Steve Holmes

I have just bought an STi8 with PPP and was wondering whether all the hype about Turbo Timers was no moe than just sales hype. If you do believe in them, which one would you use?

Do they affect the warranty or not?

Cheers guys.

[Edited by Steve Holmes - 3/27/2003 5:49:52 PM]

harvey

iTrader: (48)

Personally think they are unnecessary. Their purpose is to maintain an oil supply to the turbine shaft bearings as the turbine slows down. The alternative is to drive off boost for the last few minutes of your journey so turbine RPM is not an issue when the engine is switched off.
See no reason why it should affect warranty but the money would be better spent on a boost guage or a dual guage from SPA, one of which would be boost.

Steve Holmes

SPA???

Who are they? I have also been l;ooking at these but I believe you put them were the clock on the dash is.

Nice to see 1000 posts :-)

terzo42

i remember someone saying that your insurance is void with a tt but that maybe isnt true

Brun

If you spend a bit more cash on a TT then you will find other functions are available.
If you are talking about a run of the mill TT then IMO it's not worth it. A bit of sense with the cool down is just the ticket.
Some insurance companys will also have an issue with the car having the ability to run minus keys.

CataIunya

Look for £60 + and ability to also monitor AFR like mine does (Apexi) or boost hks/blitz etc you cant go far wrong. They come into their own stopping at a motorway service station, cash machine or warming your car up of a morning.....Money well spent IMO also the pose factor of walking away from your car and it switching itself off rulez....

Riftzone

waste of time. not many people have a spirited drive just before turnin off. most have a 30 zone to negotiate - far better for cooling than stood on a drive for 3 mins with engine running imho...

Marky-San

I have one and its never an issue, except when someone else drives and puts it into a switches off.

Cant do any harm can it? Pose factor is cool as though - great for heating car up on cold morning. Plus fact is that steering lock is on so some aint going very far if they are daft enough to try.

dhorwich

riftzone,

what about if your driving on the motorway at 70+..?? and you need to pull into a petrol station of services..???

My 'automatic' turbo timer, i.e it calculates from speed and RPM signals at the ECU how long to leave the engine running and from the drive described above it leaves the engine running for 2.5-3 mins..!!

Dan

FERRARINUTTER

Drive home for 1 mile not using the turbo and save £150............

Chris.Palmer

With regards to the initial question of warranty - I don't think this is amajor issue, however, SECURITY is.

Unfortunately most Insurance Underwriters require at least a CAT 1 alarm & in some circumstances a Tracker too.

Currently, the introduction of a Turbo Timer, contravines CAT 1 approval.

IMHO - this is purely because the technology of alarms etc has moved faster than the CAT1 guidlines - however - sh1te though they are - these are their rules.

Chris

Scooby + Turbo Timer + CAT1

M0NEY

Ive got the clifford turbo timer working from my clifford alarm. So i can put the alarm on and turbo timer and its all ok

However with the clifford, it doesnt come on everytime which is good. Sometimes you go up to the petrol station, you dont need a turbo timer! When i go to switch off the car, i push a little button and the timer goes on. i can get out the car and lock up and walk away. It is set for approx 2 mins but if i feel that its had enough time (ie 30 secs), i can switch of the turbo timer while still walking away.

hail-hail

Might be worth mentioning that's it's illegal to leave a car running unattended on the road, regardless if the keys are in it or not.
I haven't heard of anyone being done, but it is a possibility.

harvey

iTrader: (48)

On motor-way cruise even a long way beyond 70mph my car is not on boost when driven sensibly. There is no need to leave an engine ticking over wasting fuel unless you drive like a boy racer prior to shutdown in which case you can fit illuminated screen washers at the same time.
Now if you need a turbo timer for poser value that is fine but knowing what is going on in your engine might be more important to some people and a boost guage is a good starting point.

chiark

Two pedantic points... Up to you to decide whether they're worth ignoring for the very, very, very small benefit

It is illegal to leave a car's engine running whilst the car is unattended.

