1WkdEvo
01-30-2008, 09:26 PM
This is an extremely long post because I am trying to anticipate all questions people might have before they ask them.
As some of you know, about 6 months ago I experienced a fatal engine failure.Â* I am not going to go into the failure, but instead wanted to focus on my experience with TT and the great job they did installing my new long block, all my mods on said block, installing a meth kit, installing a new clutch/flywheel combo, installing a new Shep Tranny, and of course a new tune.Â*
On day one I brought a block to TT that I had purchased off of another member on the forum and had them write me an estimate for a complete engine swap.Â* They asked me a lot of questions about my goals, my needs, and my concerns.Â* They put together an estimate, gave me a solid time frame, and made sure I had a clear understanding of the entire process.Â* I had the car dropped off the next day and they had already cleaned the engine and prepared it for drop in.Â* Within 4 days the complete swap was done and the car was ready to go…except the Cosworth Intake Cam was not milled properly.Â* The cam had to go back to Cosworth and Mike at RRE did a great job of getting Cosworth to get me a good cam in a timely manner.Â* TT got the cam about a week from the time they shipped it out and installed it, completing the swap.Â* In the interim I had decided to go with meth, so another week went by as we waited for the meth kit to arrive from Labonte Motorsports.Â*
Once the kit arrived, Alfred and crew went to work and got it installed.Â* Unfortunately a major problem arose in the Boost bypass valve.Â* While trying to tune the car it became apparent that the boost bypass valve was not working properly.Â* Alfred worked on it for several days, the whole time him and Paul were talking to the Owner of Labonte trying to isolate the problem.Â* On a daily basis Alfred, Jenn, or Paul would call me with an update to let me know why it was taking longer than expected and what they were doing to resolve the situation.Â* I never had to call or communicate with Labonte at all because Alfred and crew took care of everything for me.Â* Eventually with Alfred’s help, Labonte was able to determine that the instructions they were providing with the bypass kit were WRONG!Â* Labonte sent new instructions based on Alfred’s feedback and Alfred was able to get everything taken care of and get the car tuned.
As far as the tune…Alfred and I discussed my concerns with my prior failure and what I wanted out of this tune.Â* Since I am on a stock bottom end, I did not want to be too aggressive and we decided that 450 whp would be my goal.Â* Alfred started at 26psi and on a conservative tune got above 450 pretty easily with no issue.Â* Over 26psi there were no knocking issues and the car has a shit-load more power in it, but for now I am playing it safe and allowing Alfred’s advice and my willpower to dictate the power level of the car.
At the same time I also added an ACT Extreme Clutch and a Shep Transmission to handle the power.
Now for the mods/power specs on my IX for anyone interested:
1. TBE – Consisting of Tanabe DP, RRE Stealth CB, and RRE Rally Cat
2. Dejon Tool MBC set as 26psi
3. AEM Intake
4. Walbro FP
5. Denso 720s
6. ARP Head Studs
7. Cosworth 272 Cams
8. RRE gt3076 Complete Kit
9. Labonte Meth Kit and Fail Safe running 100% Meth
10. Nisei Competition IC
11. Wot 65mm Throttle Body
12. Wot Ported Intake Manifold
13. Zeitronix Wideband
http://www.socalevo.net/gallery/albums/userpics/15066/seans.jpg.jpg
So my final numbers were 459whp and 385tq.
Initial Impressions:
1.Â* On my first tank of gas with 5 WOT pulls from 1-3 and into 4th, I got 23.8 mpg
Â* Â* a.Â* I will not normally drive this hard, but I had not driven my car for months so I had to indulge a bit
Â* Â* b.Â* This is one of the advantages I wanted from a big turbo and a key reason why I decided against the FP
Â* Â* c.Â* On normal driving I expect to see 24-25 mpg in a 460 whp Evo on 91
2.Â* I only used about 1 qt of Meth on that tank, meaning it cost me all of $1.50
Â* Â* a. I used to run only race gas so if I had used race gas for this tank it would have cost me about $35 more than 91 and $33.50 more than what I spent with 91 and Meth
3.Â* The power is as good or better than what I was getting on 100, but since I never Dyno’d the car on my last tune, I cannot provide definitive data
4.Â* The car is so fast that you have to be careful to watch the tach at all times because you are flinging through gears so damn quickly
Final thoughts.Â* The level of service I received from the crew at TT was incredible!Â* They were very sensitive to the fact that I had been without my car for months and they did everything they could to make this an easy process for me.Â* Between the communication, the great discounts, explanations, advice, and dealing with my other vendors, they were everything I could have wanted out of a vendor.
