Starting again.... with a Hawkeye
16 September 2010, 11:01 PM
#212
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Hi Tim,
Recommended by who?
This is the kit that is supplied for specific fitment to the STI by STI, although I fully appreciate that temps can be different at various locations.
I have never had bearing issues on either the 2ltr or the 2.5ltr sticking to the methods I have always used, i.e. decent oil and circa 110degs on track oil temps from these gauges.
Recommended by who?
This is the kit that is supplied for specific fitment to the STI by STI, although I fully appreciate that temps can be different at various locations.
I have never had bearing issues on either the 2ltr or the 2.5ltr sticking to the methods I have always used, i.e. decent oil and circa 110degs on track oil temps from these gauges.
17 September 2010, 08:20 AM
#213
Just because it's supplied by STi doesn't mean it isn't necessarily a compromise for ease of after-market fitment: fitting one on the top of the block requires removal of the TMIC for access, as well as removing a VERY tight blanking plug.
17 September 2010, 08:38 AM
#214
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Fully appreciate all of that, but like I said, I have spent a fair bit of time on track with both the original Spec C engine and the later Cosworth build. Never had ANY problems and my previous set-ups have never had an easy life as you know, over the past 5yrs.
I always change oil BEFORE and AFTER any track work, so I really don't see any of this being a problem regarding the circa 110degs oil temp personal constraint (taken from the sandwich plate).
I always change oil BEFORE and AFTER any track work, so I really don't see any of this being a problem regarding the circa 110degs oil temp personal constraint (taken from the sandwich plate).
17 September 2010, 01:39 PM
#215
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Amazin' innit?, I get better service out of a passing IT nerd than I ever have out of Dastek and I spent 44 grand with them................
Thanks Shaun.
David APi
Thanks Shaun.
David APi
18 September 2010, 07:24 PM
#219
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And the spending continues..... this time back to the ICE!
Now that I have munched through a few miles in the Hawkeye over the past 4 weeks, which is now just over 1500 miles in that period, I needed to re-visit the audio install.
I had already (which I failed to document) changed the front Apline Type R speakers recently put in, with another set of speakers and added some more sound deadening. I had discovered that either the coils on the Apline's had failed or the crossovers were blown (they were seven years old).... the bass response was next to zero.
I had actually gone over to Car Electronics (my favourite Car Audio store in Leicester) a couple of Saturday's ago, only to find they were shut!!! Damn!!! Not bothering to do anything with the speakers at that point I just left it all. Last Sunday though I needed to try something so I went to the local Halfords and managed to pick up some cheap 17cm JBL front coax's. I put them in prior to going to the Midlands Scoob meet and whilst the sound was certainly better than the Alpine's, it was still not right with regards to the bass response. After speaking to some other people I was informed that it is a non starter to try and get decent bass response from the fronts on Scoobs. I listen to a lot of Dance music, so the bass needs to be fairly hard and solid. I had contemplated spanking an arm and a leg on the best components I could get hold of, but was a bit nervy that I would feel somewhat short changed again.
Anyway.... I decided to leave it.
Today I was out and I just thought I would pop in to Halfords again. This time I saw some Active Sub Systems for the boot. I already had a couple of Alpine V12 amps (4 channel and 2 channel) and subs in boxes at home that I had used on ICE installs many years ago, but did not really want to go to the bother of installing anything like that again in a car. Halfords had a couple of units and I suspect because it was Halford's and that I have previously thought these all in one bass packages were a bit gash, I thought they would be a waste of money.
I tend to get the urge at weekends that I have spend some cash on something... anything! lol I quickly got on to the internet on my phone and had a quick scout on any details I could find about these units at Halford's. Considering they were only cheap (sub £100) a)I thought they can't be much cop & b)I thought if they were I have hardly bust the bank. So I decided to buy a sub unit innit!!!
FLI Trap FT12A 12" Active Bass Enclosure for £93 on Special Offer
I was starting to sweat a bit though as the box only just went in the boot!!
When I got the unit home I must admit I was very very impressed with the quality!
The unit is covered in a nice thick carpet, which is what really pulled me in to buying this specific one as it really did look very good quality.
As the unit has a built in amp it saves having to mount the amp separately, as it is all in a nicely designed single unit. The amp has your normal inputs for low level feeds (phono's from a headunit - this is what I will be using as my headunit has a sub out like most) or high level (which are used for direct speaker inputs if you do not have a headunit with a sub out). The kit also comes with a complete wiring kit for a positive feed from the battery, remote wire from the headunit (acts as a switching positive so the amp only comes on when the headunit is on), phono's for the low level output from the headunit and finally a grounding lead.
The wiring was the reason why I never really wanted to get a sub as I can't be arsed with routing cables, especially the battery lead, through the car.... but I just had to suck this one up and get on with it.
