Fuse Tuning! (Yes Another Gimmicky Mod...Placebo effect?)

A few years ago, I read an article on "fuse tuning" in one of the many car /car parts magazines here in Japan.

The whole concept was basically an extension of using gold plated fuses to improve the sound quality in hi-fi stereo systems. (A Google search under "Fuse Tuning" will show a bunch of links on this.) The claim was that gold plated car fuses would enable the car's stereo to sound better, and the ECU to operate more accurately, etc.

But 24K Gold plated car fuses??!!   Just goes to show you that, with the proper marketing, car owners in Japan will try just about anything to extract just a bit more from their cars.  And yes that includes me, except I wasn’t about to spend 1050 yen per fuse(!)… imagine how much it would cost to replace ALL the fuses in your car?

However this concept seems to be a gimmick that quickly ran its course... still, the logic seems to be undeniable, we all see those gold plated stereo wires...

The leading company was called Ritz (which apparently now is out of business, surprise surprise) and had these types as well other types of these fuses:

From: http://www.geocities.jp/bigsingleworks/ritz.html

On this website that sold the Ritz fuses, they even have a dyno chart showing the before and after, and even better the car used was an R33 Skyline which shows a 0.5kg/m increase in torque, plus 18.7ps increase in HP!!

Apparently changing 10 fuses is all it takes!!

But 1000 yen per fuse?  Even back then, my cheapness won out…. However, just the other day, I stumbled on these very similar G-Fuses  (car fuses with 24 gold plated terminals from Amon, a popular car DIY company) on Yahoo Auctions – except now it was 490 yen for a pack of 10! So yes, couldn’t resist, although the fact that these are now clearance items tells you something…that in the end, even the Japanese consumers didn’t buy into the propaganda!

These aren't made anymore... and are listed as out of production on Amon's website here

According to some here in Japan, with the 33 in particular, having the battery located in the rear, plus the longest wheelbase (requiring the longest electrical harnesses and thus a drop off in the strength of the current) of the RB26 GT-Rs is the reason why, the 33 car tends to have electrical related problems - although I’ve never had a problem myself.  Then again, I’ve installed an earthing kit, and at the moment I’m not running electrical devices that would strain the system. However, in my quest to modernize the car, I suspect that it will require more electrical items to be added – thus if these G-Fuses provide any benefit at all, and they are cheap, then well worth installing them I think? Even the slightest benefit might help.

Let’s back up a bit – do a Google search, and you will see lots of debate on whether gold plating actually makes a difference.  The debate is particularly loud in the audio/video world:

http://www.avrev.com/forum/cables/1849-gold-connectors-bad-idea-make-connections-worse.html

 http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=123403

http://www.cnet.com/news/are-gold-plated-connectors-worth-it-morrisons-mailbag/

The consensus though seems to be that gold, while not as conductive as copper or silver, does not corrode like they do, and also does not react with other metals.  Additionally, gold is malleable.  Thus, a malleable, non-corrosive and non-reactive metal (in the audio world, as gold plated terminals, speaker wire, etc.) appears to be the best way to improve electrical contact and thus connectivity.  People agree, however, that there should be no difference in sound quality.

So what would that mean for car fuses?

  

In most fuses, the metal used is zinc, copper, silver or aluminum, or an alloy of those metals. In car fuses, the metal most commonly used is likely zinc, for cost reasons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuse_(electrical)

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/wfc2.htm

So if you look at these G-Fuses, you can see that the terminal blades are plated (they claim) in 24K gold.  As a layman, I think that unless the entire fuse itself is made of gold, there won’t be any difference in conductivity of the entire fuse circuit, assuming that the metal part of the fuse is made of zinc overlaid with a thin layer of gold.

However, the packaging claims otherwise. 

For the 10A fuse, the company shows an improvement of about 2.7mmOhms difference in electrical contact resistance.  For 20A fuses, the difference is smaller.  So, like the audiophiles claimed, these fuses apparently improve electrical connectivity.

