APRIL 2011
Right.... we are getting there now. The Hawkeye was dropped off to Litchfields yesterday for the turbo work to be completed this coming week.

Due to the fact that I needed to get home and I wasn't going to walk the 60+ miles, Iain gave me a courtesy car to borrow. I was quite priviledged that he gave me one of the most rare and best performance cars he has......... a Subaru R2!





LM Billet
As I have insinuated previously, I was starting to waiver on actually making a decision to whether or not stick with the LM400 or move to a bigger LM450 for this part of the project.

Mel graciously offered to allow me to test drive his LM450 equipped Hawkeye Spec C, as he had organised for some work to be done at Litchfields yesterday, when I was dropping my car off. It was a perfect oppourtunity for me to have a near as damn it comparison between the two turbos.

Mel had decided to have similar chassis mods to what I have done so far in this project thread (Whiteline Anti Lift Kit, ARB's and adjustable top mounts) and the first mod of the ARB's was just about to be done. We had a chat and Mel was unsure how far to take his ARB's (24mm rear or 22mm rear). I explained the differences to him in what it would change with the handling characteristics, but it made sense for Mel to try this first hand, so he went for a spin in my Hawkeye.

Just as I experienced upon having these mods, Mel immediately felt the difference in stability and sure footedness..... he was pretty much "sold" on the benefits of these chassis mods.

Anyway.... unfortunately Litchfields ran in to a problem with their four wheel alignment rig and they were unable to complete the work. This ultimately meant that Mel had to leave the car at Litchfields and I was unable to take his car for a test drive. It was a real shame, but I suspect "him upstairs" was trying to tell me something.

Mel did comment on the fact that his car gives him move of a shove in the back, but you have to take this in context as you would expect that with a turbo that spools 5-600rpm later than what the LM400 does (the "go" with the 400 is more instant and smoother). Add to the fact that Mel's turbo is producing another 40lbft and 60bhp more.... and of course his car is some 70+kgs lighter than mine. It all adds up to make a difference "feel" wise, but I certainly expect the LM450 to make for a quicker car when you are up to boost. However it is interesting that Mel normally uses his low boost setting (which is circa 380bhp). This backs up what I have said previously, in that 400bhp is more than enough for a road car and this is exactly where the LM400 is pitched!

I went on to discuss this with Iain and we decided that since this part of the project was "all about" the LM400 in reality and keeping everything nice and driveable as much as possible, we would stick with the LM400 Billet at this stage.

Don't despair though..... the conversation and agreement has been made, that once the LM400 Billet has been tested for the purpose of this thread, I have the option to move then to the LM450 Billet if I wish. Again, the "staged" approach has been favoured to realise the benefit of some worthwhlile feedback and comparisons.

I spoke to Iain about the changes that have been introduced to make the LM400 Billet and apart from the obvious fact that the compressor wheel is made of Billet, the wheel design has also changed, it is THIRTY % lighter than the current LM400 non billet compressor wheel and Litchfields have taken the opportunity to make the overall diameter of the compressor wheel smaller.

All these area's combined will theorectically improve throttle response and initial spool.

It will be interesting to see what transpires.