Karelian MotorWorks - End of an Era

  • Thread starter Temetias.
  • 68 comments
  • 13,914 views
Temetias.

Temetias.

366
Finland
Finland
Temetias
IMG0025-1-1.jpg


Hello and welcome to Karelian MotorWorks!

Karelian MotorWorks, also known as KMW, is a small tuning company in Eastern Finland. Every car coming out from the factory is fine tuned to the limit and tested in various locations. KMW was spesialized to tune only rear wheel-drive cars, but after Nomis joined KMW we now have more knowledge for tuning 4WD and FWD cars.

We will be open for business until we move to GT5. Before moving we will create lots of new tunes, and believe me: The cars are worth driving. And of course, we will tune a car for a rewiew.

Stay tuned! :)


Tuners:

Temetias. & nomis3613




The Current Line-up:




 
Last edited:
Welcome, and good luck with the new garage!

Tervetuloa, ja onnea uudelle tallille. P.S. Gonabiitsi on tuttu paikka..
 
Thanks guys! :)

Happy to see people interested, even though we haven´t posted a single tune yet. However, the first cars will be out this afternoon. We have our first group of shiny, white and blue RX-7´s waiting to be driven. :dopey:
 
RX-7 Spirit KMW '10
Based on Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A '02 (innocent blue)
IMG0014-1.jpg


Specs
Power: 641 bhp / 6500rpm
Torque: 674 nm / 5000rpm
Weight: 1079 kg
400m time: 10.6
400m NOS: 9.8​


Parts to buy
Oil Change
Racing Exhaust
Racing Brakes
Brake Balance Controller
Port Polish
Engine Balancing
Racing Chip
NOS (optional)
FC Transmission
Triple-plate Clutch
Racing Flywheel
Variable LSD
Carbon Driveshaft
Turbo Kit Stage 4
Racing Intercooler
FC Suspension
R3 Tyres
Weight Reduction Stage 3
Rear Wing (3D TYPE BW)
New Wheels (OZ 101)


SETUP

Suspension
Spring Rate: 9.0 / 8.5
Ride Height: 116 / 116
Bound: 4 / 3
Rebound: 8 / 7
Camber: 2.4 / 1.9
Toe: 0 / -2
Stabilizers: 4 / 4

Brakes
Brake Balance: 6 / 5

Transmission
First auto, then all the rest

1st: 2.632
2nd: 1.899
3rd: 1.447
4th: 1.159
5th: 0.957
6th: 0.800
Final Gear: 3.592
Auto: 12

NOS (if installed)
NOS pressure: 100

LSD
Initial Torque: 10
LSD Acceleration: 18
LSD Deceleration: 16

Aerodynamics
Downforce: 30 / 30

Driving Aids
All off


Some laptimes
NOS installed

GVS: 1'37.558
The Ring: 6'15.186​



At last. The first car of our tuning company is now released. It is the KMW Spirit RX-7, in colors of Finland of course. The car has been fine tuned and tested for over a month and been driven over 1000km. As result we can offer a race car that can, with good driving and strategy, actually win 200 a-spec point races against monsters like Minolta and R89C. It´s tiny 1.3 litre wankel engine produces same amount of power than race tuned V8´s, and with NOS even more. It also sounds amazing. KMW Spirit is tuned to be as grippy as possible in any conditions. Smooth like Fuji or bumpy like The Ring: doesn´t matter. It can do it´s magic anywhere. You can also put S1 tires under it and you have a amazingly controllable drift car. Enjoy and comment! :)
 
Last edited:
Yea I'm looking forward to a drive. Been awhile since we've had a new garage around here.
 
