BMW 335: 100whp of Untapped Power

Arguably the most controversial member of the tuning community, Shiv Pathak of Visnu Motorsports has managed to extract an extra hundred horses and 126 ft/lbs of torque from BMWs already potent 300hp mill. With just an exhaust upgrade and countless dyno-tuned hours with their new piggyback PROcede ecu setup, the BMW puts down 374hp on 93 octane pump gas.

More details after the jump.

When asked how it drives at this level, Shiv responds:

Geezus. Whereas the standard PROcede map would pull hard up to 5500-5800 and then soften up a bit, v2.0beta just rips towards redline. Power never seems to fall off. Drives just like a proper M-motor in the way that it loves revs. But unlike an M-motor, it makes simply staggering levels of low end and midrange torque. Truly an incredible powerplant.

It hasn't been easy for Shiv - upon beginning this project there was a bit of animosity from the established tuning community and the hater-ade was poured on in spades. There were doubts from many that the PROcede could function after the factory ECU attemped to relearn. Others spread rumors that he had blown up several motors during development. At the end of the day, nothing sells product like a dyno graph posting triple digit gains.

Going Frankenstein: 621hp AWD Mirage Coupe

EvolutionM member 94AWDCoupe brings to us another example of our favorite combination - big hp in a small package.

Fondly dubbed "the little yellow beast", this mirage runs a stroked DSM 4G63 complete with AWD drivetrain and puts down over 600hp to the wheels!

Picture of the motor after the jump.



After several trial runs, lean fuel conditions, and headgaskets, the stars finally aligned and allowed the owner to rip off 621hp on the dyno while running 93 octane and alcohol/meth injection. At 2560lbs with cage, full interior, and working air conditioning, this is as streetable a sleeper as you can get.

15:1 Compression Normally Aspirated VQ 350z

It's well known in the 350Z community that while the VQ35DE is a great motor from the factory, extracting more horsepower has been problematic to say the least. How many VQ dynos have you seen where the owner drops two grand on header, intake, and exhaust and picks up 10hp to the wheels? For big power numbers, forced induction has been the way to go, provided you don't get boost happy and exceed the limits of the relatively weak factory rods.

Deciding to go against the grain, my350z member Aubible Mayhem redid the entire bottom end to the tune of 15:1 race-gas-only compression.

More details after the jump.

According to Audible Mayhem:

we did full measurements and CC the heads, we came up with exactly 14.8 to one before i added the flat valves in.

Custom JE extra lightweight pistons
Eagle Rods
Crank lightened
everything rotating balanced and fully blueprinted
ACT Prolight flywheel
ACT 6 puck unsprung
rev up oil pump
arp L19s
arp main studs
custom ported heads
full Supertech coated valvetrain +1mm (very nice quality!! i was very impressed)
dual valve springs, i will be reving it to 8500, hopefully everything will stay together.
JWT S1 cams, i had them just laying around so i figured i would use them, i will be changing these out soon but didnt have time.
i will be running modified stock air box with larger maf housing, plus ported TB and plenum neck.

This all sounds pretty impressive until you find out this entire setup only put down 291hp to the wheels. We've seen 2.4L Honda K-series motors putting down similar numbers - with a whole lot less displacement!

608,000 Mile DC2 Integra

Honda Tech forum member DC5-2NR stumbled upon this testament to Honda engineering. When was the last time you saw a 3rd generation integra with perfect paint, a spotless interior, the original motor, and 608,000 miles??

For reference, 608,000 miles is over a hundred round trips from Los Angeles to New York. That's 20,266 gallons of fuel at over $60,000 assuming the 'lil b18 that could' managed 30mpg.


One more pic after the jump.

Bimmers.. Not Just For Road Courses Anymore

In a fit of tuner bravado thats sure to elicit controversy from the well-heeled, F1 loving BMW elite, user Chris007 on M3Forums.com posts of his exploits in a turbocharged E46 M3. Quite aware that BMW already offers another 3 series with positive manifold pressure, Chris solicited the folks at Horsepower Freaks to assemble a setup that lays down 671 ponies to the rear wheels - on a stock bottom end.

After several passes at a conservative 12psi, the little E46 that could laid down a quick-for-a-car-that-turns 11.66@129mph. After twenty or so passes, the clutch gave up the ghost. With those numbers, a new clutch and slicks should put this car deep into the 10s.

