Tim's WRX Powered Truck!

I own a modified 1992 Subaru Brat pickup that’s been featured in Retro Cars Magazine (6 page feature Oct 2010) and in Banzai Magazine (5 page feature Jan 2011). It has been converted to look like a Tamiya R/C model that was made some years ago but with the added punch of running gear from a 1996 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

After fitting all of the running gear I looked into stand alone engine management and opted for M-Tech’s V4 ECU as it ticked all the boxes for my requirements and the company was local to me too. Once I had it running and mapped by M-Tech I was at first happy with how it ran and performed but then things went downhill fast. I had 2 ECUs die for no reason and it ate 3 crank sensors in this time rendering the truck useless.

Also, I was having cold start issues and there was an excessive smell of unburnt fuel on over-run which concerned me greatly but didn’t seem a big issue to the tuner at M-Tech. It was there whilst I was working as M-Tech’s master technician/fabricator that I met Will for the first time as he had brought a vehicle down with a faulty V4 ECU and we got chatting about my problems to which Will replied he could sort them out for me.

The truck was now becoming so unreliable I needed to get it sorted as every time I got in it to start it I didn’t know whether it would start or break down once I started driving it. Please remember, this is my daily driver!

Anyway after a few long conversations over the phone with Will he gave me a list of things to sort out on the truck before he would proceed with remapping it for me.

I emailed the map over from my truck over to him so he could get an idea what it was like and where improvements could be made.

First problem was the wiring which had been done at M-Tech and this was shockingly bad. So much so that I had to employ the services of an auto electrician to sort it out and he was amazed that my truck ran and hadn’t had an electrical fire either! Coilpack fed directly, unfused, from the battery anyone?!

Will also advised an upgrade to the cooling system to ensure that air charge temperatures were safe. I fabricated a chargecooler system which did the job nicely and sent Will a message to let him know. By the end of the day a date had been arranged for mapping!

Will arranged to make the 250 mile trip down to me on the Friday evening so that we could get started on the Saturday morning first thing. First job on the list was to wire in the throttle position sensor as up to now the map was using manifold pressure against rpm to run which Will said was a bad way to map an engine.

Half an hour later it was all wired in and calibrated – now to start mapping!

Will had prepared a new base map and once loaded in straight away the truck sounded smoother on idle and didn’t struggle to tick over at all. Apparently the old spark map was actually retarded at idle!

With all his tuning gear plugged into my ECU and a wide band lambda in my tailpipe we set off for a drive. The first run up the road was an eye opener for us both as the fuel was at a lambda value of 0.67 (not lambda 1.00 as it should be) which in Will’s words “way too rich and risking the engine with fuel bore wash” to which he promptly altered the fuel map so on cruise it runs at lambda 1.00.

Whilst I drove around Will made adjustments until he was confident we could start some full throttle runs on our designated test road that had a nice long hill to climb which would load the motor up nicely!

After 8 runs up the same hill with Will adjusting the fuelling the difference was astonishing….. On the first run we hit 65 mph on full throttle and on the last run I was flat out in 5th gear doing well in excess of the legal limit….put it this way we were well into 3 figures on the speedo & pinned into our seats!

Will had noticed there was an issue with the spark break points which had been written wrong in the original map and only allowed one reference point between 5000rpm and 7000rpm! He corrected this instantly along with activating the fuel shut off on over run which wasn’t switched on either. With this function enabled there was no more stink of fuel in the cabin when no throttle was applied downhill or slowing down.

I thought my truck was fast before he got his hands on it and I couldn’t believe the hidden power Will had found just with tinkering with the map! The man is a legend in my book and certainly knows what he is doing when it comes to setting a motor up correctly!

To say I was happy was an understatement as my face hurt from grinning at the new found power I had at my disposal! Next morning I went outside to try and start the truck from cold as normally it’s a pig to start from cold but as soon as I turned the key it burst into life and ran from cold a whole lot better!

It’s been just over a month since Will mapped it and it’s started every time reliably since. I’ve done a track day with it at my usual track (Castle Coombe) and I can also confirm on track it’s a whole lot faster! I’m pulling over 20 mph more on the straight than before and I’ve seen my lap times come down considerably and happily, I’m using a LOT less fuel than before!

Will Pedley is a guy that knows without a shadow of a doubt how to map an engine to achieve optimum performance safely and fault find a map in areas that need improving. I would recommend him 100% to anyone who needs a motor mapped correctly and he is only a phone call away with answers whatever time of day you ring!

Thanks again Will, I can’t wait for the next power increase…

Tim Starling

CAT CAMS were our preferred choice of camshafts due to the fact that their camshafts are made from steel billet material rather than either cast blanks or reground factory cams.

The quality, range of profiles and development that has been performed all combine to allow us to to offer you the best for your engine.

It’s not just camshafts either! CATCAMS offer a full range of valvetrain components including single/double valve springs, retainers, vernier pulleys etc.

For more information on suitability for your vehicle and pricing – please contact us.

Focus ST170 head change - debris in inlet

While I was waiting for the AA to arrive, I gave Will a call to see when he could take a look at my engine and with some shuffling of projects he agreed to have a nose later that day.

AA patrol left my car outside Will’s house at around 10 pm and he got to work right away. An initial inspection revealed a small bracket and the screw that had been holding it to my bulkhead had fallen into one of my ITB trumpets. These were fished out with a long magnetic pen but when the car was started again the noise was still present. With the time now almost midnight and both of us tired and hungry, we found a decent curry house and put the car to bed for the night.

