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Ask Ian
Have you always wondered something? Perhaps you’re having a particular problem with your car? No matter what your automotive related question is Ian will either know the answer or will know somebody that will.
Simply add a comment below with your question and Ian will respond as soon as possible. Go ahead, try to stump him!
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Hi Ian, I have a 2005 BA Typhoon, fair bit of work done to it, custom tune etc. Recently I have been having an issue. The temp gauge will randomly climb probably once every second, until temp lights etc, come on. But if I turn the car off, then start it again. It will drop back down to operating temp, once again it drops an increment about once every second. It seems to be random, i.e doesn’t do it every time I drive it, or in any particular conditions.
So the conclusion I have come to is that it isn’t actually overheating, so could it be sensor? ECU? Any help would be great on this.
Cheers ,Chris.
Hi Chris,
Form what you have described it does sound more like a sensor problem but obviously it is hard to say without seeing the car…
regards
HPF
Hello,
Recently my car was out of action due to a burnt out exhaust valve.
This is more than likely due to me putting a turbo back exhaust on and not getting a tune. It now has a new exhaust on it but still backfires ocassionally changing gears from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd etc. Will a tune fix this problem? if so how much will it cost, when can it be done and how long does it take?
It is a Subaru WRX MY03.
Ben
Hi Ben,
It is hard to say if the tune will fix the problem without seeing the car and understanding actually what is causing the backfire.
Best thing would be to book the car in for us to diagnose the fault and then tune it if that is the solution…
A custom tune for your car would be $795 and we would need the car for one day and are currently booked out around 1 week ahead of time.
regards
Rob Vickery
Ian i have a manual 2011 E3 GTS and am in love with the Idea of OTR intake and WP2300. The car is used as a daily driver. Have 2 concerns ADR complience and the clutch ability to handle the increase in torque. What do you think?
Hi Chris,
Unfortunately their is no option to run the OTR with the WP2300 as it comes with a specific airbox in inlet as part of the kit.
Your clutch will handle the WP2300′s extra power OK.
Compliance can be achieved but you would need to run a std exhaust system on the vehicle.
regard
Rob Vickery
Hi mate hope all is well
I have a bf xr turbo and i believe my TR6 gearbox is suffering from neutral rollover, its becoming quite annoying and loud, iv done some research and called a few local mechanics and everyone seems to suggest changing the oil to Castrol Transmax Z and taking the car for a long drive…is there anyway to get rid of this noise?
Cheers
Joe
Hi Joe,
You could try filling the gearbox with Transmax Z but noise on neutral roll over is common in that gearbox.
regards
Rob Vickery
Hi Ian, do you guys stock the ChipTorque XEDE Processor kit for the Gen 2 Mazda3 MPS?
If so, how much would this set me back if I were to have this installed?
Hi Sean,
We no longer use the Xede piggy back unit to re-programme the factory ECU
We now Re-Flash the factory ECU which a is a far superior process and gives a much better result.
Cost to HP-Flash and custom Dyno tune the Gen 2 MPS is $990.00
regards
Rob.
Thanks for the reply Rob. Approximately how many kw’s would this $990.00 package add to the Gen 2 MPS?
hi ian, i have a vu ss ute auto, ive realised that if i manually put it in first and hold the gear say i bring the revs up to 4000rpm and take my foot off the accelerator the revs just drop to idle instead of engine breaking? ive been driving the car and it drives fine you wouldnt know that it dis this if u leave it in drive.. any help would be appreciated!! thanks ian!
Hi, i have a 2000 astra, it has just been serviced, new timing belt, fuel filter,air filter, oil filter, spark plugs, leads. As soon as i picked it up the car with spanner light came on, back to machanic, decode & reset computer. Pick up again & same thing light came on. It seems to be idling higher than it was & when changing gears the RPM does not drop. Also slight surge at 60kmph & jolting between 1-2-3 gears. Any ideas?
Thanks
Hi Ainsley,
Would need to get more information on what engine Check light code it was? It would be worth checking the airflow meter…
regards
Ian.
Hi Guys,
I am looking at either buying a MY12 VE SS or a MY12 FG XR6T both in manual transmission.
What i would like to know, whats the stock standard power output on the threads of both of these cars from the manufacturer.
Sales guy at Holden told me today that the SS gets only 190rwkw off the shelf. Now to me that’s either wrong or Holden’s got a problem somewhere cos its a 30% power loss. He was telling me about a $5500 power package that they can organise and it would take it to 240rwkw. 240 is what it should be making out of the box.
XR6T from what i could find on the net is around 235-240rwkw off the shelf.
Please let me know what your experiences with these cars is.
