Midnight

[mpiper]

I brought my black 2011 1LT 6A home on 12/23/2010.

I drove gently, never going over 4,000 RPM for the first 1,000 miles. At 563 miles I did the first oil change, to get rid of any flash or initial metal shavings.At this pioint, I did get on it every couple of days, but eased off at 3,800 or so.

At 1,200 miles, I read the thread about breaking an engine in by using rolling-start 0-90 acceleration runs to better seat the rings, etc. So I started doing 0-5-70 runs several times a day (soft to 5mph then putting the pedal down until I hit 70, then coasting and merging onto the highway). I could feel the engine really start to loosen up and it accelerated stronger than it had when I only went to 4,000.

At about 1,600 miles, with a full tank of 89 octane, I plugged in a Bluetooth OBD II connector and used the Android phone app "Torque" to time 0-60 and check horsepower. The 0-60 time was 7.0 and horsepower showed at 220. Pretty sad numbers. But that was with the Auto in "D", a full tank and the wrong weight entered in the program (I put just the car's weight, not including me, the gas, or the box in the trunk).

Spent the next week running 93 octane and trying out leaving the trans in "S" (manual but never touching the tap-shift). Car was running better and the erratic timing advance I had noticed had settled to a smooth and consistent curve as the RPMs increased.

Still haven't run a second timed 0-60. I plan on doing that in the next week. I didn't buy it to race, so it's not a crucial issue for me, just a point of pride that I want it able to run better than 6 second 0-60's.

My Roto-Fab CAI and Windshield Washer relocate kit just arrived. Roto-Fab is a top quality company based on how well they packed and organized everything. I'll try to attach images to show how everything arrived.

The closed box:

Looking in the just-opened box:

Everything laid out:

The CAI box and elbow:

The assorted parts, goodies and instructions:


Next up: Record stock sounds, get baseline 0-60 and Horsepower. The I install the Roto-Fab CAI!

[Roto-fab 1]

Sweet! Please keep us posted. It looks like the cardboard box took a few love taps on the way to you.

[mpiper]

Originally Posted by Roto-fab 1

Sweet! Please keep us posted. It looks like the cardboard box took a few love taps on the way to you.

Yeah, the box wasn't pristine by the time it arrived. But everything was packed so well I think everything inside was totally protected.

I'm going to record a few video clips of the stock car first, so I can do a nice "before and after" progression for each mod. Then I'll be installing these.

[mpiper]

Ok, before I forget, let me cover the latest.

Did two 0-60 runs this evening. The first was with the transmission in D. Ran a 7.0 again. Second run, transmission in S. Ran a 6.7. So three tenths just from different transmission setting. The program calculated the horse power as 235. I need to see what most people are getting in rwhp.

I was going to run a third time, with traction control off. However, a friendly neighborhood police cruiser decided to drive by. Since they have been known to hand out little slips of paper titled "excessive display of speed" I decided to call it a night and continue another night. I could probably get more tests in, but I only drive full out when there are no other cars. So unless I want to drive a long way out into the boonies, I have to make my runs after 7: 30, when the road with reasonable speed limits is not busy.

So, tomorrow we try it without TC. If this doesn't drop it into 6.0 territory, I'm going to be ticked. Wonder if something under warrantee needs adjusting? Hmm

[mpiper]

Forgot to upload any pictures of the car. These were taken in December, but no changes have been made besides adding the license plates.





And yes, Texas is a 2 plate state, so they had the front license plate holder on about 30 seconds after it was unloaded off the truck. So, I'll make the best of it. I'm used to the look now, but I still wish it wasn't there.

[Oldtimer426]

Originally Posted by mpiper

Forgot to upload any pictures of the car. These were taken in December, but no changes have been made besides adding the license plates.





And yes, Texas is a 2 plate state, so they had the front license plate holder on about 30 seconds after it was unloaded off the truck. So, I'll make the best of it. I'm used to the look now, but I still wish it wasn't there.

Well you do have an option to replace the plate mount with a retrackable plate mount. The car is black so use a black plug to cover the holes in the bumper.

[mpiper]

Where can I order the plugs?

[anglwngss]

Do you have a link to the thread about the rolling start-0-90? I've just gotten mine on Tuesday with 55 miles on it. I've never heard about this kind of break it and would like to read it.

Thx.

