Full Monty

Daniel, it did fkn happen overnight, after the last saga 18 months ago, when Simon from Nizpro, and hundreds of users were outraged after SCT shut out the Xcal1's over night, Rob Herrod reached an agreement with SCT to keep them running indefinately...He came onto the forums stating that XCAL1's were safe!

I wonder if they even come out of the same moulds? can you see if the numbers printed on their sides match up?

Outstanding work! they look identicle to me...Can you spot any obvious differences in person?

Interesting, I'd love to see side by side shots of the NA and Turbo mounts. If the only difference is the straps, which can be removed from the old mount and re-used, sh*t hot! that's a big saving!

Dont use that mount, its designed for the NA / 6. Note it doesnt have the reinforcing straps, to hold the engine down when it breaks. Probably isnt engineered for the increased torque of the Turbo models.

Good on you, will be very interesting.

So to clarify my understanding of SCT's viewpoint: We weren't meant to use the XCal 1's to re-tune our cars everytime we make a mechanical change? Even if its still vin locked to the original car it was purchased for? Damn that's an expensive little box filled with $10 of parts for a one off file transfer. So is that their intention for XCal 3's? we get the car tuned once, and cannot visit our tuner again for each modification / tune update? Have to buy another box??? Gonna put allot of workshops out of business, if that's their plan.

try complete windcreens in Melbourne, ive had them replace both front and rear windows on mine (front was pitted with stone chips) Rear just exploded one day. they did good work, and were half the price of obriens, with lifetime warranty.

So SCT are admitting fault lies with them for the security flaw in the design of their product? and some illegal activity "allegedly occured with a previous distributor". And somehow they decide that the best course of action is to shut down our units with no notice, and charge us all to buy new items?, because of their f*ck up, and alleged mis conduct of an authorised distributor. FFS it isnt even them offering us a reasonable exchange, its left upto Herrod to offer us $200 trade in, which im afraid just doesnt cut it, I'll still be out of pocket $FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!! If they want to do trade and make profit in our country, then they need to abide by our trade laws. Cant have it all their own way, they have sold thousands of units in this country, as recently as last year! I dont give a sh*t when Capa last bought from them, fact is they bought thousands of them upfront, therefore didnt need to re-order, SCT, stand behind your product, its your f*ckup, however you look at it. Either give me my money back $995, and I'll decide if I trust SCT enough to buy your product again. Or give me an exchange item Time for a class action from everyone affected, they cant behave like that trading in this country (last count there were 250 people signed on the petition on Nizpro's forum. Absolute disgrace

This is the exact gripe I have, they claim we can still use our XCal1 boxes!!! But we cant use them for their primary purpose for which it was purchase, which is to adjust the tune of our cars, and in this case, keep our cars running! I need to have my tune checked out because its started detonating the other night. Now this is on hold until this is resolved. I detest at having to pay anything to replace a product I purchased legitimately just 2 years ago, for $995..Because they decided to switch them off! WTF is wrong with these people, persue the people to blame, don't screw your customers.

Yeah I just went back and read that post from Rob Herrod in the Nizpro forum, just to be sure I wasn't imagining things. Sure enough it simply states that existing owners are safe, and can have tunes adjusted and uploaded to their car "as long as we require". Bit of a bloody backflip, I'm not so sure I can trust any assurances regarding Xcal2 and Xcal3 not seeing the same fate in 1-2 years time, just because the new profitable model is released.

They didnt inform us that there was an expiry date. They tried to shut them down 18 months ago, there was outrage as a result. Then they back tracked, Rob Herrod got on the forums saying all was good and Xcal 1 was safe. I dont recall at the time that they informed consumers that XCal1 was going to be switched off in a year and a half. Yet the tuners are stating that we all knew this was coming??? Perhaps they knew, and were told not to sell remaining Xcal1's, but it wasn't public knowledge.