From what I saw on Os Garage the XR6T get some nice power from just a tune. And with the flash controller its easy to set it back to standard when it goes in for the service
.
Thanks in advance, and when i make up my mind which car to get I will see you boys for some tuning.
Xander
Hi Xander,
Stock power figures at the wheels on our dyno –
MY12 VE SS – 200 – 210 rwkw
Stock power on MY12 XR6T – 210 – 220 rwkw
regards
HPF
Ian,
I want to increase performance of my LS2 M6 VE R8.
I want to use LS3 heads in stock form, L76 intake manifold and the GM Performance Parts ASA Camshaft.
This car currently has 1 7/8″ headers and 3″ system (all Hurricane) as well as the W427 OTR.
Can you advise any PTV clearance issues known with this cam (226/236 @ 0.050″ 0.525/0.525 and 110 LSA) given the LS3 heads and could you give an estimated increase in power as well as any recommendations for a similar combination with known good results?
I like the look of the above Camshaft due to the low net lift figures and suspect the LSA will compensate for that lack of lift while providing a little more reliability for my daily driven car. These camshafts sound awesome but I haven’t come across anyone that has done anything with this combination anywhere.
Hi Mark
All sounds ok in principal… Can’t comment on that cam as we have never used it and you should always check PTV when installing a cam regardless but I don’t see it being a problem as it is low lift.
We typically stick to a wider lobe separation on the 6.0lt engines.
regards
Rob.
Hey mate hope your fine, just had couple questions, i brought a 2005 SMG E46 M3 Coupe and want to give it a performance tune, how much will it cost and how much difference will i get example from 0-100 5.3s how much will it improve with the tune? and also i want to do modifications to it such as cold air-intake cams etc how will i go with that considering you guys don’t have parts on your page for European cars?
Kind Regards
Charlie
Hi Charlie,
Power would increase from 252 kW and 365 Nm to 275kW, and it’s torque to 399 Nm.
The price of the retune would be $1,190.00 Inc GST
We don’t currently don’t offer other bolt-on parts for the 2005 M3 so you would need to source them yourself prior to tuning.
regards
Rob.
Hi Ian, i own a madza 3 mps gen2. I just like to know before i get a type3 package are you gonna come up with a better package for the mps gen2 in 2012 thanks.
Hi Mark,
We don’t have any plans to change the type 3 package in 2012
regards
Rob.
Hello Ian,
Are you able to use the Diablo Predator tune on the 2011 WK2 5.7 Jeep? I have heard there have been some issuse with error codes on the WK2??
Hi Lewis,
We have not done one so I can’t be sure…best bet would be to shoot an email to Diablo in the US.
regards
Rob.
Hi guys, I am thinking of buying an xr6t but I’m unsure what model to go. I have two choices either a bf mkii xr6t or a fg xr6t, now I really love the new style of the fg but there’s one thing I’m unsure about and that’s the smaller turbo on the fg model. I heard that once I start modding the fg to make some decent numbers roughly (300 to 350rwkw) that the smaller turbo may run out of puff? Where as the bf model turbo may support these numbers? Thank you for you time. Cheers.
Hi Aaron,
Yep you are right! The FG XR6T is limited to around 300rwkw no matter what mods you do due to turbo size, where as the BF will make up to around 350rwkw with the right mods.
Other than that its a personal choice but I do like the the shape of the FG more than the BF and you cab always fit a larger turbo : )
regards
Rob.
Hi Ian, I have a 2010 xr50 turbo ute, just wondering if I change the Cat to a high flow one will I have to get the car tuned?
Cheers
Steve
Hi Steve,
Yes I would recommend getting it tuned as you have altered the back pressure in the exhaust which can alter the engines boost characteristics.
regards
HPF
Hi I have a vx ss auto commodore. I got fitted about month ago a 232/234 cam and stall converter. My problem is when the car is idling to long like at traffic lights and they take ages to go green my engine warning light comes on and my traction control button light on dash comes up same time. When this happens my traction control button does not work at all then. When I turn my car off it resets it and works again. I never had this problem before car went in for cam and stall. No other problems apart from this. When idling for a normal amount of time at lights np either only when car idles to long. I was told its a wheel sensor but it was all fine before car went in. havent had chance to take it back yet and a is hour and half drive to take it back and had no time with work atm thanks. Not a big issue atm just annoying if it rains. And light doesnt just come up once if I come to nother set of lights to long engine warning light comes up again thanks john
John, The check engine light is coming on because the ECU has logged a fault, it will then store a code to the fault. Check the fault code the ECU has logged and it should lead you to the fault.
