Re: Macboom

[Dave Lawson <dlawson@digitalglobe.com>]

>
 >I think this is very important, so I am trying to include this caveat with 
 >any posts I make on the subject.  Anyone that is considering modifying
their
 >turbo car to increase the maximum amount of boost that is produced by the 
 >engine needs to realize that these mods do increase the risk of catastophic

 >failure of components in the engine, and furthermore some modifications 
 >alter the effectiveness of the self-preservation mechanisms that were 
 >designed into the engine.  We have a lot of evidence that the risk is
fairly
 >small, but we shouldn't kid ourselves into thinking it is zero.  Proceed 
 >with brain engaged ... and HAVE FUN ... 
  >>

I will second that too...  Beyond 2.0PR, you better do things based on
knowlege, not the addiction for more is better, cuz it ain't....  I can share
that beyond 2.0 PR on a stock audi turbo, you are increasing the INefficiency
of the turbo, and creating a huge back pressure wave on close throttle,
decreasing the life of the turbo as well as the engine....
>

I can't re-state the above strongly enough. Sooner or later it's going to start
happening, and the people who have stepped up to the plate should be ready.

About 6 years or so ago, my friend and I developed an equivalent of an SK 
mod for our ur-q's. We basically messed around with the pressure tranducer 
output voltage, as most every mod out there does. The result was pretty 
amazing and very addictive. We logged around 20k miles on the mod, but then
pulled the mods. My friend sold his car and I wasn't sold that this was the 
correct solution. (In my opinion, an EPROM is the way to go.) Anyways another
local ur-q owner, asked if he could have the mod installed on his car. We said 
sure, backed it down a bit to make it safer and installed it. In <1000 miles he 
blew the head on his 1984 ur-q. It had 80k miles on it. I know for a fact that many
83 and 84 ur-qs blow the heads (ie crack them) around 70-90k miles and this
mod could have just accelerated what was impending fate, but it really sucks 
being associated with a terminal failure like this. He knew the risk he was taking, 
but looking back on it, it still sucks.

The above is in part why I never bought a mod from the known providers years ago.
When you ask, how it is implemented and are all the factory safegauards still intact, 
the result is no. And because of this, I have searched for a solution which offered 
increased performance and still had the safety checks there. I believe a correctly 
executed EPROM will provide this. I would rather be at 1.9 bar and know I have
a safety net.

While I'm sitting in the rocking chair re-counting old tales, here's one about making 
sure all the sensors and such are operating correctly. When a friend bought a 
certain 83 ur-q, we noticed in the records that the engine was rebuilt it 85 or so
and the car only had 30k miles on it. He contacted the shop to investigate the work
performed and get the story. It turns out the air temp sensor on this ur-q had gone 
bad. The owner was told to park the car until it was replaced, but instead he headed
into the mountains. During his journey, kaboom!, holed piston. The result was 
$5k worth of engine work. And a very strong rebuilt engine, even while stock, 
right thompers?

As my public service, I just want people to be aware of what they are doing and
the possible results of their decisions, both positive and negative. While driving
the big boost road, be aware that there are land mines...
-
Dave