VX Clubsport R8 in Tungsten

[RB30X]

Hi all.

I've been out of the 'Holden' game for a few years but I still had an LS1 powered toy car: http://www.ls1.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=143621

I recently bought another VX Clubby as I love the shape, and until recently, didnt even know they came out in this colour which I love.

The car was completely standard apart from the fact that someone hacked the rear resonator off the factory system and put in two straight pipes.

After driving it for a while I cant understand how Holden could sell these as a sports car, as the performance is so dull in factory form. After being used to driving an LS1/T56 in a 600kgs lighter car, this thing felt painfully slow. I knew that with a mafless tune and exhaust it should pick up.

I installed a mafless tune today and throttle response is a bit better and the auto certainly shifts closer to how I would like it, none of this lazy gear changing like it used to.

I'm hoping once I decide which exhaust I want and get it fitted, it should pick up a bit more in the performance department.

Plans are to keep this as my daily cruiser and not go overboard on mods etc.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/Picture21689.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/Picture21694.jpg

[***VX*R8***]

Wow, you ended up with a tungsten vx r8 :thumbsup:
Car looks great, congratulations.

Mine also has the stock 2.25 exhaust with the rear mufflers cut out and the mid mufflers replaced with Lukey. I didn't mind my exhaust when car was auto but now that it's manual it sounds different.
Love to hear how you go with the exhaust, I'm thinking of either DF twin 2.5 or Sureflo 3.5

[RB30X]

Yeah mate, like I said I really like the pics of yours in your build which lead me to buy this one. With the rear res removed from mine the LH and RH banks dont actually meet up any more so the exhaust is very pulsey, as in they dont join up to smooth the sound out like merge pipes do. Still waiting to hear back form someone to see which way I go for exhausts.

Did a small mod today. After getting the mafless tune I no longer need the maf obvioulsy which is a physical restriction in the intake. I removed it and inserted a 90mm long piece of 90mm or 3.5" stainless exhaust pipe. Should do the job until I chase down a GTS style maf (less) pipe.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/e407c838.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/2a1b843f.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/bf4a1019.jpg

[surfwagon]

Replacing the maf with a straight pipe is a nice simple mod but a decent OTR will enhance your performance even more.
Duspeed OTR ftw.
http://www.ls1.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=128770&page=7




__________________________________________________ __________
Senator http://www.ls1.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=121025
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p266/surfwagon/senatorbarbadosblue.jpg

[RB30X]

Yes I have been down the Otr road before. The gains are obvious at the strip but the reduction in filter surface area with the long skinny Mercedes filters always worried me. Some otr's use larger panel filters now.

[BTS666.0]

only prob with otr's is you are always cleaning the bloody things. always. so labor intensive. makes me sad

[RB30X]

I ended up tracking down a 4" maf pipe and rubber joiner. You dont realise how skinny the original ones are till you see them next to each other. Pics dont really do them justice.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/231903b2.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/a7891a09.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/7b79e2cb.jpg

So apart from a ported and polished throttle body, this 'should' be the end of the intake mods.
I havent really been able to pick up much of a difference due to still having the restrictive factory exhaust. I'm expecting a 3.5" sureflo cat back next week so hopefully this will 'free' up the system.

[Mick1]

I havent really been able to pick up much of a difference due to still having the restrictive factory exhaust. I'm expecting a 3.5" sureflo cat back next week so hopefully this will 'free' up the system.


'Interesting', cos l thought you would feel some change. Was considering doing that to mine!

Did you modify the airbox aswell?

Looks like exhaust change is a must!

[RB30X]

I have definitly noticed a difference with the tune and the intake mods, but it's hard to say how much the maf pipe made alone. The thing I've found about autos is they rarely use half the revs you would in a manual. By not feeling how hard the engine pulls at medium to high loads on a more regular basis (changing an M6) its hard to tell. Plus I've only had the car just over a month so it's not like I've gotten used to its 'lack of power' over a few years and then notice a difference with a maf pipe upgrade, if you know what I mean. I give mine a good stab every morning onto the highway on the way to work but apart from that the rest of the drive is in traffic.

[RB30X]

Installed the Sureflo system today. It was a fairly simple task. I made a short vid to show the novices how easy it is and that anyone could do it themselves. As mentioned previously my existing system was factory HSV with the rear resonator removed. This new system doesnt sound much louder, so hopefully it will once it beds in. I will also be looking to modify the tip myself with 2 x 2.5" stainless pipe tips.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250643419.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250643422.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250643420.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250643421.jpg

[RB30X]

Here is the vid: Sureflo 3.5" inch install on VX Clubsport - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCE-WeziR6w)

How do you embed them?

[woody01]

Hey mate - looking good. I think to bed your mufflers in you just got to put some kms on the car. I installed same system on the monaro, and have noticed a different exhaust sound from when it first went on.

[whitels1ss]

Hey mate - looking good. I think to bed your mufflers in you just got to put some kms on the car.


