Finally got back to work on the 05' turbo car. Getting totaled out in the 04' has taken up way to much of my time. I'm just lucky there was some insurance to partially cover my car and get me something nice. Unfortunately the replacement car needed some work and took me away from this project for awhile.

I got some mandrel bent 3" tubing and a MAF flange to get rid of the couplings and different size tube from piece to piece. I also got some 1/8" cell x 1" thick aluminum honeycomb to put in there to help straighten / equalize the flow. I used ultra black rtv for the MAF flange to test before I make it permanent. I had no idea if it would hold it under pressure or just blow it off but didn't want to weld it up and find out it needed to be somewhere else to work right. So far I have been driving it a couple of days now and it is much much better! I think I'm finally happy with it and ready to retune and leave it alone for awhile. I'll probably pull the maf pipe, pry the flange off, wire wheel it off and weld it up to make it a final product.


3" maf intake

3" maf intake

1/8" x 1" aluminum honeycomb

IAT mod

 

We had some real good tuning time this weekend and finished up the final tune for 7PSI. We completely tuned the fueling with uprev and the 3" maf, it had just enough voltage range with the new MAF housing to do it all on the stock ECU. The car feels awesome and pulls really hard now. I would guess it's in the 325WHP range. We are going to datalog and test things at this boost level for a couple weeks before we push the boost up to 10-12psi and then repeat. I'm going to hook up the water/meth injection and start testing IAT temp drops now. 3rd gear pulls (2500rpm to 6500rpm) at 7psi would rise 29 degrees. I'll probably take it to the track next weekend and get a few 1/4 mile passes to get some data, also I'm going to play with the datalogs and virtual dyno to see how accurate it is. I'll break out the GoPro and get some more video. Maybe run it against my new 08' G35x HR to show the difference. I'm at 162k miles now and am worried that the transmission probably won't take a whole lot more abuse so I started cleaning a spot in the garage to build the new 5AT that I pulled from a 146k mile FX35.

 

Does that transmission have the same number of clutch disks on each pack? I know with the 7AT they only had like... 3 disks on 6th and 7th gear and it was problematic for folks with the G37.

Are you planning on keeping the same torque converter or going with a higher rpm stall converter?

 

Not sure yet, Hopefully I'll open it up and get a clutch count in the next week or two. If it's built like the other Jatco transmissions that we have worked on it's usually the high drum that burns up under high torque loads. We will measure the packs and see what has the most wear at 146k miles. I'll stick with the stock converter unless I have problems. On the RE4 transmissions we lock up the stock converter @ 8 PSI manually before it's too hard on it. It also stays locked through shifting so there is less loss through the converter. We had a built converter on my 20PSI RE4 car and couldn't tell much difference for the $600. If anyone is interested in the workings of the RE5R05A here is the manual : http://shop.ukrtrans.biz/wp-content/...gs/RE5R05A.pdf

Got the water / meth system back in the car tonight. It is a AEM progressive setup that I set to turn on at 2-3psi and full pressure by 9psi. I strapped the pump right next to the windshield washer tank, tapped the washer tank bottom for a 1/8 npt quick fitting, then installed the jet right behind the MAF sensor. Pretty cool this way because the low washer fluid light tells me to fill up! I'm using straight distilled water right now. I'll add meth to it later on.

Did a second gear pull tonight with the water injection running all the way to 6600 RPM: Started at 133f degrees and was 115f degrees at the end of the pull. (crusing around temps were at 128-136f). Before the water injection I did a 3rd gear pull and saw a 29f degree rise. They say every 10 degrees you lower your intake temp adds 1% HP.

I still need to move the air filter to the trunk passenger corner, box it in and pull outside air through the bottom flap. It is sucking hot trunk air right now and would probably help me even more.

Another note: I was running the stock 08' G35x the same night fully heat soaked the intake temps coasting were 111f compared to the 05' turbo car running 136f. The HR might run a little cooler than the DE because of the plastic intake but I know sucking hot trunk air is also part of the temp difference.

 

Time for a NACA duct on the rear quarter.

 

I was kinda thinking about that or a roof scoop to trunk ram air setup.... But I'll probably just keep it stealthy.

I should be taking the car to Rogersville speedway tomorrow night. I want to get some 1/4 mile times while data logging the car. I'm going to spray water the first couple runs and then run 40% methanol / water to see if I get any temp change. It will be on 7psi until I get enough data to push more.

 

Rain, rain, rain.... The track was shut down all weekend. I'll have to take it out there next Friday for track times. We played with about 15% methanol and water today. The 08' G35x HR engine was running 111f driving around in the 90 degree heat. The 05' turbo car was running about 128f driving around out of boost. When we did a full 1,2,3 pull the IAT's stayed at 111f. When we did some short light boost pulls during spirited driving it would get down to 85f. I also noticed we were running about 1/2 a point leaner AFR than normal under boost so we are making some more WHP.

