V697DMO

I am just getting the hang of my scoob (I used to have a sport a year ago). Theres only 2800 on the clock and its still pretty tight but getting better all the time.

i try to do as much driving as possible on country roads and the enjoyment factor is huge

tips for increasing the fun would be helpful

JamesH

If at night - driving lights like Scoobysport Cibies or PIAAs

Doc

Get a scoobysport rear box, wind down the windows and turn the stereo off

Stef1

Don't crash!

Stef.

Squizz

Be careful at roundabouts...

If you've been queuing to get on to a busy roundabout, the following may happen:

1. You're at the front of the queue.
2. Traffic's busy but you spot a gap bigger than the grand canyon for a Scooby-Pilot.
3. You launch forth on full-reheat.
4. ******** at the next entrance to the roundabout doesn't realise your super-human power of flight and creeps out into the traffic smack in front of you.
5. Thank your lucky stars for the improved 4-pot brakes!

Oh and another thing...

BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO BE FOLLOWED HOME.

Good Luck, and hey...

"Let's be careful out there"

Regards,
Squizz

V697DMO

thanks

the roundabout is a good point, most other drivers seem gob smacked when they see the scoob go. Most fun so far seems to have been a BMW who tried to keep up (I did'nt even break the speed limit) but disapeared in a flury of tight bends.

I'm thinking of getting an 'Approved for Warp Factor 9' sticker made up, just to let them know not to bother trying anymore.

Q

The grip when on full throttle in first is unbelievable. I read somewhere that from 0-30 you are pulling 1g- so watch it if you have a lard ****!!!

I have thoroughly enjoyed my turbo and the tyres still have 3-4mm of tread after 14000 miles. Therefore as something is taking the strain this probably means that it is the clutch. Therefore, fun as it I would refrain from doing the traffic light grand prix starts too often. A mate of mine just bought a Celica Turbo with 25,000 miles and the clutch has just gone.

Regarding fun though; so far the engine still gets more and more flexible and it seems to thrive on low revs and large throttle openings as opposed to high revs. Also a good run (80mph or so) for about 100 miles each way on the motorway makes the world of difference dramatically increasing the flexibility of the engine.

Have fun and take care.

Doc

Not much fun I know but don't forget to let your engine idle after a run otherwise the oil in the turbo bearings will fry.

CharlieWhiskey

Just getting used to my MY96.

I've noticed the 'roundabout' phenomenon, they just think "Where the F*** did you come from?", but a Vectra even tried to pass me round the inside (of the roundabout) tonight, needless to say he didn't get very far.

I'm trying to treat the turbo properly, giving it at least 5 minutes below 2000 revs before turning it off, and then only after I've done everything else like put the Disklock on and taken the front off the stereo.
One question though - do these Turbo Timers actually model the heat in the turbo? Being a final year Control student I know this should be possible.

Oh well, time for more revision!
Chris

[This message has been edited by CharlieWhiskey (edited 17-01-2000).]

V697DMO

not as far as i know, they just run for a crtain amount of time - more sophisticated ones might. I did hear a report on one that worked out how long to idle based on how you had been driving.

Question.
If I were to fit a TT (turbo timer) do I end up leaving my pride and joy sat there with the engine running and the keys in the ignition, albeit with the doors locked and the beeper in my hands ?

I think the answer is yes, in which case I don;t think I could do it, I really don't

DavidG

V697DMO, no you don't: you lock it up and set the alarm and the timer then shuts off the engine at the appropriate time (so the timer has to work with the alarm). I think a lot of people would find it difficult to walk away from the car with the engine still running. I know I would. I think also that insurance companies may have a problem with it. There may be something about this in the SIDC FAQ.

I usually just do what CharlieWhiskey does and potter around for a couple of minutes, putting the steering wheel lock on and just standing around enjoying the sound of the car . The time when you're most likely to forget to run the engine at low revs after boost is pulling into motorway services.

