Came across this photo while browsing through FB ~ a press coverage of the other day's dyno session! My friend's exotic NSX takes the center stage here =) Looking further on the photos in the upper left ~ that engine bay with blue top looks suspiciously familiar.... Project Civic on its maiden dyno run! Now i finally recalled, there was a guy with a DSLR taking random shots during the dyno session; must be from the press. Can't quite make out what the text are about coz i'm chinese-character blind ~ it's got to be about Sarawak getting its very 1st dyno facility. The guys at Pro Dyno has got to be happy to be getting these free publicity... =)
Now I've got something that fits & looks good on the Furoku Grade Unicorn Head display base that came with my pre-ordered Dengeki Hobby January 2010 issue~! =)
~ BB Unicorn takes the center stage from MG Unicorn~
Project Civic was put on its maiden dyno run at Pro Dyno in Kuching last Saturday, tested on the very 1st dyno machine brought into Kuching, if not the state which, was only set up & commissioned recently. The availability of these test machines would definitely give a big boost to the local tuning scene; as prior to this, to get a thorough quantitative & qualitative gauge on their engine performance, enthusiasts could either a) take out the engine, pack & ship it to KL, b) ship the whole car to KL, or c) put it on a trailer, or drive it to Brunei ~ just to put it on a dyno test *maybe PUSPAKOM would have one, but they're strictly for inspection only*. For a start, there are rumours that 2 more of the dyno machines are being shipped in ~ that's just a testament of the maturing tuning scene here =)
It took quite a while to prep the car up for the dyno run & getting machine calibration settings set. The machine is a 2-wheel dyno manufactured by Dynojet. Okay, i'm not going to bore you guys with anymore mundane details, but a couple of amusing dramas did unfold during the session; here are some photos & captions posted by the Pro Dyno guy himself, Clement Chong:
this is a scary car, why!!
kanasaii!! THIS CAR IS SO SCARY UNTIL MY TWO NUTS NEARLY DROP OFF MY PANT.
guess how much the tuner want me to rev the car??? 6000rpm... NO! 7000rpm... NO! 8000rpm... NO! 9000r...pm.... this is the max rpm range on the rpm meter....NO! 10000rpm...... you must be insane............NO! i finally rev the car pass the 9000rpm mark and over the mark which has no more readindg and continue until about the 0rpm mark. walau A!!! i only show this type of engine in japan magazine many year ago and thats a SPOON for honda . scary neh!!! i rev it i think pass 11000rpm, i myself cant believe it, can you??? FB link to ProDyno
He was behind the wheel, while my friend Ricky was busy dialling in the tuning for the Hondata S300 via his laptop in the passenger seat. Though, my dyno session did came to an abrupt end following a bang complemented with a spectacular exhaust flame sprouting antic ~ did my engine blow up after repeated rev runs to stratospheric 11,000rpm?? Fortunately no, *phew!(in relief)* the upgraded valvetrain assemblies & strengthened block held its worth against the abuse. It was actually the stock ignition coils that got toasted on the last dyno run... *now i know why modded hondas run pricey aftermarket ignition coils (MSD)* and that was the only extent of damage...
Here's a clip of one of the dyno runs
& the result which, i wasn't too enthusiastic about:
193.35bhp & 168.04 Nm (17.14kgm) ~ estimated output at the crank / engine, assuming transmission loss of 18%.
Compared to the stock output of B16A 1.6 liter naturally aspirated engine on papers of 170bhp @ 8,200rpm & 157Nm (16kgm) ~ there are some considerable gains, but still leaves much to be desired as the current setup is supposedly capable of pushing over 200bhp at the crank. The max torque figure isn't exactly impressive too, although it is quite close to the mark of a 1.8liter B18C GSR. There's an apparent torque dip around 4,400 to 5,200rpm that needs to be remedied with further tweaking. *may be running slightly higher profile tyres of 195/55/15 compared to the standard 195/50/15 does play a bit of reducing factor in the torque output to the ground* The hp curve towards the higher rpm range is expected to spike higher, but it could be due to my current setup not giving sufficiently high (crazy high like 11.6 or higher) to fully capitalize on the potential gain of the hi-cams... currently in the progress of addressing this compression issue, hopefully it will net more gain to achieve 170whp on the next run. Since the peak power has been shifted upwards to almost 9,000rpm, the B16A stock, & relatively long gear ratios (compared to aftermarket gear ratios la..) will make it a little tricky to keep up & stay in the powerband when shifting gears. In short, the real sweat-in-pants action only happens beyond the 7,000rpm & it literally it takes ages for the rpm needle to swoop past that magical mark with my current gear ratio!! After all, how much horses your engine makes should take a backseat to how much horses your car can effectively put to the ground... *the gear ratios surely determines how the power gets delivered to the ground, but i'm not sure to what extent it will affect the max hp output as well?? From the low to mid range, the power delivery feels a bit flat (& torque-less too, ~ inherent characteristics of small naturally aspirated engines; the mantra "there is no replacement for displacement" reigns here). Maybe i felt it increasingly so, coz i drove it right after i took Ricky's impressive 211whp & 233Nm FD2R for a spin... xp
Among the other 2 Hondas on dyno that afternoon was Ricky's K20A FD2R (superb output !) & another Steven's NA1 NSX which netted 218whp & a whooping 300Nm!