First off was the worst one to do and that was the power lead. I had remembered that Nathan at API had used one of the gromits on the bulkhead to feed the DEFI looms through, so I thought I would use the same gromit.
I first of all laid the power lead around the battery, so I knew I had enough cable in the engine bay.
I then fed the power lead around the back of the TMIC and through the gromit located on the drivers side bulkhead (see the red cable going in to the out of focus gromit on the lefthand side).
I then fed the cable underneath the dash and along to the side plastics up to the back seats. The base of the back seats had to come out but this is a very easy job, which requires two bolts (one either side) to be taken out.
With the base of the seat out I was then able to feed the power lead under where the seat will be and in to the boot.
With the power lead fed through I then went on to do a similar job with the phono's and remote wire, which were taken from the headunit but these were taken up the passenger side of the car this time (it's never good to have power leads and audio leads running next to each other).
With all the leads now in the boot the last one to do was the ground. This was quite a short lead so I took a solid ground off one of the back of the seat attachment bolts.
Everything was then connected up and this is what the unit looks like in the boot..... still plenty of space left.
After a setting up the amp controls and the headunit I gave it some abuse. I have got to be honest and say this is probably one of the best £93 I have ever spent. The bass is really good and has plenty of volume, which I have needed to turn down in reality. I am genuinely impressed with the contents of the kit, the quality of the sub and also the sound quality. I would of never had this type of bass response without a sub and this was an absolute bargain for what you get in my opinion. It provided the perfect fill in for what the door speakers are sadly lacking!
If you want some extra quality bass you would not go far wrong with this cracking unit.
I may just go the full hogg now and replace the fronts (again lol) with a set of top notch components and fit my 2 channel V12 amp to power them.... that's if I get bored one weekend.
Now that I have munched through a few miles in the Hawkeye over the past 4 weeks, which is now just over 1500 miles in that period, I needed to re-visit the audio install.
I had already (which I failed to document) changed the front Apline Type R speakers recently put in, with another set of speakers and added some more sound deadening. I had discovered that either the coils on the Apline's had failed or the crossovers were blown (they were seven years old).... the bass response was next to zero.
I had actually gone over to Car Electronics (my favourite Car Audio store in Leicester) a couple of Saturday's ago, only to find they were shut!!! Damn!!! Not bothering to do anything with the speakers at that point I just left it all. Last Sunday though I needed to try something so I went to the local Halfords and managed to pick up some cheap 17cm JBL front coax's. I put them in prior to going to the Midlands Scoob meet and whilst the sound was certainly better than the Alpine's, it was still not right with regards to the bass response. After speaking to some other people I was informed that it is a non starter to try and get decent bass response from the fronts on Scoobs. I listen to a lot of Dance music, so the bass needs to be fairly hard and solid. I had contemplated spanking an arm and a leg on the best components I could get hold of, but was a bit nervy that I would feel somewhat short changed again.
Anyway.... I decided to leave it.
Today I was out and I just thought I would pop in to Halfords again. This time I saw some Active Sub Systems for the boot. I already had a couple of Alpine V12 amps (4 channel and 2 channel) and subs in boxes at home that I had used on ICE installs many years ago, but did not really want to go to the bother of installing anything like that again in a car. Halfords had a couple of units and I suspect because it was Halford's and that I have previously thought these all in one bass packages were a bit gash, I thought they would be a waste of money.
I tend to get the urge at weekends that I have spend some cash on something... anything! lol I quickly got on to the internet on my phone and had a quick scout on any details I could find about these units at Halford's. Considering they were only cheap (sub £100) a)I thought they can't be much cop & b)I thought if they were I have hardly bust the bank. So I decided to buy a sub unit innit!!!
FLI Trap FT12A 12" Active Bass Enclosure for £93 on Special Offer
I was starting to sweat a bit though as the box only just went in the boot!!
When I got the unit home I must admit I was very very impressed with the quality!
The unit is covered in a nice thick carpet, which is what really pulled me in to buying this specific one as it really did look very good quality.
As the unit has a built in amp it saves having to mount the amp separately, as it is all in a nicely designed single unit. The amp has your normal inputs for low level feeds (phono's from a headunit - this is what I will be using as my headunit has a sub out like most) or high level (which are used for direct speaker inputs if you do not have a headunit with a sub out). The kit also comes with a complete wiring kit for a positive feed from the battery, remote wire from the headunit (acts as a switching positive so the amp only comes on when the headunit is on), phono's for the low level output from the headunit and finally a grounding lead.
The wiring was the reason why I never really wanted to get a sub as I can't be arsed with routing cables, especially the battery lead, through the car.... but I just had to suck this one up and get on with it.
