Many of you may have seen a video we put up about a month and a half ago of the first startup of the CJA R32 GT-R. If not here it is below….
Well a fortnight after the publishing of the last video, we were able to make some proud progress on what we now dub “Black Rhino”. After exclusive tuning by Powertune Australia’s Head Tuner – Chea, all fingers were crossed as Black Rhino had its first stab on the dyno.
Sporting Powertune Australia’s “Elephant Package,” inspired by Powertune Australia’s very own GTRB28 AKA “The Elephant,” the Black Rhino had the advantage of years of hard research and development on its side. A smooth build, and simple setup were the rewards. Built for the owner of the CJA Time Attack R32 GT-R (not surprisingly), the Black Rhino is destined to become the street-car counter-part of the R32 GT-R duo.
The philosophy behind the Elephant package is to see 1000hp at the wheels of a Nissan R32, R33 or R34 GT-R, retaining all niceties such as air-conditioning, power steering, easy starts, smooth idling, smooth cruising, and predictable acceleration; whilst removing all nasties such as fuel fumes, coughing ,spluttering, black smoke, and a generally chaotic setup. No cages, no kidney-bruising shocks, no arresting seats. The Elephant package is meant to look and feel like a GT-R that rolled out of the factory with 1000hp at the rubbers.
The result of the Black Rhino on the dyno? A relatively low ethanol content (E70) meant that boost was capped at 33psi. This Precision turbo is capable of a fair bit more. At 841.6hp at the wheels, this setup is healthily placed to make a good 1000hp with an ethanol concentration of E85, permitting a further 11psi of boost. Check out the vid.
Hi there Powertuners, thanks for lending me your attention… It’s not too often that I get an opportunity to write down some thoughts and am glad I can share with you…
Today, I wanna talk about the Haltech engine ECU when used in conjunction a Zeitronix wideband air fuel ratio (AFR) controller on closed loop O2 control.
You might hear our friendly customer service experts recommend this setup in many of the packages that we diligently put together for you guys.
Well, I wanted to take this short opportunity to explain for you all why it is that I recommend this combo.
Chea’s 17+ years of industry experience has seen him develop not only some of the toughest street cars seen on Australian roads, but also lay some fundamental cornerstones in the world of turbocharged performance tuning overall.
First stop… “Closed loop O2 control”… What does this even mean?
Well… Put simply…It means that a capable ECU (Haltech, Link, Vipec, Motec etc) is set up to read the AFR output from the AFR sensor. The management system is then instructed to automatically adjust the fuelling in your motor (according to the parameters set by the capable tuner of course!)
The new series of Haltech ECU can monitor your AFRs and make adjustments in your fuel map once every 5ms! (That’s 200 tune adjustments per second!)
So why is this important?
Well:
This saves you fuel, thus saves you money.
This helps keep your engine running smooth and clean by keeping perfect AFR’s in real-time. Engines that run rich cause dilution of the engine oil which can lead to premature bearing failure. (That’s a major rebuild)
The Wideband O2 Controller can save your catalytic converter. Cars that run rich will cause overheating of the catalytic converter leading to meltdown failure. (Sure they’re cheapish, but hey it counts)
It will reduce your emissions, so no more black smoke and no more build-up on your precious bumper. The EPA will be pleased at your efforts to save the environment 🙂
Quite literally, the wideband O2 Controller eliminates the “race-car” experience of owning an aggressively modified vehicle. Things like bad idling, difficulty starting, spluttering on transient throttle, fuelly stinks, black smoke… All these things are eliminated.
Quite frankly, in the hands of a good tuner, the wideband controller will get your aggressively modded car, behaving like it came out of the factory with all the crazy mods you’ve bolted on.
“But wait,” you say… “My tuner has tuned my engine awesome already!”. Well, allow me to let you in on a secret. Sure, your tuner has spent a number of hours, maybe a day and a half mapping your engine… Unfortunately, there is no way on Earth that your tuner could possibly have tuned it for every conceivable condition that you will experience on the road, in a matter of these few short hours. Hard fact, (Hey we’re only human).