On the one hand it was clear I had been extremely lucky. Had either the screw or the bracket gone through my engine it would have been a very expensive fix. On the other hand we still had no idea what the problem was so Will got the car to his workshop early on Saturday morning and begun to inspect my engine.

Sadly, while this ruled out the possibility that something had actually gone through the engine (no debris in my oil etc)  the noise still couldn’t be pin pointed. It was now just before lunchtime and the head came off for further inspection.

Focus ST170 - head removed

Once the head was off it was obvious what was causing the noise. The top hat shims used to set the valve clearances from the reground piper cams had come off both inlet valves on Number 2 cylinder! The question now was what were we going to do about it, given it was mid afternoon on a Saturday and I simply had to be back in Birmingham before 9 am on Sunday for a not-to-be-missed family occasion.

Over lunch will joked that I could have the head off his race-spec Focus: ported, polished and with some aggressive cams. This had been fitted and timed up but not yet used as he was awaiting some other parts before he could turn the key on his time attack project. Just before 3pm he set to work on removing it from his engine!

Focus ST170 - head removed from WRP focus

Approaching midnight the head swap was completed. My new head was then fully timed up by 2 am and just as I thought the job was complete Will reminded me that this new head would have much greater airflow and so my car would need a remap. Loaded with energy drinks we then hit the road and Will got a basic map installed on my ECU.

At 4 am we parted company and I made it home in time to grab an hour’s kip. One thing is for sure – I have never known anyone in the car trade that will go to such effort for their customers.

I have included a couple of photos of the (long) day’s work. The top picture shows my Focus ST170 with the head removed, exposing the valves. The next picture shows Will’s pristine engine after the head had been stripped ready to place on my car. Below you can see Will swapping over my ITBs and then torquing up the freshly built engine.

Focus ST170 head change - swapping the ITBs

Focus ST170 head change - torquing the new head down

Top marks Will Pedley – I am extremely grateful for your efforts!

(Posted by Adam Arnold – running 200+ bhp Will Pedley Racing Focus ST170 with Jenvey ITBs, de-cat, knife edged crank & more!)

Working alongside TTV Racing, we believe we have come up with a new solution which will offer a 250 lb/ft capability with better than factory drivability. This new offering will also hopefully retail well over £100 cheaper!

The development prototype is therefore available at a very accomodating price to one lucky customer. I will personally oversee the installation and between me and TTV Racing, any problems will be rectified at our expense. (Not that we’re expecting any!)

Tempted? Leave a comment below!

Driving-God.me, sponsored by Will Pedley Racing

Will Pedley Racing are pleased to announce that our new forum has now gone live!

Currently accessible through www.driving-god.co.uk and www.driving-god.com, until we iron out a few niggles with the primary domain name, www.driving-god.me. We will post an update when this is fixed.

We hope that the forum will become a busy environment where users can share experiences, hints, tips and wisdom with others. A number of tuners are already on board and are happy to help answer questions!

Please feel free to have a look round and join in!

Will Pedley Racing now an approved Gizmo dealer

With products such as the phenomenal MS-IBC starting from £199.95 delivered (as an introductory offer!) there is now a great solution at a sensible price when it comes to accurate boost control.

These controllers are proven on 7 second 1/4 mile drag cars and offer 6 different boost control settings.

• Adjustable up to 50lb (3.5bar)
• Multi Scramble Boost
• Remote Scramble/Boost Memory button facility
• Over-Boost warning
• Selectable open/closed loop boost control
• 6 Boost Memories
• 40mhz High Speed RISC Processor
• Black Extruded Aluminium case
• Blue 7 segment LED display
• White backlit buttons
• Real Time digital boost gauge
• Simple 2-Wire Installation
• Suits Internal or External Wastegates

We will be offering free next day delivery on Gizzmo products and their full range can be found on:

http://www.gizzmoelectronics.com/index.html

Please contact us for more information.

- Focus ST170 TTV Lightweigh​t Flywheel & Clutch Kit
- Ford Focus 1.8 / 2.0 RS / ST170 Crankcase Oil Breather Kit
- Ford Focus ST170 Con Rod / Connecting Rod ARP Bolts

This is in addition to the various Turbo Turbo accessories which were designed by Will Pedley, suiting the Garrett GT range of turbochargers.

For further information on any of these products please visit the Will Pedley Racing Online Store.

The WPR Ford Focus Time Attack car will be running a full set of engine and gearbox mounts as well as front and rear suspension bushes. In addition to this, WPR will be working closely with Vibra-technics to develop a complete replacement torque link bar.

WPR customer cars have also benefitted from the Vibratechnics sponsorship in the form of custom made engine and gearbox mounts to suit some slightly more extraordinary requirements!

Will Pedley Racing are also able to offer competetive pricing to all customers on Vibra-technics products. Please contact us with your requirements!

Optimum Balance Products are a rapidly up and coming company who specialise in the production of braking components, fuel swirl pots, oil breather tanks and pit lane equipment.

With a number of WPR customer project cars evolving to the point where the standard braking setup was no longer suitable it was time to start looking into alternative options.

OBP rose to the challenge and today WPR took delivery of 3 pedal boxes, one for a 9 second drag car project, one for a Class Winning Time Attack race car and finally, one for the WPR Time Attack build.

Below you can see a picture showing how comprehensive these kits are:

Ford Focus Pro Race Bias Pedal Box

Bias bar adjuster with remote adjustment

Master cylinder for brakes and hydraulic clutch

Will Pedley Racing are able to provide advice and guidance as to which products best suit your requirements. Please contact us for more information!