Dush73

Found the ATR Sport 2 (245 40 R18) for $135ea at Speedy Tyres in Hurstville(Sydney Sth)

Looks like Taleb stock the ATR sport 1 & not 2. Aren't the 1's meant to be discontinued/obsolete? Kinda puts a damper on getting them now. May need to stick with the Ku31.

lol...true. Think you will be lucky to get 100km with burn-outs like that. I'm pretty conservative(must be getting old), as long as I can get 20K on them will be happy.

245 40 R18 Ye Taleb quoted me the Achilles, The KU31 are from tempe...both @ $150 a pop. So from my limited undertsanding of tyres the Achilles are a softer compound than the KU31 so should wear quicker. Estimated K's on Achilles?

I heard they are better but they are also alot more dearer. Thanks SteveR, might just go with the Achilles then. Was just a bit hesitant as never heard of them then read about them in another thread. Got to agree with you on the KU31 on the grip when tread is low, although I have a lot more power now than when they were new

Hi guys, Need to get some tyres for a XR6T(280rwkw) before the EOFY & I'm tossing up between these 2 tyres. Both same price, have heard both are good bang for your buck, just after some opinions on people who may have had 1 or the other. Preference is grip over wear. Currently have the Ku31 & have done about 27,000km on them with some life left in them, & have been ok but if Achilles are grippier may choose them.

Hi AdamIan69, Thanks for the reply....Car does seem bit uninspiring down low(just like when it was stock), hoping this is the reason. Tuner said I had a sus wastegate hence why bit sluggish. Not sure Tuner noticed it or whether it was there initially but I can even notice from inside the cabin.

I had my T tuned earlier this year & got a bolt-on CAT fitted at the same time. After a couple weeks it sounded like there was a 'muffle' sound from inside the engine bay,so I took the heat shields off to inspect further & a definate leak seems to be coming at the point of connection between the cat & dump pipe. My question is what affect does this have on my car if any?(performance wise & any detrimental affects leaving it like this). Depending on answers above if this leak was present during the dyno tune would it mean a re-tune may be needed when the leak is fixed?

Thanks EvilDaifu....good analogy m8. I was just confused on the unmarrying process as I thought it still needed to go to a Tuner to get it unlocked even though stock Tune was put back in on initial car.

Thanks Panda, Was reading around whilst waiting for a reply, & now more confused! 2 scenarios: 1)You buy a X3 from a tuner(mail order) & they need to know your VIN, to lock it I'm guessing? Then there are some(dare I say Gumtree) selling NEW sealed in the box,never opened, then I'm thinking doesn't it need to be VIN locked to you car 1st(via some software,etc?). 2) Buy a 2nd hand x3 that has had tune from initial car put to stock, although its free to use on the next car(less 1 life), is there anything else needed for it to work on your car that the Tune place will have to slug you for?

Ok point taken again...don't think I would purchase without seeing it in person & hooking it up to my car & seeing that its unlocked(as mentioned in one of the above posts by "sharp Dressed Panda"). What I wanted to know is how the lock/married thing works,ie, if a used X3 is used to put the initial car back to stock tune, then its free to use on another vehicle? Thanks for the reply's guys.

Ok point taken.....guess I was thinking of imports of non-US products,eg TV's etc. Any pointers on the below, like to get a 2nd hand one but want to avoid being ripped off(due to my own lack of knowledge):

Well someone is making a packet...unless the U.S like screwing us? Doesn't make business sense though. As I understand it.... if the tune is put back to stock on an existing vehicle with the Xcal, then the Xcal is unlocked/free to use on the next car, with 1 life less(5 in total)? Is that the jist of it? Or does it still need some form of unlocking? I thought they were VIN locked when your purchase one new from a Tuner/distributor?

Ye I get that......my point is, same product = double price in Aus....not right!

Hi guys, I'm looking into getting an Xcal 3, but probably NEW from a Tuner, but I was wondering why are we in AUS paying double for one of these when in the US you can get them for like half the price.....seems like the main distributor/licensee is making a packet on these? Any thoughts?

Is a Xcal Tune on a BA II gonna be any better than getting a VCM tune? Basically want to save having to buy a Xcal as my goal was to get it tuned once(& hence save some $$$ in the process) & put that saved cash towards a cat or injectors & keep that tune. But if Xcal produces a better tune/performance then I'd reconsider.

