Tuned In

The saying "do what you love and you'll never work another day in your life" is an accurate one, but there are a whole lot of cold, hard truths that need to be carefully considered before turning your passion into a career.

To shed some much-needed light on the subject, this week we invited Reid Lunde of Kaizen Speed to sit down with Andre and talk shop — both in the literal and figurative senses.

Use ‘PODCAST75’ for $75 off your first HPA course here: https://hpcdmy.co/hpa-tuned-in

Reid has been in the tuning and performance aftermarket business a long time, and has learnt plenty of lessons the hard way over the years when it comes to customers, staff, projects,  services, and much more.

In this episode, Reid and Andre spend some time discussing these lessons and talk about the strategies and systems that can be used to avoid the many pitfalls that people so often find themselves walking right into when starting out.

You might be working on friends of friends' cars in your garage, or you might be walking into a two-year lease on a brand new shop space with a big bank loan in your pocket — either way, listening to what veterans like Reid and Andre have to say might just make the difference between boom or bust. 

The guys also get nerdy discussing dyno system pros and cons, standalone vs reflashing, direct injection vs port injection, and why no tuner needs to blow up an engine — let alone ten engines – to become proficient. The conversation lastly makes its way over to the hows, whys, whats, and whens of Reid's award-winning product, the Kaizen Relay.

That all means that this episode is an excellent reality check for anyone that's interested in taking their passion to the next level and diving into the automotive performance industry.

Want to learn how to EFI tune? Start with some free lessons right here: hpcdmy.co/efilesson

HPA's appearances on Reid's 'Do It For a Living' podcast can be found here and here. 

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At the Goodwood Festival of Speed James Deane gives us a rundown on some of the grip aspects of drifting which see 900HP to 1100HP hit the ground in the race to the first corner before getting sideways.

Want to learn how to EFI tune? Start with some free lessons right here: hpcdmy.co/efilesson

James also talks about his switch from the Nissan S-Chassis to his BMW E92, and why it is Toyota 2jz powered along with some of the challenges the 6 cylinder has compared to some of the other competing V8 setups.

The nitrous fed 2jz is running Hypertune manifolds, Zrp Racing Parts rods, CP-Carrillo pistons, Supertech valves, BC Brian Crower cams with a BorgWarner Performance Aftermarket EFR 9180 which is run at around 1.6 Bar for a balance of power and traction. Injector Dynamics1750cc injectors keep the 2jz running with a constant supply of ethanol-based fuel with Ecumaster handling the engine management and PMU side of things.

On this week's episode of the High Performance Academy Tuned In podcast, Andre is joined by an absolute legend of the import scene.

John Shepherd has been around since the very early days of import drag racing. Through campaigning his AWD Eagle Talon, John lead the first charge and pushed the boundaries of just what was possible with a Japanese performance car.

Use ‘PODCAST75’ for $75 off your first HPA course here: https://hpcdmy.co/hpa-tuned-in

John talks about his early days and the many workarounds and bodges that were necessary during the sport's infancy. The Ohio-based racer and car builder was squeezing record-setting high-ten-second quarter miles out of his 4G63-powered Talon, and as the game progressed, so did the car. Andre and John track the development of the Eagle through to its retirement, at which point it was running 7.7-second quarters — all still in a time well before billet blocks, proper race transmissions, and modern turbo technology.

John has since moved on to Nissan GT-Rs and Audi R8s, and lays down his recipe for what he considers to be the "perfect" street car when working with these platforms. Easy to live with, perfectly fine to take on long road trips,... and capable of mid-seven-second quartermiles.

Finally, the guys dive into the world of dual clutch transmissions. These DCTs have become ShepTrans' bread and butter in recent years, and John goes into detail on how the clever gearboxes work and how we can make them far stronger in order to put up with the massive torque figures modern performance engines provide.

There's plenty of nostalgia to be found in this episode, and if acronyms like DCT and TCM have always left you scratching your head, you definitely don't want to miss this one.

Learn more about Performance Engine Building by coming along to the next FREE lesson: hpcdmy.co/enginebuildingf

With a 6.921s at 200mph run at Texas 2K19, this alleged 2500HP 2JZ-powered 1995 Supra easily caught our attention.

Jay Meagher of Real Street Performance gives Andre Simon the goods on this build, including the fact that although data etc has indicated the car is pushing 2500HP, he believes it is closer to 2200 or 2300HP. No matter that number, the car is a performer and with owner Geo Castillo peddling the team took out the 2JZ elimination class at TX2K.

