2.0 Liter Power House : Nissan RB20DETT

The baddest 2.0 Liter Inline-six engines ever produced, the Nissan RB20DET. This Nissan Engine was a derivative of the S20 engine from the 60s and 70's that came on the older Prince Skyline GTR and performance models of the 240Z. Many will say that the the L20 was the father of the RB20DET, but they are sorely mistaken because the L20 never came in a DOHC variety.

These motors came in the R31 Skyline, A31 Cefiro, Z31 Fairlady (300ZX), and Australian only Holden Commodores,



If Tomei thinks its worthy engine, then I think its great.


RB20DET - single-cam turbocharged (107 kW (145 PS) @ 6000 rpm, 206 N

SEMA 2007

WHEN: October 30 - November 2

WHERE: Las Vegas Convention Center

WHY: To premier and showcase automotive related specialty products to everyone under one roof.

Here are some cars and events you will see at SEMA this year. Enjoy!



Volvo S80 T6

Handcrafted body parts, can accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in 5.8 seconds, and produces 260kW at 5500rpm, and 550Nm of torque between 1500 and 4000rpm. WHOA!



At SEMA, Lexus will unveil an all-new performance accessory line. Not only that, the 400-plus horsepower performance-tuned IS F will be available for test drives. Lexus is also bringing out their project cars. Here are a list of them:

IS F Super Car by 5 Axis Models
SC 430 by BRS Autodesign
GS 430 by GReddy
LS 460 by VIP Auto Salon
LS 460 by CEC Wheels
IS 350 concept car by TRD
GS 430 by Blitz
LS 460 by Fesler Productions
RX 400h by 714 Motorsports in partnership with MOMO USA


- THAI SPYCE

PS: Readers, if you feel our blog posts are missing something or have any questions/comments/suggestions at all, please take the opportunity to leave us a comment. All suggestions are welcomed. Thanks!

Myspace

Hey everybody,

Just a little impromptu post. I wanted to let everyone know that we did a little renovation of our Myspace page. For a while, the TheTunerSource Myspace page was laying dormant but since we're approaching the launch of TheTunerSource.com, we thought it'd be good to get our Myspace page going as well. Of course, we'll be making additions and updates regularly on the Myspace as well. Please add us as a friend, and leave a comment. Thanks.

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/THETUNERSOURCE

-Rack of Lam

"Tata's In Your Face...Again!!"

Damn, I love this car company. During the openeing of their Corus Steel R&D(formerly Corus Group plc) in Ijmuiden, Holland earlier this week, our friends from India, Tata Motors has revealed week that they are one of four potential bidders for Jaguar and Land Rover. I'm not sure on who the other three are...yet. The sudden interest in the English automotive market is because Tata Motors is seeking a greater role in the UK automotive industry.

I believe that Tata Motors is already building an automotive technology centre in Coventry, England. Aside from that project, Tata Motors' previous activity in the UK has been limited to small-volume sales of utility vehicles. More power to you Tata!!

"Tata Rover & Tataguar"


~Ronski

Project Civiche

Okay guys, I know I've been lagging on the pictures but heres a quick update.

So it turns out the head gasket is fine. But theres some more shittiness.
After a few days of driving around with my gutted cat, I started detonating.
It wasn't that bad but definitely audible. For those of you who do not know what detonation sound like, it sounds like a spray paint can when you shake it up. Very distinct.

Anyways, I need a tune. So here I go for a full time with dyno sheets and pictures. So wait up, sit tight and see what happens!

And to wrap things up, I got some new knowledge for you guys.

knocking, pinging = detonation
AF = air fuel

Pedestrian vs. Public Parking: Round 1

We're not sure where you're reading this blog from (but we thank you anyway) but probably one of the biggest problems with living in a metropolitan area such as Los Angeles or Orange County in California is the public parking. They seriously make it as hard for you as they can by placing parking/time restrictions on certain streets. My personal pet peeve with street parking is when you see a spot that upon first impression, looks like plenty of space for your car. However, when you go through the process of parallel parking, the space turns out to be an illusion; there's no way your cars going to fit. Well, I've got some good news!