So… There’re bound to be certain conditions where your tune isn’t perfect. Many times, this will lead to you heading back to your tuner for a touch-up.
Think for a moment… Wouldn’t it be DIVINE to have your engine tuner driving around with you, hooked up to your ECU, adjusting your tune to stoichiometric perfection once every 5ms so that your ride is spot on perfect? :)… Well! That’s pretty much what’s happening when you’ve go closed loop O2 control!
Oh by the way, here’s another bonus. When used in conjunction with Haltech’s engine protection feature, the wideband O2 controller setup can save your engine in the event of any lean-outs or other dangerous AFR-related conditions. My favourite example is this… Picture a scenario of using multiple fuel pumps… If one pump fails you would be none-the-wiser of your engine dangerously leaning out towards catastrophe. However, the Haltech ECU will see this and say “Hey what the F!@#?” and condition your tune to reduce engine speed, saving your newly built $15k engine. Pretty handy right?
So O2 wideband controllers? Do yourself a favour have your tuner set on up in your ride…
-Chea
“
Check out this video of the Haltech failsafe engine protection in action.
Another day… Another dime… With several cars being prepped for Powercruise and the phones ringing hot, we find ourselves a little snowed under… Just the way we like it! It’s all hands on deck today as we slug through the last fortnight before Powercruise #41.
Some Powertuners may have seen a video this bad-boy starting up recently… Currently it’s having some some interior electrical work wired up.
We get a lot of callers asking about how this bad boy is coming along, oh and believe us we are just as excited about it as a lot of the callers. For now… Let’s just call this project “THE MEGA WHATT?”… Because that’s precisely what it’s rated to hit :P… Keep checking this space as news on this ride will always come here first.
Oh Andrew… Why, oh why dost thou useth a copper head of gasket?
Here we’ve got Chea, our head tuner taking a peek at Andrew’s S13 from Rockhampton. Our usual blog readers may remember when Andrew’s car first arrived in the shop. Well unfortunately it hasn’t all been smooth sailing since. The engine that Andrew has put together is having trouble making power. The main suspect is a copper head gasket followed by a radiator which isn’t holding pressure. Andrew’s taken the news well and plans are to replace the gasket and radiator and give it another shot. It’s not the end just yet!
We get some funny family cars turning up to our shop on occasion
Sunny the Wizard works out an exhaust for this turbocharged rocket
This Toyota AE92 Corolla is quite an interesting case. The owner has a habit of building legendary pocket rockets and keeping the setup for years and years, living through chassis, after chassis, after chassis. This is his latest incarnation for his turbocharged 4AGE… This granny-spec grocery-getter will definitely one to look out for.
Chris’s Silvia is almost done! After a minor clunk with the gearbox, it’s now pretty much ready for a tune…
That is… When we get a seat in it…
Chris’s 200SX S15 is coming along well and all the mechanical work is done… It’s pretty much ready for a tune first thing tomorrow morning. Chris has been popping in diligently every few days to catch glimpses of our progress. It’ll be good to see this 200SX ripping it up at Powercruise! We should have a dyno video on this before long.
A sexed up 1.8L GSR rocks up to our shop one day… I wonder what this thing is capable of if anything at all?
One thing we haven’t seen in simply AGES is a sexed up Japanese car rolling into our work shop… Hmmm… But surely we at Powertune would be able to do SOMETHING with this right? Is there any hope for this 1.8L GSR?
Powertune’s technicians meet to discuss gearbox issues with this S14 as well as deep philosophical thoughts on space-time
It’s been a busy one all-right… Just the way we like it here at Powertune Australia. With Powercruise #41 coming up and lots of intersting cars to work on, there’s no where else we rather be. Be sure to keep your eyes stuck on this blog to find the latest.
Oh by the way… Did you know we’re offering some crazy hot laps around Eastern Creek in the Powertune R34 GT-R? Wanna jump in for a few laps? Sign up already! All you need to do is LIKE the official Powertune facebook page and under the appropriate post, tell us in one sentence why you love the elephant and you’re automatically in the draw!