I just had to settle being the slow-poke for that day.... Until the next dyno run.... =)
Tagged along with my good photo kakis in Miri ~ Micheal & Unker David for photoshoot at Pasar Tamu Saberkas yesterday evening. I have never actually participated in a full-fledged street photography; i thought i would be really to be whisking out a big camera & start snapping pictures like a paparazi in a local market ~ imagine getting awkward stares from the people around... well, not unless i'm a tourist in a foreign land. Thanks to Unker David's impressive PR skills in getting the stall owners to warm up to the idea of having their photographs taken, of them doing their routines ~ first, he made his round, generously handing out prints of the photos he's shot there the week before to the respective stall owners who pleasantly suprised by the gesture... to which they responded by eagerly accommodating our photography antics =)
Unker David mentioned that his mom used to be a market kuih seller for many years but never had any photograph of her taken.... now this is something very meaningful
~ to have a candid snapshot of us in our working heydays to fondly reflect on, later in our golden years. For the full set of photos, please visit my FB album link HERE.
Props to Unker David for the great shoot, & Mike too for extending the invitation! *i owe u guys a couple of PS tutorials... hehe =p
I'm finally back in the business again after a month long hiatus; to my Gunpla followers, sorry for the long wait. Here are snapshots of my recently completed MG Exia:
It's been a long while since i last been to Sunday Club ~ sort of like a local track day of all sorts (anything that runs on an engine & can be raced =p); came across some interesting video clips of it on Youtube...
I see some very familiar rides... ^_* these guys are fast!
Battle of the VTECs! ~ check out WTF!! moment at 1.22 that was one amusing close call xp
Action from inside the cockpit of an EG6 ~ i have always loved the way a track car sounded & handled *sweeet!*
This is what a 200whp All-Motor 1.6L sounds like ~ also what i aspire to realistically achieve with my Project Civic *soon; 200 naturally aspirated horses, at the flywheel, at least - to hit that magical output of 125hp per litre from a high revving potent little engine =)
RX-0 Unicorn Gundam + Destroy Mode Head Display Base *only realized that the display base is only compatible with HGUC grade Gunplas -__-"
(The head display base) Looks pretty plain with the all white parts + semi-transparent red inner parts only; luckily i had some extra redundant decals from the MG kit to bling up this display base (not yet applied at the time this picture was taken). Still lacks color coding for the inner neck part, gold coating for the antenna & green flourescent decals to light up its eyes. It transform quite effortlessly though, unlike its MG counterpart =)
*just assembled the leftover uncompleted arsenal from almost 2 years ago, the Magnum Beam rifle (not in picture yet) which, actually has more parts than the Head Display Base itself!
looks cool & sophisticated but is quite a pain in the butt to transform, & rather fragile too... the snap fit parts just wear out too soon, after a couple of transformations in between Unicorn & Destroy Mode & is starting to fall apart already... *strictly a display only model, & it's tough choosing either between the 2 modes to stick with. Updates in Destroy mode to come soon (after i overhaul my MG Unicorn) xp
is a much sought after special item that comes with the January 2010 issue of Dengeki Hobby Japan Had placed the pre-order for this magazine since last November together with my Gunpla kaki housemate; pricey but well worth it!
I'd get a small project like these every now & then just to keep the modeling bug at bay... =p
Now i'm figuring whether to get the remaining 2 BBs from this Stargazer series as well, namely the Strike Noir Gundam & Verde Buster Gundam (just like i did with the whole lineup of BB Zakus from SEED Destiny) =)
No, i haven't really watched the animation series yet but seeing this ultra-cool gynoid for the very 1st time on dannychoo.com has made me put her on the top of my wishlist since quite a while ago... To begin with, this Figma Drossel has been quite a hot commodity on the market & isn't easy to come by; no thanks to the over-demand, its price tag has been quite inflated... but my darling got it for me as a surprise for my birthday~! Thanks, dearie! ^_*
'Fireball' is a series of CGI anime shorts created by Toei Animation in conjunction with Disney, hence the very cutesy propositions of the character design. It features the Figma series' brilliant joint system (more sturdy compared to my Revoltech Yoko) ~ very easy to strike dynamic poses without requiring support from the base stand that comes with the kit.
Comes with a full arsenal of what i call 'fashion gestures' units ~ i.e 4 pairs of optional hand parts, 2 interchangeable head units + Obruchev flight unit, a very high-tech looking memory device, & the PROSPERO book.
behind the scenes shot.... hehe ^_* This blue-eyed model is definitely capable of striking very compelling poses... if only they'd made her with optional LEDs to light up her eyes. =D
This is going to be my 1st post of the year that does not begin with 'My New Year Resolution... ' ~ coz i haven't really started to ponder about it just yet. It just felt like the 1st ten years of this new millennium has passed by in a breeze. I could barely recall what i was doing or thinking, as of this time of the year, 10 years ago. Have gone a long way & matured a great deal since... but the turn of century still felt like it wasn't that long ago. Just wanna count my blessings for all that life has given me, being able to spend time with my loved ones, good company of friends & a job to sustain myself ~ to kickstart 2010 on a bright note =D
Had a blasting good time counting down to usher the new year 2010 the past few days with my darling, & the good company of my buddies ~ "Lih-yu-nion~! finally... yay!" On sad note, i've just received a tragic news that one of my colleague had perished in an accident in the early morning of the 1st. Going back to office after the year-end break & be missing one familiar face will be mind numbing =( May she rest in peace...
It goes to remind me that life is short as well, so got to cherish what you have =)