"Smart", a brand of micro-cars based in Germany, has released their Fortwo. "Smart" is a brand that is part of DaimlerChrysler, which in 2006 recently merged with Mercedes-Benz. The true value of the car lies in the ease of parallel parking and gas efficiency. You can parallel the car nose-in. Also, the length of the car is approximately 8 feet which means you can park about three of these in the space in takes to park one regular-sized car. With such a small car, safety was also taken into account. A solid steel frame encompasses the car to provide optimal safety for the passenger and is also visible and maintains the shape of the car. That's hard to do considering the Fortwo is only about 1600 lbs.

The motor is a turbo-charged 3-cylinder with 37-45hp variants. The engine is in the rear of the car. The Fortwo gets about 50 mpg on gasoline and 69 mpg on diesel. This car was such a huge hit in Europe because in many cities, free parking is very hard to find and violations carry a heavy fine. The Fortwo is available in a coupe and also in a convertible. Cool, money-saving, and parking stressfree...is there anything more you can ask for???







-Rack of Lam

I want to be like...Jordan. Not that Jordan, Eddie Jordan

Eddie Jordan: circa 1996

Eddie Jordan is the founder of Jordan Grand Prix from Ireland, a famous F1 car builder that has made cars for Giancarlo Fisichella, Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, and Damon Hill. Pretty much all these guys have won many world championship races, the Schumacher brothers and Damon Hill. In 1998, Jordan signed with Honda and Mugen to make a very competitive F1 car. That year they won the Belgian Grand Prix, Damon Hill first and Ralf Schumacher second. This victory came about from the change from Peugeot to Mugen Honda engines. To commeroate their victory in Belgium, Honda released 500 Honda Civic VTi vehicles.






TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS.

Civic Jordan.
- A limited run of 500 cars in 1999 only
- Based on a Civic 1.6 VTI
- Sports the Type-R body kit (minus the boot spoiler and front grill)
- Interior is full 2 tone leather in Black and Yellow.
- 15" Split 5 spoke alloy wheels
- 1.6 VTEC DOHC
- Air Conditioning

Engine type / size (cc) 4 cylinders/ 1590
Max Power (bhp) 160
Max Speed (mph) 140 mph
0 - 60 mph (sec) 7.9 sec
Price (New)

WHERE CAN I FIND CHEAP GASOLINE?

A lot of us can't fathom the fact that we have to pay $3.00 a gallon for gasoline. I know I can't. Remember the good ole days in highschool when you stuffed 6 of your buddies into your little Honda CRX and can get away with $1.10/gallon, only to have every single one of them chip in some cheddar and make constant trips to Los Angeles without using your whole paycheck?

Some of us are picky and will only purchase Chevron (with Techron of course), Shell, 76, etc. We laugh and tease at our friends who make the committment to go to only Arco or even Costco because the gasoline is a lot cheaper.

But worry no more. A site I came across called, gasbuddy.com can solve all your frugal needs. At this site, you can pinpoint exactly where the cheapest gasoline is to you at any area you happen to be at. What's amazing is also the fact that the site shows you what the national average is and how the prices were last week, last month, or even last year.

On the road and need to know where to get cheap gas quick? Easy. You can sign up on gasbuddytogo.com. There you can get texts or emails straight to your phone and find that damn Costco around you.

Now with all that money that you are saving, who knows what you can do now? Maybe purchase a carwash? Who knows.



Links:
www.gasbuddy.com
www.gasbuddytogo.com


_ THAI SPYCE _

"Luxury Coupe?!"

Here is yet another premier from the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show in Germany. This next premier is by an Italian automotive company, and is by far my favorite in the European theatre. I would personally choose a car from them, than let

Back to the Basics

Okay guys, I figure for the newbies out there I'm going to give you some words to learn. Its not a big deal, just a few words every now and then so you don't sound like a jackass. Particularly when you are talking to car guys that know their shit. Otherwise, we just roll our eyes and don't pay attention to another thing that comes out of your mouth.

So read these words, remember them, write them down, text yourself, tattoo your face, whatever, just don't forget them.

AE86 or 86 = Read this one carefully. This does not refer to only a 1986 Toyota Corolla GTS, it can, but it does not specifically refer to that year. The 86 is part of the chassis code. AE86's are 1985-1987 Toyota Corolla GTS. You got that?

