What can be done to an R8?

[ScREWtop]

Bought a brand new HSV R8 last Christmas. Its a VX. I've thrown in a Remus and taken out my Cat convertors. Chucked away my paper filter for a K&N filter retaining the original box. I felt the power band is gone and the cars smoother all through 130-140 before the top-end power kick in.

My next project will be Bilstein shocks and springs to lower the car, and maybe try the K&N pod system--removing the box altogether.

Is there anything I could safely do to gain more horse power? How about super charger, throttle, or anything?

Any advice given would be appreciated.

[Downunder]

There are alot of things you can do without touching the internals or supercharging. You could end up with around 230 rear wheel KW with all this.

*A set of good extractors which will give a very good gain. A set of 4 into 1's would be good but only if they are custom made and it would cost arounf 1grand.

* A new maf to lean the fuel is great with an option of 10 to 15% with the 15% being known to make the engine ping on auto cars.

* A larger pipe going from the MAF to the throttle body is good for a few RWKw

* An X pipe would be a good mod and is known to increase a bit of power and help power delivery down low.

* The LS1 PCM has just been cracked and you are now available to buy a computer which lets you program the comp yourself (But is locked to your PCM so it wont work on anyone elses car) or you can get it programed on the Dyno which costs around 1 grand. Because you live in sheep land the availabality for you to get it dyno tune might not be available for a while

*Also don't put a Pod on as it will suck in all the hot air and power will decrease.

This is all i can think of at the moment:silly2:

[ScREWtop]

Mate, thanks for the info.

I already have Remus exhaust and its like 265Kw now. The stock standard R8 is about 255Kw and with the pipes and K&N filter its bout 265Kw I guess (hopefully).

I'll take your advice about not having a pod--I was going to try it next week And I think my car comes with extractors already.

I am very interested because it seem I cant find a chip to fit my car. Can you tell me what those things are?

* A new maf to lean the fuel is great with an option of 10 to 15% with the 15% being known to make the engine ping on auto cars.

* A larger pipe going from the MAF to the throttle body is good for a few RWKw

* An X pipe would be a good mod and is known to increase a bit of power and help power delivery down low.

* The LS1 PCM has just been cracked and you are now available to buy a computer which lets you program the comp yourself (But is locked to your PCM so it wont work on anyone elses car) or you can get it programed on the Dyno which costs around 1 grand. Because you live in sheep land the availabality for you to get it dyno tune might not be available for a while

Is MAF the thingy attached to the intake system just after the air filter? What do you mean it pings at 15%?

What's an X-pipe. (edit: I just realise I have that in my Remus)

How can I get hold of the Ls1 PCM or crack it? Brannan Racing in sheepland thinks the only way up is a $17,500 Motec... he can forget that.... And his supercharger is $8,500 and it won't work with my chip.

Dang I'm stuck. PLease bear with me.

[Downunder]

Yep that is the MAF, the sliver thingy
With the 10% and 15% it leans the fuel mixture by the amount chosen, so theres less fuel being put in with the same amount of air.(The LS1's run around 11 A/F and should be around 14. it's all in the name of safety for Holden) And on some LS1's the 15% MAF can make the engine detonate as maybe it is not running so rich in the first place and leans it out too much. So the 10% would be best.

Well 17 grand is just a complete rip off. Here they are around $4500 for the M48 top shelf model. But it depends on your exchange rate.
It might be quite a while until someone on your side gets the EDIT program, but is good to look around.Your better off getting the stock computer redone, it will be cheaper and will probably squeeze more power with less problems. As i said before you can get someone to do it for you or if you are know your stuff you can get one for your car.

CAPA sell supercharger kits that bring power upto 380kW and a computer program is supplied. Problem is that you have to give them your computer to put it in. But apperently the service is very poor and there can be problems as the supercharger is known to be very ancient in design. This is just from what i have heard from 2 people who have these kits their LS1 cars. One makes 305rwKw with the stock engine and auto



Also if you want a nice kick in the arse go for the 3.46 gears or 3.7's(but can really hurt fuel) if you have an auto and 3.91 if you have a manual

[ScREWtop]

I hope someone can help me with this.


I have Bridgestone S02 (235/45/18) that came with my Commodore HSV R8.

I am upgrading my tyres and trying to decide between Pirelli Zero and Bridgestone S0-3.

I would be grateful if someone could tell me the real difference comparing the two

And, which of the following configuration is best? Options in mind:

1) 245/45/18

2) 245/40/18

3) or bigger size for rear and leave 235/45/18 infront


Thanks in advance!