KMW 360 Elise '10
Based on Lotus Elise 111R '04 (red)
IMG0015.jpg


Specs
Power: 273 bhp / 7800rpm
Torque: 254 nm / 6800rpm
Weight: 782 kg​


Parts to buy
Oil Change
Racing Exhaust
Racing Brakes
Brake Balance Controller
NA Tuning Stage 2
Port Polish
Engine Balancing
Racing Chip
NOS
FC Transmission
Triple-plate Clutch
Racing Flywheel
Variable LSD
FC Suspension
R3 Tyres
Weight Reduction Stage 3
Rear Wing (3D TYPE DB)
New Wheels (YOKOHAMA 024)


SETUP

Suspension
Spring Rate: 6.0 / 5.3
Ride Height: 125 / 115
Bound: 3 / 3
Rebound: 7 / 8
Camber: 2.8 / 2.5
Toe: 0 / -2
Stabilizers: 4 / 5

Brakes
Brake Balance: 5 / 6

Transmission
First auto, then all the rest

1st: 2.986
2nd: 2.077
3rd: 1.626
4th: 1.310
5th: 1.091
6th: 0.936
Final Gear: 5.750
Auto: 12

NOS
NOS pressure: 100

LSD
Initial Torque: 10
LSD Acceleration: 10
LSD Deceleration: 10

Aerodynamics
Downforce: 30 / 30

Driving Aids
All off


Some laptimes
NOS installed

Opera Paris: 1'16.398
Cote D´azur: 1'28.186​



Inspired by go-karts and their unbeliveable handliding in compact circuits we started our work. We needed a car thats light, propably mid-engined and small, so we chose the Lotus Elise. Although it doesn´t have a lot of Lotus in it anymore, we could maintain it´s playful spirit without the ultra-stiff chassis. As result, we have a car that has Go-Kart like steering with top speed over 200 km/h (120mp/h). And the acceleration is very sharp, thanks to the short gear ratios. We wanted to keep it naturally breathing, instead of putting a turbo, to avoid wheelspin. Now it goes almost to 10 000 rpm with amazing sounds. And no wheelspin. Remember that it´s meant to be driven on compact circuits only. If you have a race at GVS or Fuji it is not the best choice to the track. But in street circuits like Opera Paris, George Paris or Costa Di Amalfi it is brilliant. Have fun! :)
 
Last edited:
KMW Lowrider '10
Based on Buick Special '62
IMG0017-1.jpg


Specs
Power: 848 bhp / 5000rpm
Torque: 1083 nm / 4750rpm
Weight: 1159 kg
​


Parts to buy
Oil Change
Racing Exhaust
Racing Brakes
Brake Balance Controller
NA Tuning Stage 3
Port Polish
Engine Balancing
Racing Chip
FC Transmission
Triple-plate Clutch
Racing Flywheel
Variable LSD
Carbon Driveshaft
FC Suspension
R3 Tyres
Weight Reduction Stage 3
New Wheels (YOKOHAMA 024)


SETUP

Suspension
Spring Rate: 8.0 / 6.8
Ride Height: 100 / 90
Bound: 5 / 2
Rebound: 8 / 7
Camber: 2.3 / 2.6
Toe: 0 / -1
Stabilizers: 5 / 6

Brakes
Brake Balance: 6 / 4

Transmission
First auto, then all the rest

1st: 3.042
2nd: 2.036
3rd: 1.600
4th: 1.286
5th: 1.047
6th: 0.855
Final Gear: 2.718
Auto: 14

LSD
Initial Torque: 10
LSD Acceleration: 55
LSD Deceleration: 25

Driving Aids
All off


Some laptimes
No NOS used.