Boost = charged air usually found in Turbochargers and superchargers

ECU = Engine Control Unit

EMS = Engine Management System, same as above

FI = Forced Induction (Turbo's and superchargers, NOT nitrous!)

PSI = Pounds per square inch

R&R = not rest and relaxation dipshit, remove and replace

Squeezing = a stupid term for whether or not you're running nitrous


And on a final note, all you jackasses that say headers when talking about your 4-cylinder car, STOP IT! Your car has one header, not headers. Unless you have a V-6 or something with two headers, stop saying headers.

I'll find some more for you guys later. Until then, good luck and safe driving.

Best Gets Better

When I was a young boy, I grew up on Legos, toy cars, and toy jets. However, I always built the two latter toys using those Legos so it's safe to say the cars and jets were most important to me. Fast forward to 2007 and now, the big kids decided to use their own "big boy Legos" and build a hybrid of both a super car and a jet: the brand new Lamborghini Revent

I want to be like...Tommy Makinen

Tommy Makinen Left and Michael Schumacher Right

People that have hobbies usually look up to their favorite professional to determine which good they would like to buy. It is the same as being a baseball fan and getting that ultra-rare Ken Griffey Jr. baseball mitt or a Tony Hawk skateboard. Car racing is similar to these hobbies as well, but usually to be a professional's sponsored product it costs a lot of money. Today we look at Tommy Makinen and some of the products that he supports and uses.

Tommy Makinen the most famous Rally Driver alive at this moment. His career wins are as follows :

World Rally Championship event wins:
- Finland 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998
- Sweden 1996, 1998, 1999
- Kenya 1996, 2001
- Argentina 1996, 1997, 1998
- Australia 1996, 1998
- Portugal 1997, 2001
- Spain 1997,
- San Remo 1998, 1999
- Monte Carlo 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
- New Zealand 1999

Tommi's rallyhistory
- First rally car: Ford Escort RS 2000 (1985)
- First rally: Nokia Rally 12.10.1985
- First world rally championship event: Jyv

IF YOU HACK IT. THEY WILL COME

See this face? This 17-year-old named George Hotz of Glen Rock, N.J. (where is that?) unlocked the ever so popular, iPhone. He spent 500 hours configuring on how to unlock the phone. Because of his hacking abilities, the iPhone may be used by other carriers other than AT&T. (Yes I know. All of you Sprint and Verizon phone holders are jumping for joy)

All the damn kid asked for in return was that he would trade an unlocked version of his iPhone in exchange for a "sweet" and "sick" new silver Nissan 350Z.

Well guess what, a Louisville company that specializes in repairing cell phones, called CertiCell is offering Hotz that "sweet" Nissan 350Z and a job. I knew I should have become a hacker instead of a college graduate.


Hey you unlocked the iPhone? Here's a brand new Nissan 350Z!


_ THAI SPYCE _

"Kangoo Compact Concept "

The Renault S.A. Kangoo Compact Concept

Though it

ConvAIRCAR, the FLYING CAR!?

No its not new. It was a long time ago.



It was a complete failure.

Here is how it would basically work.

You drive to the airport, full the "flight attachments" out and place them on your car.

Fly to your location.

Come back and take off the "flight attachments" and drive off like any other ordinary car.

Too bad they crashed their only prototype. It flew once for over an hour and then on the second run they crashed it.

Just to let you guys know, there are over 30 patents of flying cars in the United States.

Behind the Wheel Doom

Living in a metropolitan area (Los Angeles), there are seemingly more cars on the highways then there are ants. Whenever I'm stuck in traffic, I save myself from the insanity by making stories from observations and whatnot. That's besides the point though.

I recently was stuck in traffic and decided to take a count of the amount of people who are talking on the phone while driving. Every other driver was on their cell phone--LITERALLY! That's astounding. The cell phone has rapidly turned from an emergency device to an extended arm for many people. Though there was a discrepancy in the law passing about fines for cell phone usage while driving this year (it's actually being enforced 2008 and not 2007), the UK has already taken action to lower the distractions that are prone to drivers, namely the cell phone...although you may feel as if the punishment is a tad extreme.