Hey matt got someone locally today to check my car when light came on and like u said it will save fault code. Came back as no fault code at all. Someone said that sometimes when u fit a faily big cam its in the tune at idle or something this problem can happen. Guess maybe I will have to take it back to the guys who did it
Hi, I’ve Got a 2002 VX SII Calais Superchaged L67, The car has done approx. 228xxx Kms and i know this is a very delicate amount of KMs to start fiddling with boost etc but i really love this car and without doing a whole engine rebuild i’d love to convert it to a manual turbo, i’ve already began sourcing parts – A Garrett gt35 turbo, small-meduim sized hybrid bar & plate FMIC, Yella Terra 1:97 Ultra ratio roller rockers & 15/16″ pushrods sitting in my garage and have already fitted a VX GTS Catback exhaust, but i’ve also come in possesion of a Eaton M90 Supercharger with a 12PSI Mangnusion pulley. My question to you is how bad is it really to go ahead with this and has my time been wasted sourcing parts, when i should get a custom package deal instead. i’m not aiming for a Horsepower Machine i’d like a nice 210-230 rwkw power figure
What are my options !?
Hi Michael, I will begin in saying if the engine is running fine now and is not noisy then adding a turbo charger will not mean it will instantly fold up into broken bits of metal on the road, the key is to make sure its tuned properly and you use quality components in your conversion. I have seen some very nice turbo conversions on these cars over the years, i have also seen some terrible ones. Auto Sport Engineering in SA makes a great manifold for the turbo you have so i would advise you to give Dave a ring and ask him to supply you what you need. The amount of KM on the engine is high, i would still go ahead with it but keep it low boost.
Hi Ian,
Just wondering I have a mate who owns a 2007 Mazda 3 Maxx Sport, was wondering if any modifications could be done on it? His always wanted to do something on it and thought it would be a good present! Suggestions?
Cheers,
Gary
Hi Gary,
Unfortunately we don’t have any upgrades for the Mazda 3 Maxx Sport available at this time.
regards
Rob Vickery
Gday ian
Used to watch c31 and see your show but since going digital dont know if you are still on the box.
I have a ford six cylinder au fairmont series 2 which is in the process of getting pacemaker 4499 extractors and 2 1/2 inch lukey exhaust on it.Now after you get up of the floor from laughing at my choice of car could you please advise me on the following.
I am planning to put on an au xr 6 snorkel and high flow k & n filter.I am also planning to put in a mild cam but to do this i need to have the car chiped or tuned apparently because this model goes into limp mod with a non factory cam.
Any advice on price and direction with this car would be appreciated bearing in mind i never go above 5,000 rpm and usually drive to 4,000 rpm max.
It is my daily driver and just want to do the basics extractors exhaust cam intake and tune
Thanks
Damo
Hi Damo,
Admittedly I’m not the Brain Trust in regards to mods for the AU Falcon however your cold air intake and exhaust choices seem fine. Given your driving style I do not believe it is worth putting in a mild cam as the percentage of the power gain will be above 4000rpm. Having said that, we do not tune AU Falcon’s sorry.
Regards, Matt.
Hi Ian,
I have a VY Clubby with a bit of work done to it
(Diff, Clutch, Valve springs etc.., COMP 228 cam, GT4088 700hp turbo)
It makes 375rwkw & 1030nm of torque @ 8psi…
My question is: I’m making the same power at 10psi as i’m making at 8psi, there’s no increase in power when i up the boost, i’m thinking i have some sory of restriction somewhere but no clue????
Hi Micheal,
It’s hard to say without seeing the set-up but first thing I would do is probe the exhaust to see how much back pressure you have.
regards
Rob Vickery
hi ian, i recently bought a vu ss ute, auto, stock standard, no mods at all and its been baby’d its whole life, when i put my foot down it seems to hesitate a bit then around 4,000 rpm it takes off, somtimes it doesnt really take off? i think it could be due to a small exhaust leak near the extractors or could it be somthing like the maf sensor? its got full service history up to 3,000 k’s ago. any help would be great! thanks mate!
Hi Jason
Obviously it is hard to diagnose without seeing the car but would more likely to be a faulty or dirty MAF causing the hesitation rather than the exhaust leak.
regards
Ian
Hi Ian, I’m from Brazil and own a Hyundai i30 (also called Elantra Touring in the US) DOHC Petrol 2.0l, 16v, Manual Transmission. I have been considering to add some HPs by installing a Turbo kit. I don’t want too much power and nothing too exagerated. Something around 0.6 bar in pressure and/or around 250-300 HPs. But, problem is that I can’t find a turbo kit already manufactured to this model. Am I making the wrong search? Is that any other turbo kit that would fit this engine? What would be your recommendations (even in Eletronics, beyond the Turbo kit)? Thank you very much.
