HKS Springs

[madman]

Oy R33.. You reading ...

I read in one of your posts that you changed the standard shock absorbers to HKS, but did you change the springs to HKS. And if so before or after?

I was about to buy some HKS springs when someone told me not to, that for road use the Vspec suspension is very right. And the HKS springs do make the car lower, but are not a step forward in any other way.

Whaddya know?

[R33]

Hey Maddie, the V-Spec suspension is okay,in fact they are really good on the road. But on the track they feel like jelly! I changed them to HKS Hiper Damper with HKS springs which was okay but the car understeers like crazy. Dunno why. So, back it went to the mechanic and a set of Eibach Racing Pro was installed. They run well on the track and on the road they are reasonably comfy though not as compliant as the stock springs or the HKS. If you put the Eibach, watch out for bumpy corners on the road as the car bounces quite a bit and traction is easy to lose. That's okay for me as I seldom speed on the road (that might change if I spot a Modena or Diablo in front or at the rear ).
A friend of mine running a huge TO4R single turbo on his GTR uses a higher rate Eibach with 4 springs at the rear and it is really fantastic on the track. On bumpy roads though the car bounces like a pregnant woman.

[madman]

I am the other way round. I race anything with an engine. Never much fun however as they always seem to vanish into my rear view mirror after a few seconds. I am also heavily into bumpy country roads.

From what you say, you seem in partial agreement with what I have been told, to stick with the standard springs. I only wanted them for cosmetic reasons anyway. The Nismo 18" rims (as i am sure you know) look so undersized, and dropping the height of the car seems to help.

On last point, what do you pay for an upgraded ECU where you are from (or rather to have the carrier fitted to the standard ECU). I just did it myself and paid GBP 3.00. (about $4). Thats a lot cheaper than the £400-£500 that dealers want (Oh yes and it takes 20 minutes).

Cheers!

[R33]

Race anythin' with an engine? Now why would you race with a tractor? :evillaugh :toothless
3 pound to replace the ECU? Sheeesh...I wish I could do it myself too. Did you tune it yourself?
Fixing a HKS F Con V and have it tuned over here could cost around 300 pound. The fixing is not expensive but the tuning is. Nagata San of Top Secret charged me around 1k pound to tune my car including air ticket and accomodation. (actually, the cost was shared with 2 other GTR owners).

[madman]

No I don't know a thing about cars. One pulled a mini engine apart then had to sell it as scrap because I didnt know what to do next.

When most people "chip" the Skyline, all they do is send away the ECU to an electronic engineer who removed the EPROM (and 84pin plcc) and in its place solder an 84pin plcc socket. On a solder station this takes approx 45 seconds. The cost of EPROM must be ummm, £4GBP. So at a total cost of £7GBP I am yet to understand why *ALL* UK Skyline tuners seem to want £400-£500 to do this.

My car is looked after by Middlehurst Motorsport if youve heard of them. They are the sole Nissan authorised dealer and the place I bought the car new. They are not cheap but they do a good job.

I guess since buying the car new, they have removed about £5000 from me in tuning. Which as you know is quite mild by Skyline standards. I have now reached the end however. I just got the cams, pulleys and downpipes and I think that is where I will stay. (Or maybe thats the limit of what I am willing to spend/can afford on this particular car)

[R33]

Yeah...I know what you mean. The mechanics in GB seems to charge by the hour. Their overheads are much more expensive than in M'sia for instance. Hence the difference in the charges.
I have jeard of Middlehurst and also Abbey. Apparently they are the best when GTRs are concerned.
What power are you running with 5k worth of mods? In M'sia, 5k pound equals M$27k. For that,in my rough estimation, you could get:
HKS boost controller
HKS downpipes
HKS Super Drager
HKS super flow air intake
HKS twin plate clutch
HKS iridium sparkers
HKS sports (not GT) intercooler
HKS F Con V
With all the above and boosted up to 1.1 bar standard turbos, the car would be having around 375 rwhp (or about 420bhp). That sounds okay to me beacuse that puts the GTR at the same level with a Modena in terms of power. I mean, with those mods, a Modena owner would be scared shitless if you come up his rear on the track!

[SkylineUSA]

You are a madman, 5k in tuning. Man, you gotta have a bad little ride.

45 sec for a 84 pin, damn. It takes me about 5min for a 24 pin. I like to make sure every joint is soild. You must rock with a soldering station. We even use PACE kits.

As for the EPROM, I think they charge that rate for the programming. If you don't have the equipment, and information on what to program your at their mercy.

[madman]

£5000 doesnt get much in the UK, It was only a rough figure but I have got ..

HKS Dual Drager
HKS Super Powerflow
HKS Inlet & Exhaust cams
HKS Vernier Pulleys
HKS Downpipes
Nismo clutch cover
Middlehurst replacement Eprom
Brakes pads that work!! ;-)

Oh, and I had I put Nismo 18" wheels on it, but they are about £700 each in the UK at the moment i think. (But we won't include them).

And a bit of labour.

The cams were only done last month, so are still very new. It it kicking out somewhere between 400-450bhp. BUt who knows. I know that it tore the standard clutch apart on its first run, so had to have a Nismo cover to apply a bit more pressure. Oh yes, and Middlehurst labour rate it £55/hour from what i can recall.