GVS: 1'38.607​



Low but not slow. We wanted to tune one muscle car for the fans of massive V8´s and wheelspin happy large cars. We chose propably the most good looking car in the GT4: The Buick Special 62'. It has V8 which produces in stock condition over 400 bhp. After KMW´s tunes it has over 800 bhp and massive torque of 1083 nm. :scared: Of course that creates some grip issues when accelerating to full speed, but not nearly as much as you could think from the numbers. Even in the 2nd gear the wheelspin is controllable. However, if you don´t trust the soft movement of your right foot, you can always stay in the 3rd gear even in the tight corners. Then you can go flat-out with the throttle. The massive torque can handle the rest. This car did not need any NOS, so there isn´t any. And no rear wing is installed, because that would have looked ugly in this beautiful muscle car. KMW Lowrider is not necessarily the easiest car to drive but surely one of the fastest. 👍


Rewiews
nomis3613
 
Last edited:
From now on, we will tune a car for you if you write a rewiew. Maybe we will now get some more comments and opinions, because right now it´s depressingly quiet in here. Please make sure that the rewiew is a proper one. Any comments are more than welcome too.

If you request for a car make sure that it is not a race car. Because our financical issues we can´t afford to buy cars over 150,000 cr. Anything below that line we can tune.
 
A couple of advice from old geezer who was there when whole tuning garage idea was started by us in the MFT..

1.) Patience. Customers will come in time. If you check the first pages of MFT, you'll notice that our tunes didn't lure too many interested testers at first either. but once the word started to spread, the came from close and far away. In addition, running a tuning garage is like a service occupation. It needs patience and understanding of the customers needs and ideas.

2.) Capri rally easy. Also knows as the money replicator. Easy tarmac rally that usually pits you against Lancia Delta Integrale, Renault R5 Turbo II or Celica ST185. Easy 10k plus 250k that you get from selling the car.
 
Is that really a 1'38 in a Buick Special at Grand Valley Speedway, or is it meant to be 1'48?
 
Yeah, thanks Leo. We do actually use the capri rally to money making but it´s just so boring to race the same track all the time. :D And you´re right: We are a bit impatient with this project. :)

And Paulie, yes it´s 1'38. Actually with NOS it´s somewhere around 1'38.4xx but it seemed just too much power (wheelspin) and so tiny improvement to the lap, so we abandon the idea of NOS in it.
 
Hi,
The Buick special (one of my favourite cars in the game) was too tempting to pass up, so here's my thoughts...

PARTS ONLY
(actually my Buick already had the chassis refresh and rigidity done, hope this hasn't messed things up too much, and with the same parts I was getting only 819bhp :grumpy:) So with the parts applied but not the settings (except for the gearbox, and actually I used the Standard suspension), I did a few laps to get a starting point. The high-speed kink in the approach to the first hairpin: arghhhh!!! Very unstable at high speed. A lot of understeer under brakes, then snap oversteer. Feels like the car has a very heavy front-end, which can only be compensated for with that monster V8 threatening the rear tyres. But provoke it too much and it bites back. Hard.

KARELIAN TUNE
Before driving the car, I was dubious about the -1 rear toe on such a powerful FR car, but after the above runs I could appreciate the need to reduce the understeer. So on to the driving...

Still very unstable at high speed, but this is probably something that could only be fixed with aero. Front brakes chirp on the ABS (was this tune developed for pedals or theshold braking?). Less understeer in general (yay!) and the car settles quicker in corners (so the dampers are a good improvement). The tighter diff makes 2nd gear more useful, too.

I didn't run enough laps to get a clean lap (so I'm too embarrased to post actual times...other than to say they were *ahem* a bit slower than the 1:39), but the Karelian tune was 4 seconds quicker than my "parts only" lap. Good stuff.
 
Last edited:
Hi, Nomis and thanks a lot for test driving our car! :)

Yes, we do use logitech pedals, when tuning and driving. I must admit that the brakes are not as sharp as I would wanted them to be, but we had to choose between sharp braking and stable braking and as you noticed we went for the less powerful but more stable choice.

The reason for slower laps could be the ridigity increase. I am not sure what it does to the Buick, but usually i've had only negative experiences about it.

But we're pleased to have our first rewiew and even more happy for it being a positive one. So thanks again! :dopey:
 
I can't say I ever tested the Buick Special on R3 tyres at Grand Valley Speedway, but that certainly seems like a mighty impressive time for almost any car without aero.👍
 
Paulie
I can't say I ever tested the Buick Special on R3 tyres at Grand Valley Speedway, but that certainly seems like a mighty impressive time for almost any car without aero.👍
Click to expand...

