View Full Version : Car Mods... Maxboost knows all lol
EuroDude
10-11-2006, 11:12 PM
Check it out...
Fame or Shame?
http://www.max-boost.co.uk/max-boost/gotchas/useless_mods.htm
yourfather
10-11-2006, 11:22 PM
makes some interesting points.
although, with the manifold design issue, it's proven that log cast manifolds can be inferior for turbo applications.
makes some interesting points.
although, with the manifold design issue, it's proven that log cast manifolds can be inferior for turbo applications.
:thumbsup:
he certainly does make some interesting points. Beware though ive come across this sight before though, and as yourfather points out some of his info is, well, simply not accurate/correct. He has no training/work experiance in the car industry, he is simply an enthusiast who decided to make a site. He is hardly a professional in any automotive area.
From his site
Who are you? A failed designer, a turbo martyr or a 15yr old hiding behind a PC?
None of the above. I've been involved in tuning for many years, starting at the very bottom: making mopeds go faster. Doesn't get lower than drilling holes on the airbox of a 50cc and going down the local straight hoping for an extra mph or two. At some later point I fell in love with a Kawasaki 750turbo, bought it new and got bitten by the turbo bug. Never looked back.
I've made more stupid mistakes than I'd care to count. Melted many pistons and spent lots of weekends in the garage rebuilding what I should have left alone in the first place. I learned a lot from my own mistakes - but that was the eighties. Now we have the internet, and people can learn from other people's mistakes. Cheaper.
For several years I've been on many forums (username JohnA). I've learned a few things from other enthusiasts and I feel it's only fair to give something back. If you feel that life is too short and this site is a big waste of someone's precious time on this planet, I admit to be sharing the same feelings from time to time...
But why would you know anything that 'big-time' tuners don't know? After all, they've got vast R&D facilities and you're just a bloke with a shed and a couple of wrenches!
Ah, but it's not just data from my own experiments and tests. A lot comes from other enthusiasts, many of whom contact me for advice/help/information.
His list of useless modifications actualy includes some rather usful mods too.
"Also beware that a free-flowing decat exhaust may induce smoking at idle and low loads, as it upsets the fine balance of airpressure on either side of the turbo bearing. A double-ring seal on the exhaust side of the turbo can address this issue, but it involves reconditioning it.
No easy plug-and-play power bonanza here then..."
hmmm, very common knowledge that most often the biggest restriction in a turbo engine is a restrictive exhaust, one of the recomended first mods to be undertaken. in modifying a turbo car :thumbdwn:
"Also beware that a free-flowing decat exhaust may induce smoking at idle and low loads, as it upsets the fine balance of airpressure on either side of the turbo bearing"
LMFAO any one here get a smoky exhaust by upgrading it lol.
hmmm upsets the fine ballence of air pressure either side of the turbo bearing during idle does it.......
"I've seen people spend over £1000 on a set of large wheels immediately after they've bought the car. Even before the first oil change. So keen are they to make it look kewl.
The problem is that the track rods and the wheel bearings were not designed for such wheels. The extra tyre surface produces extra loads, so after a few thousand miles things start to get wobbly as rubber mounts give up the ghost. These people don't make the connection with the fancy wheels, because the car had already been through a few previous owners, and it's easier (and logical!) to blame them (along with the age of the car, of course!)"
aftermarket Lightweight rims provide benifits in many ways
1. less rotational mass - helps power to the ground
2. less unsprung mass - helps keep tyres planted to the ground also makes the suspension work more effieciently
3. less rotational inertia - same effect as spinning a bike wheel when holding the axel, try turning it, you can feel it resist. this effect increases with increased mass.
wider wheels wont add extra force to the bearings in the vertical plane thats just silly. if he means the extra grip from wider wheels will increase forces to the bearing during hard cornering, then he is correct. but the this is like saying "dont use grippy tyres, they will dammage your bearings and ruin your bushes from the greater forces experianced in the suspension":thumbdwn:
"Lowering
Most of these kits are a bit too generic (say for the 'Calibra') although the weight distribution of the 8v is quite different to that of the V6 or the turbo. So sometimes after the kit has been fitted properly, the car looks funny. Even if this is addressed with adjustable kits, the rear propshaft and the rear differential end up at an uncomfortable angle in relation to the transfer box. The effects of this stress may not be immediate, but it all adds up.
More sophisticated punters go out and buy camber kits, to address some of these stresses on the driveshafts. But that's patching up something that could have been left alone in the first place. As costs escalate and the tyre wear pattern looks dodgy, CV boots start to split, rollbar mounts crack or snap, trackrods play the samba, the tx box builds up psychological pressure and the drops from the steering rack are not tears of joy.
On the upside, the car looks mean. Hitting a pothole (even at low speeds) can damage the delicate ultra-low-profile tyres and even shatter the trick alloy wheels. The cost of replacing these tyres can be 2-3 times the cost of the stock 205/50/16 ones. And on these cars you cannot even change two tyres - they all have to go in a set of 4. Is it worth the aggro?
