My 86 GTS Drive
 

Finally got to test drive an 86 GTS Manual this morning, the sales person at the local dealer was very helpful and I can only recommend the local dealer (Autocorner Mackay) from this very short experience.

As is the case in our area most of the roads are flat and straight with the odd round about thrown in for good measure. The test drive was useful to decide on the direction of forced induction

The car gets up to any of the lower speeds very efficiently, the lightweight of the body does the trick, motor does seem dead through the midrange but is very willing at the top end of rpm range and idle to 3000 perfect for anyone driving the car in a town/city situation. The clutch is very crisp on the uptake and the gearbox pretty much flawless. Handling ditto - all good, brakes very good too

During the drive I tried to determine which method of FI would suit its character the best;

A centrifugal SC would give more of the same power delivery and while mid would be much better it may feel to be still lacking compared to a rip roaring top end power punch. Found a low cost method of install and easy too, not complicated like what is becoming available soon.

A screw blower would likely just make the car feel very awesome, like a potato chip with a rocket strapped onto it, the mid would be tough and top end still strong, car would then really push you into the seat from 2500rpm and BE impressive. Where to put it? yes there are some solutions but $$$

Turbo, I dunno, you set it up for some nice low to mid and then the top will lose its punch, set it up for better top end punch and then bottom to mid will lag and adding a decent ATA cooler is going to slow response all over again, which is highly undesirable for this ride. Not much places for a decent install of turbo (consider heat issues, drain back etc) and ............

So, maybe centrifugal is the sure bet for the moment, something that could be done for around $3600 in a box is whats needed

Enjoy the couple of pics, I am sure they are the same as many others

$3600??? really ? how do you put a price on that??? and does it come with any research and development? or is it just some cheap Chinese setup?

yeh wtf? my budget was $3597.65

:-)

Same here . Lol :laughabove:

:burnrubber:

Don't underestimate trade wind he puts his money where his mouth is.
Having said that welcome and please put together a kit!

I am taking it more seriously than a couple of month ago. Have an installation plan now.

Have been boosting Subaru boxer engines since 2008, kits for many H4s and also H6s.

A 6psi kit can be installed for the near the figure quoted above if fitted at our Qld base.

Not everything has to be $6k + to work and fit perfectly

Thanks for the welcome Gambit - those who know about Tradewind know the score

pfftt

needs twincharger - http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...oo-racing.html

Pfft, I'll scoff at the price and the lead time on it :D

If you're strapping a turbo to an NA engine down low response stays the same - 12.5:1 compression is massive. By the time you get into some positive boost you'd most likely be in the vicinity of 3/4k rpm - which as you said is the dead zone. Remembering the gears are quite short and engine speed increases pretty rapidly, power is always on tap if you know how to keep the engine in its power band.

I'm a massive turbo guy - but that said, in this particular case, centrifugal all the way. Twin screw would be cool - but it would be an absolute nightmare to mount. The only SC kits I can see coming out from any leading manufacturer will be a centrifugal kit.

Twin charge is possible for sure, its just a matter of $$$. You have the $$$ and you have the twin charger :)

We will go with an offer of a water cooled 6psi centrifugal SC system installed driveaway price of AUD$3800 + tune cost

That wont help anyone much except for those near to us in Qld Australia

Would that be a bolt on mod?

I'm interested in doing bolt ons to this car only so I can return it to stock easily.

Yes, I only do bolt on reversible stuff - ONLY.

Will you offer delivery on the kit only for the mechanically savvy to install themselves?

Sounds very promising and look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Make it happen Tim! Anyone in QLD should jump at this offer!

More study on an Intercooled option coming up

I might have to organize some annual to drive to QLD.... Tempting.

Will keep a close eye on this.

:popcorn: can't wait for more info!

A lot of waiting my end too.

Make it happen mate! Once I get my GTS, you have a customer here for sure. Loving the sound of SC.

I'll be saving now and driving to QLD once im satisfied that the car is ok whilst under warranty.

Does that include engineering at all?? (never majorly modded an engine so unsure of how/when that comes into play.)

:) dont want to have an insurer tell me my cover is void because i strapped a SC onto it and didnt get the piece of paper saying it was done right.

Then insure it with Shannon's.

shannons dont require engineering certificates?

which effectively makes it an illegal mod...?

All my mods are covered and none of those are engineered.

If you have a mod done that requires an engineering certificate in your state of registration, and you don't have that certificate - your car is effectively unregistered and therefore uninsured.

That's bullshit.

Call Shannon's.

If your car is unroadworthy then your insurance MAY be void, ie bald tyres.

If you have a supercharger and someone rear ends you, you're still covered.

If you crash into a tree and you're speeding, then it isn't your superchargers fault, it's your fault. As long as the brakes work as they should and your accident is a result of driver error, You'd still be covered.

Unroadworthy is not the same as being unregistered... That's why defect notices were invented.

Some insurance companies will ask you for an engineering certificate, some won't. Shannon's have never asked me for a certificate of compliance for any of my modifications, and it's an extensive list.

Call them and confirm before you start guessing "whether you're covered"

.... dude take a chill pill...

and for starters i think you need to read the fine print in your policy.. because i think you find that any modifications as mentioned require an engineering cert for them to be legal.. of course noone really does this but there is a risk that your insurer will use it as an excuse to void your policy and that risk is larger the more involved the mod is.

most likely they'll say that because you hadnt told them or it wasnt engineered they would have refused you insurance or charged you more had you been truthful

at the end of the day their aim is to make money.. PS they dont do this by paying out claims. Thereby it is someone's job within that insurance firm to assess insurance claims and find ways out of paying it.

Useless Factoid: For every dollar Australian motor vehicle insurance companies spend on investigations, they save $6 in claims.

I think I'll be fine.

"insurance for motoring enthusiasts" says it all.

I'll ask my girlfriend, who works for AMII (owned by Suncorp, who owns Shannons) to see what she says.

But I already know that she'll say, and it won't be in support of you, inz.

thats actually an interesting stat.. so logic says that they wouldnt conduct as many investigations.. but it doesnt mean that they dont do them at all.

and if they were going to do it on a car.. it would be on an affordable modifiable japanese sports car (just like the cops will target it lol)

No progress from us yet, will probably fire up the centrifugal option. We finally solved a couple of positioning issues and have something that can be installed in around 1-2 hrs with some basic tools.

Will be the goods when we get a go at it. Price remains the same, maybe a bit less even ......

gotta get crackin' if you want to stay at the forefront of the hype around forced induction haha! ;)

but i like the sounds of your pricing.

Hype and forefront
 

RAN94A

You are right there, we will be well behind the first wave of action but in the future with some solid pricing and product we will be hard to ignore once we do start.

I reckon by Xmas this year we will see over 12 turbokits, and nearly as many SC kits. Buyers of this car will be hopelessly spoilt for choice on the FI front. This will rationalise as some kit makers come to realise there arent THAT many of these cars around and the numbers of cars are only VERY slowly increasing over time.

One thing for sure tho, it definitely needs this kind of Hp hike :)

^Shannons will insure your car with basically any modification, provided you tell them. They will also cover your car if it is techically unroadworthy but didn't contribute to the accident. See below extract from their PDS:

Does not cover;
I had a Pulsar with every modification in the book thrown at it, only the engine conversion and related items had an engineers certificate. They were happy to cover EVERYTHING.

Thanks Jules. Much like my iR. Not much left standard, Still covered.

As I was saying, call Shannon's.

Shannons are awesome but I may have to move away with my new car if their premium doesn't become more inline with other insurers. I really don't want to though!

What sort of hp increases are you working on?