I tried one as a personal project recently. An absolute murderer to drive but good for low 1'36 times - goes right in the same class with the C1 Corvette, another "cheater car" with far too much grip for what it is.
 
Ehhh, at least the Buick has somewhat of a reason for it; it's an old shell with fairly modern suspension bits and tire sizes. (Although it is far too low to be of any use in all actuality)
 
Greycap
I tried one as a personal project recently. An absolute murderer to drive but good for low 1'36 times - goes right in the same class with the C1 Corvette, another "cheater car" with far too much grip for what it is.
Click to expand...

"Cheater car"? Could you just please explain, how it is considered as a cheat? As Rotary Junkie said it has a very modern suspension to a muscle car so that's why there is some grip. I said "some" because there isn't a lots of it really. It oversteers like a muscle car always does but with the right setup you can do great times with it.

So where's the "cheat" in it? I'm a bit disapointted to see that one of the first comments basicly says "you cheat".
 
I'm not saying you cheat, I mean the car cheats. There are a couple of "cheater cars" in the game, meaning they perform unrealistically much better than others in their power, weight or some other class. The mentioned Corvette C1 is one such a car, it grips like a fly on the ceiling and outcorners cars that are 40 years newer and have downforce. The Buick is also such a car - seriously, no downforce, no silly power figures, no silly weight figures, and pulling times that beat a 1000+ bhp Viper SRT10 that has downforce? The Viper GTS-R Concept, basically a race car in thin road disguise, is three seconds behind despite having a hundred more horsepower and a lot more handling.

So just to make sure, I'm not saying you cheat. You just tuned a car that is much faster than it should be by any laws of physics, people wonder the lap times, and I explained. No matter who tunes that Buick it's still a cheater car.
 
Dude, don't get upset. The most likely reason for Greycap calling the Buick a "cheater car" is because its looks are deceptive. You think that this, being an early 60's American car, would have crap handling, but it's actually a tuned version of the original, with modern parts. It won a Sony/PD-sponsored award at SEMA 2003, with the prize being its inclusion in GT4.

EDIT: Oh crap, I've been tree'd. Whatever that means.
 
Well if you put it that way... Okay, you're propaply quite right about it. But it really doesn't feel like a so called "cheat car". There is not massive amounts of grip like the Ford GT and C1. It just goes around the track fast.

Hope you don't mean that our work for tuning the car, has been for nothing. I still think that you have to do a lot of work to get that car stay on the track, and our setup does just that.

E: Yeah, thanks for telling me that driftking. I really didn't know about that contest award thing, but now I can admit that I was a bit wrong with the whole argument. Sorry about that. :)
 
Last edited:
Same applies to the HPA R32 golf from the tuner village. It was in the game only because of sema. But in game its useless. Its overpowered and handles like a semi truck.
 
Last edited:
Ok, thanks for telling. :)

---------------------------------------

Mid engined, screams up to 10 000 rpm, blasts trough corners and runs around the GVS @ 1'42. (at the moment) ---- Our nex tune will be out soon. ;)
 
Temetias.
Mid engined, screams up to 10 000 rpm, blasts trough corners and runs around the GVS @ 1'42. (at the moment) ---- Our nex tune will be out soon. ;)
Click to expand...

Suzuki GSX-R4? Or NSX concept road car?
Either way lets go i wanna try it.
 
