TDIPLC

1. No part time traders. Why? many of us have full time jobs and the revenue from the part time trading is an additional income, not a primary income. 2. No traders without a proper premises. And why does (for instance) a mail-order trader need (for instance) to rent a warehouse. Your justification is totally flawed. 3. No traders without indemnity insurance. Rubbish! 4. No traders without a proven track record. And how do you propose to quantify this? How many customer's cars you've blown up? 5. No traders that you are not comfortable being associated with. As above, this is not quantifiable. As people have already said, my comments were just suggestions. These were based on my my own opions gained from extensive experience in this industry, but to answer your points: 1. I am more concerened about the level of service provided to customers, rather than the income streams of a Trader. When someone gives their hard earned cash to a trader for a service, it is preferable to expect the trader to be available when needed - not at their day job. 2. Aquisition of a proper trading premises is a clear indictation that the Trader is serious about his business. As a point of fact, every single Trader in this industry that starts from home either progresses to a premises or goes bust. 3. There are plenty of Traders in this industry that are not adequately insured. I believe you should have a right to know whether they are or not so that you can make an informed decision of whether you are prepared to accept the risk. Here's a quesion for you Mike: Would you knowingly take your car to a Trader to be worked on by a person that had been banned from driving and who did not have a valid Motor Traders isurance policy? Would you knowingly accept the risk of the total loss of your pride and joy? 4. I am sure that different people have different criteria to measure this issue, but generally speaking, customer satisfaction and length of time in business are good indicators, as is the reputation among the contemporaries and competitors within the industry, and also the prestige of the manufacturers who choose to partner or associate with the Trader. 5. In this instance, it is for Tony decide who he feels comforatable associating himself with because his business could suffer with a poor choice of stategic alliance.

i totally agree Mark no FCD being that it was a new HKS actuator, specified for the car, i was reluctant to believe it would be wrong it was mentioned by the mechanic who had just set it up, about the lack of air available ??, i felt this was strange as the smallest part of the incoming flow is the turbo itself thought i would take a look at re-routing the intake to avoid passing over the manifold area and guess what i found ? the intake pipe which was standard is made of metal, on the final connection to the turbo it has a rubber sleeve on the inside this sleeve had been squashed to the effect that one half was actually across the airflow, reducing incoming air by half the other danger is that it could have split, and theres only one way it could go, yes ! straight into the turbo anyway replaced the pipework and guess what ! yes full boost right through the rev range slightly overboosting at 7000 revs what a difference it makes now i am somewhat relieved but also not very happy with the work that was carried out Mark how busy is that dyno of yours ?? Glad you got it sorted Barrie - you must be well relieved. It was supposed to have been professionally installed too wasn't it? Time for Mr Boot to meet Mr Bottom methinks. If it's mapping validation/calibration you want done, there's approx 2 week delay at the moment. Let me know if you need any help

The best thing is to get it looked at properly - preferably by someone that knows what they are looking at. An FCD won't cause this problem - it has no control over the boost whatsoever. When it's on a dyno you can visibly check the actuator movement, audibly check all of the pneumatic connections for leaks, and conduct an exhaust back pressure test. That's the best way forward Barrie, otherwise much wasted time and pulled out hair will result.

Now you're just talking dirty... Yup, all great thing begin with fantasizing

There's not generally a significant weight difference between 2 and 3 way adjustables. Where weight is an issue, they can be made in aluminium but that is more expensive. The project we are working on at he moment is not Japanese related - it's a high value British car whose owners are generally more quality than cost conscious. The shocks will have to be returned to the manufacturer for revalving. The issue regarding the reservoir will probably vary according to the application, but a separate reservoir is preferable. Regarding the 2 secs per lap, it's exacty the same conditions except for changing the shocks. Exactly When a car is set up using one or two way damping (or no adjustment at all), there is a big compromise as it must be set for adequate performance beween slow and fast reacting damping. If it was optimised for slow reacting damping (which most set ups are) the car is unbalanced when a bump or dip is encountered. Conversely, if it is optimised for fast reacting damping, the car will be unstable under smooth conditions. Imagine a scenario where both conditions can be optimised - thats 3 and 4 way adjustable My chalk is running out now

what about us mere mortals when you say three way adjustable dampers, do you mean height and damping adjustable, i am using the D2`s on the starlet, and they have an infinate amount of different adjustments, but are track orientated, which means although the can be adjusted for road use they are allways a bit stiff and therefore a bit uncomfortable for everyday road use presuming road orientated would have a more comfortable ride, but be less suitable for track use is it possible to have the best of both worlds !! Three way (or even better four way) adjustable damping is perfect for us mere mortals Let me explain (tapping chalk on blackboard) if I may? A two way adjustable damper allows you to adjust both bump (compression) and rebound (extension) rates to optimise handling to suit the application in normal use. That's fine, but what happens when the wheel hits a bump or pot hole? The car is sent completely off line because it's applying the same bump/rebound setting to a very fast change in cirumstances as is to it's normal operating conditions. What 3 and 4 way adjustable dampers allow you to do is to also set the bump and rebound for rapid reactions as well as for the normal slow reacting conditions. I'm not very good at explaining things so I hope that made sense Clearly, there is a layer of cost attached to this so it's not cheap, but anyone that has driven a car with good and bad suspension will know that it's money well spent. tsk tsk mark, its whiteboards now !, how long is it since you were at school if i am understanding this right normally when three way adjustment is mentioned it is concerning for example a "coilover" what you are saying is that your three way adjustment is solely concerning the damper sounds very complex but also sounds like you can have the best of both worlds i will sit back and listen now Blimey I thought blackboards were modern compared to the parchment and quill that I had when I was at school Three and four way adjustable shocks just refers the damping, and is considerably better that 1 or 2 way

