Gollum

Well, maybe we should have a name for a V8 firing pattern that's an even L,R,L,R,L,R,L,R regardless of crankshaft design. Words and terms are only what we make them, which is why definition is so crucial in any conversation, especially online. But that doesn't mean we can't create terms for things we deem necessary. We could say balanced firing pattern, or maybe even bank firing pattern. Just a thought.

BRAAP - I was referencing using two 4 cylinders together to create a V8 somehow, as mentioned in a recent post. I was just saying it could be setup to fire like an inline 8, or as a V8, but neither firing patter would be like a flat plane crank V8 or dual plane crank inline 8. I simply lack the terminology to know what to call the firing pattern of a 180 degree crank V8 if it's not a true "flat plane" crankshaft. What would you call a dual plane crank V8 that somehow had a Ferrari firing patter? (disregarding the impossibility of this)

Tough to say if that's a tune issue or a right foot issue though. Most modern auto boxes are programed to get the car into it's final gear as soon as possible. Vette's have even had the funtion to go from 1st to 4th iirc in their design history. Lower rpm is almost always better for MPG, but accelerating is a different story. You definitely want to stay away from accelerating down around 1500rpm, and also make sure you're not digging into the throttle too much when you do. I'd work on your map a bit more though. There's guys pushing a lot more HP than you getting considerably better MPG on combined tanks (garrett comes to mind). THAT being said..... my stock EFI setup pushing around a measly 200hp or so is only getting me around 17mpg combined on a tank (estimated, my speedo has never worked). I KNOW my EFI is running rich, which I'm fine with. I also haven't checked my milage since I fixed my e-brake drag issue, and I really need some new tires. I had severe camber wear issues which couldn't have been helping my rolling resistance. Part of my problem is also my right foot. It's a toy car mostly, and gets driven accordingly. When I was daily driving it, I found that if I kept my speed under 65mph, kept behind truckers, and kept my air pressure as negative as I could for a given situation (like accelerating before a hill came so I didn't have to dig in so much at the top of the hill), I could squeeze out a wopping 21mpg on almost all highway driving. I expect to have that improved by next summer though, running the same EFI setup still.

Technically, I think my post WAS on topic, that's just me. I was showing how you could in theory make a "flat plane" V8 out of two flat plane V4's. Tying two inline 4's together would be more akin to making a theoretical "flate plane inline 8", though for a V8 sound you'd be timing them to be a dual plane design, but with an even firing pattern. Which brings the question: "Is it an flate plane inline 8, or a dual plane V8 w/even firing (which will sound like an exotic possibly)"

Those bearings are tiny though! I can't imagine how to fit two of them on there.

Interesting topic, I wish I'd seen this episode. What I'd really like to see done, is some hardcore tests comparing our giant evo style VG's and a dimply piece of metal. There's some articles floating on the net of plastering VG's all over cars like the Honda Element and Toyota Prius for well documented improvements in MPG, indicated a drag reduction, but would dimpling the car in those same areas have the same effect???? I have a hard time imagining it would. I think a factor to consider is that this is easier to apply in many areas opposed to huge vortex generators. Anyone have a car they want to hammer-up for a possible future wind tunnel test? Also, concerning exhaust gases, I always thought it was interesting how many super cars use that tiny extended rear section like a GT40 (which works well for a mid engine anyway) and then place the exhaust pipes right in the middle of this flat spot. Aero reasons maybe? Sure having a 30" can on the back ain't going to do squat, even with 500hp. But if you tear drop down to a certain point, maybe the gases from a 500hp twin cam V8 CAN make an aero difference?

Why???? You can't honestly use the two extra seats for anything other than cargo space unless your female friends are under 80 pounds and 5 feet, and even then they'll be cramped. The longer wheel base makes the 2+2 more predicable concerning turning backwards on you mid-corner, but you also loose some sense of slip angle since you're not as close to the rear wheels. I prefer the more lively feeling of the 2 seater, though it might be harder to drive fast in the corners. It's more fun. Oh, the VIN to the other car, the 83'. JN1CZ06S0DX700645 And for the record it was: 1983 Datsun 280ZX 2+2 T-Top Turbo 5 Speed (T5) White Exterior Red interior Anything else that matters?

Which is why I stated that would only be an issue if you were using a SINGLE motor without a diff, a motor that had two opposing outputs on a singular motor. Why do this? Because mounting motors at each wheel WILL add an insane amount of unsprung mass that SHOULD be avoided at all costs for anyone making a performance oriented (even mildly) project. You "could" use 4 smaller motors mounted to the chassis with axles running to each wheel, but at that point you have to as why. You have a perfectly good diff sitting in a RWD car, why not use it? Sure you CAN use an electric engine with direct drive thanks to it's instant torque output, but you must also remember that the heat and load generated from doing that is great and should be considered. Even an electric motor likes a torque multiplier.

