Survey - Gtec1 users please input your finding.

It would be interesting to know what proportion of Gtec1 users have had no problems, even without a PRV or pressure gauge.

By 'On its own' I mean without introducing a PRV or other non-standard means of regulating turbo boost pressure.

I have a Gtech1 chip.

In answer to your question I did experience issues without a PRV or Boost Gauge. Your in the dark without these parts in my opinion.

When I first got it fitted I didn't have a PRV or boost gauge but felt the car spiking. So took the chip out again until I did have a boost gauge, it was spiking to about 1.3/1.4 bar Took it back out again until I had a PRV. Now it's set to 1 bar all the time.

Oh and its a new engine

I fitted my boost gauge, PRV and GTEC together so have no experience of running it on the original EBV. As it seems to be running ok as it is (apart from leaking dump valve) I think I will leave it.

Not much of a questionaire without specific question and a choice of answers, but I had a G-Tech and it boost was fluctuating all over the place at first. IIRC it didn't boost over 1.3bar. PRV sorted it all out.

hello,

Gtec1 with stock EBV>>problems!

gtec1 with electronic boots controler>>works fine!!

G-Tec 1 for about a year, no issues with the ebv spiking to 1.2-1.3bar all gears.

Why not just contact Graham,he will know of any issues people have had in the past after fiting the chip, and the likely `fixes`,really helpfull and very very knowledgeable,it`s best talking to the guy who made them

That's true. I was hoping a moderator would be able to set up a proper questionnaire for us. Divide contributors into two categories - those who did and did not use the Gtech1 on its own. Then see what percentage in each category experienced chip-related problems.

Is it possible to set this up?

You wanted us to do all of the above from your original post

The polls that we currently have are not that sophisticated I don't think.. but I shall check

If its any use, i used the gtech1 on a stnd car and had no problems. Fitted a prv and boost gauge after advice rather than problem.

Ross

Enforcer this is the best that I can come up with unless Kayjey knows of anything else. We can't do a two tier poll if that make sense

Great stuff - thanks for that.





No, of course not! I was just making a general proposal to see what response it attracted. Thanks.

i fitted mine about two years ago with no probs, should have really fitted a boost gauge etc but never got round to it,

Enforcer stop being a wuss and get yourself a chip!

b@ll@x. This is interesting!

It's already looking like it is hardly necessary - certainly not dangerous - to have the Gtec1 with no gauge or non-standard boost control. Suits the idle ones among us.

/\

had a gtec1 with standard ebv and no problems but did experience varying levels of boost spike, anywhere from 1.3 -1.5 bar.

could be worth temporarily rigging up a boost gauge to see if your car experiences this (ive seen people just stick one with gaffer tape to the outside of the windscreen for temp. purposes). Cheap and very easy to do.

it might be worth installing a boost gauge anyway of course, if you keep the standard ebv as it can alert you if for any reason the ebv fails or sticks, or if you have a boost leak etc.

Point taken - so here we go again:

Which boost gauge is cheap, reasonably reliable and easy to use?

Fitting a PRV and a boost gauge hardly takes any time!

I wouldn't bother with a gtech without a PRV or other boost control. The PRV really transforms the spool up.

So this is interesting. Depending on how you interpret the statistics, you can say any of the following with confidence:

1. Installing extras with the chip is infinitely less risky.

2. Installing extras with the chip is approximately 20% more reliable

3. Within a reasonable margin of error, there's no discernable difference.

/\

fitting any boost gauge is really easy.

there are two wires which make the thing light up, just tee them into the dash lights.

and a length of vacuum hose which gets tee'd into the bit of vacuum hose which goes into the fuel pressure regulator. This is pretty much the last place it can take a reading from, and gives you more of an accurate idea what pressure is going through the engine.

the hardest part is working out where you want to put the thing. lots of people put one where the clock is, but personally i like my clock, so have a nomad racing a pillar pod and an equus gauge. The numbers on the gauge are printed in a similar style to the font used for the speedo etc so it all looks OE -ish. The pod itself replaces the whole a-pillar trim and has the same 'pattern' as the original, rather than looking like its just been 'stuck on'

as for ease of use, well just glance at it as you are going along. if the needle goes too high (i.e over 1.2bar or 17psi depending on which your particular gauge indicates)), simply make 1 turn of the prv and try again.

without a prv or similar, the guage can flicker up to 1.5 then drops to 1.2 ish, which indicates the ebv is slow to respond.

with a prv it'll just go straight to 1.2 (or whatever its set at) and stay there untill it starts to drop off towrd the end of the rev range, which is what you want.

if you dont like the idea of using a mechanical prv (posibly due to the fact the ebv has some saftey features, where the ecu can lower the boost if it detects anything wrong) there are uprated ebv's available, which'll give you the best of both worlds, without the extra hassle (with setting it up and having to find yet more space to mount the thing) of getting a full boost controller. IIRC the uprated ebv cost around £90, but i cant remember who from. (JohnS could tell you more about this if you are interested.

