Boostin’ the BPD
I was just reading the Familia GT-R article (Mazda Familia GT-R)...
You guys stated that the BPD engine should be able to take 14 psi boost...
Well, in fact, I know of two people who have taken boost up to 18 psi. This is
with stock everything except for an aftermarket exhaust. I have been told that
the stock ECU doesn't map over 18 psi, but at this level you can expect
160-180kW at the wheels!
James Wade
Australia
Loved the Oasis
Re Oasis of Personalised Comfort - Or a Bloody Pain?...
Great article - and an interesting choice given the shortness of trip. I too
have wondered about the comparative costs against budget hotels. One other
option you hadn't considered was that of onsite vans or cabins where the
overnight costs are often not a lot more than that of bare site. Another cost
factor you hadn’t considered was that of time lost travelling due to having to
set up/pack up and the most under-rated stress doing this exercise.
Keep up the varied and interesting articles like this as they are a great
read and a departure from Joe's hot car has had this and that and wow how great
is it but guess what it's now for sale or he's going to now do that, or
this...
Simon Brown
Australia
Fuel Prices Force a Change
With rising fuel prices I’m afraid I can't keep the car that I currently have
- it's a 4.0 litre Jeep Cherokee that eats fuel pretty fast. I have been looking
into LPG engines, however I have found that very few - other than the Magna,
Falcon and Commodore – that come with gas as a single fuel option. What I would
like is impressive performance in the form of a 4WD. Can you please make a
recommendation for a 4WD, dual fuel, single fuel (LPG) or a diesel from which I
can expect a sufficient performance level - in addition to the desired fuel cost
benefits?
Ilya Zak
Australia
You might want to check out the Pajero
Turbo Diesel (New Car Road Trip - Mitsubishi Pajero Exceed Turbo Diesel)
and Hyundai Terracan CRDi (Hyundai Terracan CRDi )
Copper Pipe Problems?
In regard to your article Copper Intercooler Plumbing...
I was thinking about the conductivity and expansion of the copper piping under
heat. Copper, being a soft metal, will absorb heat more readily therefore
causing it to expand and reline the original plumbing route. Even with
insulation it will experience some heat soak. Will this in any way reduce the
effectiveness of the intercooler and piping?
Chris Mcmahon
Australia
We can’t imagine pipework deformation
to the extent that it would cause problems - we have had no such issues with
our installation.
How Hot is Too Hot?
I have a question for ya - in the tech article Hi-Po LED Brakelight Upgrades...
You say the resistor can become hot if the brake pedal is held for too long...
Can you tell me how this can be avoided? I'm planning LED taillights for my car
and where I live the stop lights can be very long – I wouldn’t want to melt
something down... Would the LED get too hot - hot enough to melt anything?
Sylvain Brousseau
Canada
If the resistor value is correct, the LED will barely get warm. How hot the resistor gets depends largely
on the available ventilation. Make sure that air can flow past the resistor and that it is not in contact with any surface - the results should then be fine.
Electronics Error
A small correction for Performance Electronics Part 5 (Performance Electronics, Part 5)...
In the paragraph under "ECU Input Pull Up and Pull Down" it says... "the resistor
is too high in value to prevent much current passing through it to ground". This
should be "allow" instead of "prevent".
Rick Dathan
Australia
Thanks – now corrected.
Little Ripper Gem
I recently purchased a rare little "Gem"... It's an Isuzu JT Gemini (MY91)
and its a little ripper!!!
It's the 4 door sedan Irmscher model - complete with AWD, passive 4WS, 1.6
litre turbo and TMIC with 134kW @ 6600 rpm and 207Nm @ 4800 rpm. They come
factory standard with front Recaros, Momo steering wheel, Lotus tuned suspension
and the 4XE1 turbo engine (also used in the Lotus Elan of the time, I
think).
I have to say it's a very fun little car to drive - cant' say I know much
about it though!
If you could provide some information on its history, development,
performance, mods applicable, problems and parts suppliers I would be VERY
grateful! Hell, if you could even run a short article on the little unknown
beast - that'd be even better!
Julian Sheriff
Australia
Sounds like a great package.
Unfortunately, we don’t know much about the background of this model – can any
readers offer information or a related link?
Beemer Test?
How about a road test of the new BMW 3 series - preferably a 6 cylinder
model? I have an E46 BMW 325CI and am interested in the new model. I think your
road tests are more objective than other tests available.
Keith Fanner
Australia
Thanks - we’ll see if we can get some
press cars from BMW.
Can’t See IEBC Working
I have just read your article on electronic boost control - The Independent Electronic Boost Control, Part 1.
I have a query regarding the controller. I can’t see it working that well
using fuel as the boost indicator. The only reason the ECU puts in a certain
amount of fuel is because of the boost its running – the IEBC only knows what
boost to run by what fuel the ECU is putting in. So there is a problem - both
rely on each other for information.
Have I got this right or is there something I’m missing?
Hetal Patel
UK
The car’s ECU and IEBC operate in a
constant loop. If you set a high boost value into the IEBC at a given injector
duty cycle, the engine will receive greater airflow at this point. As a result,
the ECU will then increase injector duty cycle to maintain suitable mixtures.
This in turn alters the IEBC reference site where you might have entered a
completely different boost value. As you can see, the IEBC depends on injector
duty cycle - which is partly determined by the boost value you have set at the
previous load site. Unless you have a huge output jump between adjoining load sites, in use the system works very well.
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