But would there be a difference in “sound quality” – in other words, would the improved electrical connectivity somehow improve the overall electrics of the car?

To answer this question, I found people’s impressions of these on Minkara (the Japanese all things car site):

http://minkara.carview.co.jp/en/partscatalog/parts.aspx?pt=78085

To summarize, impressions are all over the place, some saying no change at all, others saying they feel a difference, etc.   The reality I believe is, if used in a simple, isolated circuit, you are more likely to detect a difference. But in a typical car, with hundreds of circuits and dozens of connectors (that don’t use gold), the likelihood of a single gold plated fuse making a noticeable difference, is slim.

Still, objectively I think these are “better” fuses than what is typically used.  So, let's try and see what happens?

First, the 20A fuse for the right headlight:

Before I switched the fuse for the RIGHT headlight

After: See the difference? Not really, yeah me too...

Ok how about the rear lights? 10A so maybe a bigger difference?

Before

After...I tried to stand in the same spot...a very slight difference? LOL

Conclusion: it's always smart to have extra fuses lying around, just in case, so IF you can buy these at a serious discount, then why not? Doesn't hurt, and in the off chance there actually is an objective difference, then great.  At the very least I can go around bragging about having gold plated fuses on my car now, lol!!

Mini Aero Project - OK So That Didn't Work... What Was I Thinking?

So in my quest to modernize the car, in addition to mechanical and electrical items, I stumbled upon this:

Courtesy: http://parisworkingforart.wordpress.com/2010/06/06/lexus-lfa/

This is the driver side rear view mirror from the Lexus LFA - note it has the horizontal strakes built in, presumably to better manage airflow going around the car.  So I began to wonder if there might not be an easy to way to replicate this on one's existing mirror?

I found this:

From the manufacturer's description, this appears to be just what I was looking for!

Apparently, with the strategic application of these double stick tape rubber pieces, you can straighten out the flow of air around your car, and in the process, reduce wind noise!

For less than US$8.50 (JPY 830), this was too good not to try.

So while June is rainy season in Japan, on a sunny day I broke out the can of KR4 spray paint (which I still have left over from the fluidic nozzle mod) and spray painted the two pieces for the mirror in the hopes that they would blend in fairly decently.

Then on a trip to Chiba prefecture just today (to implement Step 1 of my long awaited audio upgrade... stay tuned, pun intended) I had the opportunity to try these pieces out.  Mounting was as simple of finding a place to put them, peeling off the double stick tape, and sticking them on:

On the B Pillar

This was the only place this piece would stick on the door sail

You can see the knob sticking out off the bottom of the mirror

And then it was a matter of driving to see what the difference was.

The verdict?

Uh... well... I could NOT tell the difference - not because these don't work - maybe they do - but because the road noise and engine noise coming in from the firewall area, plus the sound of the exhaust, basically made it too loud for me to hear any wind noise. For my audio upgrade, while I did lay down sound deadening as well as undercoating looks like I will have to do the firewall...

I even drove (a bit ?? lol) over the speed limit, in the hopes that at really fast speed wind noise would be more apparent - but no difference.  The only thing I DID notice, however, was that my BNR34 rear diffuser was working quite nicely - sending up a rooster tail of water at speed (it was raining quite hard by the time I was driving back home today).

Thankfully, again this aero mod cost me less than 850 yen to try.... maybe I can find a Prius to try it out on...

Tech Note: The R33 GT-R had ELECTRONIC SUPER HICAS + Yaw Rate Sensor!

So I've decided that, on occasion, I will do a "Tech Note" based on interesting stuff I find in those R33 service manuals I got recently.

