Austarion

Hey all, me again

Im thinking of buying this starion from trademe http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 5.htm?p=14

sounds all good but the owner says it needs to have the greedy emerange computer tuned. anyone know how much this costs ?

owner tells me it needs to be tuned as it is running a 4 injector setup.

He says it gets 400kms on a tank of gas (really really bad !)

Would a tune up fix this high gas consumption and bring it back to around 600-700kms / tank.

I want this car, I just dont want it if -
a) the gas consumption wont be brought back down to 6-700kms / tank after tuning
b) ill have to spend more than $400 to tune it

what do you all think about this starion ? worth the 2.5k ?
non-lsd, worn turbo

any help or opinion is greatly appreciated

1) He has fitted a sonata Multipoint injection system to the car. A VERY good mod.
2) Fuel consumtion around 400km's is about right, I think I can get MAX 550km on the highway.
3) Tune can range anywhere from $200-$1000 depending on if it is already base tuned, or cost of tuner. That one you would have to ask your tuning shop for a quote.
4) I would probably pay around $2k personally. Its the rust and engine wear that I worry about most, not cost of tuning or fuel consumtion :beer

Hope this helped

He got rolled if he's put 20k into it and can't afford an air filter. Also looks like the cooler isn't hooked up.

my bad, cooler is hooked up, but with bits and pices plumbing. I'd redo that if I bought it.

by engine wear do you mean the 187,000 kms ?

he does say engine was reconditioned about 10,000kms ago ( "has got every thing new in the engine gaskes seals bearings rings evo pistons and head gasket..")

I used to get about 600kms on a full tank (tc05, 8valve, average of 140-130kmh the whole way)


rust im not toooo fussed about, sure I dont want any, but so long as its out of the way and not going anywhere quick I wouldnt mind so much. I would however mind if i had to pay $10 in gas just to go down the road, or $1000 to fix the tuning up (poor, bludging student)

My JB gets 27mpg on hiway (590 k's =63 litres )

Go look at it, never trust a photo of a car when it wet. Also and no offense to the guy but it doesn't look like a car a mechanic has owned for seven years and put $20k into. Just my opinion.

yeah i would go look at it but its around 300kms away.

I thought 20k is a bit of an exageration, unless maybe it was a rolling rust body b4 he got it.
I know how dodgy those middle of know where mechanics can be hehe

reckon maybe just give it a miss ??


or I might take it for 2k.


what advantage does 4 injectors have over 2 ?
(im a newb, :D plz dont hit me )

That guy use to be on here a bit, think his name is Edge..

All factory starions came with throttle body injection which involves 2 injectors facing down towards a butterfly. This system is OK for stock motors and a little bit more go. But due to the long runners after the fuel has been injected the fuel doesnt distribute evenly.

In a 4 injector setup (my red JA has the same as this system) each cylinder has an injector so each cylinder gets an even amount of fuel. This helps prevents leaning out and detonation over the 2 injector setups.

Also the standard ECI setup in the Starion can be a pain in the arse with leaking injectors and bad connections which can make them unreliable.
With decent wiring and a half decent tune a 4 injector setup is 10 times better then the original fuel system...

Hope this helps

600 - 650km / tank of fuel sounds about right assuming 75L fuel tank.

20k doubt it, the guy did the mpi conversion by wiring up 4 injectors to the standard ecu with a piggy back safc, not ideal. He's been on the forum before... heres a link to the car in question http://forums.austarion.com/viewtopic.p ... hlight=mpi

My starion does 400 - 450km to a tank, city driving with a 3.9 diff.

Junkers wrote:20k doubt it, the guy did the mpi conversion by wiring up 4 injectors to the standard ecu with a piggy back safc, not ideal. He's been on the forum before... heres a link to the car in question http://forums.austarion.com/viewtopic.p ... hlight=mpi

My starion does 400 - 450km to a tank

so do you reckon WidebodyWoody's comment "He has fitted a sonata Multipoint injection system to the car." Is correct ?

Regarding the level of tuning He tells :

"um yea i think the computer needs to be set up mainly 4 the fuel ussage"
and the
"sparkplug ignintion adjusting and boost pressure adjusting should all be set ok"

(Anyone have an idea how much this level of tuning could cost)

it is currently ruinning 17psi, but when he sells it he says it will only be running 7psi.. in my opinion it sounds like either :
a) hes gonna pull the ol switcheroo on the engine / engine internals then lower the psi
b) it never was running 17 psi, or
c) it was 17psi but is fucked so has to be set to 7psi so it doesnt shit itself

Im planning on going to check it out next week, but I dont want it if its fucked or gona cost $1000 to tune

might give SpeedFactor another call tomorow

does anyone know how much gas a setup like on this starion should be using ?

thanks heaps all.
all comments are appreciated and helpfull !

It's a standard ecu so it definitely shouldn't be running 17psi, they only map up to 13psi. It has a multi point setup you can see it in the photo's but the ecu is not really designed for it so I'm not sure if you will be able to get it running correctly.

hmmm the plot thickens

Maybe if I knew how to install a how ecu but I dont

This sounds good but I think it might just be too good to be true.

I might talk to this guy some more and Speedfactor.

lets hope either it can be cheaply sorted out, or I dont end up buying a dud

it might run better with the afm put back on would be very interested to hear how this runs with mpi on stock comp and a piggy back there was a link to a vid of the car on the auction