My Little Brother's Combo

[thom1301]

Okay, long story short, my little brother has been building up his 2g GST for awhile, and I think he's just a few parts/details away from a really fast combo. The problem is, I don't know what he needs.

Here's what he's got so far:
Shep tranny w/Quaife
Forged bottom end
ported head/1mm oversize valves
272 intake/exhaust cams
ported evo III exhaust manifold
60-trim, 2-1/2 to 3-in downpipe/exhaust
front mount, 2-1/2-inch intercooler piping
880 injectors, aeromotive FPR, 255 pump
He has an Apexi, EGT, and wideband to tune it, but doesn't know how to use it correctly.
According to him it's running 8.8:1 A/F ratio, which is obviously way too rich.

Potential problems I see:
Does he JUST need to get it tuned and it'll be decent/fun?
880s too big for his combo?
Should he look into DSM Link or an AEM?
Is the stock 2g MAF, TB, and/or intake manifold really holding him back?
What else is holding him back?

Thanks for any/all educated replies.

[JET]

Does he have any way to tune the car? I would say get dsmlink for it. It looks like a pretty decent setup besides that.

[scheides]

Definitely get it tuned. It will make all the difference in the world. Is he local? Have him bring it to DB, LSE, or MAP for a tune and he'll be much more happy! Is the car in overall good shape? Hopefully there's nothing else holding him back. The intake manifold may be the next thing to swap out, but without more detailed info its tough to say what to swap out next.

[Shane@DBPerformance]

880s are too big for his Apexi AFC. He should get DSMLink to tune that car, then the 880s will be fine. He doesn't need and shouldn't get an AEM EMS. He can push the car closer to the edge while still being safe with DSMLink versus the AEM.

The stock 2G MAS will not hold him back. The stock 2G throttle body and intake manifold will hold the car back, they are not nearly as good as the 1G stuff, and an aftermarket intake is a decent improvement over both the 1G and 2G intake manifolds. He should look into getting a used 1G TB and a sheetmetal intake manifold like a Magnus, AMS, JM Fab, etc.

What wideband is he running? Most don't read all the way down to 8.8:1 A/F, that is quite rich.

DSMLink should be his first step though, even if he can't do the TB or intake manifold anytime soon.

He needs to avoid any wheelhop in that FWD also, or he might be spitting parts of that Shep tranny on the ground.

[thom1301]

Thank you guys very much. I'll encourage him to get a DSM link first and foremost, and worry about that intake stuff later on. Thanks again.

[thom1301]

I'm sorry, he said he has a Greddy e-manage and Profec boost controller. Is that system any more capable of tuning for his combo than the Apexi?

Thanks again.