For automotive enthusiasts with turbocharged vehicles, the turbo is literally the lifeline. If the turbine shaft breaks and the turbine is ingested into the engine, you can kiss that engine good bye. If you run too much boost, you can kiss a piston, head gasket and / or rod goodbye due to detonation. If you run your car hard and shut it down immediately thereafter, say good bye to the longevity of the turbo. Obviously, there are a number of things one can do to prevent those problems above – you can buy a quality turbo made by a reputable manufacturer; you can make sure to tune your properly so that boost, fuel map, fuel delivery and ignition are in order; and you can add a turbo timer.

Indeed, a turbo timer is one of the easiest and most economical additions to a turbocharged vehicle. Although it won’t add horsepower, it’s a convenient tool to increase the longevity of the turbo. How does it do this? There’s no need to go into lengthy details as this information is readily available all over the Internet. Simply put, it allows the flow of cooler engine oil through the turbo, preventing hot oil from coking. Coking decreases the efficiency of the turbo, makes the turbo run hotter and decreases turbo life. Considering that turbo timers cost around $100 retail, it’s certainly an affordable addition to any turbocharged vehicle.

HKS USA, marking their 35th anniversary as the premier performance engineering and manufacturing company, introduced the latest iteration of their almost ubiquitous turbo timer in two versions, the Type 0 and Type 1. And, needless to say, the HKS Type-1 turbo timer quickly found a home in Project Evo.

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Our Project Evo build up has been going on for a bit now and we’re ready to review where we are. In terms of suspension, you can readily see the awesome stance of the car. Even though it’s sitting pretty and low to the ground, there is plenty of ground clearance. We’re still looking for some additional bracing options. So we’ll look into products from Cusco and Tanabe to see what will fit the bill. Here’s what’s been done thus far on the handling end of things:

• Zeal Function Xs coilovers, 8kg front / 7kg rear with custom valving
• WORKS rear sway bar, 24mm
• WORKS front strut tower bar
• WORKS rear strut tower bar
• WORKS rear drop bar
• RS trunk bar

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My good friends over at Endless USA, specifically Dominic Chen, wrote this pretty comprehensive write up on the new Nissan GT-R’s brake system. Take a read. Lots of technical information contained within.

With a good portion of my time recently devoted to R35 brake solutions, I figured I’d post as much as I could so that all of the facts and key points are in one place. It makes it easier for me to remember everything and hopefully some of you will find it useful or at least interesting.

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Every car enthusiast loves the whirl of a turbocharger. That tornado-like sound screaming from under the hood is a drug that most of us cannot get enough of. A rather delicious side dish to turbo spool is the “pfffftttt” sound from a blow off valve. This aural treat is just as addictive as turbo spool. So much so that, I have heard of N/A vehicle owners fitting one onto the piping of their “cold air intake system,” hoping that they could hear that hiss when letting off the throttle. (This usually generates a laugh or two among people I know) But a blow off valve isn’t designed for sheer driving entertainment. Rather, it serves a rather important function that increases turbo performance and life span.

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On one hand…

"General Motors said its latest incentives on 2008 models will be extended because the promotion worked so well driving traffic in the final days of June. GM will extend 0 percent financing for 72 months through the July 4 weekend."

On the other…

"General Motors shares closed at $9.98, their lowest close in more than 50 years after a Merrill Lynch analyst said bankruptcy is "not impossible" for the world’s largest automaker if the U.S. auto market continues to slump."

Is there a connection? You tell me.

US auto sales continue to plummet. June 2008 sales, compared to the same period last year, are falling at unbelievable levels. Check out the depressing figures below for the US automotive industry:

BMW = -11.0%
Chrysler = -35.9%
Daimler = +12.9%
Ford = -28%, inclusive of medium- and heavy-duty trucks
Toyota = -11.5%
Lexus = -21.1%
Honda = +13.8%
GM = -18.5%
Nissan = -17.7%
Mitsubishi = -42.4%
Subaru = 5.3%
Porsche = -18.9%
VW = +1.3%
Mazda = +7.7%

Although Nissan lost sales #, they are positioned to rebound decently as their vehicle line-up includes a number of compact and sub-compact vehicles.

Toyota’s woes could have been lessened if it were not due to supply problems with the growingly popular Prius hybrid compact.

As for GM and Ford? Compact cars are an anamoly to them. I hope that the introduction of European Ford models will hopefully help the Blue Oval marquee rebound a bit. And Chrysler? They’re still offering that silly $2.99 gas price guarantee program. No matter what the gas price may be, you can’t sell cars no one wants.

Let’s hope things improve for July 2008.

Sourcebox: Automotive News / Manufacturer Sales Data

John McCain is angry. John McCain wants to be commander in chief. And he’s going to do whatever it takes to win the election, including feeding us a bunch of BS to do so. BS worth $300 million, no less.

McCain recently reversed his stance on offshore oil drilling – a pretty pointless stance as sucking up oil from California’s coast wouldn’t actually enter the consumer pipeline, no pun intended, until at least 5 years from now; this obviously wouldn’t help the current gas price crisis – and took a lot of heat for it. So he’s been pointing out how Brazil has net zero imports of crude in to the country, espousing the merits of E85 and flex fuel vehicles. Mr. McCain fails to mention that Brazilian E85 is based on sugar cane, NOT corn as it is based here in the States. Cane E85 is more efficient from field to gas tank, but I’m guessing that he’s espousing the corn lobby and midwest corn farmers. It is an election year, obviously.

But the really upsetting thing about his recent statements on energy policy is his claim that he will award a $300 million prize for "the development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars." So let me get this straight. Taxpayers are going to pay the tab for this prize to automobile manufacturers to improve the efficiency of their vehicles? Recent criticism from Washington and Detroit have accused the Japanese government of subsidizing the development of hybrid technology for the Japanese manufacturer of the Prius , the Camry Hybrid and so on. Sounds like more BS to me.

I was recently invited to the Nissan press event in Los Angeles to test drive the all new 2009 Maxima. I’ll have a review of the vehicle soon – hint: I liked the car – but in the meantime, read the pricing information released to us today.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 24, 2008) – Nissan North America, Inc. announced pricing on the all-new, flagship 2009 Nissan Maxima, which goes on sale today at Nissan dealers nationwide. The seventh generation Maxima returns to its heritage as “The 4-Door Sports CarÔ ,” combining thrilling performance with premium sedan comfort, quality and amenities. It features all-new sports styling, a driver-oriented interior and an enhanced 290-horsepower 3.5-liter DOHC V6 engine – offering 35 more horsepower than the previous generation Maxima and better fuel economy (EPA estimated 19 mpg City/26 mpg Highway versus 19/25 mpg for the 2008 Maxima).

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At the FIA Formula 1 French Grand Prix at Circuit de Nevers, Felipe Massa of Ferrari pulled off a victory over his teammate Kimi Raikkonen. But that’s not the really interesting (and controversial) event of the weekend. Rather, it was what could be construed as the ongoing persecution of McLaren at the hands of the FIA.

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The Audi Sport North America R10 TDI LMP1 #2 racecar, outfitted with Michelin rubber, won their 8th 24 Hours of Le Mans at La Sarthe in 9 tries – WebRidesTV.com interviewed the winning Michelin-shod teams at last year’s SEMA show. No other team has been as successful in endurance racing in recent times. Tom Kristensen, Dindo Capello and Allan McNish piloted the winning racecar, while last year’s champion #1 Audi came in 6th.

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