Friday, September 25, 2009 - 05:47 pm, by: Cameron James(Dinosoarer)
Hi All!
First post on what I hope to be a long stay on Soarer Central! I am seriously considering defecting from Nissan to Toyota and I'm after some advice from the people that know them best!
My current ride is an R31 Skyline fitted with an RB25DET, FMIC, 3" exhaust, 12psi and aftermarket ECU - it kicks out almost 250kw at the tyres and is great fun to drive... but being an 1987 model its got a boxy shape, is boring and featureless and uncomfortable inside.
One of my best mates has an early Supra with a 1JZ and its deadly, making over 350kw at the tyres on a stock bottom end and I'm damn impressed!!! I have always liked the look of the Soarer so this weekend I am off to test drive one to see if it fits me (I'm 196cm tall)
I have searched through the forum and whilst I've found some answers, there seems to be some varying opinions on a few points....
QUESTION 1 - with basic mods (FMIC, FCD, exhaust & inlet) how much boost can safely be run without upgrading ECU and turbos?
QUESTION 2 - what is involved with shift kitting the standard auto and (if you have one) are they still reasonably driveable day to day still?
QUESTION 3 - can many of the common parts be bought genuine through Australian Toyota dealers?
Friday, September 25, 2009 - 06:08 pm, by: Tim Ross(Retox)
Hey man... I also had an R31 before coming to the Soarer-side... first a V8 Soarer...and now a TT (soon to just be a T)
Welcome
Anyways
QUESTION 1 - Stock turbos are ceramic exhaust wheel... so really, I wouldnt be going over 12-14psi
QUESTION 2 - Seek Cameron Laufer on the forum and speak to him, otherwise MV Autmatics
QUESTION 3 - Castle Hill Toyota is pretty good for parts.. however have your wallet ready in some cases... its often best to search on here or post a wanted to buy thread
QUESTION 4 - Fcuking.. Flow.. whatever you want it to really
Friday, September 25, 2009 - 06:16 pm, by: Cameron James(Dinosoarer)
Thanks Tim - another 31 owner... is this a natural progression or something? I kinda guessed about the BFI but i wanted to be sure!
RE: stock turbos - I have heard of people winding over 20 pounds into them but I'm sure they don't last long! How much can you squeeze from them with the ceramic wheels changed?
Friday, September 25, 2009 - 07:03 pm, by: Scott Wilkes(Scottywilkes)
ive been pushing 16 PSI through mine for the last few months, no problems yet, the key to long life while running high boost is a good highflow set of dumps to remove the heat from the turbos.
Friday, September 25, 2009 - 10:18 pm, by: Aaron Casey(Blownminiturbo)
cameron if you upgrade to supra jza80 seats or bucket seats you will gain alot more headroom. im fairly short so now i can hardly see over my dash haha
Friday, September 25, 2009 - 10:19 pm, by: Richard O'Neill(Rich85)
clean skyline, although too bad it isn't a passage i know a couple of guys with the same conversion both in passage's, one has the same power figure as yours too. The rear end squats and gets all happy when you put your foot down
Friday, September 25, 2009 - 11:20 pm, by: Cameron James(Dinosoarer)
Cheers for that advice Aaron - will so how we go for headroom tomorrow!
Yeah I was never sold on the Passage for some reason... I chose my Aussie R31 coz parts were cheap & plentiful, plus the RB25 conversion is a very repeatable process for making a quick car.
Mine is a bit of a sleeper - it's great fun shutting down Rexabishis in Grandpa's car!
Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 01:08 am, by: Nathan Machin(Nthside_soarer)
Welcome to the Darkside Cameron or should i say FROM the darkside hehe....although if i had the money an R34 GTR V-SPECII would be parked in my drive way any day hehe
Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 10:09 am, by: James Harris(Haro)
Im 6'5" and i fit fine in my Soarer mate. It had a sunroof also so i assume the roof was lower than one without?
Anyways, just adjust your seat , recline a little and enjoy.