[mpiper]

This is the thread about the 0 - 90 rolling start break-in.
Here

[mpiper]

OK. Got back in town from a business trip and ran a new 0-60 test.
Transmission in "S": Check
Traction control off: Check
Rev up to 1,000 RPM: Check

Drop brake and slam the gas. 6.5 seconds!

Well, I finally broke the 7 second window, but that's still a far cry from the 5.9 to 6.1 quoted in the magazines.

My goal is to get to the 6.0 range stock before I add the Roto-Fab or any other components. But what am I missing? Time to hit the search button and start reading all the V6 topics on performance.

[mpiper]

Just posting this. I've been out of town on business.

Got my windows tinted Wednesday. 25% front and 16% rears. Forgive the crappy picture. It was a quick shot at 8 PM after driving around 400 miles with my phone's camera. I'll post a better one when I take it.

The tint was applied by Texas Sunstoppers. He did a great job and never used a razor on the car to trim the tint. He'd lay it on the glass, squeegee it smooth, then use a marker on the peal off coating. Then he'd transfer it to a lighted cutting board and trim it there. He said it prevents cutting any rubber edges, or scratching any soft glass or coatings. The lit-up cutting board looked like a giant x-ray display at a doctor's office. Coolest trick I've ever seen.

So what happens the first day driving with the windows? I'm on cruise control doing exactly 70 on an interstate. Come over a hill and a highway Patrol is sitting with his radar gun in his hand. I see him spot me, switch the gun to me and hold it on me the entire way down the hill, totally ignoring the car that passed me. I was so tempted to wave and smile, but figured he'd light up just because, so I simply watched until I passed him. (I had a friend get pulled over because he waved at a cop through tint and the cop thought he flipped him off. He likes to kid around and knew he was exactly 1 mile over and just waved while smiling thinking no big deal. Took him around 15 minutes to convince the officer he was trying to be friendly. I understand the attitudes cops can run into, so I just try to be polite, friendly and not do anything that might be misunderstood.)

Thursday, I'm making a quick run from the business site to the hotel to pick up some things. doing 60 on a 65 highway (newer area, so I didn't want to miss my exit). Pass an intersection and a cop hits a quick right, hops on the highway and tails me all the way through three road changes and finally turns around when I exit to the access road to the hotel.

Hmmmm. Maybe a bit too dark? Luckily, Good Ol' San Antone tends to be a bit more relaxed and I don't expect that level of scrutiny. Funny thing is technically, I'm legal. But a Black on Black car tends to make any tint look darker, so doing a flat black tint that hits the border on the sides is really pushing it. But it looks SO GOOD!!

[mpiper]

Today I finally installed my Roto-Fab CAI. I've been trying to wait on my hood from Gary. But I just finally couldn't wait.

Here's the original Engine bay:

And the New and Improved Engine bay:

And here's why I got the oiled-style filter. Instead of a flat cap, the top of the filter has another cone, so this has even MORE airflow surface area!


Funny thing, When I first step on it now, there's a whistle for a few seconds, like a vacuum leak or something. But I checked the tube everyone says tends to come loose on these installs. Nice and tight. Is a whistle normal?

But the new sound!!! The engine moans! Not a whinny, sick moan. I mean the awesome bass moan you get from an electric bass during a Nikki Sixx solo combined with the sound of a turbo-prop engine winding up for take-off!

Can't wait to hear this thing sucking air through an MPD Z-force hood.

[SSE 4 2SS]

Nice looking car, and I may need to get ahold of you for info on the tint shop...

Roto-Fab is top notch.. Mine is coming off, but not due to any problems...I'm using a different type of induction system...

As for the RotoFab CAI, I'm sending it to a friend in Maine or Conn or somewhere up in the cold wet NE...

Look forward to meeting you in San Antonio some time... Friday night meets...

[mpiper]

The tint shop's website is http://www.windowtintsa.com He just moved locations, so as he updates the website my car should eventually be in his photo gallery. He does really good work. He used a heat gun to seal the top edge so the tint wouldn't peal when it goes up each time you close the door. Then he used a steam machine to really work the bottom edge since he knew it would try to bubble when you open the door and the window rolls down that half inch. That evening, I saw it do just that, but sure enough, his little trick with the steamer worked. The next morning the bubble was half the original size and later that day, it was gone.

Just rolled the windows down for the first time today. Worked perfect and no sign of a wrinkle or problem anywhere. I highly recommend him! Very, very happy customer.