Das Smaragd RS2+ Coupe

[John B]

19 May 2012

Picked up a genuine unused RS2 front bumper in primer when I went to watch my friend race at Oulton Park....could not resist a peek beneath the wrapping. I expected a few scratches.....they could be filled easily.

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Mmmmmmmm....these things are crazy money new and i got this for about half retail, which is still crazy but hey

This went into storage until the S2 was worthy of wearing its RS2 clothing

Here's a picture of the old girl at Oulton
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[John B]

Wow what a thread. The rear brakes are stand out items for me.

Thanks Paul.....that's a great compliment.

They do look the business and boy does the car stop......the brakes require more push than modern cars but have more feel and the rears certainly help stop nose-dive associated with 996 calipers just up-front. The car tends to squat down under heavy braking.

[S2central.net]

I consider my brake setup on project Lazarus solved !

[John B]

27 May 2012 - Super Car Day

Got an invitation to go to a Super Car Day hosted by Keith.....there must have been about 50 cars in total with a huge value.

This is the old girl in some exalted company......and yes I did the filming from a cage dangling from a crane
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Yes that is Andy Rouse's Kaliber Sierra Cosworth......i used to watch the car in late 80's
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.....and a Mclaren.....here's the inside.....
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[John B]

13 October 2012 - Turbo Upgrade

Right....back on topic....time for some more engine modifications

After some research, I decided to send my turbo for a little refreshment

Here is what came back in the post: -

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More on this later....time for bed

[S2central.net]

Very nice reconditioning job - who did that work our of interest - they must be worthy of mention (unless you are waiting to check the turbo doesn't explode the 1st time it sees 1bar of boost) !

[John B]

K24 Hybrid Turbo

After quite a bit of research and a visit I decided to use AET http://www.aet-turbos.co.uk/. Both John Marshall and Andy Taylor (the MD) listened to what I was looking for, made suggestions and were just very good people to deal with.

Keith Edwards took the turbo off the S2 - I did not want to do any damage and sent it away to AET and it came back like this.....in superb nick.

The brief I gave to AET was that I was looking for good low down power/torque to aid road driveability, but with RS2 plus a bit top-end power. I suggested a K24 or a K26/27 hybrid based on all the discussions on the Forum.

John discussed the turbo with Andy and felt I could use a K24 Hybrid to maximise spool whilst reaching the target figures I proposed. Considering my requirements they felt the K26/27 may be a bit lazy and would offer more top end but this was not what I wanted.

They then investigated a compressor map for a suitable compressor wheel for the K24 hybrid and after a few days they came back with a proposal to use a 41lb/min compressor wheel, fit motorsport bearings and seals, and then balance and blueprint the unit to motorsport tolerances. They felt the compressor wheel would support the power I was aiming for and leave the K24 turbine side to optimise response.

Andy explained that the limit of modification on the K24 turbo is restricted due to the bearing structure which is based on the K14 architecture for this turbo. What that meant was they had to keep the turbine wheel as it could not be increased in size without changing the bearing housing which with the rest of the work required would be a very expensive route to take. The compressor wheel they intended to fit was the 41Lb/min K24 wheel which with my turbine wheel would give a very responsive setup. He suggested machining a cutback to the exducer turbine blades thus freeing up the flow capacity of the turbine wheel to give a bit extra at top end.

This all sounded great so I did it. Without spoiling the story of where I have got to today, I can say that both the dyno figures and the seat-of-the-pants experience bear out what they said

[S2central.net]

Interesting... I am out of date on your machine though John - what does she do in terms of power and torque - does it have low end punch and good spool like RS2 (mapped properly obv - not factory) and hit the magic 400bhp ?

[S2central.net]

Have heard good reports about AET by the way !

[twoqu]

Turbo trivia!
Looks like they used the Porsche 993TT K16 compressor housing rather than the original S2 one! Same compressor housing is used on the 996TT but as a K24 rather than K16.

[John B]

Interesting... I am out of date on your machine though John - what does she do in terms of power and torque - does it have low end punch and good spool like RS2 (mapped properly obv - not factory) and hit the magic 400bhp ?

Well that would be telling....part of the story and all that but suffice it to say, i think that I now have an RS2+ car in terms of seat of the pants performance and the dyno figures back that up.

[John B]

Have heard good reports about AET by the way !

Can't fault the customer service or the product

[John B]

Turbo trivia!
Looks like they used the Porsche 993TT K16 compressor housing rather than the original S2 one! Same compressor housing is used on the 996TT but as a K24 rather than K16.

I understood that the original S2 compressor housing was used but machined out to accept the new compressor wheel but as I found out when upgrading this beast, some things were not standard e.g. wastegate spring

[John B]

19 December 2012 - Exhaust

Right.....next part of the upgrade.....once the turbo was back on, time for a new exhaust and went to these fellas (apologies for the quality of the smart phone pictures - not up to the usual quality)

http://www.pipewerx.com/

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.....for a full 3" set up in SS. I used one of the 3"DPs from the GB a while back that I bought from Le S2 Audi. They welded a flange on and joined the next section with a flexi pipe to a 200cpi sports cat. Then a long section to the mid-box, up and over to a back box with twin round pipes (sorry no pics then)

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The result was a more purposeful sound than the Milltek, which is laid out in all its glory in the kitchen......what else are kitchens for?

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Anyway, the Pipewerx lads were superb.....dropped the car off in the morning and it was done before tea time.....top job.....went there because Jamo recommended them in one of his posts.

[John B]

22 December 2012 - Trio of exhausts

Prior to the Pipewerx SS exhaust I had a 3B DP with a straight through section, borrowed from Keith Edwards. I also had bought an RS2 DP from Ross as well as having the S2 one, which was in a sorry state having lost most of its heat shielding and still with the nuts corroded on

That got me thinking about how different they were and so I took some pictures and some measurements.

Here are the three suspects
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First the 3B......measuring up to 2.5"
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Then the ABY....measuring up to 2.5"
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....and finally the ADU....measuring up to 2.75"
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It was a nice piece of kit......but still with the Y section ......before you ask, it was sold a long time ago
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