There is an argument that a lowered car has better aerodynamics, because the frontal area is smaller. This is correct up to a point (the airflow underneath is also very important), but these people more than make up for this advantage with the wider tyres. (Remember that the stock turbo had Cd=0.29 compared to the original Calibra with Cd=0.26. This was mainly down to wider tyres, different wheels and the air intake where the FMIC normally sits)
He obviously has no idea the main reason for lowering is to lower the height of center of gravity to reduce weight transfer. He makes no mention about the worst effect of "slamming" a car too low - the lowering of the cars roll center to a not so optimal position.
Any one here lower there car to reduce drag?.......
"the tx box builds up psychological pressure" He's right there guys, its all in the tx' boxes mind lol.
"More sophisticated punters go out and buy camber kits, to address some of these stresses on the driveshafts. But that's patching up something that could have been left alone in the first place."
lol most people use camber kits to adjust the camber. Dosnt make any changes to driveshaft angles/stresses......
"Hitting a pothole (even at low speeds) can damage the delicate ultra-low-profile tyres and even shatter the trick alloy wheels. The cost of replacing these tyres can be 2-3 times the cost of the stock 205/50/16 ones. And on these cars you cannot even change two tyres - they all have to go in a set of 4. Is it worth the aggro? "
Lowering a car wont make it any easier to dammage wheels and tyres, thats just plan rubbish, and id love to know where he gets this info from.
you have to replace four tyres at once, cant just to two at once???? Um theres nothing wrong with replacing just the front or rear sets of tyres independinatly as im sure everyone here knows.
Spoilers
The large, garish, Fast&Furious spoilers are much worse.
correction the "fast and furious spoilers" are actually wings, they perform a completly different function to spoilers.
The purpose of a spoiler, when it comes to airflow, is exactly what is says on the tin: to spoil the airflow. This can be done so that an undesirable vortex is minimised at the back of the car (box-shaped hot-hatches are a good example).
correct spoilers effects the airflow in a desired manner which in turn reduces drag.
It can also be done in exchange of downforce at high speeds. These spoilers are like inverted aeroplane wings, and the well-designed ones can typically create 20-30kgs of downforce at high speeds (well over 100mph).
Thats aero wings, completly different to spoilers.
Unfortunately they are also retrofitted to cars which cannot even reach those speeds, but they just obstruct the rear view. Some are even totally flat, incapable of creating any downforce at all - they just make the poor car look like a jet fighter in the eyes of the sad owner.
It's all down to personal taste, of course, lets just don't pretend that there are sound technical reasons behind cosmetic botches.
hes spot on here. a wing on a street car for downforce is completly useless. ul never reach the speeds where it becomes noticibly useful. Only adds drag, and changes looks of car.
Next section - manifolds
im not gunna go into this, but hes basically saying a manifolds a manifold, they all get the air to where it needs to go. Thats simplifying things way beyond reason. As yourfather pointed out, and has been proven the world over, different manifolds provide vastly different results.
turbo timers are usless, lol jees im starting to feel sick, please dont listen to this guys, its extremy poor poor advice. hes saying all turbos these days are watercooled and thatll remove the heat when the engines off, hate to say it but the water stops flowing when the engines shut down = no cooling.
im gunna leave it here i could go on for hours, this guys just adding more poor info to the internet, that some poor sucker is gunna belive word for word, and start spreading out into forums to others keen to learn. he has no place trying to tell people how to mod there cars, he is far from knowldgabe. Im only 19 and found so many holes in his info that it completly astounds me that he has put together such a comprehensive site, based completly from what he has discovered in his garage and from info in forums from other enthusiests.
saxman
11-11-2006, 07:16 AM
turbo timers are usless, lol jees im starting to feel sick, please dont listen to this guys, its extremy poor poor advice. hes saying all turbos these days are watercooled and thatll remove the heat when the engines off, hate to say it but the water stops flowing when the engines shut down = no cooling.
now personally, I agree turbo timers are useless.... but not for the above mentioned reasons. Imo, turbo timers are just there to keep you from having to properly cool down the car. It's not hard to just drive easy the last few miles, or at least be sre you're not boosting the motor into your driveway. A turbo timer can very easily be replaced with good driving habits, which will help prolonge more than just the turbo.
You'd never see someone at the track driving a hard as they can and just pull into the pits and turn the car off... You gotta give it a chance to cool down if you're driving hard.
It's not hard to just drive easy the last few miles, or at least be sre you're not boosting the motor into your driveway. A turbo timer can very easily be replaced with good driving habits, which will help prolonge more than just the turbo.
You'd never see someone at the track driving a hard as they can and just pull into the pits and turn the car off... You gotta give it a chance to cool down if you're driving hard.
Yeah thats true:thumbsup: couldnt agree more
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.2 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.