Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Scoob.I just mortgaged my middle age to buy a second hand silver 1998 turbo 2000 with a prodrive upgrade. She's a babe BUT (and I discovered this test driving another Scoob a couple of years ago) I do find the turbo a little sluggish especially in second gear. I am a complete novice in these matters so could anybody advise as to whether I can tweak anything to lessen the time lag between foot on peddle and vroooom? Thanks

 

Assuming the car's working the way it should, the most practical answer is simply to learn how to get the most out of it.

The small turbo on the UK cars makes them less prone to lag than many Imprezas. If you've migrated from a quick normally aspirated car, it might feel a bit laggy, but in turbocharged car terms, yours is pretty good. As long as it's kept spooled, the throttle response should be pretty good, in turbocharged terms, and it may simply be a case of learning to apply the throttle a little earlier than you are used to.

Keeping the revs up and concentrating on making quick, clean gearchanges should be more than enough for normal driving. If you want to go beyond that, fitting a decat downpipe will make your turbo spool more quickly and at slightly lower engine speeds. You may also be able to get better spool and boost build by introducing a ball valve based boost controller, although this approach can result in awkward part-throttle sensitivity and lean running if care is not taken.

If you need better throttle response again, eliminating the dumpvalve will retain boost during gearchanges and other brief lifts, but at the expense of turbo working life. Anti-lag goes even further down the same road, but at considerable cost.

 

Without knowing exaclty what you're questioning here , I can also 'recommend' a slightly different method for getting the car to respond faster - instead of mashing the pedal to the floor, 'roll' it there (if you get my drift) - I find this gives a much better response. Others don't necessarily, but I don't know whether this means I can't drive or if I'm not explaining it very well, but have a go anyway - it might help

[Edited by nom - 12/21/2003 10:28:44 PM]

 

Yep, concur with that. A slightly more gradual application of the throttle should help the boost to build more quickly.

 

Thanks Greasemonkey et al,
I've got the quick, smooth gear changes sussed.
Thanks for the other advice though. Like the idea of
decat downpipe and I'll practice the 'rolling' throttle
technique. I've no doubt I'll be bugging you all for more
advice in the future.
Thanks again.