McCord Power Plate sells electric cutout actuators for $110...if I were to get a Y fitting welded onto my stock downpipe and fit it with the actuator and then to my stock exhaust, would my performance suffer from the 1/4 in. difference in the stock DP and an aftermarket 2.5 in. one...

Anyone know if the Evo 8 fuel pump will easily install into a 2g? This pump is rated at only 10 lt/hr less than a a Walbro 190 lph. Seems like it would be good for people running 16gs and looking for a cheap fuel pump upgrade...

I have an opportunity to pick up a Starion FMIC for less than $50, and I'm wondering if I will be completely wasting my money. Like you all, I've heard people badmouth these intercoolers, but many of the people who belittle them have never used them directly.There are a few guys on Talk in...

What wheels/tires (sizes especially) would be best for driving on unpaved roads (gravel, dirt, potholes, etc.)? I want wheels that won't break and tires that won't bubble in the sidewall or blow out easily.Please don't tell me to get a different car or a truck. I already realize that DSMs...

Don't worry, my talon is still in the garage, but I'm out in CO for the summer guiding fly fishing, and I need a truck/suv to get to out to some of the waters. I'm looking for something cheap that will get me through the summer; I might end up selling it at the end of the season, or if I grow...

I know this isn't a huge deal, but my vac is lower than it supposedly should be. I have no boost leaks (fixed the last one 2 days ago). I suppose it could be a kink in my boost gauge line.At 850rpm idle, I have only 14-15 in.hg. at startup, and 16 when warm. When I rev the car and hold it...

Every time I turn my AC on, there is an audible "click" and my idle drops from right around 900 to 650 rpm. My Vac reading also drops from 15 in.hg to 10 or 11. It's a PITA to drive the car around with the AC on.I noticed today that the harness to my ISC sensor was unplugged; I guess I...

I never thought I would actually get around to doing this, but I finally bought and installed my frontmount. For a very long time I thought the hassle of rounding up all of the parts, or the expense of a manufactured kit, or even the difficulty of the install would prevent me from ever doing...

What is the long u-shaped (kinda looks like a big hairpin) bar/pipe that runs horizontally in front of the radiator on my 96 talon. I haven't taken a close look at it, but it seems like it is a functional part of the radiator and cannot be removed. Does a fmic just sit in front of it? Will...

PM me if you have questions! it is going to be a sweet show, and I would LOVE to see some DSMs there!

As you guys who saw my previous thread know, 3 of my turbo bolts now look like this:I can only imagine how bad the threads on my turbo housing look.My question is whether it would be worth an extra $150 on this turbo to go with a Bullseye housing or a 7cm housing. The turbine housing...

You have to love the man-machined threads on these turbo bolts! I should really open up my own machine shop run by me and friends :grinno: My exhaust gasket blew shortly after the turbo install, perhaps because the bolts didn't thread properly in the first place. Well, I tried to pull the 4...

I can't tell if it is broken, sprained, or dislocated...anyway it's a huge PITA. Damn people who don't know how to play basketball! >:(No Halo2 for a while :(

With the late February snow here in Charlottesville, VA, I couldn't help but take the Talon out for a little drive in the country, on the way to my usual fly-fishing spot :)Getting her out was the hardest part lol:I'm sure you all get this much snow all the time, but here in VA it is...

Just finished a couple of logs with my EvoIII 16g...mods are in my profile, but the relevant ones are: -EvoIII16g turbo -Evo8 560cc injectors -stock fuel pump -stock smic -93 octane pump gasRun 1, 17 psi: RPM *Timing O2 voltage 2416 32 0.96 2552 29 0.06 2616 28 0.12 2712 27 0.88...

And for the ladies, feel free to answer if you have ever impressed a guy with your ride :p There's no gender bias on DSMtuners! :D I once was just driving back through my neighborhood and a carful of 12 year old girls all screamed "We think you're hot!"Of course, I chalk this up to my...

Will a 12x24x3 fmic core fit behind the 2ga bumper? I've seen several 2gas with front mounts, but never noticed that there was one that big behind there.Also, what are the advantages and/or disadvantages of having a 3" inlet and outlet on an intercooler this size. I would be using some...

I was seriously on the floor after watching these... :Dhttp://media.ebaumsworld.com/starwarskid.wmvhttp://media.ebaumsworld.com/starwarskidedit.wmvhttp://media.ebaumsworld.com/starwarskidclones.wmvThey only get better as you progress through them :p!

As I was driving my DSM with little tires sitting on 17x7s over a gravel road up in the mountains to get to a trout stream, I wondered if any other DSMers fished?I love catching reds, snook, and sea trout in Florida, and since I've been going to school in Virginia, I've gotten into...

Anyone have a link to a valve spring compressor that will work on a 2g turbo dsm? I am planning on replacing the valve seals, and I've heard that the best way to do it is by pulling the head. I've also read on previous posts that not all valve spring compressors will do the trick...On a...

What is the longest you've gone without sleeping? Or, the fewest hours in the longest period. I'm pretty near my record right now....procrastinating before I finish a paper, and I've gotten about 5 hours of sleep in the last 60.Only been awake for 30 hrs straight right now...

