The Coupe has been in the workshop for ages having a GT28R, Blitz id3, Walbro 255 and Hayward and Scott 3" downpipe fitted, and I got it back today. So what's it like ?

The car, pre-mods, had the standard turbo that was boosting to about 1.4-5 bar (knackered actuator). It was shagged, basically, but went like a train, with a very aggressive spoolup.

Anyway :

1st of all, whoever said the DP made it sound more like an Audi Quattro was spot-on. It sounds a little deeper with a really noticeable 5-pot warble now.

Pulling away, the car is now far smoother, with virtually all of the on-off jerk that it had before having been eliminated. So far, so good. Let it warm up for a few minutes, then it was foot to floor time.

The Blitz is set to 1.2 bar, with 20 gain. Its f'ing hot here now, 45+ C plus, and the fuelling has not been checked, so I thought it would be a safer bet than running the 1.35 bar I will probably end up with.

OK - the spoolup starts at around 3k, with 1.2 bar by about 3.2k. It has a far softer spoolup than before, which I have no problem with, far more clutch-friendly. But from here to about 4.5k, it felt quicker with the standard turbo (albeit with the silly boost it was putting out).

At about 4.5k, it seems to enter VTEC mode - you can feel the tyres suddenly digging in and trying to grip, and from here to the redline, it never stops pulling. The Blitz is holding boost perfectly, maybe a little too much so - you never see less than 1.2 bar, even near redline.

Change up a gear, and again the slower spoolup of the 28R is noticeable before it fills its lungs again, then it again fires towards the redline. Good stuff.

I'll be honest - I was expecting it feel quicker. Perhaps the shifting of the power up the rev range is tricking me, perhaps its the usual expectations of just getting a modified car back and expecting it to feel like Concorde. The transition at 4.5k rpm is a little puzzling, as you'd think that this would be as soon as it came on boost.

So perhaps this will all change with another 0.2 bar boost ? I will get the fuelling checked first and see what it can be pushed up to.

Other things - the water temperature is never less than 85 C, and goes up to 95-97 C or so in traffic. Why is this ? Admittedly the 4 weeks in the workshop has seen a real change in ambient temps but I was expecting to run cooler, less heat from the turbo and all that. Anyone ?

So mainly very pleased but I feel that there is a little way left to go. It didn't feel like the 300 bhp I was expecting, but I suspect it was probably 270+ bhp before any work was done on it (all bhp figures are total guesswork, obviously! ) Oh and it seems to "surge" a little on full boost through the rev-range - could this be the Blitz trying to maintain a constant pressure ?

Any suggestions ?

So i take it your pleased to have it back then?

I would say your water temps are fine. I changed the thermo on mine this weekend. I now see running temps at 86-89 with traffic pushing into the 90's all on standard car. Your mods will surely make for hotter temps when in traffic but still ok I would say. Are you sure the garage did not change the thermostat? My broken one (they fail in the open position) would never enable temps over 78 when running. This is too low and will cause overfuelling and asscoiated problems.

John

Jayell - could be due to your FMIC as well. I have the ProAlloy with standard rad and with our 'mild' heat in the UK i'm seeing 80-90.

At 1.2Bar I guess you would have been pushing about 280bhp. I managed 300 at 1.35bar and my mods are very similar if not identical to yours.

The GT28R does seem to lack torque and as you say everything is moved up the rev range by a thousand rpm.

Update : it seems quicker now. Does the Blitz take time to "learn"? Either that or its me getting used to having a throttle pedal where movement actually correlates to boost pressure, unlike under the PRV regime

Temps : as high as 100 in traffic, normally runs at 90 or just under. Oil pressure can also drop to 1 bar at tickover after a "spirited" run and then being stopped in traffic, but goes back up to the normal 3 bar with a small blip of the throttle. Neither seems ideal to me, but there we go. To be honest, I am mainly ignoring both of these facts. Probably both to be expected given how hot it is here.

Yes it will learn but also the solenoid will lossen up a bit with use as im sure it has rubber internals that need some owrkign to get softer and be much better over time.

Glad your happy with it though

Your oil temprature is something i would be concerned abotu though and maybe time to fit a fan and spray over it as well to chill lol.

Thats the water temp Plebbers - my Coop has the hated voltmeter Fans are cutting in, it doesn't seem too unhappy - I guess if 100 was so bad, the red bit on the temp gauge would start there ?

Had it have been the oil temp, 100 isn't high - I used to see 125 C on the MFA display on the VR6.

Im sure oilman said its not too good for oil to hit that high a temprature for too long as its abilities are compromised.

If your water is that high its not too bad, but maybe time for the Pro alloy unit and the water wetter stuff as well in there.
Im gunna buy some soon but thats for my PC which should see my temps a bit lower in there as well

Yeah I think the Pro Alloy rad will be on the To Buy list, but to be honest I am truly and utterly sick of spending money on the car

i would say at 45 degrees your losing alot of power just from the outside temperature. i know what mine feels like on a hot day here (sluggish) and what it feels like on a cool night. 15-20 degrees of ambient temperature make alot of difference. that .15 extra boost your thinking of running will also make a good difference. mine was accidentally running 1.35 bar after having the DP fitted. it flew in comparisson to the 1.2 setting

If this is the case, roll on winter - a few days of driving the car and its difficult to remember what it was like when I first picked it up.

When it comes on boost now, it does so with a real kick, and just never lets up. On my private test track (i.e commute to work) I did the standard turn-into-main-road-in-2nd-and-floor-it and was actually heard to proclaim "Fcvk Me!!". It must have been the Blitz needing a bit of time to llimber up when I first had it back.

I'm now really happy with the car, I must admit I was a little disappointed when I first got it back, but that's totally changed now. It was all worth it in the end !!