Boingk's VT II Wagon - "The Pursuit Wagon"

[boingk]

Nice ride, Zom! Very impressive indeed. Would sure be interesting with all that power on board, nearest thing I could compare it to is my Honda VTR1000F sportsbike... that thing is insane and probably still nowhere near what your wagon is like.

Anyway, a package turned up today... it had this in it:

Yep, that catback exhaust I've been banging on about. Its a 2.5" twin system from Redback and is supposed to have a moderate note to it... as opposed to no note with the stock system.

This is the last time you'll see the stocker hooked up:

A few spurts of WD40 and some twiddling with the ratchet spanner...

Pry the clips and rubbers off...

And the new system is ready to go in!

There we go, even *better* than new.

The best thing is it sounds just right, exactly what I was after. I didn't want a thundering monster, just a subdued, rumbling note to remind you that, yeah, you actually are driving a damn-near 6 litre V8. It fits the bill nicely in that regard and seems to have freed up a few more ponies as well; she's a bit more eager on freeway onramps now and you can feel the urge through the midrange is a bit stronger, too.

The extractors will be next but I'm waiting on gaskets for them.

Til then - boingk

 

[Zom]

Cheers. "Interesting" is right!

Nice exhaust. Zonks ago, well before I did all this latest work, the first thing I did was put a decent exhaust on mine. It made a difference to performance and improved economy as well. It took a while to get rid of the (wagon only) droning under a bit of load at 1500 rpm, but the right resonators fixed it. Yours looks about right. Do you get the droning?

What do you have for extractors?

 

[boingk]

Ah, the drone... 1200~1500rpm under moderate load, like cruising up a hill at 60kmh in 3rd? Yeah, I get it, but I don't mind it. When I'm on the freeway its almost silent, there's a hint of exhaust note when cruise control takes you up a hill but other than that you don't notice it. Must've been pretty close, you've right. I tested it dumped at the diff before putting on the rear muffler section, sounded pretty good, too; perhaps something to think about for later.

The extractors are used Pacemaker 4-2-1's, I picked them up during the Easter break:

A quick wirebrush and prepsol and then I can hit them with the high heat gloss black paint I've got hanging around from another build. They only owe me $250, the fellow said they'd come off a car he was using for parts and threw in the cats as well.

- boingk

 

[kangavxss]

Yep that's the rev range for drone on autos under load in top gear like you say ( I get a bit there also on a very steep up hill near my place , but if I shift down to third from drive it pics the revs up and it disappears). Funny thing is when I'm in the passenger seat and the missus is driving up the same hill, same speed, in drive I don't hear a thing..weird..

 

[kangavxss]

Zom what resonators are you using m8?

 

[Zom]

Mate, the resonators I am using now are nothing like the system I put on the LS1. That was a Redback system quite similar to the system boingk has installed.

The resonators I am using now are part of the HM Headers package installed with the LS3, and were sized for the eventual high flow requirements of the blower. They are little more than bumps in the pipes leading to the bi-modal muffler.

This image shows the current resonators highlighted and the oversize cats in the top corners.

 

[skappascrap]

Nice ride man!

 

[boingk]

Thanks mate, I've got a few parts in the mail today so hopefully will be able to fit them up over the weekend and get some pictures up.

 

[boingk]

A few things turned up this week; the K&N panel filter and, more highly awaited, the reprogrammed ECU.

The install was pretty straight forward for the ECU, just plug and play. I pulled the BCM module and then took the car through an idle-learn process and everything was fine. An initial test drive confirmed the car has a lot more torque and power - I couldn't stop activating the traction control, which I kept on because it was wet. A drive today in the dry saw it chirping the tyres into second, lots of fun!

 

[Zom]

Good to see the progress. The breathing improvements (in and out) make a big difference to the LS1. You will also notice a change when you get the extractors on.