Should You Change Your SR20DET Head Gasket?

SR20DET swaps in S13/14 240SX's are quite popular here in America. One of the questions I frequently get is, "Do you think I should change my head gasket before I swap the SR in?" I always recommend changing it because it's fairly easy when the engine is sitting on a stand or even on the floor (don't crush the steel pan people!). The paper gasket is fine for 205hp and probably even ok for 280hp, but in reality it's detonation that usually destroys the stock paper head gasket. Since there are so many cheap asses that use the OEM ECUs on 91 octane in the SR20 swap world, it's even more reason to change the head gasket. Yes, the stock ECU can handle 91 octane because it can default to ...

Cosworth New STI

Last week Cosworth USA picked up a red colored new type GE body STi. I haven't driven it yet. It still has only 60 miles as of today, but I think Ken is going to "break it in" this weekend. Ken did say it feels soft and gummy compared to his EVO 8. Sitting in the driver's seat it already felt soft and gummy. I think the seats suck ass and the older GD/GG STi seats felt much better. The build quality on this model seems a bit better though. Either way, "The Red Dragon" as Tyler in the engineering department dubbed the car, will be a gentleman's STi. The goal is an adult street car that will smoke the shit out of those forum group buy built street cars with Chinamen parts while remai...

XS Power - No, Not XS Engineering

Back in the day when I answered the phones once in a while at XS Engineering, I would get these angry, pissed off customers bitching to me about an "XS" turbocharger or exhaust manifold that failed in like 10 minutes of operation or even before operation. How can a part fail before it is even used? Welcome to XS Power, SS Autochrome, or Stone Mountain products. We discovered that some assholes decided to copy the XS name. For the record, first there was XS Engineering. Then there was Turbo XS (who make decent stuff), and then there was XS Power. Jesus Christ, why can't people think of their own names? Anyhow, this blog post should be a lesson to you cheap motherfuckers out there n...

XS Power - No, Not XS Engineering

by Eric Hsu

What happens when you buy XS Power, Stone Mountain Racing, or other cheap ass made in China parts from eBay? Look inside for the carnage.

EVO X 4B11T Engine Assembly

Yesterday we received an EVO X 4B11T engine assembly so that we could create our engine dyno set up at Cosworth. Why fabricate a dyno install? Because we have great things planned for the 4B11T. I was also given a piston and rod - pretty damn nice pieces from the factory. They are much nicer than the factory EVO 8/9 piston and rod, but more on this in a future post.

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Chickenshit Chinamen

Happy Chinese New Year - Gung Hey Fat Choy. Today is new year's day in the Chinese lunar calendar. I am second generation Chinese and lucky enough to have been born here in the USA. I say lucky because I don't work in China at some factory making $100 a month. I speak some broken ass, American accented Chinese and enjoy Dim Sum, but otherwise I'm really not very Chinese. However, it is ironic that I'm about to talk some shit about some Chinamen owned companies and factories when it's Chinese New Year.

My good friend, who would like to remain anonymous (we'll call him Endojima since he used to endo over his handlebars all the time), informed me that a certain company called AMS co...

Mitsubishi EVO X - 4B11T Head

The 4B11T is the new EVO X engine designed and manufactured through an alliance called GEMA which consists of Mitsubishi, Hyundai, and Chrysler. Here at Cosworth we have had an EVO X head and camshafts here since October 2007. We have an entire engine assembly on the way which we will be using for the sole purpose of research and development. I'm only allowed to show you pictures of stock parts of course. Cosworth has many things planned for the 4B11T engine including strokers, big valve CNC heads, high RPM valve train, camshafts, pistons, long blocks, short blocks, studs, etc.

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Cloverfield

If you like X-files, Lost, and that kind of mysterious suspenseful stuff then you need to go and watch Cloverfield. Just drop whatever it is you are doing now and go watch it. It's the best damn movie I've watched in a couple years. Two thumbs up, five stars, 10 out of 10, supercalifragilisticexpialioditous, whatever. Just go freakin watch it.

Imagine all of the mystery and suspense...

XS Engineering Clearance Specials

So Troy at XS has been emailing me to post some updates of new stuff he added to the XS Clearance section of their site. I've been out of town, busy, and on occasion just lazy. They do have some really cool parts for cheap. Most parts are brand new, but there are some used parts available too for super cheap. Some are so damn cheap that some of you who own shops may even want to purchase some parts.

ACT clutches for Supra TT, Integra, IS300, Eclipse, and Civics - 50%+ discount

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Piggyback ECUs are Bad for Your Health

I took apart an engine last weekend from an IS300 that literally torched a piston. It had a turbo on a stock engine (2JZ) with a piggyback ecu (engine control unit). No names, but it starts with a big "E" and it can't really manage. If you haven't figured it out, the brand starts with a big "G". If you still can't figure it out, then just add "reddy" to the end. I usually define a piggyback ecu as anything that does not control ALL fuel and timing outputs.

Piggyback ecus (SHIT) by nature are incapable of controlling a modern day OBD2 ecu with highly adaptive fuel and ignition correction routines. SHIT ecus generally attempt to enrich or enlean the final fuel output by tricki...