When I 1st got my T I took it to a m8's workshop & he had a universal tester that he hooked up to the ecu. Threw a couple codes like CAN bus(which is the comms bus the system talks on) but nothing else really. Then every week or 2(usually at idle) the engine would go into limp mode & engine light on. Switch car off then on & everything back to normal(most times). Took it to Ford & got it checked on there tester & showed up several times that the TPS was playing up, so I just bought one & fitted it off myself in about 10 mins(just make sure car in warm when taking the bolts off as they have been known to snap off due to the thread locking compound they have on the thread), & hasn't gone into limp mode/engine light since. Hope that answers your question.

Thanks Velocity, I'll have to check out which tuners can provide the "VCM" tune. Couple more questions now that I know about this tune: - Does the Tuner keep your custom tune & is it readily available to dump back in the ecu say for eg Ford overwrote the edit during a service(not that I'm likely to take my car to Ford)? - I understand if after a tune you decide to do injectors,etc a re-tune is required, but what if my valve springs or transmission gives out & I get it repaired, is a re-tune required again or will I be good with the initial custom tune? BTW I have the 2nd snorkel/intake(typhoon) in the airbox & a Lukey performance filter.....didnt really notice any difference & can't see how much more air can be induced in that location,but for $80 it was worth a try!

Is a VCM tune just another brand, just like Xcal? Like to avoid having to pay for a flash box(xcal) considering I will be keeping the same tune. Is this possible/feasible? I have a BA II auto & due to the flakiness of the transmission,valve springs etc I'd like to limit my custom tune to a 10psi(on 98octane) to preserve those components, maybe go a CAT or injectors if not too expensive(few hundred ea on ebay) to maximise the tune. Which would you guys choose 1st,injectors or CAT? One last thing,what kind of performance improvement(say 0-100km) could you expect from custom(10psi)tune without mods? eg stock BA XR6T do it in 6 sec, after tune? Guess you can see I'm after low down torque, as the BA auto's seem to be sluggish off the mark?

Is it possible to get a custom Tune without having to purhcase the flash box(where your Tuner keeps/stores your Tune just in case)? I really don't see the value of the flasher if you want 1 tune in the car. It would work out half the cost then

Hi guys, Just thought I'd give u a heads up on the situation(as it may help others) & a thankyou for the help. I ended up changing the thermostat with a Tridon High Flow from Super cheap & that seems to have solved my overheating issue. Temp gauge sits mostly between 1/4 & 1/2 way.

I replaced mine thinking it was the cause for my high fuel consumption & due for replacement(85K on the clock) but it did squat to improve fuel consumption, & its a bitch to get to(dump pipe on BA). The BA's have 1 & the BF's have two. When I was researching it I found the BA are different to the BF's, although e-bay sellers will say they are both compatible. The one I got from ebay cost about $70 & was identical to the original one(I have a BA).

Thanks for the replys......think I'll start with the thermostat & see what happens. The coolant is about 1yr old....Iooks green, a bit on the dark side, so I was gonna compare it to some used coolant I have,although coolant does change colour with use? My main concern was there was no rings that oil forms when in water & that seems ok.

Hi all, I have noticed the last couple weeks(I know its a bit warmer now) the temp gauge on my stock BA T gets to the half way mark within 15 mins of driving, the thermo's kick in(& don't turn off) & the gauge pretty much stays on half(although my trips are usually no longer than 20 mins so I don't know if it would go any higher than that if driven further). The only time the thermo's would kick in the past is on a hot summers day with A/C on, but it happened on a 20 min drive last night & the ambient temp was quite cool. I'm pretty sure it used to sit somewhere between 1/4 & 1/2, depending how you drive it. Now I have checked the obvious: plenty of coolant in resevoir, plenty of pressure when I loosen the cap(after being driven), hoses seem ok/tight, no coolant on garage floor,drive belt ok, radiator seems ok(but hard to see). From reading other posts, the Thermostat seems the easiest & 1st culprit to check, but other than that what are the chances of it being: 1)Radiator 2)Water pump 3) Other suggestions Can 1) & 2) be diagnosed? Would also like to know: 4)Where on the temp gauge the thermo's kick in(half way mark of gauge on mine) 5)Where is your temp gauge sitting this time of year Appreciate all advise/feedback.

Did you try them out? I'm wondering what the difference is between green & blue plug, other than colour. Mine is BA & the original one is green, so hopefully I should be sweet. I just thought the BF's plug was blue?