Anybody clear this up for me......A little blast was required on Saturady morning, took the car MY99 UK turbo round a tight uphill hairpin left in second gear and floored it.....felt very slugish and only boosted to 0.5 Bar (no overboost), i then changed into third and floored it again, got 1.0 Bar holding pressure and no more problems........any ideas 'cos i dont want to blow it up ....again!!

Cheers
manny

 

Were you getting low on fuel by any chance? E.g. less than 1/3 or 1/4 tank.

Going round left hand bends at speed can cause a bit of fuel starvation, I believe (at least that's what occasionally happens to me) as the petrol climbs up the right-hand side wall of your petrol tank under centrifugal force.

Could be wrong though!

Ratman,
MY98 Wagon

 

Did you hold it at a constant throttle in second gear for a few seconds and then floor it? If so then I think this is a feature that helps the car get around noise regulations. The ECU thinks it is being noise tested and will only give half boost.

 

I think i was just under 1/2 a tank, so its a possibility, will try the same stretch again with a full tank

 

welcome to the very annoying second gear boost

 

Yep, standard thing, this. Hold at medium revs (2500-3500rpm) in second for a couple of seconds, then boot it. Boost is restricted to 7-9psi until you hit about 5500rpm when it swings back to normal. It's a weird feeling as you change up and accelerate faster!

Only cures are to either leave it in third until you want to exit the corner, then drop to second and go (not great practice mid-corner!) or to sink the clutch for a second (no accelerator) and then bring it back up (trying to match the revs) about a second before you want to floor it. I've found that floor it -- lift off accelerator -- floor it (all in 2nd) sometimes works.

Frustrating but you get used to working round it!

Cheers
Richard


ps I think it's actually for emissions regulations. Never do a rolling road in 2nd gear

[Edited by Bitten Hero - 1/16/2002 7:25:04 PM]