Well after 14.5 hours round trip to NC and home yesterday, the back half in pouring rain most of the way the new 03 Quartz STR is home. Nothing like getting to know a car you have only test drove in a pouring rain storm, thank god the wipers were on auto as I would have most likely put it in a ditch trying to figure out to turn them on in the dark LOL.

On to the good part. First of all for anyone wondering the Arden suspension with lowering springs and billsein shocks is pretty rough. I like it but even with the CATS not set on sport they are harsh. It reminds me of my Porsche on coilovers handles like a dream but stiff. Of course after getting in at 3am last night I had to get up and out to get the title and tag squared away and get a baseline dyno run so I can start modding!!!

This thing is not easy to dyno. Of course I got the ABS light righ off the bat, no biggie it was expected. I used DSC off in sport mode and the J gate. Its pretty tricky to get enough wheel speed to keep it from kicking down and still get a good long solid pull. The first run was a balk due to my not knowing the car yet which kinda sucks since now it has heat built up. Run two was 328.7hp and 363.1 TQ on a dyno jet single drum at 70' ambient air temp after letting the car sit about an hour. Run three was 341hp and 376fptq. I figured that was a good base and let it go at that as I figured it was getting warm at that.

Good news is the A/F readings, the worse it got was 11.6 from 5500 to 6K it was around 12-12.5 from 4200-5500 in boost. I was pretty excited to see the AF so good. Maybe it was just because it was cool or because its basically stock and the ecu isnt adding a lot but those numbers will work. Lets hope that holds as I add power. BTW the goal is 450-500rwhp the 500 number if I decide to do a Nitrous kit.

I am loving the car. Drives great and a lot of fun, its dirty from all the rain last night and the trip and I didn't get to meet up with vance to get pics so I will get some good pics once its cleaned up. For now here is one I snapped with the Iphone of her first run at the rollers. I will also try and upload the dyno sheet for people to see with the A/F ratios tomorrow at the office since I don't have a scanner here.

 

Congrats on getting a strong factory STR IN MY FAVORITE COLOR! ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Jealous

I guess exhaust willl be the first place you go. If choosing magnaflow go to performancepeddlar for the most rockbottom prices on the web. (no affilation).

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

Forgot to mention it has some light exhaust work, just borla mufflers and tips and the resonator deleted. I may add the resonators back of maybe go with the dynomax VT mufflers as it sounds good now at cruise and full throttle but its just a bit much from a redlight just pulling off when your not flogging it.

I don't suspect the mufflers added any power at least not yet. The res delete might had had a little effect on TQ?

Thanks

 

Congrats Qikcat! I'm eagerly awaiting your follow-up dyno runs as you mod one of these sweet rides

 

Congrats! Nice strong numbers for stock. Lucky that you had a reasonable cool day in Georgia to do it. If you have easy access to a dyno then your the dude we need to watch during you build up. If you're interested in placing a low temp. thermostat, I'd be interested too, as I run one and not sure what's this doing to performance? I'm elated that you conveyed what the Bilstiens are doing for the ride. I'm ditching the idea of swapping them in. Inching toward to either a Parmaount or Eurotoys ECU tune. Thanks for your letting us know of your first dyno experience qwikcat.

 

I have a dyno very handy. I am going to weld a bung in behind the manifolds this wee so next time I can get my A/F right at the exhaust manifold instead of using the tailpipe adapter.

I am planning the stat as well. I don't expect much but running cooler it has to make power or more to the point free it up. I have put a low temp stat in almost every car I have built and they do work. I just looked over the NX website at their new meth kits I think that will make a huge difference in cooling and therefore power.

I like the suspension personally and although I have nothing to compare it to as in stock it handles like its on rails. I have a high level of tolerance in a street car, I drove a 1000+hp supra daily on race gas with a 12point cage and door bars so I can put up with a little rough ride. Honestly though I think its a bit rough and may be to much for a lot of guys use to the jags ride.

ECU TO COME!

 

Aren't the STR's factory equipped with wideband o2's post cat?
Or can the dyno not tap into them?

I thought they were....

Take care,

George

 

The post-cat are not wideband. The pre-cat ones are.

 

Great! Welcome to the STR/Quartz family! You have excellent taste!

 

Now I want quartz...? LOL!

 

Sell me yours cheap and then we'll help you find one

Take care,

George

 

Can't beat the Quartz. May the Quartz be with you.
YouTube - May the schwartz be with you

Wait that was Schwartz not Quartz.

 

George, my luck is: I sell ya mine cheap, the world runs dry of STR's leaving me the "Wisher". Vance580, I was recently joking with a patient about "Space *****". LOL!

 

Don't be a sell out bruh , you have a beautiful Platinum Metallic color to appreciate , lolz..

 

Its just easy to use the sensor the dyno is setup for and calibrated for with the right connectors. Its no big deal to just jack the car, take out the plug, screw in the WB and hook it to the dyno. We have an LED readout you can drag into the car for real time data if tuning and it downloads the logs to look at and add to the sheet to compare rpm/boost/af etc... all buy rpm or speed, boost etc... I didn't do boost this run which I should have but I will do that before the pulley for sure to get some real boost numbers.

 

We? As in your shop? Please tell me a tuner with a dyno has finally stepped into the STR world?

Take care,

George

 

I'll find ya a quartz one even if I have to send it to maaco myself

Seriously though, if you ever consider upgrading, let me know!

Take care,

George

 

Jag79, I was kidding dude, LOL! Doesn't matter what shade she is...well not pink.

 

George, jumping way off topic...how's the MB project? There's an STR guy here who has engine failure on his 03 STR and bought an 06 STR. As ttwotees; you could pop in a refurbished long block?

 

Take a look at my sig, blog is sort of updated... Buffed the whole car out, not just the roof. I've been amassing parts, new headlight doors, scored an original factory dual cupholder, almost perfect dash wood, got a new stereo...

Basically it's going to look like it rolled off the assembly line yesterday when I'm done.

Are you asking me if I can swap the motor? Or is he looking for a place to do it? The last sentence confused me....

Take care,

George