So today, let's talk about SUPER HICAS. In the technical/service manuals for the R33, I found this page interesting (I've added English translation in BLUE):

HICAS is one area where there is lots of controversy. Some people swear it makes the car handle strangely and so you are better off without it. Others say it weighs too much - which might be an argument on the hydraulically driven R32 GT-R, but not only the electrically driven 33 and 34 GT-Rs.  (and yes, it's heavy on the 32... but if you remove it, you increase weight bias on the front wheels, which is not something you want to do... and is the reason why the battery was moved to the back in the 33, for better weight distribution. But I digress...)

Anyway, it appears that most people who lock out their HICAS, don't really understand how it works, at least in a technical sense. So, since I found this, I thought I'd share my findings. It won't change some people's minds, but for me, as a purist R33 fan, it confirmed that I want to keep it.

First, what is interesting is that the previous version HICAS, found in the BNR32,  did not have yaw rate feedback control, like the R33 GT-R did. There appears to be a lot of confusion out there with regards to this:
http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/70832-how-does-hicas-get-yaw-rate-feedback-in-an-r33/

http://www.skylineowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116708

No doubt, these guys couldn't read Japanese nor did they have their hands on this manual I have. For those who can, see the above - the white is the "normal" SUPER HICAS (found in other 33s), while the grey is what was added for the GT-R.

The take away is that, compared to the "normal" SUPER HICAS, the R33 GT-R (manual doesn't say others) had the yaw rate feedback added, in addition to the inputs for vehicle speed and steering wheel angle.

Here are two photos showing the 33's yaw rate sensor - it's located in the trunk next to the battery:

Apparently there was a preset map of yaw rate values to correspond to the actual vehicle situation according to the driver's intent.  The system would read the actual yaw rate value, compare it against the pre-programmed values, and then cause adjustment to the rear wheel steering to match the driver's intent.

The next page of the manual describes the yaw rate sensor as a tuning fork, piezo-electric, oscillation gyroscopic type. There are basically two types that exist - piezoelectric and micro mechanical: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaw-rate_sensor

So I'm not sure if these kinds of piezo-electric sensor wear out, or need to be replaced. Would a purely digital one improve the performance of the HICAS? I'm also curious to know about the software and the pre-set map - how complicated is it?

The white part above could very easily handle having the rear wheels steer in the opposite direction at low speed in a linear fashion, and then in the same direction, at high speed, in a linear fashion.

The grey part - the yaw rate input must therefore be for unusual, high performance/race type situations where the car's rear end is purposely being slipped or where the traction of the road surface is slippery.  Naturally, this raises the following questions on how the MAP has been programmed - What happens when the car skids, or the rear end is sliding? And would there ever be a situation where something would cause the car to "wobble" at speed?  HICAS computer malfunction, for example?

Has anyone had any experience in reading the HICAS Map?

Finally, I wonder what, if any, improvements were made to the BNR34 Super HICAS ECU and its programming. Obviously the 34 has a slightly shorter wheelbase, which means that the rear wheels would need to steer at slightly less of an angle to give the same level of response as the 33. This would suggest that transplanting the 34 HICAS ECU into a 33, would not have a beneficial effect, unless there was something else improved about the 34 ECU, such as better maps, or faster processing, etc.  So I will have to research this...stay tuned!

A First: Professional Interior Detail (warning for those easily disgusted...)

Now this is going to be a tough post. Because the photographs won't do justice to the work done.

As most know by now, I tend to keep my car clean.  Very clean. But I've never taken my car to a professional for any cleaning work - until now.

The primary reason I did this time, was because I had recently driven to a place where, I suspect enough pollen accumulated in my car so that, even with the recently installed A/C filter (and yes on recirculate), my hay fever was still triggered.  I was sneezing so much, and my nose running so much, I had tissues stuffed up my nostrils...

So I had to figure out a way to clean the interior without suffering, and clean it such that there was a significant reduction in pollen.

Enter Kabe-san at RAPT. I've gone to him before in the past for some minor body work and for tinting my windows, but his true profession is auto detailing. So I was curious to see what methods he used as well, perhaps there would be some techniques I could use.