Hi Patrick
Sorry for delayed response…Unfortuntately I really can’t offer you any solution other than to suggest it would probebly require a custom turbo kit and an aftermarket ECU to control the engine..which makes things expensive and complex.
regards
Ian.
how much for a lumpy cam and a 3 inch exhaust for 06 v8 boss
hi ian…
i recently purchased a vehicle that supposedly has an ls7 crate engine installed. after careful examination of the vehicle i think i might have been ripped off for an ls2 block with ls7 heads only… can the guys at horsepower factory inspect the engine and confirm the real displacement of the engine… all the paperwork match however some physical attributes of the engine do not meet ls7 standards, one example is that the rocker covers have an oil cap when an ls7 has a dry sump… and the alternator location varies from its u.s.a counterpart. plz let me know if horsepower factory can do the inspection because not one mechanic i’ve been too understands the true nature of my enquirey.
thanks for the forum
ralph..
Hi Arif,
Yes we could determine what the engine is if you brought the car to us for checking.
regards Rob Vickery
Hi Ian,
I have just purchased an xr6 Turbo ute and want to upgrade it to your 375kw package, my question is will my ZF 6 speed transmission need to be upgraded or will it hold the increased power?
Hi Colin,
The ZF 6 Speed Auto is a strong box and will cope with the power, only recommendation I would make is to add a larger Transmission cooler for piece of mind…
Cheers Rob Vickery
ive got a 2006 v8 boss, whats the cheapest way to get more performance? its the boss magnet and it says 260 kw on the bonet but every other v8 boss is 290 kw im hoping its a miss print? does the echo computer give you more power, theres so much i want to do to it but dont no where to start!! cheers kane
Hi Kane,
The best place to start would be with our Venom 305 package.This package gives you the X-Cal3 tuner that will allow you to retune your ECU as you want to do further modifications.
regards Rob Vickery
Guys,
I have a KIA Grand Carnival ( yeah I know it’s not a performance car, I have a Fairmont for that ) My question is regarding fuel consumption, we have had it for 2 years now and the fuel use has gone through the roof, however the vehicle is being used exactly the same.
We have just done 20K, even though we have had the 60K service done, based on the age. We are getting somewhere between 18L – 20L per 100 out of the car, 2 years ago, it was 12 – 14 Litres!
I have contacted KIA, they said that was acceptable, and we should pay to have the injectors cleaned, no fault codes come up, no smoke blowing, no lack of power, no fuel leaks.
What should we be looking for ?, or who can we trust to take it too as we are new to our area, the dealer doesn’t seem to know why either.
Do you know a trusted mechanic/performance tech that would be able to fault find in Western Sydney ?
Thanks
Gus
Hi Gus
I really couldn’t recommend anyone up in Western sydney…Sorry
While the may benefit from an injector clean I would be suprised if that is the cause of your fule economy problem?
I would try and talk to someone else who has the same car as you and find out what their economy is to give you an idea of what is normal for that car?
regards Rob Vickery
Hello Ian,
I have a 06 prado with the 127kw/410nm diesel. The package that you have brings it up to 152kw/492nm. What is the next step after that to increase power and more importantly, increase torque without compromising on the durability of the engine?.
Cheers,
Louis
Hi Louis,
Their are a couple of options including a boost upgrade, best bet would be to call my Sales manager Matt Jackson to discuss options and cost.
regards Rob Vickery
I have a stock BA XR6 Manual with 240,000 country kms on it. I want to get a bit more low and mid range power but bearing in mind the milage I am not interested in top end. I rarely rev it over 5000.
Can you do a custom tune for me to this aim and what would the cost be for bring my own Flash 2 tuner or for you to supply flash tuner as well. Would it still be safe to run on 91 octane fuel for country cruising when I cant get 95? Or would I have to run 98 all the time?
Hi Andrew,
Unless you are prepared to run the car on 98 Octane fuel all the time I wouldn’t recommend tuning it as I don’t think you would get enough of a benefit to justify the cost..
The cost to supply and custom tune an X-Cal3 flash unit is $1395
regards Rob Vickery
G’day, just bought an ’02 VX SS Geno, it has the ‘Vaporate’ fuel injector collars installed. In your opinion, is there any compromise to power and would I still be able to get the g4s310-power-package fitted up? Cheers!
Hi Matt,
I don’t believe their will be any comprimise to power as we adjust the ECU to the correct mixtures as part of the G4S310 package.
regrads Rob Vickery
Hey Ian, i have a 2008 VE sv6 ute, i am looking for more power. What mods would you suggest?