bloody pissed off right now. My car often needs to have its tune tweaked at service, due to slight detonation under certain conditions, or Auto shifting / torque tables needing adjustment etc...Now im stuffed, and have to cough up for a new unit because they've deactivated a perfectly working item. Anyone here a lawyer and know what laws are written to prevent this sort of thing happening? I.E manufacturers deactivating a working product forcing users to upgrade, before a reasonable life span? Imagine if your new Plasma or LCD TV was deactivated by the manufacturer, Just because they wanted you to buy their new model? WTF!!!! Would you buy from them again? I mean these items were being sold for $900 bucks 2 years ago!!!! FFS they have a duty of care to support it for at least 5-10 years from the last sale date. Its Just lazy on their behalf to not develop the software to continue to support all of their products. Were not asking for new features (I,E ZF tuning) Just for them to continue to allow us to use / maintain our cars tune, via a product we purchased in good faith. Or they have another agenda - I.E the same as they did 18 months ago, to get them out of circulation because people were somehow unlocking them and selling them 2nd hand? What about the people that bought them from a registered SCT tuner like myself? Why don't they just blacklist the ones which are 2nd hand? It just doesn't sit right with me, morally and ethically wrong.

It's gonna take him ages to get anywhere, only able to make Left Hand turns.

I did the passenger side mount myself in the driveway all of 15 minutes. But the turbo side mount is a bit of a PITA to get to. I'd reckon a competent mech could do it in an hr on a hoist.

Ive got a 64gb 3G purchased through work. (were looking into its use for Education) I was pretty skeptical when it was first announced, and If I did have a laptop I probably wouldn't buy one. Technically it is just a big ipod touch, but, the larger form factor is the difference, 1024x768 res allowing fully rendered / legible websites, readable at an arms length. The screen is gorgeous and clear. it is brilliant for surfing the web, lying in bed or lounging on the couch, It turns the web into a tactile experience / kinda like reading a mag. Very casual. Video's ripped from DVD's look awesome, I reckon its the ultimate commuter gadget. Ive got an eyetv app that streams live tv to the ipad/iphone from our works servers. Very cool, when your out and about and a live sporting event is on that you don't want to miss! I disagree about the onscreen keyboard, its actually really fast to type, and after just an hour or so use, (getting used to key locations etc becomes really intuitive. 10,000 apps released already, some of which are pretty awesome.

Yeah Ive been thinking about gearing up a few teeth, to mellow out the bottom end, and make 1,2nd more useable. Other benefit would be some more top end legs, as you say. I flogged my cousin on his 2010 450 exc, until I reached top speed (14/48) gearing, then he caught me thanks to the extra cog. Mine has the Boyesen Rad Valve, carbon reeds, std carb, exept for Boyesen bowl, its bored to 90.5mm (1.5mm oversize) with full pro circuit exhaust. At a guess it would be around 60hp, so I can afford to gear it up a few teeth I reckon.

I have ridden with a guy who sells KTM, and has a 2010 525, very nice bike. easy to go fast, great handling. What work have you done to yours? a properly jetted 525 with exhaust restriction removed makes around 45hp, you can acheive close to 60hp with a 540 kit, sx cam, sx black box, pipe and muffler.a standard healthy CR500 makes 55-60hp. Granted the KTM has an extra gear, so will definately stretch its legs over a longer distance. That CR may have been a little tired?, they still go really hard with only 110psi of compression, worn rings etc, My brothers was really tired, the previous owner couldn't recall when it had a new piston and rings, yet it still smoked his mates freshly rebuilt YZ426 with tons of work. Most guys only do a top end after 150+ hrs on the 500's, as you aren't ever really stressing them with high revs.

I wish I was able to ride it to near its potential, its seriously allot of bike, and it can all go wrong pretty quickly if you aren't sensible. I reckon there's probably only a handfull of guys in the country who could really exploit one. Ive ridden modern KTM 4stroke 450's etc, and sure I'm quicker on them due to their modern suspension etc. But the CR500 is so much fun on the trails, tractor like torque down low, you can loft it over logs etc so easily, and you can really be lazy if you want to, leaving it in 2nd-3rd gear most trails. But if you wanna go really hard, its really hard work, more physical than any other bike I reckon. Yeah the AF conversions are best of both world, best offroad motor ever made, simple maintenance, along with modern ergo's and suspension. Service Honda AF500 would be the dream bike, but quite expensive to get it here. ( I heard a local dealer in melbourne is importing them for a reasonable price) 2011 KTM 2 strokes are gonna be the bomb, direct injection! they have the potential to be much cleaner, powerfull and fuel efficient than the best 4 strokes. with a fraction of the expense and maintenance.

