ashleyknowles » AusPerformance

That elusive S15

Ashley Knowles — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 22:21:29 +0000

Been a while since I posted an update on my S15.

I worked out that the starter motor issue was simply just a bolt coming loose and so the starter motor gear wasn’t engaging with the flywheel. Saved me some $$$

Next, I tried whacking a Microtech X4 igniter in. Tried firing it up a few times, nothing…

I was quite frustrated at this point, til I realised it was turning over really slowly to begin with (it’s meant to crank at around 300rpm, was only doing about 150rpm at best). Checked the battery, jump started it, and then found that the air con belt was too tight… un-tightened the air con bracket and voila. 300rpm cranking.

So that pretty much got it all running. It’s still a fair way off, with lots of little bits and pieces to tidy up. Electrically, everything is sorted, except the tune. I need to get the idle tuned up right too, my wideband O2 sensor is reading an AFR of around 18 on idle, which isn’t very nice at all!! Yet to find the actual cause of the high AFR, it looks to be timing related, so that will be my first thing to look at.

AusPerformance on Facebook

Ashley Knowles — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 06:26:34 +0000

My other business, AusPerformance, has had a Facebook page for a while now, but I’ve recently been updating it a fair bit, spamming all my friendly “likers”.

If you care to stumble across it, it’s over here -> www.facebook.com/ausperformance

I will hopefully use it a bit more over the next year, I aim to have atleast 500 “likers” before March 2011. And with that, I hope to run some competitions and what not to get people involved… Here’s hoping!

Track Attack @ Lakeside, 27th September 2009

Ashley Knowles — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:44:41 +0000

After the organiser of Track Attack posted this event up on Cruising Brisbane, I was originally all like, hey, no advertising. But instead, I let it slide, and instead, checked out the event website a bit. I was quite surprised to see it’s a full, proper series. This got me thinking in terms of sponsorship, and I’ve had a chat to the organiser, and have registered my interest in sponsoring the series. Should be beneficial for both the participants, and AusPerformance I think…

Anyway, I headed out there last Sunday to check it out. Had a walk around the pits and had a chat with a few of the participants, and took some photos. It was a really well organised event, and I met some really nice blokes with some even nicer cars. Will definitely be heading back out for the next one, hopefully in my 200SX

[showtime]

Track Attack – www.trackattack.com.au

AusPerformance Update

Ashley Knowles — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:26:30 +0000

AusPerformance is a little side business I started about 2 years ago. I started mostly to score cheaper car parts for my Nissan 200SX S15. That ended up turning into a little business for me, and turned over an amazing $20k in sales last financial year. Yeah, huge money right there. It’s still running at a loss, but I’m enjoying it as a little side project, and from time to time, I go all out on it.

Back in the beginning, I approached a number of companies, requesting to become a dealer for their products. Some of these included Gizzmo Electronics, Haltech, and Greddy, amongst others. I finally got Gizzmo on early 2009, as well as Haltech. Greddy, who I approached in roughly, 2007, rejected my application.

So it was with amazement that I opened a large envelope last Friday, addressed to the business, from Greddy. AusPerformance been invited to become a purchaser of Greddy products! Congratulations me!

The excitement has worn off now, a week later. I’m still stoked about it, and hope that my customers can soon buy Greddy directly from me instead of having to refer them to my Japanese hook ups to get stuff imported for them…