Is it possible to put the WP Power Package – 3″ Bi Modal Exhaust on a 2007 VE SV6
Hi John,
Sorry WP don’t offer a power package for the VE SV6.
HPF can offer a range of upgrades for you SV6 best thing would be to My Sales manager Matt Jackson to dsicuss your options.
X-Force do a nice Cat back system for the VE SV6.
Their is
regards Rob Vickery
Hi Mark,
Their ar a few mods we can offer you fro your SV6 including ECU Custom tune, Over the radiator cold air intake and exhaust upgrades their is alo an aftermarket intake plenum that the manufactures vclaims gives a 20hp @ the wheels increase.
best bet would be to cal my sales manager Matt Jackson and discuss your budget and what we can offer.
regards Rob VIckery
Hi Ian, i have a vu ute ls1 with difilpo headers and twin 2 1/2 exhaust, im just wondering what sort of kms i can expect from a tank?, as i think the 270-300kms from a full tank is not that great, and i am positive the car has never been tuned after these aftermarket exhaust parts have been applied, any ideas?
Hi Brad,
Economy is a hard thing to gauge (excuse the punn) it really does relate to your right foot and the type of driving you do i.e city or country driving.
300Ks to tank does not sound to crazy however in saying that it may be worth running it up on the dyno to check the tune and mixture’s etc in case it does have an issue.
You don’t have a pod filter or home made cold air intake? I see a lot of guys fitting pod filter’s to the intake pipe and having them sitting in the engine bay without any enclosure… This can destroy your fuel economy as the ECU Air temp sensor will pick up the hot intake temps and richen the mixtures up to compensate.
regards Rob Vickery
Hey thanks for ur reply, since i had posted here, i have been to Your perfromance centre and had a ls1 power package(290 kit) done and at the moment im very happy with fuel eco.. in the next week or so i will post up what kms i am getting now, cheers mate
Hi Ian,
I have a new WK Jeep Grand Cherokee overland 5.7, how much will the predator tuning cost and how much power should I expect to gain?
Also do you offer any exhaust packages to suit?
Regards Luke
Hi Luke,
The Diablo Preditor and custom tune will cost you $1395 Inc GST.
The true worth of the Preditor tune is not fully reflected in the results achieved on th dyno and while I would only expect a power increase of around 5% their is a noticeacle differnece on the road where we are able to modify torque management and shift points to make th car feel stronger.
regards Rob Vickery
I have a mercedes GL500. Your euro tune doesnt list this particular model, but has others which run the same 5.5L 285kw v8. Can you advise if this is possible and also the power gains you have achieved on other vehicles? Currently the car runs everything standard and i always use 98 premium. Also what is the cost for this euro tune.
Hi Rene, no problem. You can expect to pick up around 15-20kw (flywheel) at a cost of $1990.
Cheers,
Matt.
Hi I have a ba xr8 1 tonner. Been having problems with flat in responsive power in all the gears, thought it was tuning and had the car flash tuned (not sure if they tuned it right). Then the tuner defended is tune by saying it’s trans problems? I have no idea who to trust and who to listen to? Mods are hm exhaust with hiflows growler ss induction and tuned. I understand you will have to inspect the car, any information would be appreciated thanks adam
Adam, As you suggested, we would need to see the car and do some tests on the dyno. Give me a call if we can help.
Matt.
I have an 05 Mazda MPS 6, recently the transfer unit has chipped a gear or something like that (had a mazda mechanic mate check it out) without pulling the whole thing apart hard to confirm. Can you do replacement transfer gears or used transfer unit? If so $$?
Cheers!
Hi Chris, no idea. We would need to take a look at the car to give you any idea on cost sorry.
Hi Travis,
Best thing would be to call Alex our Service manager on 97931616 and book it in for us to to give you a no obligation quote.
Cheers Ian.
Hi Ian
I have a MY07 350Z (VQ35HR) and have installed a CAI & Borla Dual cat back exhaust. I’m interested in getting additional power from it. Would I need to just dyno tune the car or do I need additional components to allow this to happen.
Thanks
Tim
Hi Tim,
I don’t believe we are able to reflash the factory ECU on your model however we are still able to provide a custom tune using a piggy-back type ECU which runs in conjunction with the factory unit.
Best bet would be to have a chat with Matt at matt@hp-f.com.au or 9793 1616 who will be able to offer details on options available.
Cheers,
Ian
Hey Ian.
I got myself a R32 GTR and looking at getting it tuned. First of all do you have a 4 wheel dyno? Are you familiar with a power FC? I know I’m looking at a few hours on and off the dyno and I was wondering about a quick estimate on time and price.
Cheers.