First off was the worst one to do and that was the power lead. I had remembered that Nathan at API had used one of the gromits on the bulkhead to feed the DEFI looms through, so I thought I would use the same gromit.
I first of all laid the power lead around the battery, so I knew I had enough cable in the engine bay.
I then fed the power lead around the back of the TMIC and through the gromit located on the drivers side bulkhead (see the red cable going in to the out of focus gromit on the lefthand side).
I then fed the cable underneath the dash and along to the side plastics up to the back seats. The base of the back seats had to come out but this is a very easy job, which requires two bolts (one either side) to be taken out.
With the base of the seat out I was then able to feed the power lead under where the seat will be and in to the boot.
With the power lead fed through I then went on to do a similar job with the phono's and remote wire, which were taken from the headunit but these were taken up the passenger side of the car this time (it's never good to have power leads and audio leads running next to each other).
With all the leads now in the boot the last one to do was the ground. This was quite a short lead so I took a solid ground off one of the back of the seat attachment bolts.
Everything was then connected up and this is what the unit looks like in the boot..... still plenty of space left.
After a setting up the amp controls and the headunit I gave it some abuse. I have got to be honest and say this is probably one of the best £93 I have ever spent. The bass is really good and has plenty of volume, which I have needed to turn down in reality. I am genuinely impressed with the contents of the kit, the quality of the sub and also the sound quality. I would of never had this type of bass response without a sub and this was an absolute bargain for what you get in my opinion. It provided the perfect fill in for what the door speakers are sadly lacking!
If you want some extra quality bass you would not go far wrong with this cracking unit.
I may just go the full hogg now and replace the fronts (again lol) with a set of top notch components and fit my 2 channel V12 amp to power them.... that's if I get bored one weekend.
18 September 2010, 08:18 PM
#220
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Hi Shaun,
That's a 1200 W peak unit, that's 100 Amps maximum current @ 12V...
Way more than the starter motor draws. Your cable is a mite anaemic for that sort of load.
Even 400 W RMS is a >30 Amp load.
IMHO.
dunx
P.S. I know the peak value isn't an average, BUT my spotlights use cable that gauge...
That's a 1200 W peak unit, that's 100 Amps maximum current @ 12V...
Way more than the starter motor draws. Your cable is a mite anaemic for that sort of load.
Even 400 W RMS is a >30 Amp load.
IMHO.
dunx
P.S. I know the peak value isn't an average, BUT my spotlights use cable that gauge...
Last edited by dunx; 18 September 2010 at 08:19 PM.
18 September 2010, 09:25 PM
#221
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Don't get sucked in by any published pmo or rms ratings! The amp is fused at 20 amps so the power lead supplied is ample. 
19 September 2010, 10:35 AM
#225
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That's how the Spec C "thing" started..... that was "only" a turbo to begin with.
I will be having a few conversations with Litchfield's over the next couple of weeks, so we will see how it goes.
19 September 2010, 05:27 PM
#226
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Even at my age I like the music to sound good, Alpine digital bass amp and Rockford sub in the boot... For bass NOT boom, boom, boom...
dunx
P.S. Waste of time if driving quickly, as the exhaust is louder since the GT30 went on...
dunx
P.S. Waste of time if driving quickly, as the exhaust is louder since the GT30 went on...
23 September 2010, 10:24 AM
#227
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Shaun nice to see your new project is coming together and that your findings are being well documented like your last project allows people to make their judgements without going down the hit and miss route on weather something will work or not.I wonder how many pages this thread will run to ???
23 September 2010, 01:21 PM
#228
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Gus,
Thanks for your comments.
As regards to how long this thread will run..... loads more to do so who knows!
Have you decided to keep your RA now?
Thanks for your comments.
As regards to how long this thread will run..... loads more to do so who knows!
Have you decided to keep your RA now?
23 September 2010, 11:30 PM
#229
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Well Shaun its still for sale but I have been weight under with work so havent really pushed it with trying to move it on. I'v just put a new Excedy twin plate/flywheel combo in it as at the end of scoobysprint last year it was starting to slip then I did the first Grudgement day and then I did a straightliners RWYB event at Kirkbride and killed it, clutch disk was past the rivets Car will be out at scoobyshootout/grudgement day (as im already registered in that) already entered and paid so Im looking forward to putting the car up against the big power cars again and will be also nice to meet up with old faces from the past.Are you going to make it over ?
Car will be out at scoobyshootout/grudgement day (as im already registered in that) already entered and paid so Im looking forward to putting the car up against the big power cars again and will be also nice to meet up with old faces from the past.Are you going to make it over ?
24 September 2010, 10:04 AM
#231
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Loving the thread shaun
I think this one will possibly catch the attention of even more people.