 

Well the track had a shootout going so no test and tune. Rained not too long after they opened anyway so I probably wouldn't have got many runs in anyway. It did give us time to crack open the transmission to get to know it a little better. We found out right away that the 143k mile transmission had hot spots and blackened clutches on the high drum. I also found that the new steels for the high drum that I ordered wouldn't fit. So I did a little searching and found that the Titans and big V8 vehicles have a stamped steel high drum with 5 clutches vs the passenger car V6 drums that are machined aluminum drums with 4 clutches. This was actually one reason I have been thinking about getting a Titan / Armada transmission to dissect because the V8's put down almost 400 torque stock compared to our V6 230 torque. So I need to either modify the aluminum basket for 5 clutches or start with a Titan / Armada with steel baskets and use my original valve body. Anyway I'm not going to try and add the whole trans build into this thread and start a general RE5R05A rebuild thread later after I get some actual run time on a rebuilt unit.

We had a little extra time so we put the manual boost controller back in the 05' turbo car and turned it up 1 click. We are hitting about 11 PSI now and running 50/50 water/meth spray. We probably will leave it this way until I finish up a 3.5" MAF housing built just like the 3" in the car now. The 3" is almost maxed out and the GTR injectors are at about 72% - The car feels really good now!

Edit: the IAT's were at 108f degrees on a uphill pull @ 11psi. It was cooler outside than normal but the meth/water jet is still doing it's job at about 385whp


Aluminum High Drum

High Drum steels hot spots and blackened clutches

RE5R05A vs RE4F03B "G35 vs G20"

That last picture is the brake drum from my G20 that we have put 300whp to the ground. The G35 drum next to it is wayyyy bigger haha

 

The track was rained out Friday so we spent the weekend wrenching. Went to my local pick n pull since it was 1/2 off weekend and got some great stuff. I managed to spot a set of rebuilt SE-R brembo 4 pot calipers and got them for $7.50 each haha. I also got a 07' armada RE5R05A 4wd tranny for $90 to dissect and see what parts are different V8 VS V6 passenger car transmissions.

So the V8 stuff in the RE5 transmissions not only has taller baskets for more frictions and steels, the planetary gear set has 5 gears vs the 4 gears thats in the V6 transmissions and it's a machined steel housing vs cast aluminum. That explains the torque capacity ratings between them. Another thing is the bearings and journals through the V8 transmissions are larger. Even though they use the exact same outer case and front pump there are differences that keep the V8 transmission from just dropping into our cars. The Input shaft is longer, the pump stationary shaft is longer and the 4wd models would need a AWD long basket output shaft to convert to AWD length. I'm still debating on modifying my V6 passenger car transmission baskets for 20% more frictions or just getting deeper into the V8 transmission parts to build a bulletproof one... I'm just not sure where and what the limit is going to be on the stock V6 stuff and really don't want the transmission being my weak link. I'm pretty sure I can get a V8 transmission converted with the correct input and output shafts and it wouldn't cost too much more to get it built. It's just going to take a lot more time and parts research to get it right.


The mess we made this weekend

V8 vs V6 bearings

Input drum V8 is the taller one

5 gear steel planetary vs cast aluminum 4 gear

V6 input

V8 input

V8 torque converter is larger, probably has more lockup material and also has deeper spline engagement.

 

Finally after a month of rain and delays the track will be open and the sun will be shining! After I get out of work we are picking up another cheap 2008 G35x for my brother and then heading out to the track. Hopefully everything holds together and we get some decent times. I really have no idea what a 11psi awd G will do in the 1/4 mile but I would really like it to be at least high 12's... Wish me luck! I'll get video and track time slips.

A note on the water/meth system. When I drive it hard all week it uses right at 1 gallon. This week I haven't driven as hard and used 1/2 gallon. So the windshield washer tank works great.

 

That's high. My IAT is only about 10-15 degrees higher than the temperature outside. Sitting at a light I get 15-25 above. I'm only running a no name 2.75" CAI (it's almost touching the driver side fender liner near the tire) and some hvac silver heat resistant tape. Try using hvac tape on the cold side and on the maf. It seems to help.

 

Yeah, the IAT's are a lot different with a turbo car, yet a turbo car that sucks air from the trunk and shares exhaust heat. They will drop down when I start sucking air from the back corner vent. It doesn't really matter now that I have the water / meth injection. We just retuned everything on a new 3.5" MAF tube. The 3" was maxed out and we couldn't do any more tuning. I also had to drop the meth content down since we were actually fueling the car with the spray We went from mid 11's to flat 10's when we had 50/50 water/meth in the tank. I think I'll probably go to -20 windshield fluid when I'm done. We tested it with a bober proof gauge and it shows 35% methanol and it only costs $3 a gallon. Now with the new MAF tube and spraying water again we did a uphill pull in 3rd and partially 4th gear on a 92 degree day started @ 150 degrees and end of pull was low 80's. You can't do that with just a intercooler. We are still pulling too much timing out (1 degree per PSI) and I need to get virtual dyno working or get some dyno time so we can make use of the E85. I'm thinking we can almost get away with stock NA timing with the fuel and spray. I can't imagine how well this car would run with 8-10 degrees timing back into it. (We are taking our time and trying to be safe) I contacted Uprev about the integrated Virtual dyno they are working on and they said it should be in the next BIG upgrade. I really hope that comes out soon because it would speed the tuning process up for us.

