On the right Track.

Hey ya'll . This is my first post so be

good to me :) , the previous day i was watching a very famous brand of SUV crawling its way through a puddle of water close to thummulla and it got me thinking as to what has anybody done to revolutionize the most basic concept of an vehicle the "WHEEL"

I have always been a fan of the great wilderness and enjoyed every minute of it .. During my years spent away from my mother land in a place where sand was the basic thing you saw day and night , it had always amazed me on how a 4x4 weighing almost 2 tons ( in some cases) , would easily glide its way along the soft sand that would simply sink a human .Hence my obsessions for the concept of 4-wheeling began , i have to admit that unlike some of the other posts i am still a amateur to the whole scene but i had to share this cool mod with you'll

Firstly i was amazed and made my mind up that it had to be a custom job, but the simple fact it is is not , Its called MATTRACKS. (www.mattracks.com) The cost varies from about $3500 onwards and come in different specs , but the best thing about it is mostly available for all standard 4X4 you find here .

It is equipped with a unique independent system that the manufacturers say wont even damage the environment the way a wheel does :) furthermore the mobility on one of these things are pretty dam amazing , it can virtually go on any terrain and totally outwits the concept of the standard tyre and only takes a few minutes to add one (like changing a flat tyre)

and the best part if no more FLAT TIREs :)

Well don't believe me ? , Go to YouTube and be amazed by the clips you see.

Imagine a couple of these things here , i am sure the enthusiasts here would have alot to say about it :) , Let me have your views , i would like to learn more as to why such things are not used in Competitions around the world ?

Sr Zonda

My Trueno

Hey everyone, hope you had a lovely time voting for the next best embezzler of the year.. and keeping the sad tunes on, it's going to be one of these articles where everyone clicking on this link would be going "oh geez, not a freaking Trueno" but yes things are that bad in this country. But for me it's all good as my car's there to cheer me up. Today I treated her wounds slowly and painfully. 1st I removed her air filter and tenderly placed it on the floor prior to getting furious with the spanner for not being able to turn the screw for the radiator. Once I'm done with my swearing and thrown the all nuts and bolts allover the garage for making me work so hard (huh.. got them good....), I removed the battery.

Once all of these were removed I started my refurbishing job. Cleaned the radiator and bled the cooling system. As my radiator is anyway a leaky one I think doing this regularly would be good for my car. Once that was done I cleaned the battery mount area and put the battery back on without the plate which it normally sits on. This plate has been the culprit for the dent that's on my hood as the negative terminal seems to be jutting up too much..

Finally took my Apexi Power Intake air filter out and washed it. I'm a bit worried about washing it but now that I've done it no use of worrying. I was recommended to wash it by my mechanic (all so well known as Nadeera) and I hope the filter would be fine. I also did a quick research online but there was mixed feelings about washing and blowing it with pressured air.

Then came the hard task of putting them all back. I'm so bad at this but surprisingly I got it working fine and the car came to life without any hiccups. But let's see once I start driving it around this week.

So all-in-all a good week for my Panda. I changed my spark plugs back to my NGK Iriway 8s after I had to remove them in an unfortunate incident few weeks ago.

I'd like to hear from you guys about my car; whether you like the looks of it or not. The Trueno is an iconic machine around the world inspiring thousands to take up Drifting like it did for me. Well I'm no drifter but I'm building my car so that I can with minimal affect to its setup or having to replace bushings each time I take it for a spin.

What do you think of my photographing skills?

As you might have already noticed I brought you a nice BJ40 yesterday. I hope y'all liked it :) There are a few more pics left over from that photo shoot, my 1st ever photo shoot; where my excuse for the inartistic pics was the cam I was using.. I'm sure I can do a better job with a better cam. :) I highly doubt though...

Another one for the Mud crazed 4x4 enthusiast..

After a long day at work there's nothing like coming home to a nice hot bath and a warm glass of milk and that's exactly what I didn't experience tonight. 1st thing I did after I got home around 12 mid night was to get ready for this article. So here goes..

Last weekend I went and met a good friend of mine, who has a BJ40 fully modified to be a awesome off-roader. On the same day I happen to bump into yet another a good friend who had brought this Hilux after a nice wash. So I happen to have my dinky cam and with the limit intelligence I have, I figured that there could be a nice photoshoot and so took some pics. Let me know what you think of them.

I had a lovely time taking my own photographs and got really really sun burnt.. Probably broke a few laws as well by putting the jeep and hilux up on the steps.. So I'll be in jail only if any of you snittttch.... So let's see...

By the way this beauty is for sale.. Anyone interested let me know. FYI, it's a very well maintained and my friend takes care of it like his GF; take it from me mate.. Got the 2B 3 liter engine underneath that hood so you know its powerful too..

Want to increase your horsepower? Here are some tips..

Finally got sometime for my blog. Been so busy that I've been having some 16 hour working days for an entire week. Hectic and underpaid!! :)

Anyways, I wanted to do this article for sometime now but never got the chance. Now that I'm also carrying out some performance upgardes to my car I thought may I can share a few views with you and maybe here a few ideas from all you out there...

So here goes.. From the research I've done its quite important to look at a few things under your hood and quite easily achieved ones at that. I've gone a bit cheap and quoted the rest from one of my research sites but I don't think I can do a better job of explaining the points of improvement (http://www.jdmenginesamurai.com/performance_tuning.htm)

1) Get more air into the engine: Modifying your car’s intake system is one of the easiest and biggest performance boosts you can make for a reasonable price. Increasing airflow into the engine provides oxygen needed to burn more fuel. More fuel means more power. It’s a modification you can easily do yourself, as the parts are easily installed with little or no modifications needed. AEM makes an easy-to-install hybrid intake system just for JDM swaps. Another popular brand is K & N.

There are two types of systems used in the tuner community: the short ram (also called warm) intake or cold air intake. With the short ram intake, the air filter is still inside the engine compartment but it is located as far away as possible from the engine. This system has less restriction and uses a higher flowing air filter to get air into the engine. You can expect a 4 to 8 hp gain from this system. The system most desirable is the cold air intake system, which runs a longer pipe and locates the filter low in the engine compartment. You can expect to see a 15 horsepower gain after installation and tuning. It costs around $150.00. A bypass valve is important to install, as it helps to keep the engine from getting bogged down with water if the car happens to splash through a deep puddle. The bypass valve costs $50.00. Check brands to make sure a bypass valve is offered when buying a cold air intake system, and make sure it passes your state's smog/emissions guidelines.
      
2) Get more exhaust out of the engine: As more power is produced, the need for a freer flowing exhaust system is more prevalent. Getting exhaust to flow out the engine efficiently helps the engine to draw more air into the air intake, thus producing more power. Installing a Cat-back exhaust system will provide the level of engine noise and performance you desire. A cat-back system is all of the exhaust components from the catalytic converter back, hence the name. There are after-market systems available for almost all makes and models that are made of stainless steel, mild steel and titanium. Mild steel is cheaper but rusts easily, so if you live in a wet or snowy climate, you'll want to steer clear. Stainless steel won't rust and is polished for a high-quality shine that will give your vehicle a smart, individual look. Titanium is lightweight and attractive with a steep cost—up to $300 more than a stainless steel system. Expect to see gains of up to 6 to 25 horsepower and 5 to 20 foot/lbs of torque. DC Sports, Trust and Tanabe are popular brands that offer cat-back systems for under $700.00.

Things to keep in mind when choosing a cat-back system: future modifications, clearance, and emissions. If you're planning on upgrading to nitrous, blowers or turbo, you'll want to install a larger diameter pipe. Beware, larger isn’t always better. Too large of a diameter in exhaust pipes can disrupt flow patterns. If you're looking to lower your car’s ground clearance in the future, then go with a system that's suitable, as you don't want your new exhaust ruined on a low driveway or a speed bump. Also, before purchasing, make sure your new system will pass all emissions standards to avoid registration/emission problems or even tickets from the long arm of the law. You can also install an exhaust header to replace the exhaust manifold. An exhaust header is a tubular exhaust manifold that allows exhaust to leave the engine 
more efficiently. DC Sports and G Reedy are popular brands offering headers in the 
$200.00 to $500.00 price range. 
      
3) Get more fuel to your engine: Now that you have more air for the engine and a way to dissipate engine waste, the engine is ready for more fuel. More fuel burned by the engine equates to more power. As you increase the fuel needs of your engine, you may want to change to a high-volume fuel pump or an adjustable fuel pressure regulator. A high-performance fuel pump by Venom sells for $185.00. AEM makes a fuel pressure regulator for $150.00. You can also install a computer that helps to control fuel flow. G Reddy offers a product called eManage, which is an after-market computer that connects with the 
ECU and helps to manage fuel and air flow, among other things. G Reddy also offers a program for your computer to help track changes for more efficient tuning. It’s available for around $320.00 and G Reddy offers technical support if you purchase one of their systems. Keep in mind, the unit should be professionally installed to insure that all of the modifications work with the ECU and the system. 
       
4) Get better spark to the engine: Now that you’re burning more fuel, you need to have a more efficient means of getting more spark to the engine. The spark ignites the fuel, which creates horsepower. Installing an after-market high performance ignition system such as MSD or Exel will help to get a more efficient and powerful spark from the spark plugs. Systems are available for under $500.00. 
      
5) Improve engine performance: Accessories such as the water pump, oil pump, cooling fan and alternator rob your engine of precious horsepower. Installing a new drive pulley system will reduce the amount of horsepower stolen from the crankshaft to drive the system. A lighter weight pulley is made of aluminum, comes in a kit with all of the accessories, and is easy to install. AEM and Unorthodox Racing offer drive pulley systems for $160.00. You can expect to see increases of 6 to 10 horsepower.

Happy tunning guys!!!! Love to hear from you about your point of views....

Best find of the year so far...

Finally, my life is complete!!! It all started maybe, roughly a month ago when I realized that there're no girls whom I know (including my fiancé) who loves the car I just would die for!! And this made me feel really empty :) How can the ladies NOT love this cutiee?? ==>

So I started my endeavor in finding (even a single) girl in this world that loves the AE86. It took a few weeks for me to figure out that it's a hopeless case. Then... last night, I saw a post on the Poll I started in the AEU86 (my post @ AEU86) which put my search to an end. A girl had posted a comment and dropped the bomb (in her own words) on all of us! She not only confessed her love but also introduced us to a whole bunch of beautiful girls to our complete disbelief.

These ladies are from Ireland and they know how to keep their Hachi's nice and sweet! I love those cars; they are beautifully maintained and they know their driving, I tell you that.

This is NikkiRoku's car and I think its one of the best in the site:

This is Maryann's baby and I love ittttt!!!

And THE BEST LOOKER is from Edwina (probably because my weakness for the coupe):

Finally the ladies themselves (you can find them @ http://ae86girls.webs.com/):

So there you go, we aren't alone, these beautiful ladies do what they love the most; love the AE86 and I think that's awesome!!! Now, I can rest in peace........

Fuel quality standards.. Are they properly enforced in SL? Is the fuel being pumped to your beloved car actually what they say it is?

What you do you think the answer to this somewhat simple question?

Is the fuel you pump is actually worth the amount you pay for? 

Knowing our politicians and money crazed businessman it is highly likely that the "petrol sheds" in Sri Lanka are adulterating the processed black gold and making us incur a cost most of cannot and will not tolerate. 

There were rumors spreading during the fuel re-pricing days that all the filling stations were pumping 90 octane petrol instead of 95 octane at the 95's price. This is absolutely unacceptable if this rumor happens to be true. But how do we know whether this practice that happened during the price drop is still happening or not? The chances are it still is because once you find out a cheap profit making strategy it's hard to get rid of it even if you wanted to!

Another popular filling station related folklore amongst us are the fuel pump meters which runs at a faster speed than the actual fill rate resulting in the car being filled lesser than what you pay. In the end it's us, the poor citizens of Sri Lanka that suffers from this. Our small salaries (without bonus OR salary increments) get used up to pay more for lower quality fuel. 

Let me ask you a few questions: 

1. Do you feel that you car purrs better after pumping 95 or even 90 octane at certain filling stations? 

2. Do you feel your car gives out more power when pumped with 95 against 90 octane petrol? 

3. Do you suspect that the fuel meter is always way too fast at the start?   

Well I’d like to hear about this from you, all of you and maybe even more!! I’ll run a small poll pertaining to this and depending on your comments I’ll launch my own investigation into this. It would be kickass if you could help me out guys!! This is for all of us!