Its closer to what the majority would like to do with their own car I'd imagine, and certainly more relevant to my future plans than your previous Spec C, both in terms of budget and everyday usability, without the headache an stress of un-reliability.
I'm not gona do any more on my current car, (03 jdm sti)
But when I can manage to justify (to myself an the mrs
) the $$$ to buy a tidy jdm hawk, im in for the long haul!
Keep it up, an rubber side down!
I think this one will possibly catch the attention of even more people.
Its closer to what the majority would like to do with their own car I'd imagine, and certainly more relevant to my future plans than your previous Spec C, both in terms of budget and everyday usability, without the headache an stress of un-reliability.
I'm not gona do any more on my current car, (03 jdm sti)
But when I can manage to justify (to myself an the mrs
) the $$$ to buy a tidy jdm hawk, im in for the long haul!Keep it up, an rubber side down!
24 September 2010, 01:13 PM
#232
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Gus,
Well that's a good thing in my book..... if it means you keep that great car of yours!
I may be coming along on the 3rd but only as a spectator. I need to get some other things sorted before I get it on track and have not really had chance to organise stuff for the 3rd. Need to do a bit of work on the chassis and also get some extra wheels and tyres sorted first.
No doubt we will catch up if I manage to make it.
53WRX,
I was genuinely surprised that an all in one unit could provide so much for so little. Great addition to an audio system without going mental.
If I get time this weekend I will be putting another amp in for the fronts to equal it all up abit. Apart from a possible change to components for the front, that will be about it then.
ScoobyNoobie,
Thanks for your feedback!
As you may of gathered this car will be totally different than the Spec C was. The Spec C was seeing how far we could push things, but still make the car exceptionally competitive in what was still a road guise. I was extremely happy with what was achieved in 2009 with the engine set-up and how the car performed in competition. Some people would argue that it should of done all of that as a matter of cause considering the amount of cash thrown at it..... but nothing is ever easy, especially when you are doing things slightly differently and / or trying differing methods. It was an imense learning curve for me though.
This current car is radically different and so is the current remit of what I want to achieve with the car.
"Turn the key and go" is part of that remit.
Something that is rife and part and parcel of this, is that there is a whole tuning industry out there that make a living out of potentially supplying all manner of parts that for a lot of people make no real benefit to them. Unfortunately it is human nature that once you have spent cash, you try to convince yourself that the benefits are huge, even if you feel somewhat short changed in reality.
If this car was aimed at track use it may be a different story...... but for road use mmmmmmm.
There is also a perception that we need power, power, power. It is horses for courses but again, for most of us there is a realistic limit to more power meaning we are better of. With power comes great responsibility, which is coupled by a large wallet and some talent behind the wheel!
Talking of "talent", I will certainly be continuing "tuition" as that makes more difference for someone at my level than any bolt on or new engine will currently!
I also personally think that many interpret 450, 500, 600 or 700bhp is just a one off payment away. I think the general expectation of potential customers is way more than what the reality is, but individuals just focus on "I want more power... Oh it's only an extra 50bhp, what could go wrong?! Joe Bloggs runs that power and he has had no problems, so it must be fine!", without realising the potential issues that can crop up in the future.
I could go on about specifics here but I will only start upsetting people and would rather that went on another thread to be honest!
I'm harping on a bit here but I just feel that people need to be more aware and go in to ANY modifying lark with their eyes wide open. I expected my 2.5 engine to go bang at some point (I actually thought it may of **** it's load when we ran it at 600+bhp, but decided "what the F***")..... luckily it never did and may not. But that attitude (and the acceptance that a rebuild may just be round the corner) probably did me some good.... who knows.
Well that's a good thing in my book..... if it means you keep that great car of yours!
I may be coming along on the 3rd but only as a spectator. I need to get some other things sorted before I get it on track and have not really had chance to organise stuff for the 3rd. Need to do a bit of work on the chassis and also get some extra wheels and tyres sorted first.
No doubt we will catch up if I manage to make it.
53WRX,
I was genuinely surprised that an all in one unit could provide so much for so little. Great addition to an audio system without going mental.
If I get time this weekend I will be putting another amp in for the fronts to equal it all up abit. Apart from a possible change to components for the front, that will be about it then.
ScoobyNoobie,
Thanks for your feedback!
As you may of gathered this car will be totally different than the Spec C was. The Spec C was seeing how far we could push things, but still make the car exceptionally competitive in what was still a road guise. I was extremely happy with what was achieved in 2009 with the engine set-up and how the car performed in competition. Some people would argue that it should of done all of that as a matter of cause considering the amount of cash thrown at it..... but nothing is ever easy, especially when you are doing things slightly differently and / or trying differing methods. It was an imense learning curve for me though.
