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Hi all, I just pulled the trigger on a bunch of upgrades to my 2005 NFR S2000. The primary upgrade is a Science of Speed TS-MAX Twin-Scroll kit. I went back and forth between the PTuning kit and SoS but ultimately wound up choosing SoS.
I had initially decided on SoS until I realized PTuning had a higher power potential. Then I was camp PTuning for a while until I learned about the pitfalls of that kit, specifically the engine mount stiffness/vibration and boost creep/control issues. Those issues pushed me back to SoS as I want the car to feel as stock and reliable as possible, and I'm not really looking to push anywhere above 500-550WHP. My initial goals are 400WHP on pump gas but I'm speccing out the system to be able to push the limits on E85 once I beef up the rest of the drivetrain. I also liked the smidge faster spool of the SoS and greater area under the torque curve. All that said, with this decision I've accepted that the car will have less power potential and less top end than if I went with PTuning. I'm not expecting HP to increase all the way to redline, but I'm hoping the 3582 will get me as close as possible.
The car is pretty much a garage queen with only 35k miles and no expectation of tracking/dragging/racing. I'm just living out my teenage dream. The only mods so far are a dual TI 3" exhaust from Ballade, Berk HFC, Focal Speakers/Amp, Sony HU, and a mix of various accessories from Modifry.
Nate was a big help at SoS getting things specced out and written up. Their customer service thus far has been impeccable. From order date it took around 3-4 weeks to arrive. They had most everything in stock but it took a bit longer to get the pipes Cerakote coated.
If anyone has anything specific they want me to document or answer let me know! Also, if there's anything it looks like I'm missing that I should be considering I'm all ears.
Big kudos to the community for having some great posts which helped me spec things out. Specifically:
Yup! That's definitely on my list. Although I've also been thinking of just going all-in and getting a Ford 8.8 conversion. I've seen people talk about even puddymods getting blown and that would be a bad time. I guess ill just have to see how much money is in the bank when the OEM diff decides to grenade... lol
I ran 400-420hp turbo build on stock AP1 diff driving like a idiot on not great tires; no issue. Drive style and traction has a lot do with on the diff life.
Welcome.. one big issue I'd imagine with going to an 8.8 diff conversion is a serious increase in NVH. For a fun/weekend car the stock diff should be fine and the switch to an 8.8 might be annoying. I would definitely consider some slightly stiffer rubber motor/tranny/diff mounts (I think Megan racing makes them and some others). You will get a slight increase in NVH from stiffer mounts but they're not bad and streetable imo.
Regarding build advice.. for all practical purposes the difference between say 450whp and 500whp is not much. The likelihood of busting the tranny at 500+ is much more likely and thus I'd say be happy at 450whp or a little less, call it a day and have fun. That's about where I'm at with my car. I'd say run e85 mainly for knock protection and a safer tune rather than trying to squeeze out more power. At ~400whp if you're turning the wheel it's enough power and a lot of fun.
Welcome.. one big issue I'd imagine with going to an 8.8 diff conversion is a serious increase in NVH. For a fun/weekend car the stock diff should be fine and the switch to an 8.8 might be annoying. I would definitely consider some slightly stiffer rubber motor/tranny/diff mounts (I think Megan racing makes them and some others). You will get a slight increase in NVH from stiffer mounts but they're not bad and streetable imo.
Regarding build advice.. for all practical purposes the difference between say 450whp and 500whp+ is not much. The likelihood of busting the tranny at 500+ is much more likely and thus I'd say be happy at 450whp or a little less, call it a day and have fun. That's about where I'm at with my car. I'd say run e85 mainly for knock protection and a safer tune rather than trying to squeeze out more power.
That's really good to know - thanks. That probably puts me into Puddymod camp again. Once thing I want to make sure with the car is that it is drivable and doesn't feel all that much different from stock unless you really get onto it. That's the main reason I went with SoS instead of PTuning despite PTuning having a higher max power capability.
And good point on 450 vs 500 -- I can imagine that the difference is pretty small. Tires are going to break loose in either case. I've got E85 near me so I'm sold on running that for knock protection!
That's really good to know - thanks. That probably puts me into Puddymod camp again. Once thing I want to make sure with the car is that it is drivable and doesn't feel all that much different from stock unless you really get onto it. That's the main reason I went with SoS instead of PTuning despite PTuning having a higher max power capability.
And good point on 450 vs 500 -- I can imagine that the difference is pretty small. Tires are going to break loose in either case. I've got E85 near me so I'm sold on running that for knock protection!
Ya I have a puddymod 3.6 in my car and I like it. 2nd doesn't spin as easily and I get a nicer cruising speed in 6th on the highway. The car is a touch slower so really just depends what you want. Ya I also debated ptuning vs other options a while ago and didn't like that the Ptuning has some creep. For all out power it's better than the SOS but honestly the drivetrain can't handle much more power reliably anyway.
If you have e85 close to you that's awesome. Should be a lot of fun and safe ~400whp.
SoS with the 3582 still has pretty good power capability. Buddy of mine is running that turbo w/ his SoS kit and making 585whp & 443 ft/lbs of torque; car is an animal, and that's located in CO at a much higher elevation than you. He's running the stock trans, SoS twin disk, and a puddymod rear. Given you're running the Sport 400 I'd say stop in the realm of 500whp, although SoS tends to underrate everything they sell, but I wouldn't test the capacity beyond their advertised 400 ft/lbs of tq.
Good call on the Mr. Sideways rad - the buddy I mentioned above was having cooling issues with stock rad or Koyo, can't remember - The dual pass rad mitigated all cooling problems.
Also, regarding the characteristics - Car had a pretty steep ramp in hp up to roughly 7k rpm where it made 560whp, 8400 rpm yielded 25 more whp, and then the power started to fall. Peak tq of 443 ft/lbs was made at roughly 6400 rpm where it drops off to about 320 ft/lbs at redline.
Welcome.. one big issue I'd imagine with going to an 8.8 diff conversion is a serious increase in NVH. For a fun/weekend car the stock diff should be fine and the switch to an 8.8 might be annoying. I would definitely consider some slightly stiffer rubber motor/tranny/diff mounts (I think Megan racing makes them and some others). You will get a slight increase in NVH from stiffer mounts but they're not bad and streetable imo.
Regarding build advice.. for all practical purposes the difference between say 450whp and 500whp is not much. The likelihood of busting the tranny at 500+ is much more likely and thus I'd say be happy at 450whp or a little less, call it a day and have fun. That's about where I'm at with my car. I'd say run e85 mainly for knock protection and a safer tune rather than trying to squeeze out more power. At ~400whp if you're turning the wheel it's enough power and a lot of fun.
Everyone has their idea of ideal power, but I'm going to second this sentiment. I'm at 500+whp centi-sc'd and I'm going down to 400 PD sc'd (450 on E85). It's just not fun at the top of that power level. It's exciting, but that eventually wears off and the concern wears in, and once you start looking at the process of replacing parts for a discontinued low volume vehicle, that extra 100hp is not only costly, but difficult to access. Yes you can buy USED transmissions, but they are used. I'm rebuilding one with new OE parts that will be cryo'd and shot peeded as a back up, and it's a costly process (I think I'm around 3k ).
06-10-2024, 07:14 AM
Science of Speed TS-MAX Turbo Build