Fitting a turbo timer affects the immobilisation of your alarm and invalidates the thatcham cat 1 certification of your alarm.

There's no debate about those - they're factual as far as I know. Whether your insurers or the police would actually care is another matter entirely

scooby_si

im getting one of those DEFI HUD jobbies that is boost gauge & TT although since im guna sell car in 6 months or so i may well just not bother with installing the TT as more often than not i give a more than sizable cool down time. But i will stick it on the next scoob although this has nothing to do with posing i hope u understand lol
I was also under impression that the TT wood contravene sum laws & possibly also CAT1 but when i mentioned it 2 insurance co she just said oh no it's OK yer cover 4 all mods anyway, this i know & is all good but i cant help but think half the muppets on end of the line dont no wot yer on about anyway, call me a sceptic
Si

DazW

iTrader: (1)

Chiark,

Its actually illegal to leave an unattended vehicle running 'on the public highway' ...& dont I trust leaving my car on those anyway!

If your worried about '*******' breaking in & blasting off while your TT is running- just try it yourself & see what happens when you touch the handbrake

Invalidating your Cat1 is true, but only when the TT is actually on. I asked this when having my Clifford & Tracker fitted around my Blitz TT & was still given my Cat1 cert afterwards

Do I use mine? nah, cant be ar$ed, as stated above its easier to just take it easy for the last couple of miles & dont use any boost.

DazW

CrisPDuk

I use mine for pre-heating the car on cold mornings & posing at the pub
It doesn't matter whether your car is turbocharged or N/A, you should always have a couple of miles slowish cooling off before parking & switching off. The transmission is far more vulnerable to heat related failure than the engine.

BTW, the good TT's detect if someone is trying to use the car & switch off.

chiark

Cheers for the update Daz, squirrelled away into the tiny pool of knowledge .

DazW

iTrader: (1)

Mines more like a puddle

Steve Holmes

Cheers guys,

me thinks that I'll leave it for now based on the Cat1/Tracker issues.

M0NEY

I havent heard about the cat/tracker issues? Told my insurance and they were fine.

Why would clifford make a turbo timer for their alarms if it makes their alarm and immobiliser invalid???

dhorwich

harvey,

I know you no your stuff, but surly the turbo is spinning even if your traveling on the motorway at 70mph+... and a sudden stop i.e at a motorway service station cant be good for the turbo.

Anyway mine is mainly for:

1. Vehicle Speed / Speed peak hold display function

2. Vehicle Speed warning function

3. Engine rpm / rpm peak hold display function

4. Engine rpm warning function, setting able to be made in 2 points (shift up indicator / red line indicator)

5. Distance / Time: Acceleration measurement:
0-100m, 0-200m, 0-400m & Section time: 200-400m & Speed attain time: 0-100km/h, 0-150km/h, 0-200km/h & Acceleration time: 50-100km/h, 100-150km/h & Auto start and manual start function

6. Stopwatch measurement: Time measurement; Multiple Lap time measurement; 4 digit display for the measurement time / 0.01sec display; Large 40mm x 9mm liquid crystal display panel - Blue LCD back-lighting / Red flashing LCD warning and countdown function

Dan

harvey

iTrader: (48)

Hi Dan: The turbo will spin up to some rediculous figure like 60,000rpm or is it 80,000rpm on full boost and will take a few minutes for the spindle to stop rotating/free wheeling when the engine is shut down. Hence the potential application for a turbo timer. On light load and off boost the turbine is not being driven by the boost pressure and any rotation is relevantly negligible. On some turbos you can actually hear the shaft coming to a stop as you open the door to get out, so ther is no point in leaving the engine running.
I am impressed with all these extra features you have and would like to see how they are displayed when we meet at Elvington on Sunday. Cheers.

dhorwich

harvey,

The only down side to the features... the instructions are in japanese...!! and i dont have a clue how to use some of the..!

I can do most of them i.e 1/4 time e.t.c

If anything it makes a nice interior light..

Dan

[Edited by dhorwich - 3/29/2003 10:12:02 AM]