UpRev ECU tune results for Semtex's Z

ChrisSlicks

Sorry to hear that man, IBM has been cutting jobs left right and center. At least they have decent layoff packages if you have been there for a few years.

From what I could determine the Hotchkis was slightly stiffer than the Stillen, however I think the Stillen suits a street car better. On my car the Hotchkis was too stiff up front for the stock alignment to handle and was detrimental to turn-in response until the front camber was increased. The Stillen also appears to be better made in that they use a crimp on lateral stop instead of a welded stop like the Hotchkis. The Hotchkis have been known to fail at the weld. I also think the Stillen is cheaper. The Hotchkis is 3-way adjustable in the rear where as the Stillen is only 2-way. Neither is adjustable up front.

I can only speak for the stiffness of the Hotchkis on my car but the body roll was greatly reduced, and the grip level increased slightly in the mid to high speed cornering. Car also feels more predictable with bumps in corners at speed.

semtex

Thanks for the advice and explaining the differences, Chris. Much appreciated. Yeah, what IBM is doing now is just . . . I don't know quite how to describe it. Sad? Evil? Not sure.

IBM has been sending jobs overseas for several years now to places like Brazil, India, and China. Now that their labor force in those geos is well established, the workers there have been demanding higher wages that are more on par with those of the U.S. Can't say I blame them. Equal pay for equal work, right? Well, IBM's response strategy is to methodically reclassify the pay grades for the remaining U.S. jobs. Our pay grade has 10 band levels. I'm a band 7. They're taking my job (along with all the others in my area) and moving them to this new delivery center in Dubuque. If I want to keep doing what I'm doing, I'm free to move to Dubuque on my own dime and re-apply for my position. But there's a catch -- my job in Dubuque will be Band 4. So, exact same work, a fraction of my current pay. By doing methodically across the board to their entire U.S. workforce, they pull the rug out from those folks overseas who are demanding wage parity. Essentially, IBM can say to them: "You want wage parity? You got it. See? Now you're making the same money your U.S. counterparts make, because we lowered U.S. salaries to be on par with those in the developing world. There's your wage parity."

The irony of all this is that globalization was intended to help end poverty in the developing world by bringing their wages up to developed-world levels. But instead, it's driving developed-world wages down. So the disparity in wealth distribution will go up commensurate to a sharply reduced middle class. Welcome to the new world order.

__________________
"There are no small accidents on this circuit." -- Ayrton Senna
316.8whp & 248 ft/lbs (Dyno Dynamics) | 319whp & 256 ft/lbs (DynoJet) (04/23/10)
Stillen G3 CAI, CBE, Pulley / F.I. LTH / GTSpec Ladder Brace / Setrab Oil Cooler / UpRev-tuned by Forged Perf.