Welcome To The PSI Blog

Last weekend was the Oregon Trail Rally. It was a Rally America event and a regional competition. The week prior, we had two Rally America Teams, FY Racing and VanWay Racing, using the shop as a homebase.

Above: The FY Racing team working on their Subaru WRX STi, while we were working on getting Ryan Tuerck's Retaks Maxxis Tires Scion FR-S ready for Formula D Atlanta.

Newly licensed Formula D driver Rob Primo stopped by the shop on the way down to All-Star Bash 2012, at Willow Springs International Raceway.  He was stopping by to have his car retuned and ready for the event.  Also a large supply of Falken tires were drop shipped and waiting for him.  

During the summer, we see an influx of sandrails and offroad vehicles and this season is no exception. Along with the turbo Polaris RZR project we have been working with John Reed Racing, there have been several sandrails in for tuning.

This is the latest project that we have been working with John Reed Racing on.  It is a turbocharged Polaris RZR.  We handled design and fabrication of the turbo kit and John Reed handled the wiring and tuning.  

On the dyno, we have Tyler Grimsley's Nissan S13 powered by a turbo KA.  

One of our client's brought in his 1992 Nissan Sentra with a SR20DET.  

Above: The Sentra out front and ready to go home.

When it first came in, the engine was hurt.  The engine was pulled out and sent off to the machine shop.  While the engine was out, the engine bay was prepped for its return.  

John Reed Racing is known for tuning some of the fastest Lamborghini's in the world. 

Above: John Reed tuning a Twin-turbo Lamborghini Gallardo at the Texas Mile.

John Reed enjoys all types of racing from dirt bikes to shifter karts to rallycross.  

John Reed Racing has now gotten into rally racing.  John took his Toyota Corolla out to the Oregon Trail Rally for his first rally event as a driver.  John has been a co-driver in the past but never a driver.  

The Formula Drift season is starting very soon. The first event at Long Beach is on April 6. Here at PSI, we have been staying very busy with several Formula Drift cars. We have been working on a few of the Northwest competitors' Formula Drift cars to get them ready for the season opener.

Above: Photo from Evergreen Speedway a few years ago.

The Mazda Miata platform has been used in motorsports for many years, including a Miata spec racing series. One of our clients contacted us to turbocharge his Miata.

We started this build by selecting a properly sized turbo and a DOC Race turbo manifold.

Above: Precision PT5557 Turbo

Testing fitting the turbo and manifold.  The intercooler piping and intake path was routed and then fabricated by Alex Laventure.

Alex welding the piping.

Along with the Precision turbo and DOC Race manifold, the custom piping and Tial waste gate finish off this Miata turbo setup.

Before everything could be reassembled, the oil pan needed to be tapped for the turbo.

A custom downpipe and exhaust system was fabricated to mate up to a Magnaflow single exhaust.

Above: The completed turbo setup.

Once everything was back together, the car was ready to be strapped down to the dyno and tuned.

This setup is tuned with a ViPEC ecu by John Reed. It produces 206 whp and 171 ft-lbs of torque.  This initial tune is for break in purposes.  This Miata will be back for further tuning in the future.  Dyno run video also coming soon.

This Twin-turbo Dodge Stealth has a mild build and an AEM EMS. It was tuned by John Reed. It makes 444whp and 463 ft-lbs of torque.

Here is the video:

A client recently brought down his Nissan 300ZX Z32 to get tuned by John Reed. This Z is no longer powered by a VG but by a 2JZ out of a Toyota Supra. 2JZ's are swapped into a lot of different cars. We even had a 2JZ powered Ford Coupe.

This 2JZ is being force fed by a HKS T04Z turbo. We strapped the car down so that John Reed could tune it.

John Reed tuned the 2JZ for pump gas, race gas, and E85. Here is the video of the final run.

MoTeC now offers a plug-in kit for bikes.

With the assistance of John Reed Racing, we have been utilizing MoTeC's and the M84 in different platforms. A recent application was to control the Tomei 2.2L stroked SR that powers Kyle Pollard's Nissan S13 at Formula Drift competitions. This SR also has ITB's which added to the complexity but was easy enough to control with the M84.

This car features a John Reed Racing wiring harness and tune.

This setup made 544 whp and 484 ft-lbs of torque at 30 lbs of boost.

After Formula D round 6 in Las Vegas, Kyle Pollard's PSI Tomei 2.2L SR Nissan Silvia needed some preparation work before the long drive to Irwindale and the final FD round.  Pollard's Ikeya Formula transmission needed to be rebuilt.  The transmission came in and was installed on Tuesday, just a day before he was leaving to drive down.  A few other things were buttoned up and the car was almost ready for competition.  That night, John Reed began work on a wiring harness to connect the SR to a MoTeC M84.