As you can see, pretty busy times for RAPT, right during the Golden Week holidays.

What bothered me most, was the amount of dust in the air ducts, like this, that I just couldn't seem to remove:

See all that pollen, dust, etc. on the bottom of the vent?

Anyway, Kabe-san had told me that he would remove the seats, and use steam. So I was curious to see what kind of difference awaited me.

He was also nice enough, to post on the RAPT blog, the steps he took to clean my car. I've taken the following photos, and summarized the steps from the RAPT blog at: http://rapt.livedoor.biz/archives/1980827.html

First step, before he took the photos, was to clean the dashboard. Then...

Remove front seats

Oh my, look at that dirt under the front seat. Yes, it's been a while since I vacuumed the interior thoroughly...

Adding Steam to loosen up the embedded dirt in the carpet

Using a "rinser" he then vacuumed up all the dirt and grime

Wow looks cleaner already!

Here is the driver's seat before any work

The Japanese description talks about how I was concerned with "sebumsebaceous matter" - in other words, 17 years of human sweat and oils...

Steam to break up the oils

The "rinser" again to vacuum it up...

I am assuming that this brownish matter is... organic??

The dirt just from the floor

Thank the lord this was dirt from the carpet, not stuff embedded in the seats!

Nice and clean after the steam cleaning... letting the seats and floor dry.

I'm not sure why that (seat) bolt is on the floor there, lol.

This looks clean

He didn't mention in his blog, but it's clear he steam cleaned the cloth inserts as well (after this photo was shot).

But using a special cleaning solution and sponge he rubbed this off...

After the above, he finished off other sections of the car, including the trunk!

He also told me he used a special tool to clean the vents:

You can see there is much less dust here!

What the photos don't show, is how the cloth materials now feel cleaner - like brand new - and the car smells different.  Before it had a slight industrial smell, but somewhat "manly." (a combination of smoke and engine blow-by... or so I thought)?? But now the car smells like new car...

Interestingly, Kabe-san told me that the previous (and first) owner of my car was a smoker (I'm not)!  To me, everything looked very clean, but apparently when he steam cleaned the ashtray, there was some tell tale brownish runoff - Kabe-san surmises the previous owner must have smoked with the driver's side window open, arm resting on the armrest... And actually, this explains why my armrest shows some wear there (the cushioning is gone).

He was also kind enough to put an "after" photo up on his blog.

From: http://rapt.livedoor.biz/archives/1981355.html

Unfortunately the photo is a bit blurred, but it would be hard to tell from any photo the difference, especially as I keep my cars relatively clean. But as I stated above, the difference is readily apparent from a tactile and olfactory perspective!!  And yes, no more pollen!

Anyway, given the pricing, which is very reasonable, this may be something I do once a year, as I do love the new car feel and smell.

PS - One thing we discussed afterwards - does anyone know of any makers of high quality automobile carpet? Would love to do such an upgrade...

CUSCO Tension Rod Bar Installed/Impressions

So the other day, I realized I was over due for "shaken" - the biannual road inspection regime in Japan that is supposedly designed to get dangerous cars off the road, but in reality is a way to incentivize people to buy new cars due to the sometimes crazy costs associated with "repairing" cars to bring them up to standards (yes there is some price gouging). So in other words, the typical person goes to the dealership and either comes out with a few thousand dollar repair bill, or a new car.

In my case, as is common with people who are not interested in playing such a game, one can go to your local trusted mechanic who knows the rules and how to get around them... cheaply.  I took my car to BeAmbitious (same shop which did the installation of the R35 Brembos, rear BNR34 diffuser, S15 trunk brace, Nagisa brace, Tomei ExPreme titanium muffler, etc.) and had Ninomiya-san there take care of getting my car properly "shakened" (he told me: had to raise the ride height of the car, special bung for the Tomei muffler, etc.).

