skeet94

Any updates on the system, and the balance? As I am just about to embark on an upgrade for my GS430 and was thinking of going the same way, I like the DBA disks I had them on the GTR, and my mate has them on his Supra and they work well on the UK brake set up on the supra, it just the balance, and with the master cylinder beeing different I was ondering Thanks Nigel Hi Nigel, There seems to be some huge delays with the DBA discs - so I'm still waiting on these and since Gaz is off on a much-needed holiday - I should hear something back from him by the end of tomorrow. These should be on by the end of the month if all goes to plan :). Mitul.

May not be for too long though...not telling why

Cheeky bugger! It's to look "grandad" so it doesn't attract the attention of "chavs" and the like :P

Driving like a grandad I managed to get around 253 miles from just under half a tank of petrol. Not bad whatsoever - but I was driving off boost and even accelerating like a grandad as well.

I'm seeing boost cut at over 110mph at full throttle. I don't intend on driving at those speeds anyway, so for now I am happy with it. Also a boost controller wouldn't help bleed excess boost...a boost controller only helps to increase boost not lower it. The problem on our cars is the stock turbo's internal waste gate gets overwhelmed with a free flowing exhaust and there's no way to address that, except by using hybrid turbo's (with a modified wastegate) or restrictor ring or leaving the stock CAT on the car. I'm going to do something along those lines pretty soon anyway but for the moment I'm happy with it as I don't intend on seeing speeds near 110mph anywhere on a road.

Hi all, I've been looking at doing some power mods on the car for some time...due to some other things getting in the way it had to be put on the back burner...until now! Back in January I'd been in touch with Hayward & Scott about a custom 4" straight turbo-back exhaust system. I was told that they were fully booked till mid Feb...but by then I'd already "blown" the money on other stuff - so booked the car in for Tuesday 24th March just gone. Confirmed with Ian C (great guy!) who advised that it'd take approximately a week to get the bends, etc made and fit it all on. Drove up to Basildon on Tuesday morning and found it Hayward & Scott with no problems. Soon as I parked up there was a Mk2 N registration Ford Escort 1600. This car was immaculate ... along with a few other tube chassis cars sitting up on the lifts. Being impressed by the cars they had on hand at 7:40am (before business hours) I dad a word with Ian, with whom I'd already discussed the requirements via email, and was advised that a 4" system would hang "too low" so instead should do a 4" downpipe and have two 2.5" pipes coming back from the muffler back - agreed and discussed cost, etc. On the way back I realised that a dual 2.5" pipe setup would cause some "restrictions" compared to a full 4" system - did some maths, had a few words with some knowledgeable guys about volume, flow, etc and decided to change it a bit. Called up Ian, advised if it would be possible for a 4" downpipe going into a pair of 3" pipes from muffler back - was told it would cause no issues with clearance and that it'd cost £100 more than originally quoted. Spent all week - just waiting and waiting (eagerly!). Called up on Friday morning to see if it was ready..got advised to pick it up on Saturday (yesterday). It's EVERYTHING I'd ever wanted in an exhaust system for something like the Aristo. Here are a couple of pics and video to follow: I didn't have enough space to go further back than that to get more photo's but will do in a bit. Performance: No boost cut hit yet at full throttle at 90mph ;). Car spins wheels upto 45mph plus from a standstill in the wet and dry with traction control cutting in. Car is completely decatted (no CATS!)...the boost comes on FAST and HARD! Car goes through the rev range quickly. Overall I'm happy. Sound/video clips coming up in a bit

If you take a sharp bend at anything under 30mph you will get this strange weird "feeling" through the car where the ARS will keep the back of the car stable. At high speeds I can hardly tell the difference - it also seems to help with the turning circle...with it cancelled you will avoid the cost of replacing it (over £1000) and will have a slightly larger than normal turning circle - other than that I don't really think it'll affect you much. It's the weakest point in the car when the car is tuned for higher power than stock :).

If you're willing to wait I'm doing a complete overhaul of the brakes on my Aristo. This is what I've ordered from Gaz and will let you know how I get on: DBA 5000 series 2 piece front discs paired to Endless CCX pads fronts DBA standard slot discs paired to Endless SSS pads rears Motul Dot 5.1 brake fluid Toyota Caliper refurb kits for both Supra 4 pot calipers and Aristo rear calipers. I can give you a comparison to what I have now: EBC drilled & slotted discs with green stuff on the fronts stock rear discs with green stuff on the rears unknown brake fluid that's not been changed in 3 years now (about time it got done!). I'm almost certain the feel, fade, etc will be almost non-existant with this setup. Whatever you do stay away from EBC stuff though - it's not good stuff whatsoever. Loads of fade, loads of warping of discs, etc...I'd say the Supra caliper upgrade would be the best thing you do - but I'll tell you how much better it'll be. I picked mine up from the US for £200 including shipping...so a pretty good deal considering. All in all I've spent £1200 and I'd much rather do the Supra brake upgrade with everything listed above than any other cheap BBK (D2, Ksport, etc).

A couple I had bookmarked.... http://www.compushift.com/compushift.htm http://www.powertraincontrolsolutions.com/content-4.html Those are the ones! Anyways hope all this information helps someone out :)

This replacement box is a bolt on as it uses the stock Toyota transmission bell housing, albeit there is a minor bit of "tunnel banging" required, which if done properly (ie: knowledge of EXACTLY where to bang the transmission tunnel, etc) shouldn't pose any issues. Also a transmission controller is required unless you're going with a AEM EMS. Carbon fibre driveshaft, etc all included in the price for a SP4L80E shouldn't be more than £4500 including fitting/banging/tuning/etc. The TH400 is cheaper, although shifting has to be done manually and it doesn't come with overdrive either - which can effectively affect your MPG on long motorway trips. I'm personally NOT going to go with a AEM EMS, so will be needing an aftermarket transmission controller. That's not to be done yet as I've got something very nutty in the pipeline, that I'm waiting on having built...before I go with the SP4L80E transmission.

Why not get a full coilover set? That way you won't be going through OEM shocks...?

Standstill acceleration will be affected, but rolling starts will be the same. I've got a larger overall diameter wheel/tyre combo compared to the stock 17's on the Aristo, and the car does feel "sluggish" from a standstill. Also braking and suspension is affected directly with larger wheels/tyres ... so expect to brake harder to come to a stop from a similar distance when going from a smaller to larger wheel.

Nice! Car looks GREAT! Glad to see another person with the JDM window visors ;)...now the car just needs to be lowered! (I can talk haha). Just a question - will those clear BBK's or Supra calipers?

Yeah they do :).

Sound Performance do a 4L80E swap (4 speed automatic) for the Supra, and they are more than willing to help out with it...although expensive more than worth it!