This current car is radically different and so is the current remit of what I want to achieve with the car.
"Turn the key and go" is part of that remit.
Something that is rife and part and parcel of this, is that there is a whole tuning industry out there that make a living out of potentially supplying all manner of parts that for a lot of people make no real benefit to them. Unfortunately it is human nature that once you have spent cash, you try to convince yourself that the benefits are huge, even if you feel somewhat short changed in reality.
If this car was aimed at track use it may be a different story...... but for road use mmmmmmm.
There is also a perception that we need power, power, power. It is horses for courses but again, for most of us there is a realistic limit to more power meaning we are better of. With power comes great responsibility, which is coupled by a large wallet and some talent behind the wheel!
Talking of "talent", I will certainly be continuing "tuition" as that makes more difference for someone at my level than any bolt on or new engine will currently!
I also personally think that many interpret 450, 500, 600 or 700bhp is just a one off payment away. I think the general expectation of potential customers is way more than what the reality is, but individuals just focus on "I want more power... Oh it's only an extra 50bhp, what could go wrong?! Joe Bloggs runs that power and he has had no problems, so it must be fine!", without realising the potential issues that can crop up in the future.
I could go on about specifics here but I will only start upsetting people and would rather that went on another thread to be honest!
I'm harping on a bit here but I just feel that people need to be more aware and go in to ANY modifying lark with their eyes wide open. I expected my 2.5 engine to go bang at some point (I actually thought it may of **** it's load when we ran it at 600+bhp, but decided "what the F***")..... luckily it never did and may not. But that attitude (and the acceptance that a rebuild may just be round the corner) probably did me some good.... who knows.
25 September 2010, 09:51 PM
#233
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Wow....It's taken me sometime to read all 8 pages....very detailed information and some pretty useful referal bits for members on here Shaun! Gd write up.
Jag
PS: If I knew you were after a sub I would have given you one of my boxed 12s which have been sat in the garage!
Jag
PS: If I knew you were after a sub I would have given you one of my boxed 12s which have been sat in the garage!
27 September 2010, 12:26 PM
#234
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Thanks!
Congratulations on your build and recent times at the pod. I suspect there will be more to come in the future!
Regarding the sub...... I already had two in the garage myself, but I just wanted to spend some money on new kit!
01 October 2010, 03:13 PM
#236
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My priority now is to enjoy the car and slowly build up my quarter mile times from what I've already achieved. I know it won't come overnight and will keep working at it. We know we have the ability to add more power but its going to be one step at a time.
The bit about spending some money....send any spare cash my way!
01 October 2010, 07:25 PM
#238
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Fpan,
As per Bluenose172 comment. FFS is part of RaceROM not MegaROM. RaceROM is only for drive by wire set-ups, i.e. UK MY06> and JDM MY08>. My car is a MY06 JDM that is still throttle cable.
Jag,
Sensible approach. The best of luck to you and hope you do well at the weekend!
As regards to the "money"...... Mmmmmmm.
As per Bluenose172 comment. FFS is part of RaceROM not MegaROM. RaceROM is only for drive by wire set-ups, i.e. UK MY06> and JDM MY08>. My car is a MY06 JDM that is still throttle cable.
Jag,
Sensible approach. The best of luck to you and hope you do well at the weekend!
As regards to the "money"...... Mmmmmmm.
01 October 2010, 08:28 PM
#239
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Thread Starter
Quick update on what's what......
Don't worry it won't be all about ICE systems from now on! Even though I do have some further work to do on that side fairly soon, which brings me on to looking at normalising the overall sound a tad.
I actually managed to drag all my old ICE out of the garage last weekend and as I mentioned previously I do in fact have a couple of Alpine V12 amps knocking about. One 4ch and the other 2ch. Since I totally forgot the specs of the amps I did a bit of research on the internet and figure that the 2ch amp will suffice to power the fronts effectively. The biggest drag will be to lay all the cables again, so in reality should this amp not be man enough I can easily swap it out for the 4ch which can be bridged to 2ch for greater umph!
Hopefully I intend in getting this done next weekend and apart from the purchase of meaty power cable (which will require the current one to be removed, as I will spur off a single power lead to provide juice to both the Alpine amp and recently fitted active sub) I have everything else.
More on this next weekend hopefully.
So back to the (for some) more interesting parts of this project.....
I had a "Project Board Meeting" with Litchfield Imports today to discuss how their turbo development is going and also how and what we will progress with the handling side of things.
First off the turbo side.....
