Today I placed my order for thermal coated Needswings Manifolds. I've known for a while that I'd eventually take the plunge and as of today Santa (Rob) has his elves in the shop working on mine. What finally got me to make my order was a conversation with a man that's been racing a 944 turbo and winning for the last 20 years. I won't go into what he's tried over the years (everything) but now he's over 450hp at the wheels with a stock head and a custom home make intake. Let's just say he convinced me that the intake was the secret to big power on his motor. (and more boost) Not to mention that after looking at the local racing rules it seems when I took the points for revised intake (Needswings dual CAI) I also took points for revised intake manifold. 2012 is going to be a year of PAIN for my competition. Another year of taking names and kicking butt. Thanks Rob for keeping us in first place.


Les

 

funny your doing this les! i bought svo's brand new n/w manis a couple months ago. been sitting in a box since. as of yesterday i shipped them the cai tubes and my y pipe for thermal coating in the same gold as my calipers! should have them back in a couple weeks

 

You need to get those Manifolds on asap and have Eurocharged perfect the tune. That way the hard work is done. I expect a little extra effort will be necessary to refine the tune for my tropical temperatures but my experience is that Clint will keep after it until it's as good as it can get. I wasn't ready for more power until I got my suspension, braking and traction up to snuff. Now me and my car are ready. (I'm still debating the need for upgraded rear brakes.) My car will be hitting the dyno immediately after the instal. Dyno and track queen that she is.

Les

 

manis will still have to sit a bit. finishing up the modded fuel rail for bruce at ttm and then installing new injectors and dont want to skew the data for him. datalogg a bunch and the manis will be tuned easily. they will need afr, iat, timing , tps , load , rpm and boost. with that data they can tune you right were you need to be 11.8 to 12.4 afr

 

I read about the "full circle" fuel rail that Bruce produced for the E55. I've noticed my front plugs run a bit leaner then the rears. Or the rears are richer than the fronts. Don't keep the fuel rail a secret when it's done. As far as the tune, I log during my races and if it's lean I have to drop out. No way can I see race conditions on the dyno or street. It makes it a bit of a scary proposition. Thank goodness for my Dashdaq and Zietronix.

Les

 

no secrets! i have a rough version installed already and needed 2 retunes for being... wait for it... pig rich!! went from 11.8 afr to 9's!! the rail seems to be working great but has no visual appeal. at least for me. so i fabbed a hard line prototype up and bruce is building it. this will allow those with stock airboxes to trim a notch on each side and run the covers if they want for those with a cai no mods needed. the rail seems to be working great and im going to install the injectors and retune and hope it helps the big pulley guys with their lean issues.
my logs are almost exclusively real world conditions logged thru the zt-2 and dashdaq. i then email them to jerryb and he builds me a file. download it then logg more. right now its spoty on but with manis headers and dual exhaust with dual mufflers im sure more tuning will be on the horizon

 

Speaking of which, I need to check up on mine. That is why mine, at least the coupe is setting...sounds good Les...hope you see the power you are looking for....should be good for the track as the low end seems to be where they help...

 

It's a little complicated for me. I don't have a PC! Mac owner here. To get a retune is an odyssey for me. I have to find a loaner PC, my 2 OBII cables are defective so I have to borrow one of those too. I'll be asking Clint for another cable. I may have to break down and buy a PC something or another just to tune my car! I have until January to iron out the tuning problems.

Les

 

I received my Needswings tweaked manifolds last week. Hoping to get them installed this weekend.

 

les i have the same issues. love my mac. in the end i bought a small 12" netbook to dedicate to my cars tuning and video paid 359$ and no more problems

 

same here Les...I have a cheap Acer netbook I carry in the truck and use with the remote tune...you can pick one up for a few 100 bucks...

 

All prisoners of Mr. Softie! Let's see what's on sale.

Les

 

this is the netbook i picked up. last unit at best buy on sale for 359$
ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1215N-PU17-SL – $424

3 usb ports and sim card port. no cd player but dont need it as my mac has it. fast and steady has been very reliable so far

 

Congrats on the purchase, Les. I'd love to have a set too, but I'm too poor and cheap to go all out. I look forward to you wiping the floor with the competition though.

 

Les I have a laptop I am willing to donate to your cause. All you would have to do is pay shipping. It's a dell laptop which is running xp it's 5 years old but still works great! It has been collecting dust for the last few months If I visit Puerto Rico, I may need a place to stay PS. Can't believe I am helping an apple fan boy!! lol

 

I can't believe I missed this! Thanks Simmie777. I'll send you a PM tonight after work ..... and painting ..... and track prep ....... it could be latish. I'm a scared, what if I like the PC.

Les

 

He's half way around the world....it might be late for you, what about him....lol..... That laptop will have some miles on it....but, I guess they all do....

 

We islanders stick together and wouldn't you know it, I have a couple of oil cans of Fosters in the freezer. Can't get Roo here in P.R.

Shipping for the laptop could be steep.

Les

 

LOL...........just pickin' on ya....I may come see you in the spring. Haven't decided on a destination yet.... Have fun putting the intakes on....you will have to watch your favorite corner on the track then....lol...

 

Fosters is what the Australians export to those that do not know what beer is. Generally they export it to stupid Americans.