LG John

Ok, serious discussion time:

I’ve now had the Scooby for a year and half and prior to that had the VTS for the same period of time. The Saxo was standard and the Scooby is standard now but was run for a year with about 275bhp. Over this time period (3 years) I’ve come to notice something about both cars and indeed all other cars I’ve owned and driven. That is, that the performance they deliver seems to be determined by their ‘mood’ on any given day at any given time. I’m really not joking here when I say that there were times that the VTS would hang on the boot of something (that was trying) that was considerably quicker and there would be other times where it felt no faster than a VTR!! Similarly the Scooby in both standard and modded form would sometimes just deliver performance in abundance and sometimes suck!. I recall one particular day when it was modified that it was flying – and I mean fvcking flying!!!! Every gear change was a neck snapping exercise and I’d honestly put my hand up and say I believe that on that day it would have kept up with M3’s and the like even from 60mph onwards!!! Conversely there were other days when it felt sticky and slow and the turbo reluctant to spin up. On these days it felt no faster than it is now as a totally standard car. On days like this morning (where as standard she was shifting) I’d go as far as to say it would catch a decat, tek2.5 car out?!

So my question is what causes all this variance?? At first I though air temperature but it’s not as simple as that. I’ve jumped into the car on a freezing morning thinking, ‘game on’ and yet it’s just not happening. I remember a particular ‘flying’ day in the summer where I had to rein the bloody thing in it was going so fast and that was a stinking hot day! What causes these ‘moods’ in a car??

Secondly, could these vehicle moods be responsible for some of the driving tales were debate every day? For example: I race an M3 thats having a crap day in my modified Scooby that’s having a great day and then boast about how I toasted it to 100mph from a rolling start. I get slated by all of SN as we all know (rightly) that a 275bhp UK Scooby cannot beat an M3 to 100mph from a rolling start – but it happened!? (this is theory, it didn’t actually happen – I could never get a rise out an M3 ). I once met up with a civic type-r driver (ragit) when my car was running well and totally destroyed (IMHO) him in every ‘run’ we had! The very next week I met up with a cup driver and it was much much harder to leave him. The cup and ctr are near identical for performance

So what are your thoughts? Do these moods account for some of the racing tales we hear? Could a good day be 1,2, even 3s faster to 100 than a bad day??? Has anyone read this far

jjones

called the "**** dyno" and always inaccurate.

Hobo_Jojo

could be the fuel?

LG John

LMAO

My cars are always run on Optimax or SUL. Saxo always on optimax, scooby always on SUL when modded (liked it better ) but optimax when standard (cheaper )

TaviaRS

Yep, for once I agree with you

My car has good days and bad days, wierd but true. Some days I can get beaten by a cyclist yet others I can beat that scoob icon, the justy

Well, you know what I mean.

Brendan Hughes

LMDO

brett555

Saxo, i seem to agree with you on this. I have an Ibiza 2.0 16v gti , somedays the car feels like a bag of sh*t and seems sluggish .. i certainly feel it if i dont use super and some days the car feels like it flies ... everything seems to run so smoothly and together.

Hey ... the cars could have little mechanical souls ... they come alive when we arent looking a la toy story . I swear down .. when i have cleaned and washed her (the car) .. the car seems to run better .

Its all psychologicalllll .....

ajm

pmsl! Here comes another classic SB thread

I have perceived slight changes in power but nothing that can't be explained by atmospheric or other conditions. For example, cold air should yield more power, full tank of fuel vs empty, wind direction, passengers, fuel quality etc etc or just simply getting used to the performance.

The Zohan

SB i kinda know what you mean, maybe air pressure and temp related more than a cars emotions but i have ihad it on hot sunny days as well so maybe not.

Perhaps it is Ghost related and maybe one for Most Haunted

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

Saxo, I think you have too much time on your hands

RS2 JIM

iTrader: (5)

I totally agree! I used to have an escort Gti that would feel like like it actually had more than the boggo 130 ponies under the bonnet yet otherdays i had to check the handbrake wasn't on!
Weird! I noticed it usually got quicker during the last 1/4 of the fuel tank so it was probably the lighter load but felt like a bigger difference than that!