Lol...he was asking how to embed his YouTube video mate. :p

[cashie]

Here is the vid: Sureflo 3.5" inch install on VX Clubsport - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCE-WeziR6w)

How do you embed them?

Good video, like the editing too.. :thumbsup:

[woody01]

Now he knows how to bed in mufflers too :p

[RB30X]

I installed some pacemaker extractors yesterday. I ended up going with 1 5/8" tri-y's which suits my 'down low' requirements.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/imag0101dt.jpg

Ended up being a bigger job than I first thought. When I installed 4>1's a few years ago I had to drop the steering rack to get the driver side in and I 'assumed' tri-y's had that flanged section to get around that task. I still had to disconnect the steering shaft from the rack and move it out of the road to get the flange through. I also 'assumed' the pacemakers flange would meet at the same length as the factory cat location so all I would have to do is swap the cat flange from a four bolt to a two bolt flange. I was wrong again as the pacey's were about 4 inches short, just like the 4>1's were. Luckily I had a spare set of cat convertors with 2.5" pipes and flanges left over from mods to my previous Clubby which I had held onto for a few years. They fit the gap between the pacey's and the sureflow system perfectly. I plan to buy some 100cpi cats and weld them in place of the factory cats eventually. The extractors have added a nice deeper sound to the exhaust. You can hear the 'pulsing' of the exhaust a lot more which is something I think the single sureflo 3.5" lacks over a twin system, as it merges both systems together for the purpose of reducing drone.

Speaking of drone, I left my car at the airport for a week while we were away so I wasnt used to driving it. Then we came home and loaded it up with all of us and all our stuff, and on the way home it droned quite badly, especially up hills etc and I thought wow I dont remember it being this bad. But with just me in the car it was back to normal again, so I can understand how the weight of the car and changing diff gears change affect whether the exhaust drones or not.

I've been getting around 12.6L/100 lately at an average speed of 45-50km/hr, which I'm happy with. Next mods will be the 25% UD pulley I've had sitting there for a while and a ported throttle body. Anyone know the belt part number when installing the UD pulley? Last time I did one it all came in a kit.

I also want to sell the HSV headers and cats if anyone's interested. I can get a postage quote, but it shouldnt more than $50 to a capital city. I also have a HSV cat back system with the rear resonator removed if anyone local wants a louder (but droney) exhaust to replace their factory system.

[whitels1ss]

They should work well for what you want.
I never knew pacemaker made them with a decent flange joint like that on the right hand side, I have seen some pacemakers with
slip-joint flanges before but I have only seen bolt up flanges like that in the middle on the Advance tri y's.

[***VX*R8***]

I have the same extractors and have had to fit and remove them a couple of times in the last couple of months and have to say they are a pain in the ass to remove.
Do you have any interior pics?
I like the mods you've done so far...I've been trying to decide between Sureflo 3.5" medium, DF twin 2.5" mild steel or Walkinshaw twin 3" Stainless catback.

[v8dude78]

Looks good dont see many in that color
With your intake maybe consider doing the 2 hole mod with Monaro Cold Air Intake Shroud (MCAI) Think the shroud is about $15-$20 from holden it does make a difference stops the intake sucking all the hot air in from the engine bay
Heres mine
http://www.ls1.com.au/forum/showthread.php?127218-My-vx-series-2-calais&p=1686774#post1686774



I ended up tracking down a 4" maf pipe and rubber joiner. You dont realise how skinny the original ones are till you see them next to each other. Pics dont really do them justice.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/231903b2.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/a7891a09.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/7b79e2cb.jpg

So apart from a ported and polished throttle body, this 'should' be the end of the intake mods.
I havent really been able to pick up much of a difference due to still having the restrictive factory exhaust. I'm expecting a 3.5" sureflo cat back next week so hopefully this will 'free' up the system.

[RB30X]

Yeah I already added another hole to the air box when I fitted the K&N filter. It already had a shroud which might be a HSV thing. It might be similar to the Monaro shorud you're talking about.

Yeah I'll have to get some interior pics up, but they'll just be the same as yours as its all standard R8 (non leather) :)

[v8dude78]

Ah cool :)

Yeah i think on HSV's the shroud thing was standard

[RB30X]

I've got this other intake pipe too, for a bit of a comparison against the factory maf(less) pipe.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/a05eb822.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/eccedb1f.jpg

[RB30X]

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250643430.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250643431.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250643432.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250643433.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250643434.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250643427.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250643435.jpg

[***VX*R8***]

I know I've said it before but this looks like such a nice car and really well kept.

[RB30X]

Thanks mate.

Brought my other baby out for a wash today.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250642055.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250642060.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250642063.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250642065.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/RB30X/picture250642070.jpg

[RB30X]

This car is now for sale.

Asking $17000 rwc.

Located in Gladstone QLD.

Looking to swap for a dual cab 4x4 of similar value.

[***VX*R8***]

Any luck with the sale yet?
How'd the mirror turn out?