While the car was with him, I decided to have him install the final external body stiffening part I could find: the CUSCO Tension Rod Bar.  I had meant to do this myself, along with an oil change, but laziness dictated otherwise.

Here are some photos from the CUSCO website, to show you what they look like:

Courtesy of CUSCO

The Bar looked like this when it arrived:

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of the bar installed, because I didn't do the work. I did find this  photo on Minkara, you can see how the blue bar bolts onto the inside each of the tension rod mounting points (so in effect, connects the two sides together).

Courtesy:　http://minkara.carview.co.jp/en/userid/178485/car/68462/4485982/parts.aspx

The description from the CUSCO website states: "The Tension Rod Bar is made from 22mm steel pipe that enhances chassis stiffness, rigidity and stabilizes alignment."  Ok sure, whatever.   I was not expecting much, if anything, after all of my body stiffening projects.  Further, the Minkara poster also stated he could not feel a difference (although he admits he added these when he changed his tension rods).

So, what are my impressions?  To be honest, I think there is a very slight improvement in how the car's steering feels upon turning, as well as the car's response.  That is, on center feel is still somewhat numb (compared to my recent drive in an NSX - and this is the Holy Grail for me), but moving the steering wheel to begin a turn, feels more direct, and the response feels more immediate (so is this an "enhancement of chassis stiffness, rigidity and stabilizes alignment"??).  As a result, the car feels a touch more nimble, which is a good thing in my book.  But I still want more feedback on-center, I was hoping this Tension Bar would help, but all it did was to further highlight it!

 But for the price, a worthwhile mod. Your results may vary, indeed I may be suffering from a placebo effect! I am now beginning to wonder if it might be worth getting my car spot welded in a few strategic places, but I have to research whether the pros outweigh the cons for that. I realize that spot welding probably won't make the car feel like an NSX, but at the same time am curious as to what would happen in terms of how the car feels.

R33 Skyline Service Manuals!

The other day I was looking online on Yahoo Auctions Japan when I stumbled upon this:

 What appears to be the entire set of R33 Skyline related service manuals, from 1993 until 1997, including of course the sections for the R33 GT-R.

Naturally, I bid, and amazingly no one else did!

When I got the package a few days later,  I started looking at the contents.

As you can see, there are 5 manuals:
1) (most left in photo) 1993 R33 Skyline service manual, covering both the 2 door coupes and 4 door sedans
2) (middle top, white) 1995 new car technical manual, incorporating all aspects of the R33 GT-R, and any other changes to the rest of the lineup
3) (middle bottom, red) 1996 service manual, all R33 models as listed, showing changes
4) (right top, white) 1997 wiring diagrams
5) (right bottom, red) 1997 service manual.

So the 1993 manual is huge, and contains everything from engines (other than the RB26DETT), to interior, electrical wiring diagrams, etc., for all cars EXCEPT for the GT-R.

1993 Manual, showing the front door glass and regulator in 2 door coupes

The 1995 new car manual is the most interesting, as it has the most information on the RB26DETT as well as other aspects of the R33 GT-R. Recall this was the first year the GT-R was released.

RB26DETT engine block assembly

While the technical aspects of the RB26DETT engine are not a mystery, I bet very few people know the reclining angles of the R33 GT-R seats?

Using the lever, you can recline 20 degrees to the back... and only 14 degrees if you use the knob!

If you want to know the technical aspects of the temporary spare tire:

Interesting that the recommended air pressure for the OEM 17 inch rims is relatively low

This wiper information would have saved me so time during my Bosch front wiper project

And also useful if you want to know the flow rate of the washer fluid, capacity of the tank, etc. 

For those N1 fans, interesting to see here that the N1's washer fluid capacity is only 2.0 liters versus 3.5 liters for all other cars including the sedans, as the N1 did not come with a rear wiper.

Also for GT-R owners, if you want to know what pins do what on the back of your speedometer cluster (I've seen this online before, actually)

Most of these are lamps; the electronic speedometer leads are 16, 22, 17, and 15.

