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Post by strat-0 on Mar 1, 2006 23:37:34 GMT -5
OK, I'm the proud new owner of a TCI "Streetfighter" turbo 350 transmixer. $848 plus $275 for the installation, for a total of $1,123. Still, just try to get your late model vehicle a new tranny installed for that! Ironically, it is already tricked out and good to 450 hp (which I must admit, I don't quite have!)
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Post by Kensterberg on Mar 2, 2006 0:02:34 GMT -5
Fabulous Strat!
So, when are you gonna get your sleeper up to 425 hp or so?
Just out of curiosity, what kind of exhaust do you have on that monster?
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Post by rockkid on Mar 2, 2006 0:03:33 GMT -5
Listen to that lawyer talk baby  |
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Post by Kensterberg on Mar 2, 2006 0:09:55 GMT -5
Listen to that lawyer talk baby LMAO ... yeah, if those cases work out the way I'd like, I'll be able to subsidize my habit of taking cases that really belong at legal aid or the public defender's office. I did something like 70 hours of pro bono work last year ... people ask when I take vacation, but when you're writing off two weeks of work a year, well, I guess I spend my vacation doing "God's work" (as we call it in the profession). Drove the Z3 for the first time in over a week today ... I'd been driving the Element a lot lately. Not so sure I want to give up the ragtop yet ... though I saw a Boxster for sale at a car lot down the road this afternoon ... hmmm ... but only if I can afford an "S" model. If I'm buying a late model anything again, I'm buying the most sporting (i.e. loudest, crudest, roughest riding) one I can find. The Boxster was even a dark blue, which would perfectly fit into my run of blue convertibles since 2001 ... hmmmmmmmmm ... |
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Post by strat-0 on Mar 2, 2006 14:42:01 GMT -5
Fabulous Strat! So, when are you gonna get your sleeper up to 425 hp or so? Just out of curiosity, what kind of exhaust do you have on that monster? lol! 340 hp will have to do for now, but it's the 435 lb/ft torque that's the kicker! Anything more would likely leave the rear end or an axle in the road! That's the next weak link. The exhaust is just custom duals with Dynomax Turbos. I've thought about headers, but they're always a headache - leaky, ground clearance and fitment problems, blocked access to other components, etc. I saw something interesting in a catalogue the other day - electrically-controlled muffler cutouts. Cutuouts have been around forever, where you can remove a cap to open dump pipes ahead of the mufflers, but the electric control is pretty cool. Somebody messes with you and you could nail it and hit the switch, but I'm afraid it would make people piss their pants. |
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Post by Fuzznuts on Mar 2, 2006 15:03:39 GMT -5
Somebody messes with you and you could nail it and hit the switch, but I'm afraid it would make people piss their pants. So what's the problem? |
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Post by strat-0 on Mar 2, 2006 20:39:41 GMT -5
Heh, heh! Seriously though, the sound of that thing wide open with no mufflers would scare people so bad they might lose it! Yeah, you could have the switch tied into your nitrous button (NOx is something else I've thought about and decided against for the moment). They'd think hell itself had opened up -- and you'd be gone in a flash! Actually, just opening up the back barrels is loud enough, especially with a forced downshift!
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Post by ScottsyII on Mar 3, 2006 12:43:59 GMT -5
Hey Strat! Sorry to hear of your transmission issues! But, ahhh, aint malfunctions always such a great opportunity to upgrade! Sorry you have to drive around the crappy car in the meantime though! Bah!
I took my first drive in the US the other day, and I didn't find it TOO wierd - only once when pulling into a gas station driveway did I go to the wrong side of the road.... VERY quickly adjusted that one!
Got news that my old reliable WUV 260 had issues shortly after my departure from Australia - apparently the car aquaplaned a little in some wet slick road and then the right hand front tyre lost all its pressure - Dad promptly fitted new tyres and she's running as good as always - not sure what made the tyre deflate, but susect it has always been somewhat flawerd from day one when i bought them - it didn't have eggs in the sidewall, but the internal seams always seemed to show in the sidewall... curious!
