thanks shannon!
it's been a week since we installed the motor jenn and i have been driving the car daily, and i've gotten a pretty good feel for the 3rd gen +S54 combo, so its time for a write up on my driving impressions so far.
first, you get in, get yourself comfortable, and turn the key. boom, instant start, oil pressure within a second or so.
exhaust note seems like its a bit quieter...why, i dont know, but i like it...lol
put it in gear, blip the throttle, and start giving her some clutch...it feels somehow "softer"...i can only discribe it as the motor feels "lighter"...easier and more willing to rev. it makes the stage 4 competition clutch (with fidanza LW flywheel, the same clutch i had in the 5sfte) feel a bit softer, and thats a good thing.
just driving around in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, it drives just like a stock car, smooth as silk, no hiccups or burps,nice and responsive, everything you would expect from an OEM setup.
IMO the daily driving, just cruising around town, normal part of driving is the biggest diffrence from the 5sfte. dont get me wrong, the 5sfte is great fun, and drives ok when tuned properly, but there are hiccups and burps that you kinda learn to drive around with, and after 5 years of doing just that, it feels really nice to just be able to drive it like a normal car.
the a/c also works perfectly with the 3rd gen, which is a nice bonus. in the last revision of the 5sfte, i removed all the a/c stuff to make the setup simpler, and with the baby, made it kinda suck to take the car out on hot summer days. thats now a thing of the past. i used the 3rd gen compressor, and condensor off the clip, and the stock GT lines. everything plugs in, and blows ice cold once its charged up.
part throttle cruising, and rolling into it, making a few lbs of boost and holding it there with the 3rd gen is buttery smooth, and FAST. its somthing i could never get right in the 5sfte, the car would just buck and spit if i tried to hold partial boost for anything more than a second or 2, which means anytime you wanna pass someone, or just speed up 15 or 20mph, you had to pretty much floor it.
now, you just roll into the throttle some, and just hold it there, anything above 2200rpm or so the boost just shoots right up and zips you right along, and its GREAT. response time is next to nothing with the W2A IC, the ceramic turbine is begging to spool to full boost at a moments notice.
merging into traffic, long sweepers, passing, all that stuff is SO much fun with this setup. not
having to floor it all the time is actually a good thing! i love it!
once your ready to throw the hammer down, its go time.
the motor just SINGS. the exhaust note is more pronounced, more focused, more "performace" sounding, and the mix of the turbo screaming, exhaust howling, gears chruning, its just music to my ears. absolutely beautiful in every way. lol
throw it into 3rd and punch it, and even @ only 14psi, it throws you back in the seat, and holds you there. screaming up till redline, it just begs you to hold the go pedal to the floor and let it eat, which i do, often.
with the higher redline of the 3rd gen, 4th gear gets you right up to the speed limiter, pulling like a frieght train all the way (118mph) ...it is a nice improvment over the 5s, which would top out 4th right ~100mph.
and of course, 5th is more of the same. its just great in every way.
the 5sfte was torquier, especially at the onset of boost, but the drivability, overall performance, looks ect all add up to an unbeatable combo for the 3rd gen.
i was a little concerned before we swapped about the gearing of the S54 being too short for the 3rd gen, but it works out just fine for daily driving.
sure, 5th gear could be taller for those highway cruises, and at some point down the road i will swap out to the E153, but since i dont go to the track more than 1 or 2 times a year, it dont hurt anything other than my MPG by a few having the S54, so im happy with it for now, and it works just fine for what we do.
since its the first week of it being in the car, and the test runs we've been doing, i havent got an accurate mesurement of MPG yet, that will come down the road as the newness of the the setup wears off, and we're doing more consistant driving.
a few pics..still a few small details to button up, i need to reweld the intake to suit the 3s, a few new vac hoses, and some general cleaning.
this project is still far from over, lots more pics, vids, dynos, ect still to come!