Funny, I've had 4 S130's and only ever bought ONE pump because one of my cars came without one. I've found the OEM units to be incredibly reliable if you don't shove rust down their throats. They can be a LITTLE noisy, but dead quiet compared to other out-of-tank pumps that can handle 300HP of flow. But I do agree that a faulty pump, even if just slightly low on pressure, can bring a L engine to it's knees. Bad FPR's are known for causing a lot of issues for people.

JN1HZ04S4BX266896 I've also got a 83' 2+2 Turbo that I've junked. T'was also a T-Top model. I'll have to get the VIN for that later though, as the paperwork is buried somewhere.

Well, my black 81' is officially GONE. It's been cut up for a few months now and just got around to bringin' her to the scrap yard. I really wanted to get a bathroom scale at least and weigh her out but it just didn't happen. So I'll have to live with the weight the scap yard gave me (which can tend to be a bit low so they don't pay out as much, I'm sure). So this weight they gave me was for the whole chssis minus the floorboads (just the section from the foot well to under the butt of your seat) and the chassis was STRIPPED. Not even bumpers were in this weight though the ONE thing still on the metal was the windshield. On the receipt it says 500 pounds, which obviously looks rounded, as I'm sure it is. Though I guess it's a good bet it wasn't over 550 pounds, so with the floor board that'd be 570 pounds MAX. A closer educated guess would be 540 with floor boards. This was also a T-top car, which has a lot of roof reinforcement that the slick tops don't have. So here's a break down of what the car was: 1981' 280ZX 2 Seater Non-turbo T-Top model No Doors No Bumpers No engine No Side Glass No Corner Glass No Hatch No T-Tops No Suspension No Diff No Tank Literally almost every bolt pulled off What was left: Brake booster Fuel Lines Brake Lines (some) Windshield Glass I'm not starting this thread for an argument from anyone. I'm just wanting this data, even if somewhat inconclusive, to be available to people in the future. Why? Because this shows you what you're working with in a S130. This shows people how much weight you're adding with the rest of the parts you need to make a car. Same could be said for the S30 as I think their bare chassis is around the same. Sure makes me want some nice light double wishbone setup for a S130.... Oh, and to top off the story a bit, I took it to the yard piled up in a '06 Tundra and latched it all down with some ratcheting straps. Reminded me of all the ghetto old jap trucks around here with cardboard being used to raise the sides of the bed...

Why didn't I think of that? Not a bad idea actually in my opinion.

That's just not fair to either brand.... That's a pig's body stuffed onto a greyhound's legs. It doesn't really seem to offer the benefit of either. It's actually worse than the analogy I use often for various crappy modern dodge cars, which is a pig in a rhino suit.

That's dependent on a thousand variables. What state? What county? Turbo? Nitrous? I don't know for sure, but I'd say a well modded, legal in many places (not just one) street interior S130 should be able to hit 11's easily enough. Maybe even high 10's with some sticky slicks. Now, if we're talking about 100% legal in California. I don't care how much fiberglass you've got, if you're on street tires there's no way you're running faster than a high 13, because nearly every engine mod is illegal now. Intercooler = illegal Non-stock turbo = illegal Fuel pressure regulator = illegal Modified boost pressure = illegal Non-factory fuel pump = illegal Non-factory injectors = illegal Non-factory compression = illegal CAT delete = illegal Non-factory air box without CARB sticker = illegal Non-factory camshaft = illegal Basically ANY modification without a little CARB sticker is illegal. We're lucky to have the few parts we do that ARE CARB certified. Unfortunately they won't help you go much faster. If you want to know what I think you could get AWAY with? Probably 12's easily enough. Larger injectors, OEM looking intercooler, and raise the boost a bit.

That's like saying the white house is grey in the middle of a 110 degree day in august when kids are playing jump rope with gum in their mouth while parents yell at them for running with scissors. ...what I'm say is you're wrong... though there is no best.

Same applies to videos. We want to HEAR this thing too!