Hi Justin,
Sorry for the delay in my reply. Yes we do have a 4wd dyno, yes we are very familiar with power FC. The cost for a custom dyno tune on a PowerFC is $595.
Hope that helps.
Ian
Ian,
I have a 2003 Holden Astra SRi Turbo. It has a larg FMIC, 3″ cat back exhaust, remapped. What is my next modification step to get higher power? I believe I am still running the standard turbo, is this my next move?
Hi Bryce,
A turbo upgrade could be an option, but I would suggest you look into upgrading the turbo dump pipe and cat first. Almost all factory turbo cars benefit from this both in outright power and in turbo responsiveness. We haven’t done much ourselves with your particular model so cannot offer any specifics I’m afraid.
Ian
hi ian was just wondering do you no where i can get a good job weekens or weekdays working on or around cars im currently building myself a vp commodore but im wanting to work with more expeirinced adults any places likehpf would be amazing even if i just was sweeping or somthing i could still get to see all the cars and people working on them
Hi Samuel,
Thanks for your message. We don’t have anything available at the moment but if something comes up we’ll let you know.
Ian
Hey Ian, i have a vl turbo, rb30 engine a8 engine without the turbo, just wondering if you guys have a rough idea how much it would cost to supply and install a turbo and intercooler. thanks
Hi Jake, honestly not something we do much of anymore and it might be easier to do a RB25DET conversion? Not sure on the price there, depends on how much you can buy an engine for and how complete it is.
Hi Ian,
I need to have the Valve stem seals replaced in my Valiant that runs a 265 Hemi.
How much will that cost?
Thanks
Hi Ian,
I have a 2004 MY05 wrx sti with an exhaust (turbo back) it has been retuned to 190kwatw on 18psi, i was looking to go one step further around the 220-230kwatw mark. What mods would you suggest?
I dont want to open up the motor so just bolt-on mods. I also want it to be reliable and safe as its my daily driver.
cheers.
Hi Ian,
I’ve got a Mazda6 MPS (2005model)and want to get a BOV in it.Could you tell me if that can be done and how much would it cost approximately?thanks
Hi Oscar,
We supply and fit Turbosmart BOV’s. One to suit your MPS will cost $249 fitted.
Let me know what you think.
Thanksfor the info Ian. How soon do you think I can get it fitted?thanks.
Hi Oscar,
Matt in Performance sales here.
You will need to give myself or Jeremy a call to make a booking.
Cheers.
Hi Matt,
I was just asking around if BOVs were street legal and most of them say that they are not as they let off compressed air into the atmosphere,some issue with the EPA. and also, aren’t we allowed to have a louder sounding BOV?Help please…. thanks
Ian
I am looking to make some power upgrades to my MY01 WRX. The only mods currently is a full 3inch xforce exhaust and a BOV. No tuning has been done since the exhaust was fitted. I would like your advice on what I should get done next, preferably som e cheap efficient mods and working my way up, thanks!
Hi Brad,
I would recommend custom tuning the engines ECU, it’s the best bang for buck you will find and will make the car a lot more fun to drive. We will safely add boost and optimise the ignition timing and fuel maps to get the best from your current combination, you can expect to see an increase of around 20-25kw at all four wheels. The cost is $795 and we would need the car for just one day.
hi ian
i have a vx commodore v6 with a vortech supercharger v2. I am now wanting to intercool it.i have a vt clubsport full bodykit on the car and there are foglights in the front bar which i do not want to take out. is there a way around these foglights without the intercooling piping interfering? cheers
Hi Ian,
ive got a vy 1 tonner, ls1, 6 speed manual.
we had some problems with the car like it was misfiring. anyway we changed plugs and leads and went to (wont metion the name of the shop) for a retune at this time they fitted it with a bigger in take and airbox and dyno tuned it (mafless) it seemed to be a bit better but we still had problems such as hesitation under heavy acceleration and fluctuating idle.
so we went back there and they had told us that some of this lifters had colapsed inside the heads and could not pump up the pushrod which caused the valves to hold open and create a miss.
apparently, this is a common problem according to this shop. hoave you ever heard of this? personally i have not.
to resolve this the car went in for new lifters, but while it was ripped apart we threw in a ‘big’ cam (we also have not been given any specs for the cam so we dont know exactly what part number it is, but aparently it’s COME racing) anyway cam, double valve springs, double row timing chain and the heads were shaved for more compression, also 4 into 1 hm headers extractors and 3 inch hi-flow cats.
the car now is better to drive goes reasonably hard and accelerates well.
but we still had the idle fluctuation problem for sometime, and it was a random thing it would do it on and off, so it got tuned and seemed to be better only that now instead of the idle going up and down it would hold, and when it held it was either at 1250 revs or as high as 1750!