David

Robbie

Yeah you will pull 1g if you build revs up to around4.5k and then just dump the clutch - but in normal even heavy acceleration I doubt you would get that close the 1g - unless you are into abuse of yoru pride and joy

V697DMO

I do pretty much the same thing anyway, I think you're right about insurance, imagine the conversation

"so, sir!, you left the engine running and walked off to get the papers and have a pint and when you came your incredibly sexy and desirable car had gone, imagine my suprise, no we wont be paying you for your loss"

Does anyone have any experience of this with their insuarance co ?

Moz

Its worth remembering that you can crash a scoob just as easily as any other car the only difference is you will be travelling a lot faster if you do. Scoobs tend to instill confidence and so you might go that little bit faster around a well known corner, then next time faster still, and a bit faster, and the car will give an indication thats its reaching the limits of grip by drifting slightly which feels wonderful and you are colin macrae,great! so a bit faster the next time and you end up **** up in the hedge.
Not trying to put the dampers on things and I am sure you know your own limits, I didn`t and it nearly cost me my life, I speak from experience as a fool who thought he could drive well but couldn`t.
Fit the best tyres and brakes you can afford and look after them.

MorayMackenzie

Leaving a vehicle unattended with the engine running is an offence. The police could prosecute for this, so it ain't just the insurance companies that could have a problem.

Mind you, the car keys are with you, so the steering lock will engage if someone were to try to drive it away on the turbo timer. Also, the insurance company would have a problem with the turbo timer intefereing with the operation of the alarm system, which it is likely to do with any Cat One system worth it's salt.

Moray

drew

I would just like to echo what MOZ has said.
Be careful


Drew

RoShamBo

iTrader: (1)

As mentioned - The 4 pots on 99/00MY are OK but not great (as I found out a couple of weeks ago approaching a roundabout !!) no damage but scared me a bit.
Forget engine/styling mods - get some decent brakes - then have some REAL fun !!

PS - Cars in the rear view mirror will appear to be driving backwards at an alarming rate....this is quite normal.
BMW drivers seem to have this skill down to a tee !!

Ro

[This message has been edited by RoShamBo (edited 18-01-2000).]

bruceh

Moray & others,

Re leaving the engine running on a turbo timer.

With mine, you take the keys out, lock the car, set alarm etc. If you stay in the car, as soon as you engage a gear with the engine running just on the turbo timer and no keys in the ignition the engine cuts out, so no-one can actually drive it away without the keys. I can't see how Police/insurance companies can object to that. Or is that just being too sensible?

Also, it doesn't (on my setup at least) affect the alarm system at all. The alarm comes on as soon as you lock the car. All it does is "immobilise the immobiliser" for the time you set on the turbo timer. As soon as the engine cuts out the immobiliser also comes on.

[This message has been edited by bruceh (edited 18-01-2000).]

Carl Harvey

Re Turbo Timer

I have a HKS turbo timer fitted to a MY99. Fitting took 5 minutes.

Unfortunately you can not activate the alarm untill it has timed out.

My insurance company was still OK with this.

HKS say they are unable to sort it out properly, so be careful which you choose

MorayMackenzie

As Moz and co say,

Remember, "She canee break the laws of physics!", so try to keep it shiney side up and between the green bits!

Have fun.

Moray

CraigCH

Tip's for new drivers, I could do with a few myself!! Had the first service last Saturday and have already had all four wheels spinning resulting in a bit of sideways action. When that turbo comes in in first gear it certainly does fly. The road didn't look wet but I guess it must have been to spin all the wheels like that. The beauty of the car was even though at the time it scared the hell out of me,it was so easy to control and get back in a straight line.
I now know what you lot have been on about all this time. Massive grin factor!!!

DavidRB

Keep checking the speedo. I've found that it's very easy to approach roundabouts at an "unexpectedly rapid" rate.

Don Palmer

In days gone by I was an engineer specialising in engines. I now specialise in limit handling of cars.
Perhaps this might help, it's not just a simple story about engines and cars.

