19/06/2026
Knowing a platform intimately when it comes to the drivetrain itself goes hand in hand with safely tuning them.
The P5AT may not have the most stellar record for reliability, and our shop ute is no exception, but there is always a reason why failiures occur, pulling them apart and actually interpreting the story an engine has to tell as to why it failed always helps point you in the right direction when it comes to tuning or maintaining them to mitigate the issues. Which is what we did 40 thousand kms ago on this engine and spec'd the rebuild to mitigate them grabbing bores.
We rebuilt it with a host of aftermarket parts and clearances that are machined far from what the factory spec's, and we also run far thicker oil than what they do standard, but as with anything there is trade offs or compromises, we found this one is still living happily with bigger bore clearances, stiffer valve springs at approximately 200hp 700nm on 33s, no sign of damaged rockers, cam lobes, bore wear, and no sign of excessive heat being put into the crown of the pistons. This engine will happily do another 300 thousand kms at this power level judging by the lack of wear we have seen so far.
We dont just button bash a laptop! Theres far more to learn and experiment with thats genuinely interesting 😁
