Here are some quick pictures showing the EBC brake pad upgrade for the R35 GTR which our workshop carried out recently :-
Here are the original used pads ( 10000 miles old ) and the new EBC one. Its worth noting that the EBC brake pads are lighter in weight from new than the half worn original pads.
Also worth noting was how the original pads had begun to break up and crack thorughout the pad. This car has only had normal road use, no trackdays etc - The pictures show some of the cracks if you look carefully however the largest cracks are between the metal backing and the material which you cant quite see in the picture, sorry...
Here is the front caliper assembly with the new pads installed, note we have not replaced the discs, only the pads at this time.
The rear assembly :
The brake pads and installation service are now available at Sumo, please contact us for pricing on supply and fitting costs.
Driving Impression : EBC Yellow Brake Pads for R35 GTR - Andy Barnes bedded the brakes in on the street and after the bed in he reported that the brakes have a more more improved ' bite ' from both cold and hot running, there are no brake squeel noises and they feel far more positive when braking hard from high speed where the Nissan pads simply felt as though they were trying to keep up, the EBC's give good bite, feel and confidence. We have not used them on the track yet to report extensive heat and performance tests although this will be carried out shortly.
In the main we can report that the simple upgrade is worth the money at either service time or if you prefer to drive your GTR with aggression and would like a better brake return - do it now...
R35 GTR : On Display at Autosport - New Upgrades (19/01/2010 @ 19:42:27)
We displayed the R35 GTR at Autosport this week.
Fresh from the paint shop and now sporting a satin black paint job for the show. Most people were asking if it was 'wrapped' like so many other GTR's however our car has been stripped and painted in our bodyshop for a 'real' finish.
Here she is parked up next to one of our GT1 GTR race machines at the show
Upclose on the paint job....
Good angle to see the new Toyo R888 20'' inch tyres ( exclusive to Sumo Power for the R35 GTR currently ) and the new RAYS wheels.
Here is the engine bay, now featuring the full HKS GT600 kit as well as the brand new Do-Luck coolant / radiator hoses which have only just been completed and will be available shortly to our customers.
Thank you to all the customers who visited our stand at the show, we received a great deal of attention over all 4 days with the majority of the comments about out GTR being that people 'loved' the car in the flesh.
More pictures of the car out in the open are to follow shortly including close-ups of the wheel and tyre package on the car.
We will also be installing various other Sumo-made parts to the car in the coming days so keep an eye on this blog for updates on some of our unique and exciting products...
R35 GTR : HKS GT600 kit in action - Time Attack! (17/12/2009 @ 17:39:00)
Here is the latest video news from HKS Japan, their GT600 upgraded car running around Fuji Circuit. This car has the same upgrade kit as our GTR.
R35 GTR : EBC Brake Pads (14/12/2009 @ 15:50:21)
We've just had our first stock of EBC brake pads come into stock here at Sumo. Based on the ''Yellow'' range, we have both front and rears available for the R35 GTR standard brake calipers. They are an upgrade to the standard brake pads and suitable for vigourous driving as fast road or trackday/circuit use ( non race ).
Well, today was exciting, we unpacked the new HKS Titanium exhaust system from its box for our GTR. Having been at the HKS factory a month ago watching it being made, its clear why they are so good and sadly also pricey - but my god its worth it.
The picture doesnt do the system justice but it is a work of art.
Its made by hand at HKS in Fuji and takes hours to assemble. It can be picked up using one hand and its easy to see when you study its design how it differs from cheaper and less well made systems. Check out the bends, the flow and welds that make it special. Its a piece of art with endless amounts of R&D time to ensure its a good as it can be.
Priced at £3500, its not cheap but in the flesh you get an idea as to why!
We have these now in stock here at Sumo as well as the one going on our car. When our car is reassembled we will be sure to doa video so you can hear it too - we cant wait!
R35 GTR : Top Gear Video Test Track Feature (27/11/2009 @ 11:50:34)
Here's the video from BBC's Top Gear when Clarkson tested the car both at Fuji in Japan and also with '' The Stig'' driving at the TG Test Track at Dunsfold, UK.
Enjoy! :
R35 GTR : Gearbox Upgrade (26/11/2009 @ 13:59:37)
As European Distributors of PPG Australia, we now have one of the first gearbox upgrades for our GTR project car. Pictured below our kit consists of a complete upgrade of mains shaft and gears.
The kit uses the same gear ratios as the standard items however they are made from stronger materials, are larger in overall size and more refined than the stock items. The purpose of changing to this gear kit it to eliminate any potential for gearbox failure when using high engine power and also in any competition format or high load road use.
For more information on pricing, fitting and techinical details, please contact us
pleased to announce that we now have the all-new Cobb Access Port hardware and software available for the new R35 GTR to enable ECU tuning on UK and JDM cars.
Enabling the reprogramming of the standard ECU by the end user, the unit is user friendly and comes with 2 map settings ' ready go go ' enabling DIY fitment and instant tuning without the need to have specific dyno tuning.
The unit is available from stock and next day delivery and is priced at £750+vat or you can visit our workshop for installation by our engineers for piece of mind and specialist assistance.
Specific tuning to you car can also be undertaken at extra cost using our own in house dyno facilities to further fine-tune your car and extract the complete potential.