Going Frankenstein: SR20DET-powered Nissan 510

Sure, we all know that SR powered 510s are, pardon the pun, a dime a dozen. User onesicklambo on EvolutionM is taking the swap several steps further by discarding every single piece of 70s engineering except for the chassis and associative body panels. In the place of the vintage 35 year old gear is a modern interior, full coilover suspension, HID lighting, and of course a potent turbocharged 2.0L from the japanese market silvia/180sx.

G35 - G37 Comparo

For those of you that have been scratching your heads and wondering if that VQ powered blur that just sped by you was a previous generation G35 or a current G37, maybe this will help.

User BostonMerlin on Freshalloy posts side by side pics of a pair of silver Gs. As you can tell from the pictures, the design team at Infiniti has been putting in half days. Aside from subtle alterations to the hoodline, headlights, and taillights, the two generations are somewhat difficult to distinguish.

Is Techart Done For?

Rumor has it that famous Porsche tuner TechArt has been caught with allegedly stolen prototype 997 GT2 engine parts. TechArt was raided by customs officals and was subsequently slapped with a 45million euro lawsuit by the car maker.

The press release from TechArt is as follows:

PRESS RELEASE

Comment on investigation in conjunction with thefts committed by Porsche AG employees Recently it has been reported that employees of the Porsche AG stole engines and parts from the Weissach development center and offered them on the open market.

Among others, TECHART has been part of an investigation and has become subject of numerous press reports.

TECHART comments on the facts as follows:

TECHART was offered one used Porsche 997 Turbo engine by a car dealer
located in Leonberg. TECHART purchased this engine with an official bill from that dealer and in good faith.

However, on evaluation TECHART found out that the delivered engine was not identical with the offered product and therefore returned the engine to the vendor. That engine was confiscated by the German prosecution authorities at the facilities of that car dealer.

TECHART did not have any knowledge of the origin of this engine. Other information, which have been released in some press reports are not true. Throughout the media it has been reported that several engines were seized at the facilities of TECHART. This is also not true.

TECHART has been surprised by this occurrence. Of course, TECHART will fully contribute to clarify all facts in this matter and to resolve all suspicions.

05.06.2007
TECHART Automobildesign GmbH
Phone: +49 (0)7152 9339-0
Fax: +49 (0)7152 9339-33
www.techart.de

Source: User dmendes over at the FerrariChat forums,

This Ain't No Hack Job - VW GTI W12 650

There are those among us that continually strive to mount the biggest, baddest, most obscene motors in the most out-of-place, unexpected, wrongest cars. The fact remains: any monkey with a sawzall and a mig welder can fab up some motor mounts and splice enough wires to get just about any powerplant mounted in almost any chassis.

As showcased by the folks over at premier VW destination VWVortex, the GTI W12 650 is what the aforementioned monkeys build after several engineering degrees. The W12 as you may have gathered means its packing twelve cylinders mounted midship (that means sitting where the backseat used to be). The 650 is the number of horses coming from said twin-turbocharged powerplant. Unlike your typical backyard special, this particular GTI has been put together with the details that only an OEM can manage. If you needed anymore proof that this car can hold itself together, the guys at VW have clocked this unholy amalgamation at an un-GTIly 202mph.

Click the image for details. Click here for a full image gallery.

The Smell of Horsepower: 1546rwhp Twin Turbo Viper

On one hand you have the big-cubes camp that chants, "theres no replacement for displacement." Then you have the boostaholics on the other hand that believe that displacement can be overcome by positive manifold pressure.

Fresh from diversity day training, user LEADING EDGE of Leading Edge Performance on TurboCulture forums shows us that the two camps can indeed live together. Eight liters, ten cylinders, and two turbochargers later we have an intimidating red snake that puts down more power than it can ever hope to fully harness. The only external visual cues that this viper is anything out of the ordinary are the huge binders up front, the intercooler hiding behind the front bumper, and the parachute mounted on the trunk lid.

Just Wrong: Candy Cane Cavalier

If clothes make the man, then accessories complete the package! User jiggfly on Tampa Racing Forums shares with us a J-Body that defies more rules of nature than we would care to mention. Nothing says "classy" like chrome hubcaps, a six pack of flame decals, five-count'em-five wings, and what appears to be red stripes laid down by red permanent marker.