to try and solve this they repositioned the air temp sensor and put a new throttle sensor on the throttle body, this had no effect.
the car now has what they call “the rev tune”
the car idles properly now but idles at around 950 rpm instead of the usual 850 rpm, which is good that it idles properly but when it was lower it had that real lumpy, rough idle which i miss.
anyway with this rev tune there is 2 problems that i can notice
1) when you try and short shift (below say 2000 rpm) when you depress the clutch the revs will raise and hold at 1750 rpm until you engage the next gear, this to me is not right, this also sometimes occurs when slowing down and going back through the gears, for example i came up to the lights in 4th and i depressed the clutch to see what would happen and the revs raised from 1250 to 1750 where it held itself for a few seconds then very slowly dropped as i came to a stop then dropped to idle.
2) occasionally you can hear the motor “pinging” which sounds horrid and means the timing is out which im sure you know, so basically after a whole lot of time and money that seems to have been wasted we got rid of one of the problems we had but it seems to have created another.
any of your help would be very much appreciated, cheers paul.
Hi Paul, what a mission. Basically it looks to me that it needs to be re-tuned. We can stop the pinging and failing any mechanical issue we will sort out the idle issue.
Give Matt a call at the office to make a booking,
Cheers, Ian.
yeah we’ll have to get in touch with him thanks heaps mate, just want the car to drive nice. cheers paul
Hi Ian,
I’m looking to buy Forester XT (MY11) with auto transmission. What are my options in terms of increasing power/torque? How will auto ‘box restrict my options (if at all)?
Cheers,
James.
Hi James,
We have upgraded quite a few auto Foresters and the transmission seems to holding up just fine and in fact the are quite good fun to drive. Check out the Forester packages, the 2011 model is much the same as the 2009.
Cheers,
Ian.
Gday mate
Just bought myself a 535i e39 “M Sport” ’99 model. The question I have is basically what should I do to get some reliable power? A slight concern I have is that in my daily (523i E39) after about 8 months the transmission started to slip very slightly in 2nd, so I was wondering what sort of costs am I looking at to upgrade the transmission on the 535?
Thanks in advance.
hi Ian, Im an onwer of MY02 STI, I have ordered a turboXS stealth back exhaust from HPF, and installed and tuned by your boys last week. everything went smooth except I noticed that after 3rd gear, im experience boost creep. once the boost hit the max point, my boost gauge needle start bouncing and slowly builds up boost. at moment, my boost gauge shown the max boost is nearly 1.4bar on 4th gear. is it normal for STI have this kind of problems after TBE installed? and what I can do to stop this behavior? Any comments will be Appreciated. cheers
Hi Leon,
It sounds like the wastegate port is too small for the amount of air flow through the turbocharger. This is a common issue and can cause the boost to raise more than what is programmed in the ECU, it is more often noticed in higher gears and on cooler nights. If the raise in boost is not too dramatic it will not normally cause any issue with the reliability of the car bit I think it’s a good idea to bring the car back in to have as see if we can adjust the boost or alternatively advise you on what mechanical changes we can make to stop this happening.
Hi i have a ba mk2 xr6 turbo ute with a 310kw tune that hpf have done the ute has the stock intercooler and pipe work would replacing this with shorter pipe work be the best for reducing turbo lag and would i need to get the vehicle tuned again
Hi Leighton,
The pipe work length will not really alter the boost response time or turbo “LAG” enough to warrant the cost and complexity of shortening the pipe work. A larger replacement intercooler is worthwhile from a performance standpoint, a larger exhaust particularly the dump pipe can help with boost response.
hey Ian i have a vu ss and when im driving slow and turn left it makes weird noises its like a knocking noise coming from the diff?? any idea?
Hi Leigh,
It could be a number of things including a common problem known as LSD ‘cone shudder’, which can generally be fixed by putting an additive in the diff. Cost for us to do this is around $150. Best bet would be to book it in for us to have a look and go from there.
Cheers,
Ian.
Hi Ian,
I currently own a vz maloo ls2 with otr, camtech cam 233/233 113 lsa, pacemaker 4 into 1 1 7/8″, twin 3″ s/steel exhaust & tune.
It currently has 313rwkw & I am looking to improve that up to about 400rwkw, I am undecided weather to stick with N/A with a stroker kit or go to forced induction your thoughts? also will my current cam work with forced aplications?
Cheers,
Ken
Hi Ken,
To make 400rwkw with require forced induction of some sort, my advice would be to add a supercharger. Supercharging will still offer good driveability and reliability, a 400rwkw stroker will be a pig on the road and overall much more expensive. Your existing camshaft should work fine with supercharging. You have a couple of options in regards to supercharging, best bet would be to contact our performance sales manager Matt for full details, pricing and options.