The next morning John Reed installed the MoTeC and tuned it. This setup makes 544whp and 484 ft-lbs of torque. John did a great job getting the MoTeC installed and tuned quickly so Kyle can make it to Irwindale for the FD final round. Good luck Kyle.

PS: Kyle Pollard and his crew took the PSI trailer. So if you see a black trailer with PSI on the side, say hi, they are a good bunch of guys.

The owner of this sand rail brought it down because it was not running right. After fixing a few things, it was ready for John Reed to tune it. The Honda V6 is controlled by a MoTeC M48 ECU.

Here is the video:

Turbocharged Sand Rail on the dyno at PSI from Portland Speed Industries on Vimeo.

Once John was finished, this setup puts down 242 whp and 216 ft-lbs of torque.

This 2005 Acura NSX is owned by one of our clients.  In the photo above, it sits in stock form.  The NSX's design and styling set it apart.

Powered by a all-aluminum V6, this mid-engined sports car produces 276 whp and 220 ft-lbs of torque.  The power, weight, and mid-engine design make this a very fun car to drive.

However, our client wanted to take it to the next level.  He wanted a little more power, so a turbo solution was devised.

A custom PSI turbo kit was created starting with a LoveFab turbo manifold and a Precision T4 turbo.  A Tial waste gate and boost controller were added to the mix.

The custom intake we had made previously for this car was replaced by a charge pipe with a Tial waste gate.

The mid mounted V6 makes turbo placement tricky. The turbo sits under the car near the rear bumper.

Some custom fabrication was needed for this solution. A PSI custom spec throttle body was used for this application.  A special adapter was fabricated to utilize this throttle body.

Alex Laventure designed and fabricated an adapter.

The custom adapter and Lamborghini throttle body installed.

A ViPEC V88 was added to control the entire package.

The ViPEC sits conveniently behind the passenger seat.

John Reed setup the base map for this setup.

The NSX was strapped down to our dyno and the tuning continued.

This setup puts down 385 whp and 279 ft-lbs of torque at 6 lbs of boost.  Update: The car has come back in for a retune and now produces 404 whp and 300 ft-lbs of torque.  (the video is from the original run and does not reflect the new tune)

Here is a video on the dyno:

2005 Turbo Acura NSX on the dyno at PSI from Portland Speed Industries on Vimeo.

The NSX now sits on a set of custom chromed SSR Professor MS1's.

Here is a quick picture.

Recently, we teamed up with John Reed Racing for a Ignition solution for a client's Mark III Toyota Supra powered by a 7M.

A M&W Ignition CDI was chosen for the added benefits it provides for the ignition system.

A custom mounting plate was needed for the M&W CDI.

Alex making a template for the mounting plate.

Mounting plate for the M&W CDI.

John Reed built a custom wiring harness for this application.

Custom harness.

The custom harness and M&W Ignitions CDI installed in the Supra.

After the installation, it was time to tune the car.  The Supra ended up making 690 whp.  

Check back here for more JRR and PSI collaborations.

No matter if you race at a professional level or a weekend racer, having control over the engine is key.

One of our clients races the Mini above in autocross events.

The client recently had the motor built and a supercharger added. Along with those upgrades, this little box was added.

A ViPEC ecu was added to give the tuner the ability to better control the engine and take full advantage of the upgrades. The ViPEC offers features that the previous tuning solution did not.

The Mini on the dyno for tuning.

John Reed tuning the supercharged Mini with ViPEC.

The client recently took the Mini to a local autocross event and was very impressed with the new setup. He said it was hard to keep the tires from spinning with all the power.

This blog post will be updated shortly with a dyno video so check back soon.

Just in time for summer, this 1000+whp Twin-turbo Dodge Viper has just been tuned by John Reed.

This 2006 Viper SRT-10 features a twin-turbo build by Underground Racing with the custom harness and tuning by John Reed Racing.

John tuned this setup on premium pump gas and water/meth injection. At 17.4 pounds of boost, the Viper makes 1051whp and 1016 ft-lbs of torque.

Here is the video:

Between making custom wiring harnesses for twin-turbo Lamborghini's, Viper's, and more, John Reed tunes many very fast cars.

Custom wiring harness for MoTeC controlled twin-turbo Lamborghini.

A client from Washington brought down his Nissan S14 240SX drift car for John Reed to tune.

The S14 is powered by a Toyota 2JZ inline six.

2JZ in the S14 engine bay. A very clean swap.