It can be either. It can also be gas or oil. The application we are working on at the moment is a coil over system. Exciting times

what about us mere mortals when you say three way adjustable dampers, do you mean height and damping adjustable, i am using the D2`s on the starlet, and they have an infinate amount of different adjustments, but are track orientated, which means although the can be adjusted for road use they are allways a bit stiff and therefore a bit uncomfortable for everyday road use presuming road orientated would have a more comfortable ride, but be less suitable for track use is it possible to have the best of both worlds !! Three way (or even better four way) adjustable damping is perfect for us mere mortals Let me explain (tapping chalk on blackboard) if I may? A two way adjustable damper allows you to adjust both bump (compression) and rebound (extension) rates to optimise handling to suit the application in normal use. That's fine, but what happens when the wheel hits a bump or pot hole? The car is sent completely off line because it's applying the same bump/rebound setting to a very fast change in cirumstances as is to it's normal operating conditions. What 3 and 4 way adjustable dampers allow you to do is to also set the bump and rebound for rapid reactions as well as for the normal slow reacting conditions. I'm not very good at explaining things so I hope that made sense Clearly, there is a layer of cost attached to this so it's not cheap, but anyone that has driven a car with good and bad suspension will know that it's money well spent.

This one is for Tony and any other suspension Genii. We are developing a new road orientated suspension kit for a car (secret squirrel at the moment) using 3 way adjustable dampers. We have seen truly amazing results on the track using this system (2 seconds per lap), and was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this concept or has tried it? Thanks

This is a tricky one. The first thing is decide what WIM is going to be. Is it primarily and income stream or is it also a safe haven for like minded individuals in a semi-controlled environment? I suspect that it should be the latter. IMHO i think that brand association or endorsement is inevitatable although unfair, so you will need to give careful consideration to who you let advertise, and also have clear disclaimers to protect yourself. Unfortunately our industry is one of the few where there are little or no barriers to entry, which means that it is infested with people that shouldn't really be there. Perhaps you could introduce a system of due dilligence which has a minum criteria along the lines of: 1. No part time traders. 2. No traders without a proper premises. 3. No traders without indemnity insurance. 4. No traders without a proven track record. 5. No traders that you are not comfortable being associated with. The above are just suggestions, so I am sure you will have your own which are more suitable for your business model. Getting back to the original question, as a business we expect to pay for any advertising medium. Most businesses view the resultant sales as a Return On Investment (ROI), so you will need to ensure that you pitch your fees correctly (quite low until WIM proves itself worthy of higher fees - which I'm sure won't be long ). TDI will be happy to support you in your formative period (and this may also help you to attract other reputable businesses) and will hope you're not tempted to bring in any traders that could potentially devalue our brands via the association. I don't have any preference of "pay per click" or a "banner" etc, as it is just a simple matter of "ROI" and "brand association" so will go with whatever works best. From your perspective, I would have thought you would have been better off selling advertising space. Hope this helps

Different cars react differently to tuning methods (otherwise r&d establishments wouldn't be necessary), but generally speaking, the exhaust efficiency is the primary consideration before the intake. That's not really correct as the "equal length pipes" issue is more to do with pulse tuning than back pressure. That is true in many cases, but not all. That is an over generalization as different models (even different years of certain models) react differently to tuning methods. Without doubt, recalibration of the fuel and ignition parameters can be beneficial or even essential in some cases.

Imagine aerodynamics inside a pipe. The stock cat on an MR2 turbo comes off the turbo and enters the manifold. To fit a cat in this somewhat small space they had to make the pipe bulge like a balloon to fit all the ceramic in there. Taking the actuall cat out of this bulbus pipe would certianly greatly increase spool times on the turbo cars as the exhaust gasses would have a much smoother flow, however due to the non uniform shape of the chamber there would be a large amount of turbulance (or dirty air). A cat replacement pipe (as i have sitting infront of me waiting to be fitted) has a VERY smooth path for the air to flow as it never had to accomodate a cat resulting in near zero back pressure. To summerise cat out is good, replaced pipe is better. Tuning the exhaust on turbo cars is all about getting the gasses out as quickly and as uneventfully as possible, the replacement pipes aid this. Regarding the legalities, pre august 1995 MR2 Turbos don't have a model report for the MOT testers to match to so they go through the very lenient "default" test. Shame that HTH a little. On the MR2, the cat doesn't "come off the turbo and enter the manifold", it's between the turbo and downpipe. I think Mr Toyota made the cat the shape it is to allow for a sufficient volume of catalyser material to fit in such a small space, which is a shame because the shape of the outer shell (and the replacement de-cat pipes) have an angle of convergence which is disruptive to air flow, so there is no real difference (from a performance perspective) between removing the catalyser material from the standard cat or using an aftermarket de-cat pipe. I think the main difference is the potential hazards to health from removing the catalyzer material, and the inability to refit the cat for any purpose if needed. Additionally, removing the material can be quite difficult (especially if the cat is fairly new) so if you are paying someone to do it for you it could potentially be as expensive as buying a de-cat pipe. Personally I would go for a de-cat pipe every time to keep my options open.

Well mine is 200 rwhp at the mo. Just as a point of interest, our Rototest seems to read about 5% lower than a Dynapack Dyno when measuring the same car. Rototest maintain that their figures are accurate because it uses a proper strain guage to measure the torque, whereas Dynapack "calculate" the torque by measuring the flow of fluid through an orifice. To summarise, Rototest measures the torque, whereas Dynapack calculates the torque. Thanks Mike. I was hoping you were going to say that

Yes mate. He doesnt know either as no one has yet pushed the engine to see what it is capable of. Take the car to Noble Motorsport in Chesterfield Adie. They don't have a record of blowing engines Hello Mike, are you insinuating that TDI do have a record for blowing engines? Thanks