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+--- Thread: Project RS (/showthread.php?tid=6314)
- Feersty - 04-07-2008
Great writeup Scotty. 12,000 miles in six months? Damn that's a lot. What is your commute?
- flintster55 - 04-07-2008
Good info Scotty! I find it interesting your car didn't like the copper plugs. I had some iridium/platinums in my car and I swear the car idled smoother and ran better with the copper plugs. But a tech did tell me that copper is preferred for performance applications and they don't last as long where as the iridium versions are less performance oriented and last considerably longer. Who knows though, I may have to opt for a set of iridiums this summer when I change mine.
Oh and just out of curiosity, are your plugs a pain in the ass to change? It took me a good 2 hours and quite an array of sockets and special extensions to get mine swapped out.
I'm also glad you're going to go for some Blackstone tests too. I think that will help you sleep at night much better knowing what exactly is in your oil :wink: Although, I got my test back recently though with some not exactly comforting results, I just haven't gotten around to posting it up yet.
- ScottyB - 04-07-2008
Feersty Wrote:Great writeup Scotty. 12,000 miles in six months? Damn that's a lot. What is your commute?
thanks -- yeah i commute roughly 45 miles a day. we also take my car for all the 1-4 hour trips, since we try to drive the Xterra as little as possible (i think it sees maybe 5000 miles a year).
Atlanta has terrible public trans so everyone drives a long commute, pretty much.
flintster55 Wrote:Good info Scotty! I find it interesting your car didn't like the copper plugs. I had some iridium/platinums in my car and I swear the car idled smoother and ran better with the copper plugs.
no you are right on, coppers tend to respond better to forced induction than iridiums or other long-lasting plugs. i had platinums in my old 1.8T and with coppers in it, there was a noticable positive difference.
i put coppers in thinking i might be able to get some better results and it was not a good choice. they were pretty rough the last 2k miles of their life. for this engine in NA form the iridiums are doing well.
sorry, but the NA's are super easy to change plugs in :wink: all that is required is to remove the washer resiviour and the airbox. the top of the engine is really exposed. i think the second time i changed plugs it took me 20 minutes, while i was farting around with changing the wires too.
flintster55 Wrote:Although, I got my test back recently though with some not exactly comforting results, I just haven't gotten around to posting it up yet.
whoa...yeah post that up when you get the chance, alot of knowledgable people here and we might be able to help you out.
- flintster55 - 04-07-2008
ScottyB Wrote:no you are right on, coppers tend to respond better to forced induction than iridiums or other long-lasting plugs. i had platinums in my old 1.8T and with coppers in it, there was a noticable positive difference.
i put coppers in thinking i might be able to get some better results and it was not a good choice. they were pretty rough the last 2k miles of their life. for this engine in NA form the iridiums are doing well.
sorry, but the NA's are super easy to change plugs in :wink: all that is required is to remove the washer resiviour and the airbox. the top of the engine is really exposed. i think the second time i changed plugs it took me 20 minutes, while i was farting around with changing the wires too.
Damn I'm jealous. I'm lucky to get the washer fluid, fuel filter, and the battery and its tray out of there in 20 minutes. Then it's another hour or more of knucklebusting fun down between the block and the fender getting the suckers out of there.
And now that you say that, I'll probably stick with the coppers then even though changing them 2-3x as much does suck pretty bad haha
- ScottyB - 05-02-2008
sat down and thought some things through, and despite my talk of probably getting rid of the car soon i think i take it back. had a great drive 2 weekends ago and remembered why i like the RS so much. i get car envy sometimes and lose focus
so there will be a few more cool things happening soon i hope.OK my front pads are getting to their last legs. i'm looking for a good, reasonably priced high performance street pad and i think i've narrowed it down to:
Axxis Ultimate
Hawk HPS
Carbotech Bobcat
they get pricier and less dusty as you go down the list. i'd really like bobcats but is it worth the price over the cheaper 2? my only caveat is that i don't want too much squeeling. went down that road with the HP+'s and it sucked, even though the pad performance was great.
any recommendations? Evan didn't you use Ultimates? and Lee i know you had HPS and liked them, so i have that info tucked away in my brain too.
