Pauls car import blog

Hi, I'm Paul from Autoworx and welcome to my Car Import Blog.

As I have been importing cars for over 7 years, I often get asked for advice about imported cars, the car importing process in Australia, and about car modifications. This got me thinking that a blog would be a good forum to discuss imported car topics and to allow comments in these posts from other high performance imported car fans like myself. I plan to use this blog to talk about imported vehicles like Nissan Skylines, Toyota Supras, Nissan 180sx', modifications you can do to your car, importing your own car to Australia, and related topics like motor racing. So if you are a high performance import car enthusiast please post your comments when you have something you want to say about the topic being discussed. I hope to post something of interest to you every week, so please bookmark this site and come back regularly.

My own Import Car



For my first blog I thought you may be interested in what I have doing to my own 1996 Nissan Skyline R33 manual turbo coupe with modified RB25DET engine. I am in the process of getting it ready for motorsport events such as motorkhanas, hill climbs and time trial events. So far modifications include:

Apexi front mount intercooler
Apexi Power FC ECU
HKS Super Sequential blow offvalve
Stainless steel pod filter
3" mandrel bent exhaust
12lbs boost on standard turbo
Coil over suspension
17" Volk racing forged alloys
Yokohama Advan tyres 235/45 front & 255/40 rear
Front & rear strut tower braces
Recaro seats
Short shifter
Warnbro hi flow fuel pump
Half roll cage
Full body kit
Brake booster support
Braided brake lines
Front & rear sway bars
1.5 way LSD racing differential
GT-R Brembo brake calipers and rotors front & rear
And one of my favourite mods, a NISMO digital dash with LCD monitor display including:

• 240kmh speedo
• 9000rpm tacho
• the LCD display screen has a scroll through function with information screens including peak speed, rpm, power, torque, G forces, economy, maintenance, trip, travel and graphs.

Over the next few weeks I will take more photos of each screen to give you a better idea of what it can do. These instrument clusters were an option in Japan for R33's but very rare due to the expense.

I have had the car dyno tuned and it is currently pushing out 292HP at the rear wheels. In my next blog I will be talking about further engine mods as I am trying to achieve around 350 - 400RWHP which is quite conservative for the RB25DET engine as I am going for reliability, not huge horsepower.

Performance Exhaust Systems
I am often asked about the advantages of performance exhaust systems. Although I did write about this in the December 2005 Autoworx Newsletter, many people didn't get this Newsletter (and I haven't got aroung to archiving the Newsletters on the Autoworx website yet) so I thought I'd post it on my blog for those who missed out.

Performance Exhausts
Because your car has a team of horses baying to be unleashed, especially turbo cars. Stock exhaust systems are designed simply to provide a conduit for spent gases to move from your engine to your tailpipe - no more, no less. On the other hand, performance exhaust systems are engineered to maximize your engine's exhaust flow, giving you:

- Serious horsepower and torque gains
- Distinctive, growling exhaust tone
- Improved fuel economy

The problem with stock exhaust systems is that they are not optimized for the best possible flow. Car manufacturers spend much more time thinking about the shape and placement of your air vents than they do planning your exhaust pipes. What's the result of their neglect? Your motor has to work harder during coombustion, which robs you of valuable horsepower, torque and fuel economy. A performance exhaust system will harness the potential power that your engine is wasting because of its inefficient stock exhaust. A bolt-on performance exhaust system improve your power by:

- Reducing drastically the restrictions in your pipes
- Increasing the puny diameter of stock pipes
- Improving engine scavenging

Restrictions
Just as the word implies, a restriction in your exhaust system is anything that slows the continuous flow of spent gases from your engine to your tailpipe. Poorly bent pipes are the leading cause of power-robbing restrictions. In order to cut corners wherever they can, auto manufactures use a second-rate bending technique known as "press" or "crush" bending.
This type of bending is quick and easy for the manufacturers, but it causes massive restrictions in your pipes because it reduces the pipe's diameter. This may not sound all that dramatic, but picture this: what happens when a busy freeway goes from 5 lanes down to 2? Horrific gridlock! The same thing happens with your exhaust. The waste gases slow down when they hit a press bend, which clogs up the whole system. In automotive lingo, this gas traffic problem is called back pressure.

There is, however, a more efficient way to form an exhaust system for your vehicle. Rather than using low-tech "press" bending methods, performance exhaust systems use a state-of-the-art mandrel bending process. When a pipe is bent using a mandrel method, a flexible rod is fitted inside the piece of pipe. This bendable insert stops the pipe from changing diameter during the bending process. What makes mandrel bending so much better? This consistent diameter is like an express super-highway for your exhaust, eliminating the restrictions in stock systems that steal precious power and torque.

Diameter
Besides how your pipes are bent, their actual size affects how much horsepower your engine can deliver to your power-hungry tires. One way to save on production costs is to use the smallest possible pipe size. While this keeps production costs down, it diminishes your overall horsepower and torque. One of the very first things you must do, if not the first, ito any turbocharged car (also normally aspirated)is to fit a mandrel bent, 3" (minimum) performance exhaust system... you won't believe the difference!

Thanks for reading this blog and please add your comments.