Well, it will be out tomorrow or the day after, so not a long wait. :)

Nice to see that you're so excited about our upcoming car. If we can interest you with a possibility to drive the KMW Spirit RX-7, while you're waiting? :) It will propably always going to be our masterpiece. So, if you have the time, take it out for a spin and see if you like it. ;)
 
KMW FireBlade Type RR '10
Based on Honda NSX Type R '02 (new formula red)
IMG0020-1.jpg


Specs
Power: 477 bhp / 7300rpm
Torque: 497 nm / 5300rpm
Weight: 1079 kg
​


Parts to buy
Oil Change
Racing Exhaust
Racing Brakes
Brake Balance Controller
Port Polish
Engine Balancing
Racing Chip
FC Transmission
Triple-plate Clutch
Racing Flywheel
Variable LSD
NA Tuning Stage 3
FC Suspension
R3 Tyres
Weight Reduction Stage 3
Rear Wing (3D TYPE CW)
New Wheels (OZ 002)


SETUP

Suspension
Spring Rate: 11.0 / 9.0
Ride Height: 135 / 135
Bound: 3 / 4
Rebound: 8 / 8
Camber: 2.3 / 2.0
Toe: 2 / -1
Stabilizers: 3 / 3

Brakes
Brake Balance: 6 / 4

Transmission
First auto, then all the rest

1st: 2.998
2nd: 2.220
3rd: 1.689
4th: 1.322
5th: 1.066
6th: 0.896
Final Gear: 3.639
Auto: 12

LSD
Initial Torque: 10
LSD Acceleration: 35
LSD Deceleration: 40

Aerodynamics
Downforce: 30 / 30

Driving Aids
All off


Some laptimes
No NOS used.

GVS: 1'41.834
The Ring: 6'25.851​



It all started from a idea to make our own JGTC car. We bought a brand new, shiny red, Honda NSX Type R. NSX is propably on of the most balanced cars in stock condition, but that doesn't mean that there's no room for improvement. Engine, gearbox and suspension have all been trough several changes to improve the the car's drivability.

So after we had the car almost ready, we decided to take it to a JGTC race. Unfortunatly, the JGTC cars were no match for it. Only thing that I had to focus on was not to crash the rear bumbers of my opponent. So we failed. We didn't tune a Japanese GT Car. We did a lot more.

As the japanese circuits felt way too easy for the Type RR, we took it to Nurburg, in Germany. After just 1/4 of a lap it was obvious: This car is ment to be driven here. The Ring was absolutely the best possible place to drive the car. Only there the car really showed how fast, but yet easy to drive, it is. Hey, it's also 1/10 second faster around GVS, than the MFT's version. And that really tells something about it's performance.
 
Last edited:
Elite Series #1: INTERGRA '10
Based on Honda INTERGRA Type R '03 (Black)
IMG0022.jpg


Specs
Power: 335 bhp / 8000rpm
Torque: 296 nm / 7000rpm
Weight: 1029 kg
​


Parts to buy
Oil Change
Racing Exhaust
Racing Brakes
Brake Balance Controller
Port Polish
Engine Balancing
Racing Chip
FC Transmission
Triple-plate Clutch
Racing Flywheel
Variable LSD
NA Tuning Stage 3
FC Suspension
R3 Tyres
Weight Reduction Stage 3
Rear Wing (3D TYPE CB)
New Wheels (YOKOHAMA 011)


SETUP

Suspension
Spring Rate: 6.5 / 7.8
Ride Height: 103 / 103
Bound: 2 / 4
Rebound: 3 / 7
Camber: 2.2 / 0.8
Toe: 3 / -1
Stabilizers: 2 / 4

Brakes
Brake Balance: 8 / 18

Transmission
First auto, then all the rest

1st: 2.763
2nd: 1.932
3rd: 1.522
4th: 1.228
5th: 1.030
6th: 0.879
Final Gear: 3.639
Auto: 12

LSD
Initial Torque: 15
LSD Acceleration: 20
LSD Deceleration: 8

Aerodynamics
Downforce: 30 / 13

Driving Aids
All off


Some laptimes
No NOS used.