Hey guys, just purchased what I thought was a great price on a new downpipe from Logic Performance...they sell stuff on Trader all the time, although I'm not sure if their website is fully functional yet.I paid $115 shipped for this downpipe--mine is 2.5" mandrel bent aluminized steel. The...

If you could swap rides with anyone on here, who would it be? Make, model, year, and drivetrain don't matter. Let's see some pics get in this thread as well.If it were me...I would have to go with StayTuned's 2gb Talon. Although a 50 trim would be in the very near future for the car if it...

My car is burning a bit of oil. Not a trailing cloud of blue smoke when I drive, but sometimes a puff comes out when I start the car, or when I give it a quick rev in neutral, or taking off from a stop. When I took the plugs out to do the test, there was a bit of oil on the plugs, especially...

Ported and clipped 10* EvoIII 16g I bought from Travis (KPWSerpiente on here), along with the SAFC-II, and Palm VX with Pocketlogger and cable that came in the mail yesterday ;). Travis was nice enough to drive out and chill for a bit, and let me check out the turbo. He threw in the IC piping...

Did a search, and didn't find a whole lot on this:Stock 1g Jpipe or aftermarket RRE Jpipe on a 2g small 16g install? I'm going to be running the stock smic for quite a while, so keep this in mind...Advantages or disadvantages in terms of performance, and how significant? Could I re-use...

My best friend since 6th grade is in a hospital in New Orleans right now, with a terrible cellulitis infection in his arm. He went up there with his ATO pledge class from UF, and when I talked to him the day he got there, he was like "Yeah, I have this weird welt on my arm." I told him to go...

After driving from Charlottesville, VA to Gainesville, FL to visit my best friend for his birthday, I got back into stop and go traffic in the city and noticed I was puffing some blue smoke when taking off from a stop. I'd never noticed this before the trip, so I'm inclined to think something...

I'm looking into datalogging options, and am leaning toward the free MMCD and a cheap palm to start off. Do I need a Windows based PC to get the most out of logging? Do you all ever use your PCs with logging off of a PDA?I have an Apple, and I'm just wondering if I will be somehow limited...

For all the guys with threads about how a custom exhaust or ebay exhaust sounds--I had the same questions myself before I got the exhaust done. Mine is custom piping and an ebay muffler!Here is a sound clip of my custom 2.5", pressbent exhaust from the flex section in the stock DP straight...

Has anyone noticed that after enough time the steering wheel loses its glossy finish and smooth feel in certain places (mostly where you hold it the most), and gets more of a rough and coarse feel to it? Anyone know how I can go about getting that smooth, glossy feel and appearance back? It...

I am probably going to have my custom exhaust done at a muffler shop this weekend and I had a few questions to verify before going in! *I want basically as quiet an exhaust as possible without sacrificing much performance gain. I don't want something that will annoy the hell out of me cruising...

Besides aligning the marks on cam sprockets, crank sprocket, and oil pump sprocket, is there a way to check/test timing? I recently checked the water pump, and had to retime the engine.The car idles and sounds fine at about 800 rpm...just like always. However, it seems like my engine has a...

Well after finding out that my water pump wasn't my overheating problem, I had to put the timing belt back on and get the car started. After a few tries, the car fired up, idling beautifully. However, when driving around, if I try to accelerate quickly (not floor it, just give it a little...

My 96 tsi awd was overheating...it would idle just fine, reach running temperature, and not get hotter. However, when I took it up to 40 mph around town, it would climb past running temp and up to 80-90% after 15 minutes, when I would proceed to turn it off.After trying the simple fixes...

Well, I apologize for the lack of pictures in this tutorial, but my digital camera was out of battery.This article is useful for those of us who feel we've already spent far too much money on a turbo timer itself, and don't want to tack on an additional $20 for a plug-n-play wiring harness...

Well the previous owner of my buddy's car had painted the rims dull black, and they looked like crap. So, we did some work and repainted them with a Duplicolor Auto Interior spray Charcoal color:Before:After:Not bad, eh? :cool: If you care to follow the process...

I don't feel like shelling out another $20 for a tt harness, so I tried to install my Apexi pen style tt today, in my 96 Talon Tsi Awd. No luck whatsoever. I followed all of the guides I could: wiring diagrams on here and elsewhere, instructions, vfaq tips, etc. I connected the red tt wire to...

Hey, I've seen some guys on here do some really impressive stuff with carbon fiber--headliners, trim pieces, etc. Anyone care to share some info or links for a newbie? :rolleyes:Where is the best place to get materials and such?I promise I'll post some pictures of fiberglass and/or...

Everyone who has done fiberglass sub enclosures in the custom sub enclosure thread has done a great job! Where did you learn to do fiberglassing? I know of one site, but are there any other "how-to" fiberglassing/custom sub enclosure sites that you all like?The same goes for carbon fiber...

Hi everyone, this is my first post here. I just bought a 96 Tsi Awd from the original owner. The car is completely stock, down to the stereo. It is running on the original T25 (78k on car), and has only the factory boost gauge.I guess my questions are: 1) Should I get a turbo timer? 2)...