Engine Upgrade

[Dimitris Papamichail]

Also the last few days i have made a custom triple gauge pod to fit in the middle of the dash. Here are some final photos of the pod.

[Dimitris Papamichail]

Today i fitted the new belt, 5PK790. After installation this belt was tighter than the 5PK800. Also once i took it for a test drive, must of the times the boost pressure was 0.4bar so i presume the belt slip is much less.

I also fitted the red SFS radiator silicone hoses that i got ages ago.

[Dimitris Papamichail]

After a lot search i ended up to buy a Tanabe four point front under brace. Hopefully i will have it at the end of next week.

[Asi]

looking nice mate.

looked under my car today and it has the japsai rear under brace so happy with that

[Dimitris Papamichail]

looking nice mate.

looked under my car today and it has the japsai rear under brace so happy with that

Good for you mate!

[Dimitris Papamichail]

Ok the last few days the Toyota car Battery in my car has started to give up and it is dying slowly. After 5 years of operation I think it is time to buy a new one. I was looking for a smaller and ligther in size Battery. Do you have any suggestions? From a short research I did on the web I found the following interesting batteries:

Buddy club:

Red Optima:

I am open to any of your suggestions

[Asi]

i need to get a new Battery aswell mate i was going to go for a big bosch one

[Fredrico]

If you want to be real hardcore, then go for a Battery that matches your air intake.

Braille carbon fiber Battery ;)

[Dimitris Papamichail]

If you want to be real hardcore, then go for a battery that matches your air intake.

Braille carbon fiber battery ;)

Nice option, thanks for your help :winky:

[Asi]

that does look good

[seecarr11]

I would go with the optima, but i suggest getting the yellow top version, or any with the gray case for deep cycling. especially if you have upgraded audio, HIDs etc. mine has pulled me out of a few sticky situations already. that carbon fibre Battery is mean looking thou

[Dimitris Papamichail]

I got a note today from the local post office to pick up the Tanabe front under brace. So Monday morning I will have the part in my hands

[plumo]

where did you get the brace from ??

[Dimitris Papamichail]

where did you get the brace from ??

From eBay USA

[Dimitris Papamichail]

This morning I collected the Tanabe Front Under Brace for my car. It is very lightweihgt and the bars are much thicker in compare with the OEM. Also the quality is top and the finish excellent. Lastly it is made in Japan and not somewhere else in Asia.

Also the part was sent as a gift and this is the reason i believe that i did not pay any custom charges.

[Dimitris Papamichail]

My crazyness continues. . I have been looking for a long time for a short shift. From my research I found that for the IS200 there only a very few options. First option and most common and used by many members is the TRD. It is very good but i found a bit expensive including the shipping charges to buy it new. As a used one I could not find one. Second option was the B&M which is a bit cheaper, but some ownres/members were/are unhappy with difficulty to put in reverse gear. Also i have read that there is a small noise and vibration in 5th and 6th gear. Third option that i found was the short sift from Austria shop/garage, which is cheap but very noisy as stated from many owners. So mods are need to be done in combination with OEM shift lever. Last option and which I decided to go for after a lot research and a bit braveness was the C's Comrade Short Shift. It is made in Japan from a well know Japanese tunner and it is being used in many Jap cars. The design and quality is almost or the same with the TRD and it is a bit cheaper than the TRD. From reviews that i read regarding the short shift on Altezza cars all of the Jap owners were satisfied and stated that it was rated the same with the TRD short shft. So today I decided to purchase one from USA. Here are some photos that I found on the web. It is the Cs short shift installed on an Altezza car.

From the pics you can see that the part looks very similar with the TRD quick shift. I will post more photos when i collect the item. Also i will write a review when i will fit on the car and start using it.

[Asi]

thats great mate. any more mods you have on your head???

you must be running out of ideas now

[Dimitris Papamichail]

Ideas? no mate. no way. much more to be done. :D

[Fredrico]

Where did you order the short shift?

[Dimitris Papamichail]

I found it on eBay. You can also find it at RHDJapan.com

[Dimitris Papamichail]

This morning I collected from the post office the C's Short Stroke Shift Kit. The good part is that I did not pay any custom charges. I took a couple of pics to show you all how it looks. As you can see it is very similar with the TRD quick shift.

[Dimitris Papamichail]

Today i visited my mechanic to fit the Tanabe four point front brace and the C's Short Shift. Initially we installed the brace. It was straight forward job. Very easy to install. Only negative point i can say is that the plastic OEM cover could not be fitted after the new brace installation due to the design of the Tanabe brace. If I wanted to have also the plastic cover i should need to cut some edges. I preffered to have it without the plastic cover. I cannot tell you yet the handling improvements since i did not test at any good corners. First impression is that the car behavior has not changed during normal driving. Here are some pics.

[Dimitris Papamichail]

And now the most interesting part. The C's Short Shift kit. The installation of this part was also very easy. Once I fitted I took for a quick ride. The conclusion??? F A N T A S T I C!!!!!! The kit is awsome. Fantastic feeling, vey short strokes, no noise (at any gear change or at any speed, like having an OEM installed) and not a lot of effort to change gears (it is a bit more hard to change gears, about 10% more force is required to be applied on the shifter). Finally it is very easy to put in reverse gear, no tricks no special treatment. So it like having an OEM shifter with much much smaller strokes during gear changes. The feeling? Fantastic,great! It makes you want to change gears all the time. I think I will never want to change back to OEM. I drove approximately 100km (60 miles) today in traffic and also at open roads and i was satisfied in all conditions. During quick changing the shifter does not stuck but it strokes very easily! So great kit to buy if someone does not want to buy a TRD short shift or any other option in the market. The only disadvantage is that probably you must look in the Japan market (rhdjapan.com) or at USA. I have recorded the strokes of the OEM and the C's to so you the difference of the two shifters. Once I have prepared the video i will upload and post it. Here are some pics for start.

[Dimitris Papamichail]

Ok here is the video:

[kam05]

Your shortshifter makes the same noise as my B&M one.