Want to learn how to EFI tune? Start with some free lessons right here: hpcdmy.co/efilesson

The MoTeC M150 controlled 3.2L 2jz has had ‘a bit of a tune up’ and is running a Brian Crower crank, RNR aluminium connecting rods, CP-Carrillo pistons, King Racing bearings all within a billet block. Up the top is a Mazworx CNC cylinder head, Supertech valve train, GSC Power Division R1 cam, and a 2 stage NOS system that helps the Precision Pro Mod 88 XPR turbocharger hit the desired boost level for launch, and depending on the track conditions can give some extra power. Fuelling is taken care of by 12 x Injector Dynamics ID1700x injectors and a Weldon pump.

Jay talks about some of the changes the car has undergone in order to shoot for 6 second passes instead of 7’s, and how even just shaving a few 10ths of a second off a run can require some massive engine and setup work behind the scenes. He also tells us why the car runs a M&M built TH400 auto with ProTorque converter instead of a manual transmission.

This week's High Performance Academy Tuned In podcast guest comes to us all the way from Oslo, Norway.

Fredric Aasbø is the winningest driver in Formula D history, with a bunch of championships under his belt and the chiselled jawline to match. Fredric recently took some time out of his busy winter ice drifting schedule to sit down with Andre and discuss all things drift — the driving, the cars, the setups, the business — all of it.

Use ‘PODCAST75’ for $75 off your first HPA course here: https://hpcdmy.co/hpa-tuned-in

The conversation begins with a look back into Fredric's past, from the early days of his grandmother teaching him how to use the E-brake to control a sliding car on ice,  to his experiences in karting and drifting as teenager,  through to the stark realisation that getting into the pro-level motorsport game — let alone to the very top — means making big sacrifices and pouring everything you have into your dream. Fredric confirms that, as we suspected, there are no free rides in motorsport for the vast majority of us.

Andre and Fredric then get into the finer details of drifting at the highest levels, from studying and understanding the judging system, to driving techniques, sponsorship pressures, and even the need to fine-tune your "bullsh*t detector".

Fredric also dives into the heavy-duty technical side of the sport and its vehicles, discussing how these pro drift monsters actually work, and how he was able to dominate with a little four-cylinder in an economy car body... Over and over again.

Interested in learning how to do your own wheel alignment for the track or street? Start with a free alignment & suspension 101 lesson now: hpcdmy.co/alignmentf

There are plenty of interesting tidbits to dig into here when it comes to how Fredric and his team set up his cars for each track with asymmetric alignments, turbo sizes, gear ratios, tyre pressures, and a whole lot more. 

Like to skid cars? This is the episode for you.

If you haven’t heard of Rob Dahm and his Mazda FD RX7 build, you have now. This has been many years in the making so far with lots of ups and downs as well as plan changes along the way — we caught up with Rob a couple of years ago at SEMA and took a good look at this incredible build.

Want to learn how to EFI tune? Start with some free lessons right here: hpcdmy.co/efilesson

Brotherly rivalry led Rob to consider an AWD/4WD build and with support and encouragement from Ian Steward of ASD Motorsports who built Ken Block's Gymkhana 7 ‘Hoonicorn’ AWD Mustang. A lot of the details of the Hoonicorn build were shared with Rob, but in the end, it wasn’t compatible with this application particularly when it came to fitting a passenger seat.

Due to concerns with cast components, Rob sourced a billet 4 rotor from Carl Thompson which was the spare for a build of his we have featured previously (linked below). It has some unique features which we’re excited to learn more about as time goes on and A-B testing is planned in relation to tuning and exhaust components in the near future too.

The car runs an R32 GTR transfer box off the back of a Holinger RD6, Winters Quick Change rear differential, Adaptronic M6000 ECU, Garrett 106mm turbo, Clearview oil filtration system along with Ti Automotive a dual brushless pump setup.

Also discussed are the reasons for the tube frame in relation to requirement, or just preference, cast vs billet 4 rotor setups and what the plan is from here.

Is modifying a rare and desirable vehicle a really stupid idea? What's the secret to building a great street car? What makes a good engine swap? Can you actually make a career as an automotive 'YouTuber'? On this week's episode of the High Performance Academy 'Tuned In' podcast, Andre is joined by Dave Pratte and Peter Tarach from Speed Academy to help answer all these questions and many more.

Use ‘PODCAST75’ for $75 off your first HPA course here: https://hpcdmy.co/hpa-tuned-in

Dave and Peter have been in the automotive game for many years, starting off in with a long run in the print media world working at car magazines before eventually transitioning into the online space — specifically YouTube. Through their channel Speed Academy, they've successfully built a career online, and now spend their time taking on interesting builds for the world to see.