Turbo development has been going really well with Litchfield over recent weeks and I am sure you have seen the post / video in general about Litchfields recent testing at the Nurburgring, achieving sub 8 minute laps whilst negotiating traffic during an organised track day event. Whilst the times achieved are not important (they never went for any preconceived times, as that would be pointless whilst testing during a public track day), the fact that Litchfields have gained some valuable testing data for both chassis set-up and their latest development LM turbo, bodes well for us mere mortals.
If you have not seen the video it is definately worth a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEpST3TnufY
Whilst I am not in a position to divulge specifications of what the new "extended" range of LM's will consist of, the remit of how the continued testing will carry on is quite encouraging from a customers perspective.
If we take the current LM400 in isolation, which is what I currently have, the current train of thought is developing a turbo that provides the same 400bhp but provides even greater spool / response. Assuming that target is met, the next stage will be to look at a turbo that could provide the same spool / response as the current LM400, but goes on to providing greater flow and ultimately more power at the top end enough to make it a valid option within the LM line-up.
A lot of additional research / simulation has been carried out with the 3D modelling applications that have been used to develop the current LM's, with assisting the goals and legitimacy of extending the current LM range of turbos.
I believe the second batch of development turbos will be available in the next couple of weeks, to test the theory and 3D modelling simulations in the real world.
I am quite excited about what will transpire from this and will certainly be keeping you informed on how this goes and what we get to try on the Hawkeye.
Secondly is changes to the chassis / handling set-up.....
I sort of touched upon this previously and whilst the remit has not changed I hope to at least try a number of different options available, to see what works best in a staged approach. I can't really divulge too much at this stage as I have the potential of another project partner (product manufacturer) coming onboard.
More news on this as soon as possible, but I hope to get this underway by the end of October.
Regardless Litchfields will be playing a key part in any chassis / set-up changes made to the Hawkeye. One thing that Litchfields have above and beyond is a wealth of chassis set-up experience in the world of Impreza's, especially for the remit of real world road use.
Plenty left still to do and look into and ultimately write-up and inform about.
One last thing and I wasn't going to mention this, but it is probably a good way of re-focusing the (read: MY) mind.....
I had a chat with Richard Bulmer this week about running the current set-up on a 20% meth mix and seeing how it performed... I thought it might be interesting to find out and write about.
Richard's immediate response was "I thought you were working on a pure road car and not looking at smashing every last drop out of the car so you could join in the power braggers!!!".
Yeah he has a point, but I suspect I thought that this week I was not doing anything with the car on the project, so needed to do at least something!!!
Although it pains me to say it, Richard is absolutely right..... for the moment! Maybe we will leave that stuff for when we decide on the final turbo specification (i.e. the one that remains on the car). I think it would be rude not to have a Meth map to go along side a 95 and VPower map.
Don't you??!!!
Don't worry it won't be all about ICE systems from now on!
Even though I do have some further work to do on that side fairly soon, which brings me on to looking at normalising the overall sound a tad.I actually managed to drag all my old ICE out of the garage last weekend and as I mentioned previously I do in fact have a couple of Alpine V12 amps knocking about. One 4ch and the other 2ch. Since I totally forgot the specs of the amps I did a bit of research on the internet and figure that the 2ch amp will suffice to power the fronts effectively. The biggest drag will be to lay all the cables again, so in reality should this amp not be man enough I can easily swap it out for the 4ch which can be bridged to 2ch for greater umph!
Hopefully I intend in getting this done next weekend and apart from the purchase of meaty power cable (which will require the current one to be removed, as I will spur off a single power lead to provide juice to both the Alpine amp and recently fitted active sub) I have everything else.
More on this next weekend hopefully.
So back to the (for some) more interesting parts of this project.....
I had a "Project Board Meeting"
with Litchfield Imports today to discuss how their turbo development is going and also how and what we will progress with the handling side of things.First off the turbo side.....
Turbo development has been going really well with Litchfield over recent weeks and I am sure you have seen the post / video in general about Litchfields recent testing at the Nurburgring, achieving sub 8 minute laps whilst negotiating traffic during an organised track day event. Whilst the times achieved are not important (they never went for any preconceived times, as that would be pointless whilst testing during a public track day), the fact that Litchfields have gained some valuable testing data for both chassis set-up and their latest development LM turbo, bodes well for us mere mortals.
If you have not seen the video it is definately worth a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEpST3TnufY
Whilst I am not in a position to divulge specifications of what the new "extended" range of LM's will consist of, the remit of how the continued testing will carry on is quite encouraging from a customers perspective.
If we take the current LM400 in isolation, which is what I currently have, the current train of thought is developing a turbo that provides the same 400bhp but provides even greater spool / response. Assuming that target is met, the next stage will be to look at a turbo that could provide the same spool / response as the current LM400, but goes on to providing greater flow and ultimately more power at the top end enough to make it a valid option within the LM line-up.