Regenerative braking is a form of kinetic energy recovery, so let's make sure not to get our terms crossed or anything. They're very much related and/or the same in many ways, not separate ways to do the same thing. jmead in his project process talks about how the motor/controller combo he chose to go with wouldn't be able to perform regenerative braking, mostly due to the cost of such systems. Many of the hybrids and most of the expensive electric cars have regenerative braking which does help considerably. This is purely my opinion, but I believe this is the #1 reason hybrid's actually get better mpg. Hybrid's get what seems to me the same MPG on strictly highway use than the same car would get with the same gasoline engine it already has, while in city it's significantly better. In city the hybrid can get off the line in electric mode which is where gasoline engines suck back the fuel, and then once you're going the gasoline engine can take over. During braking much of the energy it took to get off the line in the first place is put back into the system via regenerative braking. This is a very crucial system for hybrids because you can't expect the gasoline engine to create a charge and get more than 100% of that energy back, meaning that if it's taking 10hp to keep the car going, and then you tack on another 10hp for battery regeneration giving a total load of 20hp, you're not going to get more than 10hp back for an equal length of time, that would be called perpetual energy which is something we have yet to invent. What I'm getting at is that any way you look at it, is that what you're talking about KROz is already being done, and done very well I might ad. You're only ever going to be able to make a car go so much farther with techniques like this because there is always going to be waste energy in a car somewhere or another. The main thing we could do to improve the existing system would be to half rolling resistance without loosing grip on the road. This would allow less energy to keep the car going and thus more of the energy put into getting the car started would keep it going at a desired speed. This is also why MPG freaks run their tires at max PSI, to the point of danger in some cases. The higher PSI lowers rolling resistance, but also reduces considerable grip in most cases. To be fair though, running higher psi levels than most people do can be much safer in rainy conditions because the tire cuts through the water better making it less likely to hydroplane.

One of the things that makes that difficult though is avoiding unsprung mass. You really don't want to add a 20 pound motor into the mix, let alone the much heavier motors required for most applications. In theory you could run a single motor where the differential is with outputs on both sides, but without any clutch system involved for each side you'd end up with the same setup as a welded diff, which doesn't like to turn kindly. For sake of simplicity, the farthest you could remove the stock drivetrain would be to cut out and reshape the floor right in front of the diff and mount the motor directly to the diff, allowing removal of the driveshaft and transmission. The only concern here is that you need to make sure you're not going to overheat the motor at lower speeds, and not go beyond it's RPM limits at higher speeds. A larger motor is less likely to overheat, but of course it's larger and harder to fit into the space requirements without impeding upon the passengers. Though to be honest I'm not the most educated on electric vehicles, so maybe someone else will chime in with their points on the matter.

A few months ago my vacuum hose to the wastegate blew off and I then proceeded to hit 16psi on an all stock piping setup... woops. Everything actually held together well.

After reading this and seeing your avatar pic I can't help but think of happy gilmore - "You're gonna die clown!"

If you can get a Mercedes cylinder head to bolt up to a L series... Instead of looking for transmissions that fit a particular soobie engine you might need to work the other way around to find a magic combination. I'd start by going to the junkyard and looking for 70's and 80's soobies and tearing them apart. Take lots of measurements of the blocks mounting holes for the bell housing, and take the bell housings off the tranny and measure the tranny side as well. There's a good chance that at some point subaru was sharing transmission patterns. I mean, there's still nissan 350Z buttons on the interior of the 02-05 STI for crying out loud, and maybe still! There's lots of part sharing that still goes on.

Did you have a license for taking shots at those? Thought not as epic as the previous pics you mentioned, I still really like the much of that first shot you posted. Good framing and composition. I really like how well the shades of green turned out. My only negative thoughts regarding the shot is that I wish the flowers the mother was standing in had some more color to make them pop more, but that's the beauty of wildlife photography, you don't have complete control. Another things that's also purely subjective is focal length. The background is interesting enough to keep in focus, but I think I would have used a larger aperture if the lens and lighting permitted to single out the subject a bit more. But I'm trying to be constructive, so take it as such. Those are better shots than I take most of the time I think.

But, being a tech for 13 years I'm sure you know that if you REALLY want to fail someone it IS possible to make it incredibly hard for them, especially if it was already questionable.

Actually it's a samick. I hadn't ever played a schecter that I liked until I recently found a used one that played like butter, so I bought it! That samick is still my main axe, though I've redone the electronics a couple of times. Currently it has a gibson tony iommi in the neck and a duncan JB distortion (i think) in the bridge. Volume pot is push pull for coil tapping, and tone pot is push pull for phase.

Wow, talk about epic resurrection. And though the gear journey is an ever evolving one, I still stand by one statement, play what YOU like, not what someone else likes or wants. There are many pieces of gear I hate, but it has nothing to do with brand bias or what I've heard, but rather personal experience. I receive quite a bit of gear to review because my opinion in that realm is somewhat valued, but that being said even I, an experienced reviewer, can't tell people what they'll like. I can only point them in the right direction. Shameless plug - Z cars and Gee-tars STILL go wonderfully together (old pic, sorry) And in true hybridz fashion I'm not making my own and hot rodding my own gear.