I ended up buying a pair of SPARCO Torino Seats and installed them, those seat rails were pretty low, PERFECT for me but prob not for some of our shorter brothers out there hehe
Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 10:12 am, by: James Harris(Haro)
As for your question regarding parts. Its not JUST castle hill that gets em in hey.
I just head down to my local Toyota Dealer (its a Scifleet one) at TARINGA here in Brissy and i give them the VIN and the part number for what i need and its too easy. They are even happy to bring stuff from Japan for me.
Familiarise yourself with this site as it comes in handy.
Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 11:29 am, by: Jeff Smith(Mozzie)
Hi mate and
There is some info short on the need for a fcd(Fuel cut defender )to go over the boost cut so you can lift the boost higher.
I'm 6"1 and have a sun roof also and have no issue's with head space! Going from r31 to soarer is a big change.. The 1st thing you will find is the weight of the soarer compared to the nissan(tin can).The soarer is a drivers car... Great cruiser and a power that halls with 1600kg's ...
With the right mod's you can net 260kw's on a low budget(with the stock turbo's).. This is one of those cars that can go like the clappers and weigh's 1600kg's... Reduce the weight as some of the members here and with only 180kw's and less weight... I have seen the standard TT match me on the circuit and I'm pushing 276kw's(single turbo) and 1600kg's... Weight is the key and is a cheep way to make the soarer TT go like the clapper's... I guess it's up to you what you want out of your car... Cruiser that goe's great and prity much will munch most on the road... Or turn it into a beast... They really come alive with single turbo...
Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 11:35 am, by: Cameron James(Dinosoarer)
Thanks for all the great advice - big change from all the 15 year old know-it-alls who put everyone down on the R31 forum!
Just got back from inspection - good news is I fit even with the sunroof. Bad news is the car had scratches and dents all over, cigarette burns on the seats and obvious front end damage that had been poorly covered up. He wanted $6.5K so I had a little laugh
Another one I might check out this arvo is manual with a GT30, coil overs etc etc - he wants $11k
Is there any way to make the dash illumination brighter?
Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 12:35 pm, by: Richard O'Neill(Rich85)
there is a small knob to the right that you can turn up. i test drove one with it right down once..you really need it all the way up. Seriously, 11 grand for a single turbo manual and coilovers sounds pretty damn good to me!!
Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 01:24 pm, by: Aaron Casey(Blownminiturbo)
yeah sounds like a good price. a manual one will be alot more to your liking. soarers have a thing called blinky dash and sometimes need to have a few transistors replaced and a dust cleanup to brighten the dash up. its not very expensive just a bit of time to do ill be even doing mine soon lol post up some pics of the ones you are looking at
Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 04:14 pm, by: Cameron James(Dinosoarer)
I found the dash brightness knob alright - i wanted to know if you could make it brighter... with sunnies on I could barely read it - even with them off it was difficult to see!
Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 04:47 pm, by: Aaron Casey(Blownminiturbo)
usually if alot of dust gets in its hard to see or a faulty dimmer switch. i find with really dark sunnies hard to see but with normal darkness sunnies are alright
Friday, November 13, 2009 - 08:36 am, by: James Harris(Haro)
That because you short asses must be sitting on a booster seat or something... you do realise the seat can be adjusted to sit LOWER and not as close to the steering wheel !
Friday, November 13, 2009 - 11:47 pm, by: Ali Saeed(Ali)
its as low as possible ive got a sunroof too. when i went for AHG slalom thingee a few months ago i could hardly have my head straight with the helmet on.
Saturday, November 14, 2009 - 05:05 pm, by: Paul Knox(Surreal)
yeah I own a non and a factory sunroof model. My head touches with the sunroof, I'm 5'11' and the seat is all the way down. If you push the seat way back it helps , but then you lose car control. One of my pet hates , seeing guys and girls sitting way back with straight arms, it doesn't look cool!!
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ive got a sunroof too. when i went for AHG slalom thingee a few months ago i could hardly have my head straight with the helmet on.