This is the same car that we did some wiring on and installed a fuel surge tank and upgraded fuel system on last year.

The surge tank and dual external fuel pumps in the trunk of the S14.  This system helps ensure sufficient fuel flow while drifting.

The S14 strapped down to the dyno and ready to tune.

John Reed tuning the 2J.

After John was done with this S14, it made 569 whp and 455 ft-lbs of torque.

Recently a client came in with his 2006 Ford Mustang GT.  It already had a supercharger, Ford Racing throttle body, and the other supporting mods.

The previous engine management system did not provide the control and ultimately the drivability we wanted.  A new solution was devised, which included a MoTeC M800.  The M800 would provide the control of the engine that was required to further improve drivability and performance.

The M800 standalone ECU offers the control that John requires to properly tune this Mustang.  A set of Bosch sensors were added to monitor the engine.  This engine features variable cam timing, which the other tuning solution was unable to control.

John pulling some logs during testing.

After the tune, this setup produces 530whp and 460 ft-lbs of torque.

After this Mustang, John is working on a MoTeC solution for a supercharged G37s. Check back for more on this MoTeC controlled G37s.

A client recently brought his Datsun 510 to PSI for some minor electrical work and tuning.  This is a very clean and well built 510.

This particular 510 is powered by a turbocharged KA24.  The KA-T is controlled by an AEM standalone EMS that was setup and tuned by John Reed of John Reed Racing.

Here is the very clean engine bay where the KA-T sits.

Russ Weimer rewired the charging system. This minor wiring job made the system more reliable and cleaned up the engine bay even further.

The 510 was strapped down to the dyno and ready for John Reed to go to work.

John Reed setting up the AEM and tuning it.

Check back for more high quality cars like this very clean KA-T powered 510.

A client of ours brought in his 2007 Ford Mustang with a supercharger.  It has a Vortech Supercharger, Ford Racing intake manifold, and Ford Racing Large Throttlebody.  The Mustang's engine management solution was not adequate enough for this application.  The limitations were not allowing for the amount of control necessary to get the most out of the car in both performance and drivability aspects. 

We suggested that the client try an alternative form of engine management solution.  Because of PSI's close association with John Reed Racing, a MoTeC solution was at the top of the list on possible solutions.  The client went for it and ordered a MoTeC M800. 

A MoTeC M800 was never used for this application before.  Like many of our other projects, we try to push the limits and do things others have not.  John Reed worked closely with MoTeC to figure out how to control every aspect of the engine. 

While John was working on the tuning side of this project, Alex Laventure began to design some mounting solutions for the MoTeC M800 and various sensors that needed to be installed.  The M800 allows the use of several other sensors to closely monitor the engine. 

Check back for more updates with this MoTeC build and also a G37s build.

John Reed Racing was well represent at the Texas Mile in October 2010.

John Reed has provided the tuning and wiring solutions for Underground Racing's twin-turbo Lamborghini's, Viper's, and Ferrari.  He also tuned SW's fully built Supra and consults on a other few other Supra's.  His tuning solutions for these purpose built cars include either MoTeC or AEM engine management systems.

John Reed checking the tune on this MoTeC controlled Underground Racing twin-turbo Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4.

Some of the cars he has been of part of that were running at the October 2010 Texas Mile include, a 1938whp twin-turbo Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, twin-turbo Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, twin-turbo Ferrari F430, twin-turbo Lamborghini Gallardo, twin-turbo Dodge Viper SRT-10, and a few Toyota Supra's.  A Underground Racing built and John Reed Racing tuned Lamborghini Murcielago also showed up but did not run.

John Reed will be bringing all of his tuning knowledge and experience to the Institute of Automotive Performance, which he is cofounding with Jason Oefelein.  John Reed is a master engine management specialist and will become a valuable asset to the students of IAP.

The Toyota Supra that we fabricated a turbo "kit" for is finally completed and on the dyno.  The setup includes a 2JZ with a Garrett GTX4294R.  This 71mm turbo needed to be located below a TRD strut tower bar so a custom turbo manifold was fabricated. 

Now that fabrication is completed, it is time to test it out.  We strapped the Supra to our dyno for some tuning and to see the power it puts down.

The "kit" we fabricated and installed.

The car produces 612 whp and 428 ft-lbs of torque at 31 psi through an automatic transmission.

1994 Toyota Supra (GTX4294R turbo) from Portland Speed Industries on Vimeo.

A client brought in his 1957 Chevy Belair SS.  This Belair underwent restoration and modification. The original engine is replaced by a LS V8 with the addition of a supercharger.

57 Chevy Bel Air SS on the dyno at PSI from Portland Speed Industries on Vimeo.