Glad it's working out well so far. Maybe a shield could be fabricated to protect the lower hanging intake piping.

 

Great review. From the sound of it changing the piping is a must. I work on my Z, and would hate to not be able to use the jack point by the skirt.

 

Nice review!

 

I was happy to read everything except for this. Once you upgrade the VB, can I see your car in person? Beers are on me...

 

Update on the clearance issue.

Last night, I scraped the intake pipe going over some bumps in College Point, NY. I was not flying down the road over asphalt mountains. I was at a careful speed, going over a lump in the road. I looked under the car, and saw only some minor scrapes toward the forward section of the intake pipe, right behind the front axle. No major damage. Hopefully this incident will not become more commonplace, but I am very much looking forward to a revised piping design.

Lastly, I figured it would be helpful to disclose my vehicle's suspension. I am riding on Bilstein PSS9 coilovers, which are set to max dampening in the rear and min dampening in the front. Ride height was adjusted to be lower than stock, but only by a very small margin: perhaps an inch or less lower than OEM ride height.

 

Shouldn't be a problem to meet up. I think MRC will be working on the transmission this Saturday. PM me afterwards.

 

The scraping continues.

Today, the intake pipe met asphault two times: once in the parking lot of a local Home Depot and another time on a random lump in the street. The pipe already has a nice set of scrapes and dents.

This intake pipe HAS GOT to go!! I don't see how STS will sell this kit unless it is rerouted.

 

Just had MRC upgrade the VB with a Level Ten unit yesterday night. The car shifts noticeable better now. Under WOT in full auto mode, I no longer bounce off the rev limiter twice before upshifting. This is great! However, in full auto, the car still hovers in redline longer than i would like before it upshifts. In sport-shift mode, it is completely different. The shifting is much faster and more crisp than before.

Overall, I think the Level Ten VB was a necessity after having the STS put in. The Level Ten VB seems to be tuned for better shifting without making daily driving harsh. I understand VB upgrades from SGP may be harsher on daily driving, but even firmer and faster than the Level Ten unit. However, I am content with the Level Ten unit.

 

How long is that hesitation at the redline?
Oh, and where in NYC are you?

 

Dyno?

 

I live in Little Neck, Queens and I work near Wall Street in Manhattan.

I am still learning to predict how and when the vb-upgraded transmission will shift. It seems like sometimes the full auto shifts perfectly at redline under WOT. Other times, it will linger in redline for about 1 or 2 seconds before upshifting.

On the other hand, I am liking the sport-shift more and more. It is MUCH more responsive than stock.

 

Julian has all the dynos. I believe he posted all of them up on a different thread. I actually don't have any myself.

 

Oh... One more development this morning that freaked me out. I had my car lifted in the rear just to check up on some things and found my intake filter had completely fallen off the pipe. I bolted it back promptly and firmly. I think it might not have been bolted on tight enough when I was at MRC on Thursday night, so when the asphault hit the damn intake pipe two times yesterday, the filter fell off. I hope I didn't suck in anything. Any way to check if I did?

 

I am in Brooklyn.
I'll PM you before next weekend. If you are not busy, I'd appreciate if you could let me see the car.

 

I doubt you sucked in too much stuff.. :P if you did it's probably got ate (eaten?) by the turbo already

 

Nice write up.

 

Wow dude be careful with that, you can really mess up your turbo if a rock got thrown in there.

 

Lewis, what was the status on the data log when you did it??

 

Julian,

Thanks for checking in.
I left a message on your cell phone last night at around 5 or 6pm. I didn't want to disturb you any further since you might have gone home for the day.

In summary, the autometer boost/vac gauge seems to have been malfunctioning. I pulled it out of the pillar and unplugged it, and then the boose started appearing normally. Just to be sure, I hooked the laptop up to the UTEC as you instructed, and had my gf do datalogging while I was driving around. Here were the psi results at each map:

Maps 1-3 ran at about +5.6 psi at full boost.
Map 4 ran at about +8.9 psi at full boost.
Map 5 ran at about +7.2 psi at full boost.

I didn't know Maps 4 and 5 were supposed to be different, but I am thinking perhaps you tuned it this way.

Also, I found out one thing that troubles me:
Maps 1-3 all had knock counts of 00 at full boost. This is great!
Map 4 had knock counts of 13 at full boost.
Map 5 had knock counts of 3,4,2,1,1,1 at full boost.

Should I be concerned of the knock counts in maps 4 and 5?
Thanks!