots. Had fun in the arvo driving around with Ignition DVD - cameras mounted to my car much to the bemusement of onlookers lol... and in the late arvo and evening for a brilliant photoshoot with Rick McDowell for HPI magazine!

Hope you like the photos below - they blew me away when i got them emailed to me the other day! It just goes to show what a good photographer can do with your car!! Cheers to Rick for giving me the ok to post a couple of samples up here of his shots, which will feature in an upcoming edition of HPI :)

(was gonna reduce the file size... but figured id leave a few good size pics up here in all their high res glory - so sorry to anyone on dialup!)

Click pics for high res image:

Engine bay bits, bracing, rear brakes, diff, and 274rwhp :)

As the varietta in stock form was non-LSD, we finally tracked down a sweet diff option. As this project is about streetable acceleration and response on the road rather than top end power (hence the choice of turbo), we went for a nice VLSD 4.363:1 ratio diff centre out of a CA18DET S13, inside an s15 housing :)

This makes a huge difference in on-road acceleration - and I'm loving the response even more now... as well as actually having traction with the VLSD!

The rear R33 GTST brakes were also fitted and handbrake etc so the brake upgrade is now complete :) A Nismo Power Brace was also fitted to the underbody for some added rigidity, along with a strut brace.

Finally got a chance to throw her on the dyno quickly on Friday afternoon as well. It wasnt an ideal day for it a 40 degrees, but with only 12psi running through her I was very happy with 274.6rwhp! :) I've sourced a PFC dejetro, which will go in with injectors etc so it will be good to see how she dyno's again then with a bit more boost able to be dialed up safely :P

And last on the list of priorities before upcoming photoshoots was some prettying up of the engine bay, with Tomei plug cover and oilcap, carbon fibre strut brace, Topstage cf ABS heatshield, and Greddy air-diversion plate.

Go to wo upgrades!

Just another short update - but a good one... i've upped the 'go' and also upped the 'wo' at the same time (upped the boost and upgraded the brakes!)

Brake details in the last post... so just a pic of them fitted (with new pads and DBA rotors) - all nice and shiny behind the rims:



And just a pic of the Greddy E-01 boost controller fitted... didnt get time to do a dyno run - but there's now 1 bar running through the GT28RS - makes one hell of a difference over stock boost!! :)



Big box arrived from japan this week too - always a nice thing to come home to :) I fitted a carbon strut brace today and a tomei oil cap, and will book her in for a couple of weeks time for fitting of the nismo power brace and do-luck b-pillar brace... some added chssis rigidity will be nice!

Brakes painted and ready to go

Just a small update...

With the Variettas only coming stock with 2 pot fronts and single pot rear brakes, an upgrade was needed now that the engien conversion was done. So I hunted round the wreckers and scored some R33 GTS-T front and rear brake calipers nice and cheap for $250 the lot :)

The guy who had owned the car they were ripped off had done a dodgy spray-can red job - everything was red, clips and all.. peeling, overspray, underspray, runs, dirt... but they were cheap so meh

I spent a while deciding between black or brembo gold for repainting them, but with the new rims having a gold centre cap, thought id see how the brembo gold looks behind the rims.

So cheers to AFM Enterprises in Osborne Park for an incredible job removing every spec of dodgy red paint and then applying a nice 2 pac paintjob in brembo gold to them.

These will be fitted/converted early next week along with new pads and DBA rotors, and the fitting my turbo timer and my E-01 EBC and a few other bits and pieces... as well as dialling up the boost to get the disco potato cooking! :)

I've also got a few goodies (carbon strut brace, heat sink cover, and Nismo Power Brace) on the way over from Japan, plus a few other plans in the works that will hopefully see some bigger updates soon...

New Rims!!

Dropped into C-Red last week and saw these lying around :)

RAYS SEBRING ITC-X

They've been my favourite wheels for ages - since seeing them on 200SXY next to my car at CABIN, on loan from Jash... and now here they were - finally off 200SXY and ready to snap up :)

A quick test fit to compare... and you can see that while the GT-7s were nice... side by side with the 19" Rays Sebring ITC-X there is just no comparison - these things are mad!