As some of you know, about 6 months ago I experienced a fatal engine failure.Â* I am not going to go into the failure, but instead wanted to focus on my experience with TT and the great job they did installing my new long block, all my mods on said block, installing a meth kit, installing a new clutch/flywheel combo, installing a new Shep Tranny, and of course a new tune.Â*
On day one I brought a block to TT that I had purchased off of another member on the forum and had them write me an estimate for a complete engine swap.Â* They asked me a lot of questions about my goals, my needs, and my concerns.Â* They put together an estimate, gave me a solid time frame, and made sure I had a clear understanding of the entire process.Â* I had the car dropped off the next day and they had already cleaned the engine and prepared it for drop in.Â* Within 4 days the complete swap was done and the car was ready to go…except the Cosworth Intake Cam was not milled properly.Â* The cam had to go back to Cosworth and Mike at RRE did a great job of getting Cosworth to get me a good cam in a timely manner.Â* TT got the cam about a week from the time they shipped it out and installed it, completing the swap.Â* In the interim I had decided to go with meth, so another week went by as we waited for the meth kit to arrive from Labonte Motorsports.Â*
Once the kit arrived, Alfred and crew went to work and got it installed.Â* Unfortunately a major problem arose in the Boost bypass valve.Â* While trying to tune the car it became apparent that the boost bypass valve was not working properly.Â* Alfred worked on it for several days, the whole time him and Paul were talking to the Owner of Labonte trying to isolate the problem.Â* On a daily basis Alfred, Jenn, or Paul would call me with an update to let me know why it was taking longer than expected and what they were doing to resolve the situation.Â* I never had to call or communicate with Labonte at all because Alfred and crew took care of everything for me.Â* Eventually with Alfred’s help, Labonte was able to determine that the instructions they were providing with the bypass kit were WRONG!Â* Labonte sent new instructions based on Alfred’s feedback and Alfred was able to get everything taken care of and get the car tuned.
As far as the tune…Alfred and I discussed my concerns with my prior failure and what I wanted out of this tune.Â* Since I am on a stock bottom end, I did not want to be too aggressive and we decided that 450 whp would be my goal.Â* Alfred started at 26psi and on a conservative tune got above 450 pretty easily with no issue.Â* Over 26psi there were no knocking issues and the car has a shit-load more power in it, but for now I am playing it safe and allowing Alfred’s advice and my willpower to dictate the power level of the car.
At the same time I also added an ACT Extreme Clutch and a Shep Transmission to handle the power.
Now for the mods/power specs on my IX for anyone interested:
1. TBE – Consisting of Tanabe DP, RRE Stealth CB, and RRE Rally Cat
2. Dejon Tool MBC set as 26psi
3. AEM Intake
4. Walbro FP
5. Denso 720s
6. ARP Head Studs
7. Cosworth 272 Cams
8. RRE gt3076 Complete Kit
9. Labonte Meth Kit and Fail Safe running 100% Meth
10. Nisei Competition IC
11. Wot 65mm Throttle Body
12. Wot Ported Intake Manifold
13. Zeitronix Wideband
http://www.socalevo.net/gallery/albums/userpics/15066/seans.jpg.jpg
So my final numbers were 459whp and 385tq.
Initial Impressions:
1.Â* On my first tank of gas with 5 WOT pulls from 1-3 and into 4th, I got 23.8 mpg
Â* Â* a.Â* I will not normally drive this hard, but I had not driven my car for months so I had to indulge a bit
Â* Â* b.Â* This is one of the advantages I wanted from a big turbo and a key reason why I decided against the FP
Â* Â* c.Â* On normal driving I expect to see 24-25 mpg in a 460 whp Evo on 91
2.Â* I only used about 1 qt of Meth on that tank, meaning it cost me all of $1.50
Â* Â* a. I used to run only race gas so if I had used race gas for this tank it would have cost me about $35 more than 91 and $33.50 more than what I spent with 91 and Meth
3.Â* The power is as good or better than what I was getting on 100, but since I never Dyno’d the car on my last tune, I cannot provide definitive data
4.Â* The car is so fast that you have to be careful to watch the tach at all times because you are flinging through gears so damn quickly
Final thoughts.Â* The level of service I received from the crew at TT was incredible!Â* They were very sensitive to the fact that I had been without my car for months and they did everything they could to make this an easy process for me.Â* Between the communication, the great discounts, explanations, advice, and dealing with my other vendors, they were everything I could have wanted out of a vendor.