The Elephant will be making a much anticipated return for Powercruise this year… Keep your eyes and ears out for it!
The Elephant has attracted quite a lot of attention since its arrival to the doors of Powertune Australia in 2010. Taking out couple of Powercruise trophies over the years (Check them out here).
Our technicians do a once-ver on the Holinger, replacing oil and ensuring it’s in tip-top condition for another season of service
A quick service, and she’s ready to hit the black-top at Powercruise #41
Right now, the Elephant is back in the shop for a service and checkup before hitting Powercruise #41. With such a dependable setup that has already served 3 years and 20,000km of all types of driving (yes we drove it to Queensland Powercruise 2012 and took out the off-street racing title, only to drive it back home), the team is confident that this setup will serve well this Powercruise.
A fresh link of red wrinkle coat is due after 3 years of hard driving
The cam covers pick up a fresh coat of VHT wrinkle coat
The Elephant has its own Facebook Page these days so make sure you check it out by clicking HERE… Make sure you Like the page so as to stay up to date with all the latest and greatest that’s happening with this faithful giant.
WIN A COUPLE OF HOT LAPS IN THE ELEPHANT
Like the Powertune Facebook Page and in the relevant post, comment in one sentence why you love The Elephant to automatically be in the draw to win a couple of hot laps in one of the cruise sessions in Powercruise #41.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Obviously, winners of the draw will have to be present at Powercruise #41 and must have purchased a passenger arm band for a gold coin donation. We will be in touch with winners prior to the event.
Want an Elephant all to yourself? We’ve got this bad boy down to a package these days. Give us a call and ask for an Elephant and we’ll help you out! Phone us on 02 9724 0606 or hit us up with an Email 🙂
Ryan has been quite a long-time customer of Powertune and reps a lot of the Powertune-recommended hardware and setup. By doing so Ryan has seen a smooth ride from a stock 58,000km S15 2 years ago, up to his current 370rwkW on a stock SR20DET motor.
After passing the Powertune barrage of tests, Ryan’s S15 200SX picks up the Powertune Australia sticker of approval
Ryan quotes about his favourite part of his S15, “Hmm I love the power it makes… And the tidiness of it”. With a no frills attached approach, the interior remains primarily bone stock… Trademark S15…
Recently Ryan came in to pick up a couple of goodies and so we took the opportunity to film up a short video on his latest dyno run.
This is what you can expect from your SR20DET Silvia to behave like after picking up a Powertune Stage 3 Upgrade for SR20DET on E85
So what does Powertune’s Stage 3 upgrade for an SR20DET on E85 look like? Let’s break it down…
ENGINE
* Standard unbuilt 2.0L SR20DET (Options to go forged if you like – hi-power, hi-torque, hi-revving or maximum performance options available)
* Aggressive Cams
INDUCTION
* Custom intake
* Front-mount intercooler
*Powertune custom exhaust manifold
* Turbocharger upgrade
FUELLING
* Powertune twin in-tank fuel kit
* Custom braided fuel lines
* Powertune twin entry fuel rail
* Fuel pressure reg
* Injector upgrade
EXHAUST
* Three-inch all the way
MANAGEMENT
* Haltech stand-alone fuel management system
* E-flex sensor
* Wideband controller
TRANSMISSION
* Powertune SR-RB gearbox adaptor kit
* RB25DET gearbox
Asked if he has any future plans with his S15, Ryan says, “Yep definitely, along with Powertune Australia – We will be getting into drag racing. I’m aiming for a 10 second pass with the standard bottom end. Follow that with forging the motor and tougher setup with a cage. Oh and of course… Keeping it a street car is always on the menu”.
Ryan let’s out a jovial laugh when asked if he sees an end to this project saying, “No not yet! With the amount of help Powertune has given in the build, I dont think there will be an end just yet.”
All the Sydney-siders who will be rocking up to Powercruise weekend this year, keep your eyes peeled for Ryan’s S15! See you there Ryan!
POWERTUNE BLOG 