Thanks, Ian.
Hello, I have a vt s2 with a l98 motor, it has a reasonably aggressiv cam, tune exhaust 3k stally and 3:9s .i want to stay N/A for now. I have 334 rwkw. whats the best tip for adding another 50 rwkw or so for extra … umpf ?
Hi Robert,
334 rwkw is about all that I would expect out of that sort of package, to get another 50 will required either making the engine bigger or adding some sort of forced induction (Nitrous, supercharger, turbo). The best thing you can do is shoot our Performance Sales manager an email with what you are looking to do and he can reply in detail.
Cheers,
Ian.
gday ian!
i own a 2003 sti with quite a few mods such as front mount,bigger turbo,exhaust ect ect,i had it re-tuned and the problem was the tuner couldnt get the cams to come on in 1st and 2nd but starts to come on in 3rd an 4th,so we replaced the cam censors and replaced the filters in the banjo bolts but still no luck!he said that it could be a oil feed problem and says i need to pull the engine out?what do you think about this?thanks
regards Adrian.
Hi Adrian,
I don’t think this is a oil feed or VVT sensor issue because as you say It does work in 3rd and 4th gear, these car do have a couple of other sensor problems which we would need to log with a scan tool, we have seen this problem before and believe we can rectify the issue once we know which sensor is the issue and If you can get the car to us.
Contact Matt, our performance sales manager to make a booking or if you are interstate.
Cheers, Ian.
That sounds like good news!thanks heaps for the reply,ill book it in as soon as possible and get it sorted,thank you.
G’day Ian,
I will be purchasing a new Suzuki Kizashi sport very soon. What kind of increased performance can be achieved without huge cost or warranty breech???
Lew Postlethwaite
Hi Lew,
I’ve heard great things about the Kizashi although haven’t driven one myself. Unfortunately we haven’t come across any performance upgrades for them just yet so don’t have much to offer I’m afraid.
Regarding warranty, a warranty claim can be denied by the manufacturer should the modifications performed have directly contributed to the problem. For example if you fit an exhaust system and a seat fails, then warranty on the seat should be honored.
I hope that helps!
Ian.
G’day Ian,
HPF has been highly recommended to me by the global Alfa Romeo Owner Forum website from the other side of the globe.
Although you don’t work on Alfa’s, apparently you guys know your stuff when it comes to turning and that you’re great guys. Which is good enough for me!
My question is that I’m considering installing an additional ECU PowerMAP to my 2009 Alfa Romeo MiTo Sport TB 155bhp once my Super Sprint exhaust arrives from Italy.
I’m looking to increase horsepower, but don’t want to jeopardize its reliability.
My Alfa dealership has highly recommended I don’t start messing around with the engine by installing an additional ECU PowerMAP because they believe this will cause major problems to my vehicle with the potential of it breaking down.
Is this the case, and would you recommend this upgrade Ian?
Thank you in advance for your feedback.
Regards,
Marcus
Hi Marcus,
Its always great to hear when people are referred to us!
Whatever the tuning solution chosen there should be no problems with reliability providing that it is designed, installed and tuned correctly. A full check on the dyno is critical to this process to ensure that the engine is operating safely.
If you like I’ll have Matt look into whether we can provide a tuning solution for your MiTo.
Ian
G’day Ian,
Thanks for the reply.
Since I posted my question to you, the guys on the Alfa Romeo forum who are based in the UK have suggested that instead of getting an Additional ECU PowerMAP (due to costs) – discuss the options of upgrading the existing ECU because that would be more than sufficient enough.
What are your thoughts Ian?
I’ll contact Matt once my Sports Super Sprint exhaust arrives from Italy for that tuning solution.
Thank you.
Marcus
Hi Ian,
I’ve since spoken with Matt and once the exhaust arrives I’ll be making an appoitnemnt to see him.
Thanks again for your assistance, and I can’t wait to get this updated.
Cheers,
Marcus
what is the best cam manufacturer in australia for holden chev engines i have the l76 its been to hpf for a tune but looking at getting the cam and valve springs done not to sure if its worth getting the timing chain done never heard of them snapping. Do not want to do any thing to the auto so what are your thoughts.
regards dean
Hi Dean,
We use a couple of suppliers for camshafts and these are chosen to suit the application. Some of the company’s we use are Comp Cams, Kelfords, Crow, Camtech and Howards racing cams. Most of the camshaft are custom ground to suit our requirements. Give Matt a call to discuss your ideas.
Thanks for your enquiry, Ian.