You can buy the unit online via our webshop using this link :
While we concentrate on various upgrades on the engine and gearbox, attention on the chassis upgrades is starting. One of the easy jobs we need to undertake is the quick upgrade of the standard brake system with some Do-Luck brake lines.
The new brake lines are made from stainless steel and replace the old rubber lines which flex under pressure giving a spongy feel to the brakes under load. This upgrade is necessary as the standard brake system, while good is not quite as efficient as we are looking for, considering our power increases. In future we will also be replacing the brake pads for some more '' race '' friendly ones.
R35 GTR : Install of HKS turbo Actuators and Cats (24/11/2009 @ 15:42:14)
Now the engine is out we have been installing more ''bolt-on'' parts to the engine.
The engine - just removed from the car :-
Here you can see a closer look at the HKS turbine actuator installed on the engine, also visible is a section ofg HKS hardpipe ( shiney pipe with the purple hose attached ) :-
Here is a picture of the rear of the engine showing the HKS racing cats, one for each side of the V6 engine. Note the cats were run on the car prior to the engine removal which is why they appear ''dirty''
With the engine and gearbox out we are in the process of not only installing bolt-on parts but also removing various components for upgrading via our machine shop in-house here at Sumo. In future blogs will show you these new parts, designed in house for the new GTR, giving a taste of our philosophy of GTR tuning for the R35.
For now, the car is sat on one of our many ramps, awaiting the refit of the engine and gearbox in the coming weeks :-
R35 GTR : Engine and Gearbox Removal (24/11/2009 @ 15:31:58)
Now its getting a little more serious, we have removed the engine and gearbox from our GTR to look at the installation of various other parts and to develop a few others in our machine shop.
Here is our car on the ramp with some major parts missing! :
The engine is out, dealing with the wiring harness :
This is what a new GTR gearbox and rear differential assembly from the car, note the diff housing is now part of the gearbox unlike earlier cars :
Here is the gearbox, looking from the front backwards. We have a few upgrade parts being made for us in the machine shop, these include a new gear kit, to replace weak standard gears, a differential, new clutch plates and various cooling features- more news and pictures will follow here on the blog in future.
This is what our GTR looks like without the gearbox and engine assembly ( in our workshop ) :-
With the parts removed, we are now starting more intricate jobs for upgrades, more to follow....
The next stage of our development of the GTR tackles the car ECU ( computer ) to upgrade the settings and optimise the performance over the ''over cautious'' factory settings.
For this we have used the Cobb Access Port system with which we can over write the engine data to create new and more efficient and powerful settings to further enhance the cars performance.
Here is our car on our dyno here in Rye :
You can now see a revised dyno chart from our dyno machine here at Sumo showing an increase in power to 472bhp at the wheels ( previously 417bhp ).
R35 GTR : Next stage - bolt on HKS modifications (24/11/2009 @ 14:44:00)
After establishing our baseline of power and performance using our in house dyno and also real time testing at the Santa Pod drag strip, we are now starting our upgrade programme for the GTR. Prior to the recent Japshow Drag event we quickly installed some simple parts from the HKS range to upgrade the car, using some of the parts below. The parts show are what you receive as part of the HKS GT600 tuning package which we have in our lineup.
With only a partial parts install of the items above, we achieved an improvement of 11.01 @ 126mph :
The parts installed from the kit above were only these items :-
HKS Racing Cat Converters / HKS Y Pipe ( Baffled Version ) / HKS SSQV Kit / HKS Intercooler Hard Pipe Kit / Sumo Power ECU Upgrade
Here is a good example of the upgraded parts, you are looking at a standard ''Y'' pipe vs. the HKS baffled ''Y'' pipe :
This is a picture of the engine bay BEFORE the HKS intercooler pipes and SSQV :
and this is the engine bay AFTER the install, note the pipes either side and the SSQV units.
With the HKS GT600 kit you also get a new rear bumper section with this rather nice badge on too, which gives increased airflow from the exhaust system to reduce heat in the backbox and also drag from the rear bumper.
It also gives people an idea of the power you have! :D
R35 GTR : The Story at Sumo Begins (24/11/2009 @ 13:44:11)
The wait is over, we have confirmed our R35 GTR tuning plan for the winter months of 2009 with the purchase of 2 new R35 GTR cars. As always we have some rather interesting plans for the cars using products from our range of parts at Sumo.
Here is a picture of the Black Edition R35 we have, as you can see, already we have been to the drag strip at Santa Pod to get some quick data from how the car performs on the strip ( as well the other sporting activities we have planned for the future ).
In COMPLETELY STANDARD form our R35 runs 11.5 seconds @ 118mph, Driven by Andy Barnes. This time and speed is to be used as our benchmark starting poin for the R35 tuning programme we are now undertaking.
Our cars are UK sourced, UK versions, one black edition and one premium edition.
Here is our car on our dyno machine ( we also have an engine dyno )
Here is a copy of our dyno sheet from the standard car, it shows a standard GTR runs 419bhp AT THE WHEELS :-
Our future tuning programme for the R35 will include engine power, drivability, chassis and suspension, aero and downforce. It is our plan to run street and race cars, in most categories including Time Attack, Drag and professional circuit racing environments.
The R35 development is al done in house at our purpose built 40000 sq ft workshop and engineering facility here in Rye, East Sussex, UK.
Sumo Power Limited is a limited company registered in England & Wales. Registered Number: 06929183 Registered Address: Landgate Chambers, Rye, East Sussex, TN31 7LJ