Tsukuba Circuit - WET: 1'07.538
The Ring: 7'18.372​



#1 of Elite series. In the beginning KMW was ment to tune only rear wheel drive cars but after request of nomis, we started to work on our first FF car. We decided that if we are going to make an FF car, it must be one of the best, elite. We added a lot of new parts to the already marvellous VTEC engine. After the tuning it now has 335 hp at 8000rpm, which is definatly more than enough for front wheel drive car. And the sound of it... :drool:

Because the car was originally a request from nomis and we didn't have a lot of experience about FF cars, we used the FF tuning guide (as requested). After following the guide to the very end, the Intergra was given to guys @ KMW, for the last touch to make the car really best of it's class. As result, we have a FF car that will rage trough Nurburgring in 7'18. With just front wheels pulling the car forward. :nervous:


Rewiews:
nomis3613
 
Last edited:
The prospect of 335bhp of VTEC fury in a tug of war with the front tyres on a wet track had me excited and nervous in equal measure, so I just had to review this tune! Also, I feel responsible for daring KMW to venture beyond the land of glorious powersliding RWD so I feel the least I could do was provide a review of the KMW Elite Integra '10 at Tsukuba Wet.

(reviewed on the PAL version using DS2 controller)

PARTS ONLY (except no brake controller or LSD)
First impression is wheelspin. All the way into 3rd gear. Very poor gearing for this engine and grip combo- 3rd is wheelspin city but 4th is too tall and bogs the engine down. Heavy understeer while braking. In fact, quite understeery in general. Exiting the hairpin that turns left (the corner before you go under the bridge), often the car would snap sideways at the exit. 1:09.4.

KMW TUNE
Brake balance is very nice, and the exit snap oversteer is gone. Despite the softer suspension on this wet track it still has good body control. Turn-in is more decisive.

But I have to say, I'm not a fan of the gearing. To get decent turn-in on the hairpins you have to go back to 1st, but then the shift into 2nd is very slooooooow, leaving you waiting ages for the power to resume. Due to the tall gearing, I suspect the car runs out of steam well before the redline even on the longest Nurburgring straight? Just a suggestion, a shorter gearing setup that uses 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th at Tsukuba wet (instead of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th) might allow a closer spread of gears, reducing the shift times.

Aero is nicely balanced and the LSD settings do well to reduce wheelspin while still allowing the car to pivot. My best lap was 1:08.2, so clearly I'm not "a good driver" :(
 
Thanks for the rewiew!

Yes, the 1st and 2nd gears are indeed very tall, but that's just to avoid wheelspin. I didn't use the 1st gear basicly anywhere, so that's why I didn't notice the issue.

Okay, I should propably change the word "good" to "expert". I didn't consider myself as a good driver, but in case nobody is doing lower times, I could say that I've got used to driving the KMW tunes well enough to do good laps.

Remember that we can tune a car for you now, thanks to your rewiews. PM me if you want to order a tune. :)

----------------------------------------------


KMW is proud to announce that two of our cars have won their first 200 a-spec point races!


KMW 360 Elise:

Won a race in "Dream car championship" @ Opera Paris. R3 tires were used, no pit stops were made and the Pagani Zonda LM Race Car was defeated with more than 3 seconds. Not bad for 273 hp car? ;)


Spirit KMW RX-7:

Got 200 a-spec points for winning in "Real circuit tours" @Nurburgring. It had R2 tires, which proved to be the winning strategy. Others didn't stop for pit stop either but their tyres were not hard enough to survive the 2 laps on the ring. RX-7 passed the Toyota 7 in the second to last corner, when the Toyota was trying to recover from it's huge crash after the last straight.


Think that's some sort of proof that our tunes really aren't that bad. :) Try them out yourself! 👍
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the offer of a personalised tune, I'll have a think about what car could use the KMW treatment! Hopefully someone will review the Integra for you at the dry Nurburgring track.

Congratulations on the 200 A-spec points.

About the "good driver" thing (which was a tongue-in-cheek comment), maybe it's because you drivers from Finland are so used to driving on snow, here in Australia we're more used to watching our tyres melt in the sun!!!
 

Latest Posts

Back