Pretty much UK drivers caught operating gadgets behind the wheel--and this includes cell phones, MP3 players, navigation systems, etc.--could spend two years in the slammer. You heard me right...go to jail for distracting yourself while driving. Right now the crime has a punishment of up to

Christie's International Motor Cars : Out of Business

In a corporate statement : "As the world's leading art business, Christie's periodically carries out strategic reviews of its various operations. Most recently, we have undertaken a review of our global strategy for Christie's International Motor Cars. As a result Christie's will close this department this month and will redirect departmental resources to other parts of our business."

One of the last famous cars to be sold at Christie's is Steve McQueen's 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso in Moneterey, CA. The closing aution price was $2.31 Million Dollars, which was more than double what the auction house had expected.

HONDA recalls 63,000 vehicles

In Tokyo, Honda Motor co. has informed the public that 63,000 of their vehicles will be recalled due to defects in the vehicles' speedometers and brake-light systems.

The models in which Honda believes that are faulty are the Civic or Civic Hybrid sedans manufatured in the months of August 2005 through January 2007.

Here is the actual article if you don't believe me...


_ THAI SPYCE _

"Tatas for All..."

Image courtesy of msn.com
The Tata Cliffrider as seen at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show

Indian automaker Tata Motors Limited, formerly known as TELCO (TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company) and is India's largest passenger automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturing company, announced earlier this week that they plan to start selling an ultra-cheap, and I mean ultra-cheap, small car some time next year.

Tata Motors Limited, whose headquarters are located in Mumbai, India, plan to sell their automobiles at a targeted price of around $2,400!! Tata's Managing Director claims though; that the ever increasing cost of steel and rubber might prove their tageted price more difficult to reach. Automakers, and we here at thetunersource.com as well, are watching the progress of this rogue automobile manufacturer

Project Civiche UPDATE!

Well readers, something bad happened to me today.

After a brisk drive down the 5 South Freeway, passing Laguna Hills, CA. My car started to drive a little strange. The car would boost, but seemed to rev extremely slow.
It started to bug me and then I noticed my temp gauge. It was rapidly rising! I quickly pulled over during rush hour traffic and noticed my car smoking from the engine bay. Coolant had leaked out and started buring on the manifold.
And then it happened. My radiator cap blew off sending coolant all over my car and through the air.
Luckily I had a gallon of coolant in the car, so I topped off and drove carefully.

So I changed my thermostat, temp sensor, and my radiator cap. But it didn't help. We were confused and sad.

Long story short, after a little more troubleshooting, it was a clogged catalytic converter. So watch out friends, a clogged cat can create a really big mess! We do not know the extent of the damage but there is a good chance the head gasket is blown. Damn....

Ah well, perhaps its time for a k24 hybrid?

Importance of the Helmholtz Frequencies

Yay! Well don't be shy about learning scientific things these are real-world things that can help us have a really nice engine. Helmholtz? Sounds like another ridiculous city in Austria where they make a special beer or sausage. Mr. Hermann von Helmholt was a famous German scientist/physicist that developed a great theory on resonant frequencies in air cavities. Just imagine yourself blowing over the top of a bottle and creating a sound. Or you can think of that special person blowing over the top of your "bottle" and you making a sound. Somthing like that. Well Mr.Herms Helmholtz found that different volumes of air create different frequencies.

What exactly happens is that when you blow or she blows air into a cavity the pressure inside the bottle increases. In essence imagine yourself blowing a packet of air at the opening of a bottle. This backet of air will go down the bottle neck only so far if you can imagine the whole chamber to be an "air spring" When the packet of air comes back out because the effects of it hitting the "air spring" some of the air inside will leave the bottle. Because the "air spring" must come to a rest and try to achieve the outside pressure it will actually suck back some air to make the whole system stable.

Kinda cool. Why is that so cool? That is why acoustic guitars have that hole right in the middle. This applies to us because engines have ports on the intake manifolds and exhaust manifolds. So effectively we ca "tune" these manifolds to work in line with the correct frequencies that are associated with the proper power band. Yay! That means extra power for making things longer or shorter.

That is why Bisimoto is the fastest all-motor Honda guy in the world. He "tunes" his intake manifold lengths and his exhaust manifold for maximum efficiency.

Check out this air box made by BMW. These "tuned" boxes give the appropriate resonances to promote extra sucking from naturallly aspirated engines. $2300 MSRP. Niiiiceee!