ITC-X UP FRONT vs GT-7 ON REAR

So I sold my GT-7s, and tee'd up Sat morning before the C-Red carpark sale to "quickly" swap them over (dam locknuts were too long so all had to be custom cut by Josh and Mark - thanks!!)

So VERY now sports big-ass 18 x 8.5 fronts and 18 x 10s up back!!... wrapped in Goodyear Eagle LS2000 235s front and 265s stretched on the rear and tucking under the guards perfectly :)

Makes the car look a whole lot fatter :P Absolutely love em!

Merry Christmas everyone! Drive safely :)

Roof on - Roof off

Dropped in to show the lads down at Autowholesale what had become of the mild Varietta they sold me six months ago :) They were kind enough to give her a wash and take some pics... and having a look at them - I realised didnt have any pics up so far of what it looks like with the roof on... I dont mind it with the roof on - but topless is definitely the best!

Some more new pics:

Woot! Picked her up today! 200hp on stock boost :)

OMFG... so bizarre the difference between 70hp a week ago and 200hp driving her home! :)

Here's the comparison dyno chart - old NA lower curve hp and torque, compared to the new curves! :P



So yeah - all good news - new clutch is yummy, engine soooo good, disco potato - holy cow even on stock boost, exhaust a real nice note... its all just spinning me out - cant believe its the same car!

Really happy with 201.3 on stock boost... 3 times more power than before lol... and torque up from 80 to 190 :) Will run it on stock boost for a bit to see how she does, before fitting up the new Greddy E-01 EBC I bought and dialling in a bit more boost that the disco potato is begging for :)

How shiny is everything!!? Big thanks to Josh and Mark and Jash for everything - I'm over the moon with how its turned out! The drive home was a blast - couldnt wipe the smile off my face the whole way :)

Couple of pics:

Shiny exhaust draws a crowd :P

Popped in on C-Red saturdee mornin to show the kids the car... and as you can see from the pic below - as soon as it was up on the hoist and the shiny new stainless exhaust was on display, cars started rolling in from everywhere for a look!! :P



Almost done now - engine dropped in, FMIC and exhaust on, just loom and few bits and pieces left early next week :)

All show and no go!?

Haha yeah the VERY's been waiting patiently for her conversion for a while now - but I got good news a couple of weeks back that C-Red had my SR20DET in the workshop!!

We all knew she was all show and no go - but we weren't quite prepared for just how "NO GO" she was!...

The guys did a pre-conversion dyno run yesterday... So take a guess - how many rwhp for an s15 SR20DE is your money on... have a guess before you click on the thumbnail of the dyno screen >>>

BAHAHA - how lame :P

Once the parts started coming off - looked like some big problems were happenning with the stock exhaust... cat crapped itself and muffler well... not muffling!

But anyway - thats all in the past - ITS HAPPENING!! The old engine is out, and my new engine is getting prepped and built :)

Good compression figures were nice to see on the new SR20DET, and the new Garrett Disco potato is bolted up, all the shiny manifold and Greddy plenum and other bits are on, the RG clutch / pressure plate bolted up, Nismo mounts fitted, and the full stainless exhaust, hi-flow cat, intercooler and K & N pod waiting on the sidelines :)

Big thanks to Josh, Mark, Roy and Jash... cant wait to see the post-conversion dyno comparison to the poor old SR20DE chart! :P

A few workshop pics - old engine out and new engine getting ready...

Best Bodykit (Street Class) - PAS Western Salon!

Well that award came from nowhere :)

PAS Western Salon was on the weekend - with SilviaWA again putting together a great club display.

And yeah - winning the trophy for "Best Bodykit - Street Class" was a spin out! But a nice surprise - given me a spur on to more mods... engine not far away!

Heres a couple of pics (thanks to Decipher!)

Pics from Autosalon!

Autosalon was a blast! First car show Id been to - so was great to check out all the cars. The VERY was on C-Red's stand, and the guys from SilviaWA had an awesome club display too... loads of nice modified SR20DETs to check out and help plan the upcoming engien conversion and mods :)

But yeah - it was so nice to pick up the VERY this week with the cosmetics pretty much done!

C-Red dropped it on some spare D2 coilovers they had which really finished the look off, and with the wheels on, DVD installed, trims fitted and dash painted - she scrubs up alright i think!

Here's some pics of the car at the show: