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Minor Service
A good example of when a little goes a long way
Regular maintenance on your vehicle ensures longevity of major components and results in minimising forced deterioration. A minor service is one such maintenance practice that your car will thank you for.
A minor service is typically carried out at these intervals:Petrol - every 15 000 km's or 12 monthsDiesel - every 10 000 km's or 12 months
This service includes:
- High Quality Oil
- Oil Filter & Air Filter
- ECU Diagnostic
- Service Interval Reset
- Brake Inspection (to be quoted if needed)
- Belt and Tensioner Inspection (to be quoted if needed)
- Globe Inspection (to be quoted if needed)
- Wiper Inspection (to be quoted if needed)
- Car Wash
Major Service
How do you know when its time for a major service and what is included
A major service is typically done at 15 000 km intervals and includes:
- Liqui Moly Engine Flush
- Liqui Moly Radiator Flush
- High Quality Oil
- Spark Plugs
- Oil Filter & Air Filter
- Fuel Filter
- Pollen Filter
- Brake Fluid Top-up
- Hand-brake reset
- ECU Diagnostic
- Service Interval Reset
- Brake Inspection (to be quoted if necessary)
- Belt and Tensioner Inspection (to be quoted if necessary)
- Globe Inspection (to be quoted if necessary)
- Wiper Inspection (to be quoted if necessary)
- Car Wash
Performance Upgrades
Mechanical Upgrades
Upgrades are dependant on your needs and the phase of your build.
We will partner with you specifically for where you are at.
ECU (Engine Control Unit) Remapping
Software upgrades and tuning
Remapping is a process of altering your car engine’s computer, which is better known as an engine control unit (ECU). The ECU is programmed to manage functions such as the fuel injection, sensors, air flow, etc. By changing or overwriting this program with new software, the functions can be customised and the performance of your car can be improved.
What are the benefits of remapping?Car manufacturers are known to program their models’ ECUs so that they are not performing at peak efficiency. This allows them to release a sportier model with a more efficient engine by simply reprogramming the ECU and making small design tweaks. Remapping your car means you can get the most out of your engine – improving performance, fuel efficiency and responsiveness.
Improved engine performance is another way of saying more speed and more power. The increase in horsepower you’ll get from remapping depends on what sort of engine you have. For example, you could get an increase of as much as 40-50bhp (brake horse power) for a turbo engine. It may be lower in other engines. Many remapping services also boast an increase in torque of up to 80nm (Newton metres). In other words, it’ll feel faster!
In regard to improved fuel efficiency, this really depends on how you drive your car. Rushing through gears, sudden and fast acceleration, speeding and sudden braking can have a negative effect on your fuel economy, increasing consumption up to 40%. While this is true whether you remap your engine or not, the combination of remapping and smooth driving will offer better fuel efficiency than good driving on its own.
Are there downsides to remapping?If you have a fairly new car, one of the biggest downsides is that remapping your engine will most likely invalidate the manufacturer’s warranty. You could remap your car once your warranty expires, or you may be willing to take the risk – it’s up to you.
It is possible for your engine to be damaged by remapping, but the chances of this happening are very slim. However, most reputable remappers will offer a lifetime warranty on the software they install on your ECU anyway.
Remapping may increase your insurance premium. You must declare that your car has been remapped regardless of the insurer you choose (or your policy could be invalidated).Driving your car after its been remapped will feel different. Most drivers will adapt after a few trips in a freshly tuned car, but for some drivers may not enjoy the new driving experience as much as they had hoped. Thankfully, remapping is completely reversible!
How do I know if my car has been remapped?If you suspect that second-hand car has been remapped, but the previous owner nor paperwork mention it, then it can be hard to tell for sure. Although some remapping services leave a sticker on the ECU, this is the only visual clue that changes have been made.
You could refer to your car’s user manual and compare the acceleration and performance of your car currently with the figures in the booklet. However, if you really feel like the ECU could have been altered, you should take it to a remapping service or manufacturers’ garage where someone can review the software. This will likely cost you money, but if you’re in any doubt, it’s worth doing – if you don’t declare remapping to your insurance provider it could affect any claims you make if it’s later found to have been tuned.
(credit to Adrianflux.co.uk)
Turbo Upgrades
Choosing the right turbo
Choosing a performance turbocharger starts with a horsepower target. Each turbocharger is designed to support a specific range of horsepower and engine displacement. If a turbo is too large for your engine, you will have a lot of turbo lag, and if a turbo is too small for your engine you may not reach your horsepower target. Let us guide you through the process.
What do I need to know to choose the right diesel upgrade turbocharger?The amount of power that a diesel engine makes is directly proportional to the amount of fuel injected into the cylinder and that fuel needs sufficient air for complete combustion. For smoke-free performance, the engine needs about 18 times more air (by mass) than fuel. So clearly, as more fuel is added, additional air needs to be added also. In most applications, the stock turbo has some additional capacity for increased power, but as the compressor reaches the choke limit (maximum flow), the turbo speed increases rapidly, the efficiency drops dramatically, and the compressor discharge temperature ramps up very quickly. This creates a “snowball” effect in that the higher discharge temps mean higher intake manifold temps and higher exhaust gas temps.
The lower efficiency means that more turbine power is required to reach the same boost causing higher back pressure in the exhaust manifold. This can usually be seen on an engine with a performance chip (at the highest power setting) and maybe an intake or exhaust upgrade. Under heavy acceleration, smoke is pouring from the tailpipe as the EGT’s and turbo speeds are climbing into the danger zone requiring a prudent driver to back off the accelerator pedal early to keep from damaging the engine. Under these conditions, the stock turbo is running on borrowed time.
With an upgrade turbocharger selected to compliment the extra fuel, smoke is drastically reduced, EGT’s are under control and, since the turbo is operating in a more efficient range, horsepower and drivability are enhanced. When the modifications get more serious, a bigger turbo is a must have to compliment even more fuel.In order to decide on the appropriate turbocharger for your diesel engine, the very first thing that needs to be established is the power target. Since turbochargers are sized by how much air they can deliver and airflow is proportional to engine power, a realistic horsepower goal is critical to make the right choice.
(credit to Garretmotion.com)
Down Pipes / Exhaust Systems
One of the easiest and cheapest upgrades one can do is an exhaust system
Buying a car can be great fun, but no matter how good your new vehicle is, there is always room for improvement. Most car manufacturers leave room for us normal people to improve, or ruin their products. That’s not to say the original vehicle isn’t good, but if there's room for improvement then why not.
One of the easiest and cheapest upgrades one can do is an exhaust system. A performance exhaust can free up some of the power in your engine by allowing the gases to escape a bit easier. When the gases can escape, your engine runs smoother.
When the exhaust flows better, the fuel and air exit the combustion chamber faster and new fuel and air can be burned to create more power.
This works well for certain cars, but for some, the only effect that a bigger exhaust has is more noise. Putting a performance exhaust on a 1.8-liter Honda Civic won’t help the power much, but it’ll make it sound like a fart can.
If a performance exhaust has you intrigued, come chat to us and we'll find a solution specifically for your car.
Performance Brakes
Why would you want to move from stock to performance brakes.
Brakes are the most safety critical part of any moving vehicle and in the case of cars and motorcycles quite often when brakes are used in anger, standard is just not good enough. The trackday and race use of motor vehicles has led to a need for higher performance brakes such as disc brake pads and brake rotors or discs.
So what does high performance mean and how do we measure this performance ? Brake pads which are made of blends of petro chemical resins and other ingredients are made to a budget by car builders and are one of the first thing to be changed on a vehicles brakes when users are involved in sport or race use.
A high performance brake pad will be one which has good friction level and pedal feel on first application and can hold this level of performance throughout the whole braking cycles. Brakes must not “Fade” or fall on in performance under the heat of braking. Not only must high performance brakes work effectively under heat and load they must have good durability. Additives such a copper or coke are blended into pads used on high performance brake systems to enhance durability.
Brake fluids are also tested in high performance brakes and because most fluids are hygroscopic meaning they absorb moisture a higher specification fluid is needed and even that will need regular changing and flushing to keep brakes up to par with the target usage.
Finally the brake rotors themselves must be of a decent quality G3000 Grey iron or better and if possible made from virgin alloy ingot rather than reprocessed irons which are common in 99% of aftermarket brakes. Years ago rotor castings used for automobile brakes were annealed or atmosphere aged to allow the castings to settle after being made. No longer does this happen due to cost restraints on brakes particularly by car builders and so the duty of care falls upon the brake pad to work effectively but not to cause damage to the brake rotor by overheat.
By virtue of the physics involved, brakes work by exchanging kinetic energy or momentum into one of three other energy forms, these being heat light or sound. There are no others. Therefore as it is desirous not to have immense noise from brakes and light would only be obtained by massive over heating of the brake rotor, heat is the method by which the energy exchange in brakes occurs.
This means that brakes can glow orange in high performance use, pads can overheat and fade and rotors could even develop cracks if the brake system is not designed correctly. In automobile applications cooling of the components within the brakes is usually aided by the ducting of cool air which involves scoops in the front vehicles body work directing cool air as the car is driven onto the brake components. This can reduce overheating of the brakes by 30-40% and prevent caliper seal damage as well as rotor over heat and pad fade.
(credit to EBCbrakes.com)
Engine Rebuilds
What is an engine rebuild and why you would choose to go this route.
There are two main reasons people choose to rebuild an engine: wear to engine bearings, and poorly seating piston rings. The moving parts of the engine (such and the crankshaft, rods and pistons) are mounted on bearings that allow them to move freely. These bearings are lubricated by engine oil. Bearings are built to last many thousands of miles, but they do experience wear after time. This wear is accelerated exponentially when a vehicle is poorly maintained and is run on low oil levels or the oil change schedule isn't properly followed.
Worn bearings produce loud knocking and eventually can cause a destructive failure of the engine. Piston rings seal in the expanding gasses created by the burning of fuel within the engine. As Piston rings wear, they no longer seal the cylinders properly, resulting in a phenomenon called "blow-by." Blow-by occurs when crankcase oil escapes past worn rings and is burned with the fuel mixture in the cylinder. Often this is the reason that older engines have an excessive amount of smoke in the exhaust.
What's Done during an Engine RebuildWhen an engine is rebuilt, a few basic things are done to restore it to good working condition. First, the "short block" or lower half of the engine is removed and sent for engineering. At the shop it is disassembled and cleaned so that the condition of the block can be properly assessed. Depending on the condition of the internal parts of the engine, the piston rings, bearings and sometimes the pistons themselves are replaced. The internal surfaces of the cylinders are also reconditioned to ensure that the new piston rings can form a proper seal with the cylinder walls. Finally, the engine is reassembled and installed back in the vehicle. Often the cylinder head is also reconditioned at the same time.
Signs You May Need a RebuildThere are some frequently seen signs that a rebuild may be necessary for your engine. The most common sign is oil consumption and excessive white smoke in the exhaust, especially when the engine is cold. This is normally a sign of worn piston rings. More extreme signs could be metal shavings in the engine oil (a common sign of dangerously worn bearings) and "knocking" or "chattering" from the engine bearings.
Remember that a rebuild can be very expensive and it might not be the right choice for all vehicles. If you think that you might be in the market for a rebuild, you might also want to consider swapping in a lower-mileage engine or an engine that is in better condition as this option could be cheaper.
Carbon Cleaning
Carbon Cleaning Explained
Modern petrol and diesel engines create carbon deposit build-up on the inner walls of the intake system due to strict emission control devices such as EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) and the use of low viscosity oils.
Carbon cleans are specifically carried out on direct injection engines. The main difference between direct and port injection is where the fuel injectors are located in the engine. With direct injection engines, the fuel injectors will be located within the actual engine cylinder. With port injection engines the fuel injectors will be located in the air intake of the engine.
Carbon build-up manifests as a thick black sludge that severely inhibits the performance of your vehicle. Carbon deposits occur on the inner walls of the intake system and directly on the intake valves.
Carbon Doctor utilises the walnut blasting method which cleans all carbon build-up on the intake system and valves.
Symptoms of carbon build up are typically:
- Rough Idle
- Detonation
- Leaking valves
- Power loss
- Misfires
- Engine check lights
What are the benefits of Carbon Cleaning?
- Removes carbon deposits
- Restores engine performance and fuel consumption by up to 2litres per 100 km's
- Revitalise your engine and get instant improvements
- Improve acceleration and eliminate misfires caused by leaking valves
Engine Carbon Cleaning can be beneficial for most vehicles but especially suitable for:
- Audi 2.0T from 2005
- Audi 1.8T from 2009
- VW 2.0T from 2005
- VW 1.8T from 2015
- Audi 1.9 and 2.0TDI 2003
- VW 1.9 and 2.0TDI 2003
- Audi S4/S5/A6 etc. V6T 2009
- Audi V8 FSI (R8/S6/S5/RS4/RS5/Q7 etc.) 2005
- VW Touareg/Audi Q7 V6 FSI 2011
- BMW N54/N55 (any vehicle e.g.: x6/x5/3/1/5 in E and F series) 2006
- Mini Cooper S (All derivatives: clubman, JCW etc.) N14/N18 2006 VW/AUDI 1.4 TSI 90kw (A1, A3, G6 etc.) 2009
- Polo GTI 1.4 TSI
- VW/Audi 1.4 TSI 118kw (turbo and supercharged)
Also suitable – price on request:
- Range Rover Evoque Si4/TD4
- Ford focus ST3/RS
- Ford Fiesta ST2
- Audi RS3/RS Q3/ TTRS 2008