Turbo engines use exhaust gases to drive a fan (the turbine)
The fan is connected by a shaft to another fan (the compressor)
The shaft is normally mounted on fully floating plain bearings in a cast housing.
When the car is driven at high power, the exhaust gasses are very hot (up to 900C) and the turbine rotates very fast (up to and sometimes over 200,000 rpm yes 200,000 rpm). This means that the turbine impeller (fan) and the shaft on which it is mounted both get pretty hot.
The heat has to go somewhere.
It actually travels down the shaft and heats up anything in contact with the shaft. The oil in the plain bearings is the first thing it meets and since this is at engine temperature (and the shaft is connected to something that is in turn bathed in hot gases) it heats the oil up.
Fortunately the oil flows fast enough to take the heat away and plonk it in the sump.
And there is the rub.
This only happens when the engine is running!

Suppose you are running flat out.
Exhaust temperatures are very high, turbine temperatures are also very high. The oils system is designed to cope and it does so admirably.

For reasons unknown you scream to a halt, shut the engine off, lock the door and go for a beer.

The turbine is hot, the shaft is hot and there is only a residual amount of oil in the bearings. To make matters worse you haven't serviced the car and last time you cut corners and put inferior (cheap) oil in it.
The shaft temperature climbs until it matches the turbine temperature the oil does not flow (because the engine has stopped for a beer). The oil gets hot, very hot, in fact it cooks and turns into coke!
Lovely, the poor old bearings can't snort coke so they jam up there little passages and stop acting as bearings forming a solid unit with the housing and the shaft.
One or two beers later our intrepid driver returns to a car that is as flat as a witches tit!
It is a naturally aspirated low compression engine (relatively) with an ignition/fuel strategy that no longer works. There is no boost to tell it to up the fuel.

Unperturbed our intrepid driver doesn't even notice (he's slightly pissed remember).
First corner he goes for he or she is going too fast and has to lift off mid flow. The car then transforms itself from four wheel drive to no wheel drive.

And there is the second rub of the green!!!

The fact of the matter is that all vehicles become no-wheel drive when they go to neutral throttle or the driver de-clutches.

The scooby driver drives a fantastic chassis that is wonderful when the throttle is open. The limits of adhesion are actually embarrassingly good and far better than a mere motor car. When the limits are breached the scooby driver is going so ffast that control requires expert handling. The car helps out at a truly implausible level but it comes down to raw ability. (unfortunately some people just don't have that ability - yet).

Footnote:-
Never, ever, scrimp on the oil you put in a high performance engine. My all time reference oil is Mobil 1. I have driven a BMW 2.5i with over 1,000,000 certified miles on the clock the engine drove like a new car it ran on Mobile 1.

Campbell

Remember that although the Scoob can round the corners a good bit faster than your average bear, that stationary vehicle around a blind bend is just as stationary as it would have been had you came across it in your last car! No amount of good brakes could save you then...

But above all, do have fun...and get a Shell Reward Card, those Air Miles will soon clock up believe me ;-)

Campbell

MorayMackenzie

New Turbo drivers,

Ring that Don Palmer dude up and book yourself on one of his "The wetter the Better" wet limit handling days up at MIRA.

This costs less than a Scoobysport Backbox (or it did a couple of months ago!), is a b*o*dy good laugh and should be compulsory for high performance drivers. Much cheaper than an insurance excess and loss of NCB!

Moray
(Been there, done that, not yet got the T shirt, will be going again... )

MorayMackenzie

Oh, and it ups the car/new driver performance package much more than a mere (highly revered) backbox could.

If the scooby is your first powerful 4wd car, you need to do something like this to learn how to drive 4wd, they simply don't work like normal 2wd cars!

Oh, get the backbox, it's great, but do the course first!

Moray

SDB

It is incredible how everyone who goes on this course loves it so much they demand that other people go on it also..

All I can say is... remember when you were all taking the p*ss out of me for going on about it all the time????

Told you so!!!

Ner ner na ner ner!!!!



Moray
Well put.. You are dead right, this course will increase the performance of you and car so much more than ANY mod I can think of. I know I've just repeated what you said but it was so valid I thought I'd say it again!!

Cheers all

Simon

V697DMO

After 15 years of driving I am still learning, now I drive a scoob I learn faster. Info on this topic is great background reading, thanks for all the info