[Downunder]

It's me again

Well the P zeros would be the better tyre with a very good prictag:o and they are standard fitment on the Ferrari Modena and other supercars.
But the S03 was designed with the assistance of HSV so it would probably and that could be better suited, but i'm not sure. Also the SO3's are suppposed to be better in the wet and wear alot less.

To tell the truth i don't know as i haven't used these tyres on my car

If you go to that site i gave you there would be alot more help and you won't be waiting for a week for a responce

[ScREWtop]

Thanks a lot mate.

PS: Yes, I posted there too

[jOYRiDe]

go with pirellis. i persuaded my uncle to get pirelli P6000 (?? i cant remember) tyres all around and it worked wonders for his car. the feel of the road is gripper and alot quieter, less vibrations in the steering wheel. 235/45/17's he got. expensive but well worth every cent. oh i forgot to mention he drives an ex-chaser VR SS with basic I/H/E mods.

[AQICSS]

Hey,

you wont get 230rwkw from those mods!
there is heaps more mods you can do i could go on all day or i could just say go to www.ls1.netrider.org.au this is a club i am part of.
Here is a few pics of my car for you guys.





by the way are any of you from melbourne?

[Downunder]

Hey Mr AQICSS
I'm from melbourne
You might know me? My other name starts with CSV and ends with _LS1:finger:

[replicant_008]

Nice Commodore...

Just curious - you mention very specific dyno figures for the upgrades. Did you do a before and after on the same dyno ? If so did you lose any low-end torque with the changes to the plumbing etc.

It's just that the stock GM EPROM is usually calibrated to certain tolerances and the fairly big changes you mention to your Gen3 makes me wonder if the stock mapping suits the changes. I've seen dyno runs where power goes backwards because the map isn't suited to a deeper breathing engine. And dyno runs are also part of the story as peak power is only part of the picture with the torque thru the rev range making a major contribution to acceleration ie have you done any before and after acceleration (speed intervals, 1/4s, rolling in gear intervals etc). Which is why we stick telemetry on race cars even when they are dyno'ed to see what difference they make at each venue.

Incidentally, the price for the Motec M48 sounds like it includes calibration of the map as well - that's the cost of getting someone who hopefully knows what they are doing to dyno and create suitable mapping for your vehicle.

As for the tyre question... my understanding (I stand to be corrected) is that HSV has specific batches of tyres made by Bridgestone (as do Honda for the Japanese Type R) for their production runs with minor changes to construction to suit the individual models. This means that even if you buy the same tyre after-market it may differ (though only slightly) from the OEM fitment.

Tyre choice is also a very specific thing. Different sizes of tyres of what is ostensibly the same tyre can be quite different in construction. The 17 inch and 18+ inch versions of the P Zero are very different to some of the versions for smaller rims. There are also 5 different P Zeros - Rosso, Direzionale, Assimetrico, Rosso Direzionale and Nero as well !!!

It comes down to what blend of characteristics you want including wet/dry braking, feel, wet/dry handling, noise, wear etc. Any of the ultra high performance tyres will give a excellent blend geared to a performance driver.

[AQICSS]

Hey Maritza isnt it?
i remember when i did that now
:frog:
this forum as cool pictures face things :smoka:

[Downunder]

Maritza? that sounds like a girls name It's Morris short for my real name. won't put it up in a public forum.

[Thunda Downunda]

Originally posted by replicant_008
As for the tyre question... my understanding (I stand to be corrected) is that HSV has specific batches of tyres made by Bridgestone (as do Honda for the Japanese Type R) for their production runs with minor changes to construction to suit the individual models. This means that even if you buy the same tyre after-market it may differ (though only slightly) from the OEM fitment.

Tyre choice is also a very specific thing. Different sizes of tyres of what is ostensibly the same tyre can be quite different in construction. The 17 inch and 18+ inch versions of the P Zero are very different to some of the versions for smaller rims. There are also 5 different P Zeros - Rosso, Direzionale, Assimetrico, Rosso Direzionale and Nero as well !!!

It comes down to what blend of characteristics you want including wet/dry braking, feel, wet/dry handling, noise, wear etc. Any of the ultra high performance tyres will give a excellent blend geared to a performance driver.

replicant_008 this is an excellent post!

One often reads in magazine tests about OEM tyres "being specifically developed for the model" of car/bike, and transforming said unit from a sows ear to a silk purse, blah bla bla.

In my experience (I've only ever bought two new vehicles - a VK Group A Commodore and a ~what was I thinking~ Honda XL750-R) and both vehicles had unique-spec (Bridgestone) tyres .... after about 12 months when new tyres were required for each, despite my best dilligent attempts I could not locate OEM-spec replacements for either vehicle. They were no longer available .. after only one year. So it all turned out to be a con-job, and left a bitter taste in both cases.