Whew! We've Made It Through Our 2nd Week!

Thanks to all you loyal AFS readers, we've made it through the first half of June! At the risk of sounding like a PBS pledge drive, we're asking everyone to weigh in with some comments. Got an idea? Leave a comment. Looking for more news regarding a certain sector (more domestics?)? Leave a comment. Want to express your everlasting gratitude for those who slave in front of their PCs all day browsing messageboards instead of working? LEAVE A COMMENT!

Going Frankenstein: RB26-DETT in a 300ZX

If you've performed any manner of work under the hood of a Z32 twin turbo Z, you'll understand the love-hate relationship we have with its 3.0 liter twin turbo V6 - the VG30DETT. With two of everything - heads, intake cams, exhaust cams, turbos, intercoolers, throttle bodies, the VG was ahead of its time. The beauty of such a symmetrical design skids to a grinding halt when you realize the whole damn mess barely fits in the engine bay.

As a result, the 300zx ranks as one of the toughest japanese cars to work on - every single task is an excercise in bloodied appendages and excessive cursing. Need to replace a turbo? Drop the motor. Replace an 02 sensor? Drop the motor. Replace a spark plug? Drop the motor. You get the picture - the VG is an engine you want to work on OUTSIDE the vehicle.
In an attempt to set himself apart, one owner managed to pull off a fairly clean RB26 swap from a japanese market Nissan Skyline GTR. At 2.6 liters, some would argue that the RB lacks the torque and powerband to provide the locomotion that a 3700lb Z chassis requires. Others complain that an inline six would just throw off the balance of the whole car. When asked which motor they'd rather work on, we're sure which they will pick.

Widebody Twin Turbo FX35

Rookie on G35driver shows us that 'Big Pimpin' isn't all deep dish 24s and half a dozen DVD players. Start with a run of the mill FX35, put spacers on the wheels, stretch the fenders out, and add boost.

We like how they used the license plate to cover up the fact that the front mount is actually two intercoolers welded together (in subsequent photos).

Win a Dodge Nitro From Autoblog

To celebrate the launch of their redesign, our friends over at Autoblog have partnered with Dodge to give away a brand new 2007 Dodge Nitro. Click on the banner for details.

Every NSX Not Butchered in 3F3F Found In One Place

Ok, we lied. Nonetheless, its an impressive sight when so many of Acura's now-discontinued sports cars converge in one location. What used to be the Crystal Cove meet now takes place at the Ford Premier Auto Group premises - luring theses NSXs in addition to the requisite Ferraris and Lambos . Click the pic for a plethora of snaps (courtesy of Daniel Song).

Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Their GT3

Bandit27 from VWvortex posted this gem. At a recent autox event up in Washington, a GT3 owner decided to see what kind of times his buddy could post in his car. After all, it couldn't hurt since his friend was one of the fastest drivers in their run group, right? Subsequently, the GT3 lost control as said friend accidentally hit the clutch instead of the brake pedal. We all know the GT3 comes with some of the best stoppers in the world - carbon ceramic brakes courtesy of Porsche. Everyone also knows, that in order for them to function, one must first depress the brake pedal.

Other casualties included a celica, WRX, and A3 hatchback that were unfortunate enough to be in the out of control supercar's path. This ordeal has left us with two burning questions: how does a guy with a $10,000 C4 afford the repair bill that comes with a wrecked GT3 and why weren't they running the Porsche on a road course instead of wasting it dodging cones in a parking lot?

When Carbon Fiber Goes Too Far

Don't get us wrong - we're big fans of anything that smacks of "light weight" and "space age". Carbon fiber has been used on everything from Formula 1 cars to the Space Shuttle. User Olmytsi on Supraforums shares pictures of what appears to be a.. wait for it..abFlug, widebody Supra.. covered entirely in carbon fiber.

With gaps wide enough to stick a deck of cards between in some places, the car doesn't look quite on the money. Theres also speculation from a few users that the effect may be achieved with CF applique - a giant CF sticker for you non reading types.

TL-S, IS350, G35 Willow Springs Shootout

Callmedoc on the Car Lounge forums posted this interesting tidbit from a Japanese publication. Apparently they took a sports sedan from three major marques - the Acura TL-S, G35 sedan (the new one), and an IS350, shipped them overseas to WSIR (Willow Springs International Raceway). and put them in the capable hands of the Drift King himself - Keiichi Tsuchiya.