A lot of additional research / simulation has been carried out with the 3D modelling applications that have been used to develop the current LM's, with assisting the goals and legitimacy of extending the current LM range of turbos.
I believe the second batch of development turbos will be available in the next couple of weeks, to test the theory and 3D modelling simulations in the real world.
I am quite excited about what will transpire from this and will certainly be keeping you informed on how this goes and what we get to try on the Hawkeye.
Secondly is changes to the chassis / handling set-up.....
I sort of touched upon this previously and whilst the remit has not changed I hope to at least try a number of different options available, to see what works best in a staged approach. I can't really divulge too much at this stage as I have the potential of another project partner (product manufacturer) coming onboard.
More news on this as soon as possible, but I hope to get this underway by the end of October.
Regardless Litchfields will be playing a key part in any chassis / set-up changes made to the Hawkeye. One thing that Litchfields have above and beyond is a wealth of chassis set-up experience in the world of Impreza's, especially for the remit of real world road use.
Plenty left still to do and look into and ultimately write-up and inform about.
One last thing and I wasn't going to mention this, but it is probably a good way of re-focusing the (read: MY) mind.....
I had a chat with Richard Bulmer this week about running the current set-up on a 20% meth mix and seeing how it performed... I thought it might be interesting to find out and write about.
Richard's immediate response was "I thought you were working on a pure road car and not looking at smashing every last drop out of the car so you could join in the power braggers!!!".
Yeah he has a point, but I suspect I thought that this week I was not doing anything with the car on the project, so needed to do at least something!!!
Although it pains me to say it, Richard is absolutely right..... for the moment!
Maybe we will leave that stuff for when we decide on the final turbo specification (i.e. the one that remains on the car). I think it would be rude not to have a Meth map to go along side a 95 and VPower map. Don't you??!!!
11 October 2010, 08:20 PM
#240
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Chassis
I have now managed to book my next visit to Litchfield Imports which will take place on Friday 22nd October.
During this visit we will be looking at the first stage of chassis modifications.
We have discussed looking at top mounts, anti-lift kits, camber bolts, drop links and anti-roll bars in totality, but more on this and who we will be working with post 22nd.
The idea behind a staged approach is to try different mods and report back on what they do and how it alters the dynamics of the car.
Whatever we end up with needs to be cost effective, have a positive impact for the road and also not decrease ride quality. It will be interesting to see the impact of each item we install and set-up.
ICE
I mentioned previously that I was going to install an AMP for the front speakers. I purchased a bigger power cable (rated at 60 AMPS), heavy duty grounding kit, power block splitter and ground block splitter. I already had a phono lead, speaker wiring (to go to the amp) and AMP already.
The main reason for wanting to add an AMP for the fronts was to try and equalise the sound, between the fronts and the sub. I was having a problem where the sub was over powering (for the bass I wanted) the fronts and if I turned the headunit up the fronts would distort (even though the actual volume from the fronts was not that loud in reality). Logically I thought the headunit AMP was not driving the fronts effeciently so hence the need for an external AMP.
Late on Friday night I had a thought about all of this and wondered if the distortion was in fact down to a crossover problem.
I had planned to fit AMP on Saturday, but I first started with adjusting the headunit settings and switched the High Pass Filter (HPF) ON, which would effect the fronts directly connected. Altering the cut-off frequency made an instant positive impact on the distortion to the fronts by limiting the amount of bass that went to them. Two-way coaxial speakers will normally only cater for mid-range and tweeter frequency, so enabling a cut-off for the lower frequencies worked well. No point in sending low frequencies to speakers that are not really designed for that purpose, especially when a sub is installed to take care of that.
Now that I had enabled the HPF and frequency cut-off for the fronts I also altered the Low Pass Frequency (LPF) for the sub, to basically ensure that the frequencies sent to the front did not over-lap with the frequencies sent to the sub. This would hopefully enable the full range to be better catered for and the appropriate frequency went to the appropriate speaker type.
Re-running various tests it was clear that the quality and volume available to the fronts was improved by a massive amount, to the degree that an additional AMP for the fronts was not needed now. With some minor adjustments to the sub AMP, the bass was now more punchy which complimented the set-up well and the fronts were now better matched volume wise to the sub.
I had a fair old drive on Saturday (did around 200 miles) and the new set-up sounded so much better.
Like I have said before I never installed a sub to ensure the audio blew my brains out or that I could hit the real mega bass frequencies. I wanted to create a full range and increase clarity, which I now believe had been achieved and in essence, for not a great deal of money.
Perhaps the only thing I will do now is fit the power and ground splitter boxes I purchased, just to enable a safer sub removal anytime I wish to take it out (say when on track etc). You don't really want bare power and ground connectors lying in the boot!