All those hours spent either in front or behind a camera, pedalling fast cars, or swinging off the end of a half-inch driver, has given the guys a really interesting perspective on what it is we do as enthusiasts.

Learn more about Performance Engine Building by coming along to the next FREE lesson: hpcdmy.co/enginebuildingf

Andre first digs into what it actually takes to make money as an automotive 'YouTuber', before discussing the potential monetary pitfalls of modifying something like Speed Academy's R34 GT-R and JZA80 Supra projects — vehicles that are quickly becoming more of an investment opportunity than driveable cars.   

Peter and Dave then dive into the world of engine swaps — when it's a good idea, when it's a bad idea, how to do it well, and the mistakes that so many people make on their first time around. While still on the subject of swaps, Peter makes the case for DCT (dual clutch transmission) swaps being the new manual gearbox swaps, now that the industry is catching up and providing aftermarket support for CANbus integration.

With discussions on what makes a great street car (hint — horsepower chasers aren't going to love the answer) and much more, this is an entertaining conversation with two experienced veterans of the modified import scene. These guys have seen it all, from the pre-Fast and Furious days, all the way through the growing pains of the last two decades to the current YouTube-dominated scene we find ourselves in today — for better or for worse.

Check out Speed Academy's YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and website. 

Even when budget is not a limiting factor, why might a team choose to use a factory block over an aftermarket billet one in a Time Attack build?

With a 2.2L stroker 4G63 MIVEC build featuring a custom billet crank, rod and pistons, Benjamin Perry of Benchmark Solutions explains why a billet block was not a consideration for this build along with covering some of the upgrades the Global Aircraft Services Mitsubishi Evo 9 has seen in order to remain competitive in the ever-popular Open Class as the World Time Attack Challenge.

Want to develop your own skills further? Start with a free live lesson! Claim your spot now: https://www.hpacademy.com/free 

On this week's episode of the High Performance Academy Tuned In podcast, Andre is joined by Time Attack and Pikes Peak veteran Cole Powelson of Lyfe Motorsport.

Cole has a lot of experience when it comes to making all sorts of vehicles go as fast as possible through chassis, suspension, engine, and aerodynamic development and as such, has plenty to say on what makes a quick car and how to achieve it.

Use ‘PODCAST75’ for $75 off your first HPA course here: https://hpcdmy.co/hpa-tuned-in

The guys start by talking about Cole's unlikely come up through the motorsport world, and how it was always about figuring out how he could engineer his life around getting behind the wheel of a race car – if that meant crewing for teams, training as a tech, using other people's money, or starting his own business, he was all about it. With that in mind, Cole discusses the prohibitive costs of motorsport and the ways that this limiting factor can be minimized.

Cole also talks about his two companies, Lyfe Motorsport and Sierra Cars. Lyfe facilitates the complete build of bespoke race cars – that means fabrication, engineering, and development – and can take one to two years with everything done in house, while Sierra Cars produces incredibly trick open wheel cross-kart style weapons that utilise screaming Hayabusa drivetrains and plenty of trick engineering. Many lessons have been learnt along the way in both of these businesses, and Cole is happy to share them.

Interested in learning how to do your own wheel alignment for the track or street? Start with a free alignment & suspension 101 lesson now: hpcdmy.co/alignmentf

There is, of course, plenty of discussion to be had around time attack and hill climbing, as well as Cole's thoughts on the R35 GTR platform – with which he holds numerous time attack records and is currently in the midst of building a new project that is powered by a 6-litre Ford Powerstroke – as well as the huge importance and benefits of properly-designed aero. 

Cole is a wealth of knowledge and we enjoyed his frank and open take on all things speed – there's plenty of golden nuggets in this episode for anyone who's interested in going fast!

2000-3000HP GT-Rs are not uncommon in today's performance car world, and Tony Palo of T1 Race Development runs us through some of the nuances that go into tuning these highly strung, modern beasts and ensuring that power goes to the ground.

Discussed is how the MoTeC M150 ECU controls the torque via a variety of parameters such as speed, boost, knock throttle etc. Also discussed is how the gear shifting is done to ensure the torque output does not exceed the gearboxes threshold when the driver requests a change, and also touched on is how the ECU actually calculates the torque and the need to be accurate in your tune to ensure this information is also accurate and safe.

Want to develop your own skills further? Start with a free live lesson! Claim your spot now: https://www.hpacademy.com/free