Good to hear the old girl is still kicking on in my absence! :-)
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Post by Kensterberg on Mar 3, 2006 12:50:52 GMT -5
Strat -- I hadn't heard about after-market cutouts like that. The new 'Vette (I think it's the Z06 only) has a similar system where it opens up the exhaust when the driver gets to 3/4 or full throttle. I don't remember all the details, but was thinking that it sounded like a pretty slick trick. Yeah, torque like that will just destroy your gearbox. 911 Turbos had only four speeds until the nineties for the same reason -- Porsche didn't have a five speed gearbox that could handle the torque. Was looking at the specs for the original 1975 911 Turbo (European spec) the other day ... zero to sixty mph in 4.8 seconds, IN 1975! That was a dead stock factory model. With turbo lag and lift-throttle oversteer ... that was a car that you really had to know what you were doing to go fast in. Lots of guys put themselves into the weeds (or worse) trying to handle that monster ... I'd love to have one. I would call it ... my precioussssssss. |
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Post by phil on Mar 3, 2006 13:13:07 GMT -5
Yeah ! I see what you mean ...
That little "jewel" can make you disappear pretty fast
if you're not really cautious ,,,
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Post by Kensterberg on Mar 3, 2006 13:21:31 GMT -5
Yeah ! I see what you mean ... That little "jewel" can make you disappear pretty fast if you're not really cautious ,,, LMAO! You're exactly right, Phil. But I would take great care of it, of my preciousssss ... she wouldn't hurt me, oh no ... I've been enamored of these cars since I was ... for waaaaaaay too friggin' long. I definitely see one in my future ... though I may have been a bit rash in saying I was ready to ditch my Z3. We've had just perfect weather the last several days, and it sure is nice to be able to drop the top and drink it in. |
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Post by RocDoc on Mar 3, 2006 13:21:45 GMT -5
It could make your driving privileges disappear right quick too...
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Post by strat-0 on Mar 3, 2006 20:30:57 GMT -5
Scottsy, I hadn't thought about the driving adjustment - not just the rules and highway designs being different, but the colloquial differences as well. I imagine it's a bit different! You'll get the hang of quickly, though!
I can't see how hydroplaning would cause a tire to deflate; however, the loss of control could cause you to impact a curb or other obstruction, which can easily knock the bead off its seat and cause that. At any rate, glad the old girl is being tended to!
Ken, a vintage Porsche is a sports car I could really get into! The other thing about that torquey pancake is that you just don't NEED a five-speed! You have torque and horsepower through a wide rpm range. Think of the old days when many GM products used the Powerglide automatic (early ones had a cast iron case!). Still sought after by drag and roundtrack racers, it had two (2) speeds. Of course, you have a torque converter with a torque-multiplying stator in it for more gear reduction from a stop, but under full throttle those old things shifted into second at about 55 mph! The old high-compression engines really had a torque curve! Compression ratios have gotten higher again, with all of the new technologies available, but other necessary compromises for fuel economy and emissions purposes (i.e. smaller engines) have caused the need for the many-geared trannies anyway. ("There's no replacement for displacement"!) Most of the new automatics have four or five speeds now - something unheard of a few years ago.
Oh, and I don't think the new 'Vette completely bypasses the mufflers like cutouts do - I haven't looked into that yet. I don't see how it could be legal. The sound of an engine with no muffler at all is thunderous indeed! I mean, it's ear-hurting, chest-vibrating, racetrack pit loud!
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Post by Kensterberg on Mar 3, 2006 22:25:27 GMT -5
Strat -- I'm pretty sure the Z06 doesn't have a pure cut-out, as in completely by-pass the muffler, but rather it has a second, MUCH less restrictive exhaust path (which is decidedly louder than stock, from what I understand).
And those older Porsches all have nice flat torque curves ... even the small 2.0 or 2.4 liter motors from the late sixties and early seventies. I ran into a couple of really nice (normally aspirated) early seventies 911s while poking around ebay today ... marginal heater and A/C systems, but those things are like being directly hooked up into the car's mechanicals. No power steering, but you didn't need it, light-weight means that with modern tires and brake pads you can get phenomenal levels of grip and stopping power. Parts cost a lot less than a Turbo, too ... of course they won't get to sixty in under five seconds, but still ...
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Post by strat-0 on Mar 3, 2006 22:28:00 GMT -5
That little boxer engine has a long stroke, too, just like my 383.
Stroker! That's where you get your torque. That's why piston aircraft engines have such a long stroke. They gear it down, but you gotta keep that prop going and have plenty in reserve! A lot of them are pancakes, too. It doesn't seem to rob from anything else, either. Maybe fuel economy.
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