Engine mods

Speed Academy continues the BMW M3 build by finalizing the custom shift linkage and addressing mechanical maintenance, including brake hardware, turbo coolant lines, and fuel injector upgrades. The team also navigates complex custom AC line fabrication and explores front-end aesthetic updates with a new CSL bumper and lighting configurations.

Summary

Speed Academy transitions the motorsports-focused 2JZ-swapped BMW M3 into a more street-friendly machine. 

I wanted to share the cars I personally own. What if any work there is to do on them in future videos that maybe coming to the channel as well as the car/cars I am looking to add in short order.

The Speed Academy team digs back into a BMW project that had been on the sidelines — until now.

After wrapping up the supercharged 2001 Lexus GS 430 build, the Speed Academy pits it against an earlier build, the BMW M5.

We wrap up a few small but important details on our supercharged 2001 Lexus GS430 before uploading a custom All4Swap tune to the factory ECU so we can experience for the first time what this Range Rover TVS1900 supercharger can really do on the stock 3UZ V8 engine.

We complete the rebuild of our E60 BMW M5 by reassembling it after paint, refreshing and upgrading the suspension and brakes, and test fitting 3 different sets of wheels on it to see which one we (and you) like best.

Speed Academy is a website and YouTube channel based on making things go fast and enjoying cars. Peter Tarach and Dave Pratte are the forces behind Speed Academy.

In episode 004 of Spanners, we meet Mike Pixley, a car enthusiast with a passion for English classics and a history of blending artistry with automotive restoration. From restoring and tracking his Lotus Elan before sending it back to its homeland in England to breathing new life into his first MGA with a “wabi-sabi” approach, Mike’s journey is anything but ordinary.

In this MARS Archive story, we catch up with Luke, Michigan’s go-to guy for all things Toyota Tercel. With a garage full of 80s Tercels, shelves stacked with rare parts, and a YouTube channel of over 3,000 subscribers, Luke has built a community around one of the quirkiest and most lovable off-road platforms out there.

With the Honda K24a2 hanging in the engine bay, now it's time for everything else, starting with the cooling and fuel systems along with a custom exhaust system.

Our beloved RD1 Honda CR-V is back, and this time it's getting a serious upgrade in the form of a K24 engine swap! Will we be able to retain the AWD system? Will A/C survive the swap? Let's find out! 

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Environment and Natural Resources Division has announced that it has decided, along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), not to criminalize those who use their on-board diagnostics (OBDII) port to modify vehicles. This appears to include changes that would result in violating emission regulations.

We had a fun podcast chat today about car modifications, including surprising things like changing steering-wheel buttons.

Honda’s new Civic is a heck of a car, even if the styling is polarizing. But it’s not a performance car like Civics of old, where mixing and matching engine and transmissions from other models could yield a very quick ride with a stratospheric redline. Enthusiasts are anxiously awaiting the Si and Type-R trims, which promise plenty of power — but what of those who already have a car, or need features the high-performance cars don’t have?

Enter Hondata, the firm that’s been tuning Honda engine management systems for years. It’s been the industry leader for those looking to do those engine swaps, and has developed software and devices to add performance to the factory ECU.

Recently, Hondata released its FlashPro for the newest Civic powered by the 1.5-liter turbo engine, and I had a chance to drive a Hondata-tuned 2017 Civic.

Even stock, the new turbo Civic is faster in the quarter-mile than the previous-generation Civic Si, so the extra performance should be impressive.

For its day, the BMW E30 3-series was an impressive blend of German craftsmanship, understated and cohesive style with remarkable performance. Then again, the E30 may lack straight line performance but the handling remains stellar. And the look is almost timeless. But it needs more than 200 horsepower to truly shine outside of its numerous wins at the 24 Hours Of LeMons. Perhaps 345 horses will help the cause. So let’s put a lightweight, torque intensive V8 under the hood to fix that singular shortcoming.

Before the days of anti-smog legislation and catalytic converters, anyone looking for more power in their ride needed a few tools, access to a drag strip and intimate knowledge of their carburetor. This concept lives on today, but the names and faces changed: Hot-Rodders are now Tuners. Here’s an idea: let’s see how much power is left on the table after a Tuner gets their hands on a fuel-injected, late-model performance machine. But first a word from our hacker . . .

The full-page ad copy shouted, “I will boost your horsepower & torque.” Whoa! With claims like that, I felt personally challenged to test the Shark Injector. It’s an OBD-II connector that overwrites a part of the BMWs DME (BMW speak for electronic control unit or ECU) with its own internal Conforti software to deliver claimed results. So I installed the Shark Injector on a BMW 325i, one of the many six-cylinder BMWs supported by the Shark (includes all sixes in the 3, 5 and Z series BMWs through 2005, plus the M3 and X5 3.0). Or should I say I set about installing the Shark injector…