Where to spend my money...

[albertm7]

I bought a R33 this year and I'm debating where to spend my money...

I originally wanted to tune the car with Haltech (I only have intake, exhaust, intercooler) not for more boost or power but to optimize it for the different altitude

My car idles, runs, pulls fine (I find it revs a bit slowly and has been feeling slightly sluggish lately... the sluggish feeling might be due to me being used to the car's acceleration now as it is the fastest car I've been in) but has a bit of trouble starting up, I have to give it some throttle. Also my friend said it smells a bit lean which is weird because if anything it should be running rich due to the decreased air in this altitude compared to Japan

Anyways, my other friend said the car runs fine, has good compression (150psi all across), and the old spark plugs looked fine so I shouldn't mess with the tune. Nissan spent millions in R&D on this car and a A/M tuner no matter how good he is, is probably going to make it worse if the car is going to be tuned for stock boost

Could somebody give me their opinion? Haltech is pretty pricey and for that money I could get a lot of other stuff for the car such as a quick release, harnesses, etc... just dress up stuff for now. Or could just save it for a single turbo setup next year

[kengeroo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nYXkKN1k7M

[mfroese]

Get a wideband first of all to keep a check on the AFR #s. Innovate LC-1 and AEM UEGO are the popular ones.

[albertm7]

I was planning to get the Haltech display eventually, go for the gaugeless setup. Do I really need one if I'm planning to stay on stock boost until I replace turbos? I'll be getting new copper plugs every year to make sure I'm not running rich/lean... although this is by eye

[R32monster]

Kengeroo - the guy was asking a serious question and you reply with you stupid youtube video...you can't get enough of paul walker? i bet ou bought or got into skylines cause of that movie. you sir are awesome.

[kengeroo]

no I bought my car becuase of you

[R32monster]

get a life buddy. keep watching fast and the furious...on youtube.

[albertm7]

@R32monster thanks for the support, lol I'm sure the guy doesn't mean anything though just having harmless fun
Anyways, the reason I'm hesitant about getting the wideband is I'm looking at the overall big picture, I really want to get the Haltech display and I'm the kind of guy that doesn't like to buy something that I know I'll sell later on down the road. Although if the general consensus is that a wideband is recommended even on stock boost, then ~200 dollars is worth it to protect the engine

[R32monster]

no worries, we just got off on the wrong foot. he seems like a cool guy. he gave good info on my thread.
if it's 200 dollars...get it. lolz

@R32monster thanks for the support, lol I'm sure the guy doesn't mean anything though just having harmless fun
Anyways, the reason I'm hesitant about getting the wideband is I'm looking at the overall big picture, I really want to get the Haltech display and I'm the kind of guy that doesn't like to buy something that I know I'll sell later on down the road. Although if the general consensus is that a wideband is recommended even on stock boost, then ~200 dollars is worth it to protect the engine

[kengeroo]

thx for the recall.

... just putting a lighter side on the forum. another forum I'm on people are getting pretty angry... it scares me.....

... my 2 cents on the wideband... ,,, and as a disclaimer... I will never say I am a knowledgeable expert at tuning engines,,, just mucking around and googling).

.. a wideband is a a huge part of the picture,, for the longest time I was only able to tune the ignition map based on logged KNOCK values because I had no wideband
... I didn't dare screw with the inj map fearing to lean it out too much and kaboom...

.. Once I got my AEM wideband , I discovered I was running rich, rich, rich,,, my warm up (water-temp vs -INJ value) was too generous)..


btw .. I run a Apexi L-Jetro ,, with stock internals, upgraded exhaust, intercooler, ...

I have spent money on preventive maintenance stuff

.. A/m rad, replaced stock clutch fan with twin electrics,,, AEM Meth injection (I would do this first),,

...and a CO2 intercooler spray bar kit,,, okay this wasn't preventive maintenance,,, it was more to scare my girlfriend and pedestrians,,, but more so to be more like Paul walker

.... get the METH first

[Rainey94]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nYXkKN1k7M

Hhaha +1!

[Black BNR32]

PLX is another good option for widebands and other gauges.

What do you want to use the car for?

[albertm7]

I mainly use it for street and I was going to use it for occasional track... but the track in our city is closing down and the nearest one is in Edmonton so.... Probably autocross... which isn't ideal for gtr but whatever, it's the only thing I've got without racking up 1000 kms to track one day.

[Black BNR32]

well then, you'll likely want to look at things in an order similar to this:
-preventative maintenance - fluids, bushings, rubber hoses, gaskets, bearings, etc.
-tires - just think, tires affect EVERY aspect of the cars performance: acceleration, braking, handling, ride, etc.
-data monitoring - its super important for troubleshooting to be able to review your engine's parameters. and, the stock gauges aren't great.
-then, decide what your biggest beef with the car is. it could be power, handling, looks, sound system, etc.

so lets skip the no-fun stuff - what's your biggest beef with the car?

[albertm7]

I'm doing my timing belt & water pump very soon, replaced tires & brake rotors and pads, gonna replace tie rods and front ball joint ASSY soon..... I guess my biggest beef with the car is that it revs slowly. I'll prolly dyno it to see if I'm just retarded or if there is actually a problem, if there is then Haltech it is for a re-tune cause the engine is fine