If your first assumption involved the IS or the G35 duking it out for first place, you'd be wrong. Dead wrong. The TL, being FWD and having the lowest output of the three, came in nearly *2* seconds faster - quite a margin.

For fun, they also threw in an RDX, which lagged a good five-six seconds behind the pack - which isn't surprising from a cute-ute with a turbo 4.

Shrinkage! There was Shrinkage!

Leave it to Bimmer owners to rack up several pages of commentary commiserating about pulling up to, and subsequently getting walked on by a Toyota Camry. Yes, you read that correctly.

A veritable institution of moving families around since 1980, the name Camry has been synonymous with forty-something asian drivers, grandmothers, and sleeping pills. In 2007, Toyota quietly snuck in a 3.5 liter 268hp V6 under the bonnet so that even the most downtrodden wage slave can know the joys of administering an occasional Bavarian smackdown.

Bimmerforums member Monsstr writes:

If you by chance read one of my first posts, i was upset about not being able to pull away faster from a Camry. I had a second chance today to redeem myself against another one on the same road. Was a beautiful black car and looked great. On to the story...

So I see the car ahead of me traveling at a pretty good speed. I slowly catch up to him and he moves over to let me by but is able to get ahead of me again after a traffic light stop due to traffic being tied up a little. The road goes down to a single lane and then back into a double where I know a lotof police sit so I just follow waiting for the hill to come up where I know I can open the car up without fear. At the bottom of the hill, it goes from a single to a double lane and we both go into the passing lane with me right behind him. I was able to stay with him at the lower speed. Then a truck moves over into passing lane holding us up for a little but I see the turn signal go on for him to move back over and I get ready. Now I just installed the Dinan Stage 4 software with the exhaust, intake, TB, and MAS so I was hoping for the best.

HAHA My best wasnt near good enough...when the road cleared, I floored it and watched that Camry run right away from me. I mean it wasnt even close. Then by the time I picked up speed, I was moving and went by him feeling like even more of an a%$ because then I felt like I did a fly-by. So now my ego is crushed and once again am disgusted with the power. I would like to think I could have taken him up top but I will never know nor can I guess. But I gave it my best and it is what it is. I dont have to like it though.

Me-0...Camrys-2

I don't know about you, but if I just droved several grand on a bevy of Dinan goodness on my v8 sports sedan and got my ass handed to me by a Camry, I'd be changing my nickname from Monsstr to Georgie-boy.

518whp...On Pump.. From a 4 Banger

EvolutionM member Carrito's Evo 9 was brought to you by the number 4 and the color blue. Blue exterior, blue interior, blue engine bits. When you're a Puerto Rican warlord, you can paint the car any shade of blue you want (we kid, we kid).

Dressed for show, this Evo is so flamboyant, its actually a sleeper. After all, this is a car you would expect to have hot import models laying across the hood, not laying on the ground gasping in a cloud of unburnt fuel. One glance at the retina straining blue, the carbon fiber roof, and the APR rear wing , you would immediately dismiss this as a trailered show car.

That is, until the built 2 liter lays down all of 518 horsepower to all four wheels, on pump gas nonetheless. According to the owner, this is done without any sort of water or alcohol injection.

Going Frankenstein: Mid Engine Rear Drive... Integra?

Member dfddfd2 on Team-Integra.net had a moral quandary.

I had a 91 NSX for about 18 months and loved it, but alas too expensive and worried me to death driving it. A rock chip would have killed me.

What do you do when you can't bear to take the NSX out of the garage? Why build your own MR sports car, of course! The idea is relatively straight forward. Start with a 3rd generation DC2 Acura Integra, remove and dispose of the motor. Cut the rear floorplan out and drop in a higher displacement H22A VTEC motor from a donor prelude - right above the rear wheels.

Aside from the obvious weight distribution and chassis concerns, this is pretty much one of only two known ways of drifting an integra (the other being ghetto-rigging an AWD CRV transmission onto the existing motor and disconnecting the front axles). Click the pic for a detailed breakdown of the entire build.

Tooning Gone Wrong: Wheels Too Expensive? Paint the Stockers!