James

LG John

I know exactly what you mean! When washed and polished the car runs sooooo sweet

I'm not actually suggesting that cars have a 'mood' but rather trying to get some discussion on what can and is most likely to cause these large swings (and in both my cars they are rather large swings!) in performance, air temp, air pressure (some other air factor), wind direction (obvious one unless the car is fast all day (different directions of travel), fuel type, fuel quality. Any other factors??

civictyper

Well that's due to a dirty car having a high friction surface hence increasing drag. A highly polished or smooth surface will reduce drag

Have to say mine seems to run better too but I guess it's down to the 'feel good' factor.

WRT mood I appreciate that weather conditions affect performance but I've always put the performance changes down to how I'm feeling at a particular time. Could the mood not be down to the driver and not so much external factors ??

SiPie

All psychological..... I guarantee you

NACRO

Get some timing gear and look at the evidence. I don't believe cars are faster one day then slow the next.

What does seem to make a difference with Impreza's is the air temp as I'm sure we all know. My car feels extremely quick now temps are getting below 10 degrees C. The measured 0-100 is getting to the low 14's on almost every occasion I attempt it. In summer I was lucky to crack 15 secs.

TopBanana

All (or mostly) in your head I'm afraid. My Scoob's always fast as ****, because that's how I drive it

Goochie

I know just what you mean!! But also think it is totally psychological. I tend to find my car seems faster when I push it having been driving in "fuel saver" mode for a week or so. The same way that the gear change feels like I'm pushing a bag of spanners when I drive it after an S2000

Floyd

iTrader: (9)

Why don't you test the theory then?

0-60, 30-80 with:
Dirty, unhappy car, feeling very reluctant.
Clean, perky car, with a skip in it's stride.

F
PS I know what you mean but a real test would be interesting.

TopBanana

Have you tried hanging lucky energy crystals from the rear view mirror? Got to be worth a try.

LG John

No way, not all the time. You remember the day in the summer I referred to above!! I was in Pencaitland and I phoned to tell you because I couldn't believe how quick the car was. Remember how excited and blown away by it I was and also how silly hot it was that day. There is no danger that it was all psychological - the car had to be pulled better than usual.

NACRO

Perhaps your car has some intermitant fault? Seems more likely than a case of car "mood swings" to me. Unless of course someone has a better idea.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

My old XR3 was a moody as they came.

One day it'll be as sluggish as a 1.1 fiesta. And the next it would seem to pushing out more than it's standard 130bhp of horses.

Until the cat decided to shatter and block up up my exhaust One o2 sensor and a de-cat later...it was still as moody as my ex with PMT

It had the odd day where it would run on 2/3 cylinders in the cold. Endless numbers of sparkplugs, leads coils etc never cured it. (presumed sticky valves). Sometimes it would fire up then die, then refuse to start. Sometimes it would die at the bottom of my road - All completly random! It could go for 3-4 months being fine.

Sometimes it would go into 3rd, other times it would refuse. Even after a new 3rd syncro and clutch it started doing it again.

One thing it always did...if it was allowed to sit in stationary/crawling traffic too long, it would be gauranteed to be sluggish until I got a good piece of road give it a blast on.

Strangley the week before I sold it, it was like a rocketship and ran perfectly....it makes me miss the pile of crap now

LG John

Nah don't think its a fault. Noticed the swings with all my cards and indeed any other car I've driven regularly.

Carlos The Jackel

Lmao - Classic thread SB - Its funny you posted this as yesterday I was complaining about my car feeling very slow. It hadnt been driven for a week tho which may account for this. I have noticed it in other cars I've had too but I always put it down to "being all in the mind" as my mother would say

Goochie

I can just imagine DC using this as his excuse for being off the pace after the first GP of the year.

"Well, mee car just wasne on the pace, it wasne in t' moood for driving fast"

(sorry, but thats my best attempt at a typed Scottish accent)

Spoon

Saxo Boy's never been the same since he started socialising with Frank Bruno.

Dan B

Do the earthing mod, it will solve your problem And get a better ECU

LG John

Oh, earthing mod - very interesting point! That could make a differnce yes/no?

Gridlock Mikey

If my car feels sluggish, i find it's nothing a bit of Ozzy or Metallica can't sort out

Mikey

RichWalk

Get in someone else's std car- this always makes me feel mines a swift beastie!