[ballistic]

Went to Abbott Racing today. I wasn't sure that my 2.3 FPT Auto was giving full boost so one of the guys connected up a guage and took it for a spin. When he came back he reported that everything seemed to working as it should. In fact, being an 85k miles teenager of a 9000, it was pretty good.

Enter Ed Abbott... "But if you want it to be better.."

I could feel my wallet getting lighter as we talked and after he let me go for a spin in one of his cars, we settled on a deal involving:

Troinic ECU Upgrade
Boost Control Valve
Koni Adjustable Shocks
Wishbone Bushes

I didn't go for the lowered springs as I might have a grounding problem getting onto my driveway.

This is on top of the easier to do things that I did during the week:

JR Air Filter
Forge Dump Valve
Various Vacuum Hoses
Top Engine Mounts
Rear ARB Bushes

So what difference has it made to the car?

Well the first impression was that I only had to breath on the loud pedal to launch the car. I then began to appreciate the solid road holding I now have on the twisties near Abbotts' place. When I reached the A12 and M25/M4 I found that the car now has another personality, in that it feels rock solid upto warp factor 1.3 (didn't dare carry on with the crowded roads) and just pulls and pulls and pulls.

Whilst cruising at 70 I can give it maybe 1/2 throttle and it outruns seemingly anything. This included a Sapphire Cosworth, 911 Targa, Golf V5, Lots of Audi TT's and of course all the rep-mobiles that think they are Schumacher. BMW's seemed to give me best 'smugness' for some strange reason and don't forget that this is an automatic! Point and squirt.

This has been a real eye opener and I look forward to the rest of the weekend

Next step is to find some Super Aeros.

Ash

 

[cdcarlsson]

Glad you're happy Ash

,

Mind the standing starts with your gearbox though..

Nick.

 

[James]

Nice one

 

[mark e]

Sounds good!

However without wishing to pee on your bonfire... I'd be wary of the BCV chewing your auto box if it has been used to gain a further increase in boost over and above that offered by the ECU upgrade.

If they have fitted it because your APC valve was faulty (although they reckonned everything was OK?) and set it up similarly that's OK.

Try reconnecting the APC solenoid to see if there's any difference- it may even be that they've set the BCV to give less boost!

Like I said, I don't want to put a damper on things but 9000 autoboxes are not known for their longevity under extra boost.

 

[ballistic]

It was fitted to counter the drop off in boost that the APC gives as the revs climb.

I'll try to take it easy ;-)

Ash

 

[Togg]

Don't want to be another party pooper (honest!) but I assume that you have notified your Insurers about these modifications.

 

[TheFox]

So Ballistic- did you think of your username before or after going to Abbott?

I "enjoyed" my Abbott upgrade today after a 150 mile blast up and down the A303. On the way back there was a very angry Honda Civic Type R driver who was getting annoyed that he could not shake me off his tail :0)
He was also put out that I overtook him

Uphill coming out of Chicklade when he was quite obviously redlining his car.
Smug was not the word .
Word of caution though; Get your gearbox fluid changed at least once a year ( Ed Abbott told me this) and remember to let the engine cool down for a few minutes after a good blast before switching off.

I must admit to being tempted to pay Abbott a visit to sort out the suspension or the brakes- cannot decide which to do.
How much harder is the suspension with the Koni's fitted?

 

[ylee coyote]

its not the koni's per se that makes the ride hard...its more to do with the spring rates ...abbott springs seem to be the best comprimise

 

[xenium]

dont take the "adjustability" of the koni´s too serious tho, i much prefer bilsteins, they are properly balanced already... i guess you also see all those golf gti posers with their great "adjustable" konis over there too going just too hard into a turn and bumping all over the street the cause is that the adjustable thing on the konis is just one of two you can adjust how hard/soft they will go in, but you cant set how hard/soft they will go out again. so if you set them to the hardest possible position and you get them to go in fully, you could have a problem if the turn bends more sharply then.. *eeeeek bump bump bump bump crash* looks funny tho. thats why i prefer the bilsteins, they have balanced, pre-defined limits. maybe im kinda biased, because bmw also much prefers bilstein, but atleast on the E30s ive been in they are very nice
in my past expierence i found that bilsteins/koni make about 70% of handling difference, especially because most of the time the standard struts are already worn out, so new harder ones feel like a HUGE difference. springs just make 30% of handling difference, progressive stiffnes curve and that they are stiffer in general than the normal ones are important not just that they are 2 windings shorter
and dont laugh, but over 130 mph/200 km/h front and back spoilers DO make a noticeable difference, but hey that doesnt mean you have to look like one of the ricers.. aero airflowkit or that huge swedish one (plast&son) look nice

bye

simon

 

[ballistic]

Originally posted by TheFox:
[qb]So Ballistic- did you think of your username before or after going to Abbott?

I must admit to being tempted to pay Abbott a visit to sort out the suspension or the brakes- cannot decide which to do.
How much harder is the suspension with the Koni's fitted? [/qb][/b]

'ballistic' existed before I joined SS.

The Konis haven't made the ride harder at all. They've made it less 'skitty' over bumps and coupled with the wishbones, reduced torque steer.

Ash

 

[ballistic]

Originally posted by Togg:
[qb]Don't want to be another party pooper (honest!) but I assume that you have notified your Insurers about these modifications. [/qb][/b]

Of course. That would be the only decent thing to do. Is that OK with you? ;-)

Ash

 

[Togg]

Ash,

No offence or insult to your intelligence intended.

It's just that I worked for a firm of Solicitors once and you might be surprised how often people forgot to notify Insurers (or assumed the mod didn't need to be reported) and how easily said Insurers were able to reject claims later due to the lack of notification.

Also, I am dangerously close to 'Boring old F***t'
age range but I do NOT wear a hat or smoke a pipe while driving!

 

[hannick]

I advised my insurers when I had an engine management upgrade done on my previous 9-5. Personally I would never risk not telling them. But... how would they check ? Would they always check in the event of a claim ? What sort of accident/claim would make them go to the trouble of checking ? Perhaps they have a list of the type of cars that are often modified, and just check those. Perhaps the vendors of the upgrades are under an obligation to advise a central database (Big Brother). After all they now have to do this if you want a numberplate !
Anyone know ? Anyone been checked upon making a claim ?

 

[James]

If they take a look at the ECU, or if they drive the car, they'll know. If they don't, they might not. Obviously opgrades such as wheels, suspension etc are easier to spot than an ECU, although if you went for the full Stage 4 with its twin exhausts, that'd be pretty easy to spot too!

There's no central database of upgrades that I've heard of - surely this would be a data protection issue, and the tuning firm would be obliged to tell you that they'd passed your details on.

Bottom line: for the peace of mind that goes with it, I'd rather pay a small increase in insurance premium than risk being prosecuted for insurance fraud and / or driving whilst uninsured.

Cheers

James

 

[Togg]

My (possibly out of date) understanding is that the duty placed on the insured to notify modifications is absolute and is not confined to speed enhancing measures.

Any claim arising after modification could be refused (except perhaps for 3rd party personal injuries) even if the modification had no bearing on the incident.

(At this point perhaps I should offer an advance apology to any pipe smoking or hat wearing members of this forum!)