Turbo Development
No further news yet but I hope I will have some more information when I visit Litchfields on the 22nd.
Other....
I need to get hold of another set of 17" OE wheels before I go on track, so I have been on the look out for a set, but have yet to locate anything appropriate. Since the REO70's on the current rims are like rocking horse ****, I don't fancy smashing them up on a track day. Need to get another set of rims and rubber for that!
I also need to consider a swirl pot (engine bay type - so no fuel smell in the cabin), oil breather kit, oil cooler and baffled sump. Litchfeilds are working with Forge to develop a number of solutions for these areas, so more news on this as and when.
You may think why am I going to the extent of thinking about installing these "track orientated" ancillaries on a road car..... quite simply I don't intend in only using 50% of the engines potential on the track and want the car to remain as reliable as possible whilst on track. These are common sense upgrades to add a level of reliability / durability for any form of hard track use in my opinion.
Anyway.... more on this shizz in the future.
I have now managed to book my next visit to Litchfield Imports which will take place on Friday 22nd October.
During this visit we will be looking at the first stage of chassis modifications.
We have discussed looking at top mounts, anti-lift kits, camber bolts, drop links and anti-roll bars in totality, but more on this and who we will be working with post 22nd.
The idea behind a staged approach is to try different mods and report back on what they do and how it alters the dynamics of the car.
Whatever we end up with needs to be cost effective, have a positive impact for the road and also not decrease ride quality. It will be interesting to see the impact of each item we install and set-up.
ICE
I mentioned previously that I was going to install an AMP for the front speakers. I purchased a bigger power cable (rated at 60 AMPS), heavy duty grounding kit, power block splitter and ground block splitter. I already had a phono lead, speaker wiring (to go to the amp) and AMP already.
The main reason for wanting to add an AMP for the fronts was to try and equalise the sound, between the fronts and the sub. I was having a problem where the sub was over powering (for the bass I wanted) the fronts and if I turned the headunit up the fronts would distort (even though the actual volume from the fronts was not that loud in reality). Logically I thought the headunit AMP was not driving the fronts effeciently so hence the need for an external AMP.
Late on Friday night I had a thought about all of this and wondered if the distortion was in fact down to a crossover problem.
I had planned to fit AMP on Saturday, but I first started with adjusting the headunit settings and switched the High Pass Filter (HPF) ON, which would effect the fronts directly connected. Altering the cut-off frequency made an instant positive impact on the distortion to the fronts by limiting the amount of bass that went to them. Two-way coaxial speakers will normally only cater for mid-range and tweeter frequency, so enabling a cut-off for the lower frequencies worked well. No point in sending low frequencies to speakers that are not really designed for that purpose, especially when a sub is installed to take care of that.
Now that I had enabled the HPF and frequency cut-off for the fronts I also altered the Low Pass Frequency (LPF) for the sub, to basically ensure that the frequencies sent to the front did not over-lap with the frequencies sent to the sub. This would hopefully enable the full range to be better catered for and the appropriate frequency went to the appropriate speaker type.
Re-running various tests it was clear that the quality and volume available to the fronts was improved by a massive amount, to the degree that an additional AMP for the fronts was not needed now. With some minor adjustments to the sub AMP, the bass was now more punchy which complimented the set-up well and the fronts were now better matched volume wise to the sub.
I had a fair old drive on Saturday (did around 200 miles) and the new set-up sounded so much better.
Like I have said before I never installed a sub to ensure the audio blew my brains out or that I could hit the real mega bass frequencies. I wanted to create a full range and increase clarity, which I now believe had been achieved and in essence, for not a great deal of money.
Perhaps the only thing I will do now is fit the power and ground splitter boxes I purchased, just to enable a safer sub removal anytime I wish to take it out (say when on track etc). You don't really want bare power and ground connectors lying in the boot!
Turbo Development
No further news yet but I hope I will have some more information when I visit Litchfields on the 22nd.
Other....
I need to get hold of another set of 17" OE wheels before I go on track, so I have been on the look out for a set, but have yet to locate anything appropriate. Since the REO70's on the current rims are like rocking horse ****, I don't fancy smashing them up on a track day. Need to get another set of rims and rubber for that!
I also need to consider a swirl pot (engine bay type - so no fuel smell in the cabin), oil breather kit, oil cooler and baffled sump. Litchfeilds are working with Forge to develop a number of solutions for these areas, so more news on this as and when.
You may think why am I going to the extent of thinking about installing these "track orientated" ancillaries on a road car..... quite simply I don't intend in only using 50% of the engines potential on the track and want the car to remain as reliable as possible whilst on track. These are common sense upgrades to add a level of reliability / durability for any form of hard track use in my opinion.
Anyway.... more on this shizz in the future.