Dirty car? Check. Uneven spray coverage? Check. Overspray onto the tires? Check.

Nothing says F&F Midnight Club Sleeper like a $1.95 can of flat black spray paint hastily applied in the dark with aid of a flashlight.

A recent DSMTalk thread on wheel painting inspired user daonlyillwiz (try typing that three times real fast) to take his second gen Talon to the next level. Despite a lot of crosstalk from well-meaning fellow DSM owners on proper protocol, he couldn't be bothered with small details like priming, sanding, or masking. It's amazing that he painted as much of the wheel that he did without getting black paint on his shiny red calipers.

Remember, kids. Just say no. Get them painted by a professional if you must. If you're really that destitute, invest that $2 in something more sensible - like lottery tickets.

R35 Nissan Skyline GTR Runs Nurburgring in 7:15

What can YOU do in a scant 7 minutes and 15 seconds? Tie your shoes? Make the trip from your computer to the fridge? How about a full lap around the famed Nurburgring?

Someone over at the Motortrend forums posted some details regarding a certain highly anticipated Japanese 2+2 AWD supercar spanking the teutonic testing track into submission in record time. For reference, a Koenigsegg CCR with twice the power takes 7:34. A C6 Z06 takes 7:42. The almighty Carerra GT? A snails pace at 7:40.

There's already speculation going on that this may be closer to a test mule than an actual full-weight production car. Only time will tell.

If 7:15 isn't a typo, then color me impressed.

Since when was the SW20 considered Old Skool?

I wax nostalgic as I recall the perks of yesteryear. $2 a gallon petrol. $0.29 cent hamburgers at Mc Donalds. Real sports cars from Toyota.

Timberland at JDM-clean-mecca JTuned posts some snaps of his 1991 MR-2 Turbo (from Canada of all places - heh). It's inconceivable that something built 16 years ago is still on the road, much less in this state of uber cleanliness.

>>Read

StableSpotting: Poor Man's Stable

StableSpotting is a segment dedicated to showing you life styles of the rich and infamous, the garages of those with copious amounts of automotive street cred, or the collections of those who have nothing better to do than show off (see previous post re: putting on your hater faces).



Before we incite class-consciousness induced fits of rage by showing you pictures of auto-harems belonging to oil drenched Saudi princes, let's start off slow. Member onelove at premier all-things-porsche destination 6speedonline posts pictures of what can be considered at the low end of the spectrum compared to the company he keeps. An M-coupe with TE-37 Time Attacks and a pair of single turbo JZA80 Supras? While he probably has the CGT or F430 owner thinking "awww, how cute", we'd prefer his Toyotas to a half million dollar status symbol anyday.

Engine Bay Stealth +1

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." These are great words to live by when you're packing a lot of ponies and live in areas of ahem, abnormally high scrutiny from law enforcement. When the dreaded po-po are peering into the recesses of your go-fast bin, you'll gladly trade every trophy, every compliment from every prepubescent teenager thats ogled your car for an opportunity to fly under the proverbial radar.

So what do you do when you're packing a 500+hp stroked 4G63 on the street? SocalEvo member GT40 decided to go stealth, or go home.

I cut the custom manifold up and changed the wastegate to a 44 mm vband tial that is tucked in under the manifold. This did 2 things for me. First, I got rid of a reliability issue with blowing wastegate gaskets. The vband is awesome. Second, running the wastegate under the manifold allowed me to put my stock heat shield on over my thickwalled 321 stainless equal length manifold.

Next, I killed the intake and made a custom 4" carbon intake that feeds the stock air box. A second 4" tube feeds from the front bumper with a k & n filter in the bumper for a true cold air 4" intake.

Finally I black coated the upper intake pipe, fmic, wastegate etc.

Thats right folks. Five hundred horses to the wheels, a fat powerband normally reserved for much larger motors, and a package you can take to get milk at the store without going home in a towtruck.

Welcome to the Auto Forum Spy & Review

We delve into the sordid, petty underworld of the automotive world (translation: we peruse many, many message boards ad nauseaum) and bring you a glimpse of the rides of Everyman - the paycheck sucking, home wrecking, chariots of glory that ordinary Joes like you and I put together in our garages (ok and occasionally stuff you can't afford in two lifetimes - so get your hater faces ready).