So if to wrap up all of my ramblings: The way the car is setup it

should be good for 450whp. We just need a dyno or virtual dyno or just anything that is consistent so we can work the timing table safely. I have tried regular virtual dyno but it does not like Uprev's data logs for some reason. Maybe if I get more time I can figure it out.

 

Yeah your IAT's will be alot higher because you were running a hot turbo and exhaust piping and sucking air from that same location. Ever thought of cutting some vents, maybe building a longer intake to suck outside air. The longer intake won't matter much because compressed turbo air still gets hot. That's why heat exchangers/intercoolers exist. Your water and meth only works as long you have some. You have to constantly keep it filled up. Same as nitrous. When you run out? Run e85 to keep the engine from knocking. Find a used intercooler or a universal off brand ebay intercooler kit. They're not expensive. Also hot air means less power and a turbo that has to work harder. Water and meth should be an aid to help further lower your IAT when installed with your intercooler. It was never meant to be a replacement lol

Anyway I like your build its unique. I have a 04 G35X myself in black obsidian. Currently running it in rwd mode for the better handling and to save gas. Removed awd fuse. Mods: ebay CAI, 1/2 plenum spacer, ebay test pipes, ebay vhr racing y-pipe and muffler delete. Full interior leds, license plate, 8000k HID Xenon low beams, Limo tint (5 percent) on the rear and 50 percent in the front. No tint on the front windshield. Also running on chopped springs. 2.5-3 inches lower (car will handle and stop better but your back will hate you, don't do it). Nothing close to a turbo setup but makes good enough na power and sounds good. I went the cheap route also because I got the car so cheap. I won't invest in mods that are worth than my car. I've been looking at a IHI twin scroll supercharger from a Mazda millenia to make more power (only around $300) or buying an ebay Chinese turbo and asking my local exhaust shop if they can fab up a cross pipe/exhaust manifold from the passenger side (after the Ypipe) to the driver side so I can mount the turbo higher up on the driver side. I know turbo setups get hot. My VHR Y pipe doesn't have a heat shield. Every time i open the door with the car on i feel the blast of hot air on my ankles. It feels like an oven. HVAC tape won't work on the hot side (and you can possibly start a fire) but I do notice a difference on the cold side. Btw where did you get a 3.5" MAF tube? What's the size of oem tube? I'm thinking it's around 2.5-3"

 

With the air filter boxed in and pulling in ambient outside air it will have just as good IAT's as a NA car with cold air intake out of boost. The only reason I haven't done that is that it doesn't really matter at idle or low loads anyway. Installing a intercooler makes no sense where the car is at right now, I would just be adding more tubing and lag. You won't get anything cooler than ambient temps with a intercooler and the water system brings it below ambient under full boost. I only have to fill the wiper tank once a week if I drive it hard so it's not like filling a NOS tank every time I want to have fun. The water system not only cools the charge better it also keeps the top end cleaner, I have opened up some of our SR20's after a season and the pistons are still clean. I'm pretty sure it's also cleaning up the oil rings a bit too, my oil consumption has gone down quite a bit.

I made the 3.5" maf tube from a intercooler tube, MAF flange, and a piece of billet rod cut down to make a injection bung.. The stock VQ35DE tube is 2.8" ID.

 

Well I have been testing the car's back pressure and trying to make it as efficient as possible. With the GTX3076r .82ar and the straight through muffler it would go as high as 3:1 PR. I swapped on a GTX3582R 1.06ar a couple weeks ago and also made a straight out 3" exhaust tube from the turbo and I'm now at 1.3:1 PR now. We re tuned and it definitely pulls harder, it walks away from the HR cars pretty hard now. I'm surprised how well we have it running on E85, It starts right up in 12 degree weather like it was on gas.

But.... Unfortunately I have to make some hard decisions about the car. I have talked myself into putting everything back to stock and selling her, the spare motor and the forged internals. My plans for next summer include a V36 VQ35HR car with this turbo setup. After we picked up a couple of V36 cars and have been playing with them we found they are just plain superior in every way. I can sell the 05' and pick up a 07'-08' for $500-$1000 more. I also like the shift kit in the V36 better than the old V35. The install was a little sketchy because they didn't show a 3 ball hole pattern for the divider plate but we got it right. The V36 transmission also has almost identical gearing to the Titan transmission I'm building that will work for the V35/V36 cars. I'm going to get some more video and pics of the car before I start tearing everything down. It was a great starter car for us to get into the VQ world and we have learned so much in the last year about everything. We just want to keep moving forward faster

Reasons for the switch:

Stock internals VQ35HR can break 500whp
Stock equal length shorty headers
7600RPM redline stock (ahh so nice)
At least 45whp more and much wider power band
Stronger internals than DE all around
Transmission / TCU feels refined, shifts better (not sure about internals yet)
Almost 1 second faster than DE on the 1/4 mile (stock auto to stock auto)
Still uses the same transmission - (different bellhouse / tcu programming)
Dual exhaust - (just looks better) (maybe more room for rear mount)


The new GT3582R turbo