Well guys, I had to do it….

In search of more power than what my AA kit could offer me, I had to make the switch to VF. Hanging around Drew and having him pull on me so hard and seeing him hang with the big boys was driving me crazy. So…. if you can’t beat ‘em, join em!

I dropped of my car with Nik and the guys over at VF last week for their stage 2.5 kit which uses the monster T-Trim blower. Hanging around VF, I have to say, Nik, Delius, Sean, Mike, Jeremy and all the other guys at VF are amazing guys. Such nice really that really enjoy and care for what they do. They aren’t in it just for the money, this is their passion! I seriously feel as though I’m part of a family now.

After picking up the car, I immediately noticed the deeper, throatier exhaust note, which I didn’t expect. The car sounds even more wicked now!

Leaving VF and without even getting on the throttle much, I could feel the extra power and torque. Not only is there more power up top, but there is more power all across the power band. In fact, I find myself switching up gears at a lower RPM than before due to extra low end power. On the way home, I literally had to make sure at least three separate times that I was in fact in 6th gear and not 5th! The car was pulling harder even at a low RPM in 6th gear!

The car pulls SO freakin hard now; it feels like it has endless power! Just pulls and pulls and is finally giving me that feeling of being hard pressed into the seat. I’m now losing traction even in all of 3rd gear.

What impressed me the most was the shifts and how smooth they were now. Unfortunately with the AA kit, there is a little lag/bog between shifts, even after doing the shift lag mods. I can now shift as fast as stock. I think the problem is that the AA blow off valve is too small for the amount of boost, which causes some pressure against the throttle bodies during shifts. This is the reason my shifts were so slow in my past Vbox runs. The car now funs perfect and smooth, the software seems spot on, and the AFR’s are in the mid 11’s.

When I first saw that video from VF with them touching the intake manifold after some hard runs and them saying, “it’s cool to the touch”, I totally thought that was bogus. But after driving the car hard, I popped the hood and the intake manifold after the fins was seriously cool to the touch, I was very impressed. Driving around in the heat the past few days has proven that the air to water system works GREAT! My car used to feel bogged down in the heat with the AA kit, but the VF kit seems much less affected. The oil and coolant temps appear to be the same with both kits. I do have to saw, I do miss the look of my front mount .

Now for the good stuff…. Dynos!

Unfortunately we couldn’t get a perfect RPM signal. It would cut out at around 7,500 RPM (could be due to my nitrous’ TPS install). So, all dyno plots are shown with speed vs. RPM. Also, as in every other AFR tail sniffer I’ve dealt with, the AFR’s were not coming in clear… I did however record a couple AFR runs with my own Innovative AFR gauge tonight, and those all look great with AFR’s at around 11.5 all the way across. I will upload this later for you guys.

Here is a crappy cell phone pic of the direct port meth setup we did:




Dyno # 1: 91 Octane, no meth, about 65 degree ambient
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...octane516r.jpg
Dyno # 2: 91 Octane, no meth, about 100 degrees ambient!
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...octanehotr.jpg
Dyno # 3: MS109 Race Gas (105 motor octane), no meth, 95 degree ambient!
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...acegas532r.jpg
Dyno # 4: Dyno plots #2 and 3 overlayed.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...vsracehotr.jpg

I'm very confident the car will do at least 550rwhp on race fuel on a not so hot day.

Here is a dyno of the AA kit vs. VF kit. Both on 91 octane, no meth



Rotrex vs. T-Trim:

 

What a sick setup, now that makes me want to SC an M3 all over again, not the nightmare headaches of your old tuner!

Congrats man, looking forward to more numbers/impressions and some vids

 

Thanks bro, more vids, dyno's, and 60-130 runs will come very soon.

Honestly, I have no complaints about my AA kit or AA themselves. I've just been ready for more power than the AA kit could get me. Oh, and the guys at VF are awsome too!

 

that is a perfect set up, great work!!

 

Mine sucked, but I also was one of the first few, so I guess it's not an accurate fact on the overall kit since a lot has probably changed and been revised since. Overall, I know many people a year after I had mine with issues, just leaves a bad taste in my mouth!

Congrats again

 

you went VF? nice.

 

Some vids would be nice

 

Thanks guys. If you know me, there will be plenty of vids coming

 

Very nice.

 

mike, you've gone a long way man. Congrats on making such respected #'s especially with your badasss m3!
Whats next stg3? ::

 

Thanks bro. You called it, stage 3 soon

 

What in the hell are you doing for traction lol ?!?!

 

i was right!!
MIke, may i ask why you went with VF and kick'd AA to da curb? Since we are not on m3forum.
Why not HPF ? I heard beautiful things about HPF's kit. These kits are very user friendly and fun to drive. (i have no affiliation with them, fyi)
Actually i was going to slap that on a while back before i even stepped into the m5.
But yea, i would love to see some runs and vid's and dynoes.

i miss my m3......

 

1) I wanted more power, and there is no upgrade path with AA. And I still have more to tap into with the VF kit...

2) Drew was smoking on me and hanging with some fast cars, so I knew VF was making some good power.

3) VF are all really good guys that i've met a few times

4) VF is close to me

5) And now that I have switched, my shift lag issues have been resolved as well

 

what kind of a gas milage are you getting ? also, where is VF located ? rough estimate for the setup, money wise ? been thinking of upping my stock M.