nickz32

Just need the Holy Grail of “which spark plug is best” thread now

Anyway, who’s bloody idea was it to post ANOTHER oil thread....... jeeeeeez

:lol: :rofl:

This is true, and without wanting to go back and forth, the OE oil viscosity ratings are designed around a VG30DETT in completely stock form and stock boost. Secondly, yes why it relates to ambient air temp, the inference is that in hotter environments engines will run at a higher temperature and to have an oil that doesn’t run too thin in those temps. Visa versa with cold climates. Given the extra heat that is involved in running 1.6bar of boost that my particular engine is running I wanted an oil that was as thermally stable as possible at higher engine oil temperatures. Both on track and during VMAX I saw oil temps of around 115c, Granted I now have a larger oil cooler, but thermally stable oil at that temps was something that encouraged me to my particular oil choice.

Re longevity of other surfaces, I bowed down to Mitch’s knowledge. It’s the oil recommends for all his forged builds. Re track, yup. I’m looking into paint protection film at the moment, but it won’t be going on track until that’s sorted

The oil choice came as a result of advice from Mitch @ EP Racing and that I run on the loose side on main and big end bearing tolerances. The combination of running a thicker oil and looser tolerances ensures I get sufficient oil coverages and lubrication of the bearing surfaces when I’m hammering the engine on track. If I lose a couple of HP and MPG, then that’s a trade off I’m happy to make for the sake of the longevity of my far from stock engine �� Further more, the workshop manual states that use of a 20W50 is acceptable for higher temps, so I struggle to see why a heavily modified VG30 isn’t suited to a 20W60 Esther synthetic oil

I personally run Motul 300V 20w60. Yes it’s on the thick side, but temperature is the enemy in these cars and when I want to unleash all hell and fury at full boost, I don’t want my oil to be thinner than a wannabe cat walk model. Further more, the odds of me driving or starting the car up when it is below -5c are pretty much nil If every else is boosting their post count, I may as well get in on that action aswell

Then make the trip for one of the days. Would be good to catch up mate

Hey Buddy, good to see you floating around still. I’d say back to basics on this one. When you say it cuts out, does it misfire or anything or does it simply drop revs until stall? What do the plugs look like? Sooty? Wet? Normal? (Checking if you have good spark) When cold does it run on all 6? When it does run warm, does it run on all 6? Bubbles in the coolant when it’s running/sweet smelling exhaust fumes or any other symptoms of HG failure? Fuel supply- is it getting what it should? Pop of the return hose and hook a hose up into petrol container. Put 12v to the pump for 60 seconds and measure the amount of fuel delivered. Multiply by 60 and you’ll get your l/ph (should be around 250lph for a OE pump from memory). Anything less, you’ve got a supply problem, so look at the filter then the pump Fuel Pressure- see if you can get a fuel pressure gauge from somewhere. Pressure should be around 34psicat idle with the vac hose connected to the FPR, 43.5psi with it connected.

New rubber went on yesterday. Aesthetically they’re not ideal, I forgot that Michelin’s are quite balloony in their fitment so probably should have gone with a 275 or 285 tyre,. But in this case, function wins over form. 295/35ZR18 103Y XL Michelin Pilot Super Sports and the Z now has a serious rear end foot print. I’m probably going to have to do some clearance work where the bumper mounts to the quarter panel as it’s looks like it’ll foul on suspension compression. Also looking into corner balancing and geometry when I’ve tweaked the ride height. Another random curveball appeared on the way back from the tyre place, a nasty oil leak from the left hand oil cooler hose. The Stillen oil cooler has a push in earls fitting, which appears to have torn the inside on the hose when it was pushed into the hose. Bearing in mind this cooler has been on the car for over 1000 dyno miles, it’s clearly been a slow time failure. Luckily I spotted it in a timely fashion and fitted a new section of reinforced rubber hose and she’s leak free yet again. Just waiting for another free slot on the dyno and the power runs can commence

Unfortunately I can’t get the PS4 or 4s in my rear wheel size (285 or 295/35) so my only Michelin options were PS2, PS3 (which wasn’t a great tyre) or PSS. Such a shame they dont make the 4s in 18’s, I’ve got them on some of my work cars and they’re a fantastic tyre

About 100mph. They’d been tuning the part throttle cruising ignition timing at the time, so not a particularly high load scenario. I checked the other side, which has no obvious sign of stress (no discolouration, micro blisters, cracks etc). But as you say, rather it happened on the rollers and not on the road! I’d been planning on putting some top notch rubber on it any way (it’s got FK453’s all round at the moment, so not bad just not amazing), just wasn’t anticipating doing it quite so soon!