For those of us who tinker with electrical bits as I have with the LED lights projects I did in the past, the wiring diagrams will be useful. Here is the wiring diagram for the Xenon headlamps, found in the white 1997 wiring diagram manual:

I think I only understand the symbol for the battery, lol

I've found the service manual for the RB26DETT in English, online, as well as FAST. But never before have I run across such detail for all other aspects of the car.

So as a R33 GT-R nerd, I'm pretty happy. Now, to begin researching stuff I always wondered about...

Windshield Washer Nozzles, Revisited - OEM vs. Fluidics vs. Mitsuba

Some readers will recall that, last year I experimented with these "fluidic" windshield washer nozzles.

They DO work well, and are really inexpensive, but alas their fitment isn't quite right because the holes in the bonnet/hood for the OEM washer nozzles are too large for these fluidics nozzles (so if I had an aftermarket hood, and could drill my own holes they would work well).  And it was still touch and go, despite my use of some washers to fill the space:

So, I decided after a few months of always making sure that the fluidic nozzle I test-installed on the drivers side was always pointing in the right direction, to try out the Mitsuba nozzles I had mentioned in my fluidic nozzle post.

The packet actually comes with an assortment of adaptors and tubing extenders:

The technology they use is different that the fluidics - it's more old school. From what I can see, they basically have a single outlet as the OEM, except that it's flattened so you get a spray versus a stream. Kind of like the difference on those spray bottles for glass cleaner (i.e. Windex, etc.).

I was actually hoping to have a pro do the painting, but I had some time, so this is what I did:

First, I taped up the nozzle side.

Then,  I mounted in the make-shift cardboard mount I had used earlier for the fluidics, and then sanded them down to get a slightly rough surface (as packaged, they are super shiny and slick):

1500 grade sandpaper works well here

I then went outside (sunny day) and sprayed on some KR4 paint I had left over:

After letting them dry overnight (actually, it was about two weeks before I had time to work on this again), installation was as easy as:

1) removing the masking tape protecting the nozzle:

Not bad if I may say so myself

 2) Install the rubber shield to fit between the nozzle and the hood itself:

3. Installation on the hood itself, requires use of these lock nut type plastic washer which holds the nozzles firmly in place.

Here is how the hood looks when done:

Here are short video clips that compare the fluidic and these Mitsuba ones.

Fluidic (from the fluidics blog post):

And here are the Mitsuba ones (on both sides):

So the differences are:
1) the Mitsuba ones definitely fit on the hood (bonnet) better, and look nicer/closer to OEM (although they are a bit bigger actually - wider but a bit shorter, and also not as "teardrop" shaped - more angular and a bit taller?)

OEM on top, Mitsuba on bottom (installed)

2) the fluidics DO have a finer spray. The Mitsubas DO spray in a wider pattern than the OEM, however the water droplets are larger compared to the fluidics.

3) The Mitsubas appear to leak on the nozzle side - not sure if this is overrun from the excess volume of washer fluid, or if the nozzle spray tip itself leaks, but this could be a concern for those who use their windshield washers in dry weather (where the fluid could possibly leave a stain).

4) Out of the package, the Mitsubas were aimed way too high, with the spray reaching over the roof and a bit landing on the rear window.  Although I suspect at speed, perhaps the wind would keep more of the fluid on the windshield.  Since I usually use the spray at low speeds, I took a  small flathead screwdriver and adjusted the nozzles accordingly (basically the screwdriver was parallel to the ground).

In conclusion - I am going to keep the fluidics in my parts bin, because if I ever get an aftermarket hood, these are the washer nozzles I would go for.  In fact, I think I like the fluidics the best due to their efficient spray, low profile, and low cost, but that small size means these ones don't work on the OEM hood. I suppose if I found some that fit the OEM hood like OEM, then without question I would go for fluidics. Until then, however, I guess I will have to use the Mitsubas.

Until next time...