Sorry for the late reply, here is a pic of my CR500, just finished a full ground up rebuild, rode it for the first time in months on the weekend, took it easy for a few hrs to run it in, then opened the taps on a long straight track, along side my brother on his 500... stupid fast, roosting a mile long WOT in 5th, just keeps going.

My BA is about to click over 150k this week, it has been tuned by Nizpro to 300rwkw+ for 2 years, Turbo inspected at every service last check just last week, and all is fine, bearings are silky smooth. as good as the day I bought it bog stock std at 80k kms. The key, is frequent oil changes, kept to 7,500 kms, with a quality synthetic 10w40, suitable for turbocharged cars (higher temperature's) Nulon 10w40,mobil1 etc... and Change the inline turbo supply filter screen every 3rd oil change. I have noticed a few little niggly rattles in the suspension in the last year, perhaps needing some bushes replaced etc. I haven't had any transmission related problems at this power level, I did service the box before upping the power levels as a preventitive measure, putting in the cryo treated planetary gears and high energy bands/ serrated clutchpack. the BTR 4speed is an underrated box in my opinion, It shifts faster than the ZF, quicker down the strip, can be driven hard manually and holds gears to redline, the torquey nature of the Turbo Inline 6 perfectly exploits the longer ratio's of the 4speed. Sure it may be less refined than the ZF 6 speed, doesnt have the adaptive programming etc. but it does an admirable job handling 312RWKW and 800nm (nearly double its torque rating). Its all in the tune, a bad tune, with little regard to the shifting of the auto, can see a box damaged with just 250rwkw.

Ive got a Honda CR500 which I bought in good serviceable condition a little over a year ago for a steal at $2500. I'm now doing a full teardown rebuild, 2pac frame, restored engine etc and it owes me around 4.5-5k - they are really gaining in cult status, average ones are fetching 5k on ebay. With the sought after CRE500's fetching their original selling price and above (road registerable) mind you, they are a scary powerful bike, but a great bike for trail riding - will go up anthing provided you can hang on. seriously hard work. If you want to buy new, I dont think you can beat the KTM250or300exc range. 2 stroke, with electric start, tons of power and torque and a great allround package, road registerable! Forget 4 brokes unless you like opening your wallet! add another grand for gear, then a couple of hundred for a trailer and your good to go. Then budget for Tyres, misc wear and tear, new piston and rings once every 50hrs or so (every 100-150 on the 5hundy)

Ive had positive experiences at Pedders in Nunawading / Mitcham. Once did the $14 check, and they identified the diff bush was cracked, showed me on the hoist..I then got the superpro bush as he actually recommended it (fitted elsewhere). another time I did the $14 check, They were trying to help me diagnose a rear end clunk. guy had his head under the rear end of the car whilst it was on the jiggly machine, listening to locate the rattle / knocks. spent 10 mins then taking him for a drive to reproduce the knock, whilst he was in the back seat. Then spent 20 mins on the hoist, tightening / checking every rear suspension joint for correct torque, even checked the rear subframe alignments as the rear end had been out for a diff bush. No charge, sent me on my way.

Advan V103's are a great tyre, only really bettered in performance by the new Neova's but they are a semi / track tyre. My 2 sets of advans have lasted 30K + each with 300rwkw including an advanced driving day on each set. they really handle some torture, and take just a couple of minutes to stick like crap to a blanket. about to replace this set, and most likely will get them again. expect to pay $400 per tyre fitted and balanced for 18"

Yep I run RB24's front with my AP calipers and RB 2 peice rotors and rear with standard rotors. They have incredible life...will probably outlast your rotors! even with a hard time, and next to zero dust...Much better than bendix ultimates etc. However not as good under sustained hard braking as the Ferodo enduro 2500's - 3000's, but these are a track specific pad, requiring good rotor / pad temperatures to come into operating range. Howard from Racebrakes in (Minnie St Yarraville) is one of the best guys in the auto industry, awesome to deal with, gives good honest no bullsh*t advice and takes his time to answer all of your questions. definitely recommend.