I have never known a car that has resisted so hard against my attempts to put it back on the road! Received a message from the tuner the other day stating the car had developed a severe vibration during a session on the rollers. I kinda assumed that it had either thrown a wheel weight or I had somehow not tightened up the new camber arms properly. So I went to investigate. On removal of the wheel, the problem was immediately apparent Wasn’t expecting that! Not entirely sure of the cause of the delamination, as the tyre is still holding 32psi. My guess is age related failure. They have been on the car since 2013 and was stored on those tyres while it was off the road.I haven’t checked the manufacture date yet, but I’m going to assume that they were at least a couple of years old before I bought them (new) So I’ll be changing all 4 tyres. Last thing I want is a failure whilst up at the lakes! Michelin Pilot Super Sports all round

M40 - M1 sounds good to me

I’d Normally agree, but according to Google it’s only an extra 10 miles distance wise. Just thinking about flow of traffic around the usual spots on the M6 May end up being much slower than using the M1 up to Leeds, A1M and across

Most direct route is looking like M40/42/6, however knowing what traffic can be like on the M6 around Knutsford/Lymm and Preston (especially on BH weekends) I’m wondering if the M1/A1M maybe a better flowing option (I hardly use the M1 beyond Northampton)

Although I haven’t spoken to Andrew about it yet, I assumed we would probably RVP somewhere on the M40 before heading up the M6. Game for meeting you guys somewhere probably north of Birmingham

It’s gloss black base colour as per the rest of the car, but with a matte clear coat over the top

Well, my suspicions were confirmed.... one very blocked fuel filter Looks like I hadn’t cleaned the braided lines aswell as I thought as the filter was blocked with very fine particles of rubber. Tested the system with out the filter and a bit of meddling on the Haltech and she runs as well as she did pre rail swap! I’d originally discount the fuel filter because it’s had such little use I assumed it would be fine. Lesson learned! Unfortunately I lost my slot at the Rabbid Tuning ltd in Basingstoke, but the car was due to stay there all week for them to fine tune cold start etc, so I dropped it off this evening. New filter will arrive tomorrow and be installed prior to any runs. Hopefully, all being well, she shall make some power this week

I’m cant say for sure there is no restriction until I check the filter, but it terms of pipes and bends and no kinks etc everything appears as it should. Basically when I put any load into the engine fuel pressure drops dramatically (down to 0.7 Bar when I give the throttle a good jab) causingnit to run lean. Pumps been checked, tested and fine (both in voltage its getting, amps it’s drawing and fuel it’s putting out), and a known good pump had been tried with the same results/symptoms. regulator is brand new and more than up to the task (had the same issues on my previous Tomei reg, which is why I swapped to the turbo smart). I can adjust the FPR all the way up to 5 Bar on idle condition, so the pump can generate pressure, but when I ask for an increase in volume the rail and FPR simply isn’t getting it Exasperated to say the least

Unfortunatly I no longer have an OEM steering wheel, as I found it say to close to my knees for comfort. I have a dished OMP wheel (have done for a while) Well, the car won’t be going for mapping tomorrow. Yet again, fuelling issues have scuppered my plans and the car isn’t exactly driveable. Having spent two days going through the electrical side of the fuel system, it appears that I have a mechanical problem somewhere I my system that means when I put ANY load into the engine, even when moving from stationary, I have a massive drop in fuel pressure that causes the car to run lean and misfire (a different problem to my old pressure issue, which was high rpm high load, this problem only seems to have appeared since changing to the top feed setup) Gutted doesn’t come close to how I’m feeling today. I’ve got one more thing to try (fuel filter). After that I’m out of ideas

Thanks buddy, looking forward to getting her out and about this year

Custom exhaust with these tips. Either 3.5 or 4 inch, need to see how they look in the space before I decide

They’re getting replaced in the near future with something a bit nicer :P