- ViPER1313 - 05-02-2008
I like the HPS pads on my SHO - no experience with the other 2.
- Andy - 05-02-2008
I had ultimates on the MR2. They were fine for street, autox and track. People bitch about dusting but I don't recall it being that bad.
- ScottyB - 05-02-2008
dust doesn't really bug me, just the noise since i'm in stop/go traffic fairly often.
- JohnC - 05-02-2008
ScottyB Wrote:OK my front pads are getting to their last legs. i'm looking for a good, reasonably priced high performance street pad and i think i've narrowed it down to:
Axxis Ultimate
Hawk HPS
Carbotech Bobcat
We've got HPS on our WRX, and I'll be picking up another set pretty soon.
- ScottyB - 05-05-2008
thanks for the feedback guys, i guess i'll just see what's on sale because they all seem pretty good. probably HPS or Ultimate.
just turned 40k today and got my best tankful miles per gallon yet coming back from Lee's place....33.5!
- ScottyB - 05-07-2008
HPS ordered :thumbup:
also, ebay has some killer deals on cabin filters. i'm pretty sensitive to dust/pollen and was noting that with the AC on i was dying. i'm betting the filter is original. got one on ebay for like 13 bucks, beats paying twice that at the dealer!
- Maengelito - 05-07-2008
I just bought a house filter and cut it up into 4 pieces. 4 filters for $10 FTW!
- ScottyB - 05-07-2008
Maengelito Wrote:I just bought a house filter and cut it up into 4 pieces. 4 filters for $10 FTW!
haha sounds like you and b00bies need to start a club....turning household tools and supplies into car solutions :lol:
- WRXtranceformed - 05-07-2008
Your scooby looked great when you brought it up to Charlotte buddy, I'm glad you're still enjoying it!
- ScottyB - 05-08-2008
WRXtranceformed Wrote:Your scooby looked great when you brought it up to Charlotte buddy, I'm glad you're still enjoying it!
thanks man -- i need to sack up and clear those headlights though
- ScottyB - 06-02-2008
hit up the mountains this weekend in the pursuit of some quality trout fishing...went a bit out of my way to find some quality roads as well 8)
![[Image: 50a7aad868.jpg]](http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/50a7aad868.jpg)
the HPS were a good choice, i had a couple occasions where the grade was easily 8-9% downhill in the 90 degree weather and i never lost stopping power at spirited speeds despite seeing other cars literally smoking their brakes and the whole mountain smelling like cooked pads. i doubt they could handle track speeds above a novice level but for a street pad i don't think i'll look elsewhere.
also got the chance to test the AWD.....curiosity got the best of me and i pulled off to get on a forestry trail that eventually led to a shallow river crossing and decided i could take it...the rocky bottom was no issue and going up the rutted, muddy incline on the other shore wasn't a problem despite lifting a wheel every few feet and spinning a bit on the falkens. the trail was blocked by a downed tree only a few yards after that
and no it wasn't private property btw.a few weeks before i had the bike rack w/2 bikes on the back for a 2 hour trip and WOW do those things kill your gas milage. i had no idea since it's usually installed on the xterra and that thing sucks gas anyway so you can't tell. my highway milage dropped from 30 to about 24.
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- WRXtranceformed - 06-02-2008
Nice man! Exploring random roads for the win. I'm glad you're really enjoying that car
I still miss my Subies every now and then
- HAULN-SS - 06-02-2008
So how was the fishing? Get your limit?
- ScottyB - 06-02-2008
HAULN-SS Wrote:So how was the fishing? Get your limit?
haha not quite. Jen was slaying them (two 12 inch wild rainbows among others) but i could only manage 1 small brookie. but i will return with a vengence! if we were fishing stocked waters we might have kept them but we were in some wild streams and let them go.
- HAULN-SS - 06-02-2008
oh yeah. fishing for natives is fun. I fish for natives with nightcrawler pieces, and go by the general rule that the biggest one in the hole is going to hit first, since they are natives, and move on. You can cover a lot of water like that. They make good appetizers if you're going to keep them - salt and butter wrapped up in aluminum foil on the grill for a few..not bad...