Sorry for the essay!

hope it helps

yes, thanks a lot for that. very helpful.



Just don't ever say anything like that again!

I am being a wuss, Aren't I!

Where's Graham? I only hope he appreciates all the positive publicity I am giving him.

Yes you are! Don't mess about though - get a gauge, chip and PRV (<£100) and you will never look back :).

Its SOOOO simple to fit. But get a good quality gauge (like an Autometer - which you can get from redline).

W

hhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmm let me think about that ???


YUP

So give me specific recommendations - please! Links!

Oooh - he's such a tease!

Autometer Gauges HTH

Now you are being a wuss AND being lazy...

GrahamL - Gtech1: £25/£35.

Jap - PRV £14.99 delivered.

Autometer Pro-Comp <£50 buy from http://www.realsteel.co.uk/

Nomad Pod £70

Job done.

Can't (be bothered to) find a link to one for sale but I got an Autometer Carbon Fiber Ultra Lite 30psi vacuum boost gauge (4703) as here

Oh and the Nomad pod as well to mount it in. It really is simple to install, Rog basically told me to sod off and do it my self when i asked him to fit mine. It took minutes and works a treat. Go the whole hog and get the PRV while you're at it. Nice easy 25bhp and peace of mind to boot.

Just to add my input, did the lazy thing and got Powerfiat to fit the Gtech, standard apart from air filter and exhaust and bailey dv36... 1.2 bar boost sustained, peak boost 1.25, runs loads better... But will fit a boost gauge, no point being in the dark... Think the Dump valve helps as I reckon the standard plastic ones will logically degrade with time...

Ouch! That really hurts, Warnysouth. I hope you're satisfied!

Actually, I was going to ask someone to pop round and do the job for me ..... but

I have reverted back to the standard chip, could not find any pictures showing where to fit the t-connector for the boost gauge. Also completely in the dark with fitting the PRV.
Yes that's right I don't know what a Fuel Pressure regulator looks like...There have been a few of us less mechanical minded asking for help and perhaps the odd photo showing the PRV/T-peice fitted and unfortunately there's been no replies.
Must not grumble I think you're just trying to save my engine.

Well, that is pretty interesting set of results. Any more to contribute?

Having said that, mine is going like a rocket at the moment. Maybe it already has been chipped up! I should have a look.

Interesting results.

It seems most people are either fitting the chip along with a PRV/EBC from the start, are fitting a PRV/EBC almost immediately after fitting the chip due to the "boost pulsing" problem, or else have no problems with boost at all after fitting the chip without a PRV/EBC.

I'm still getting very little feedback on people suffering the "boost pulsing" issue (although slightly more recently than say 2-3 years ago) possibly because they know in advance that they may have to fit a PRV/EBC.

As I said in the other thread, have just sent the guy in France who had the "boost pulsing" problem 4 slightly modified Gtec1 chips, each with different boost/overboost maps, so hopefully will have another option to try soon for those with spiking boost who would prefer to have boost under control of the ECU/EBV.

I have heard that fitting a PRV make the boost very OFF then ON..... and not smooth at all especially when the GTech raises boost.

From reading peoples posts over 5 years i have not installed one but when they work well they seem to work best with the original boost controller (but some times this doesnt work well and a PRV is called for) They also seems to work excellent with electronic boost controllers although these are costly.

Any boost alterations should have a good boost guage fitted so you are aware of what is happening with your own car.

My Gtec 1 has been fine, nice smooth boost, fuelling etc. was fine on the RR, it does 'shunt' a bit if you lift off as the boost comes in, but then its always done that even standard

the standard EBV was faulty so it wasnt holding the boost but i wasnt getting any spikes...with the prv on its fine.

fitting a gizzmo IBC next week tho so will see what effect that has.

its worth remembering that to get a peak boost reading on your gauge you need to be labouring the engine in 4th or 5th, its no use revving the nuts off it as you would driving normally.

Got the feedback on the 4 slightly modified Gtec1's and one of them has completely fixed the boost pulsing, on that one coupe at least.

As I found before, this was achieved by raising the overboost level slightly, this allows more headroom between the sustained and overboost levels and therefore more time for the overboost to settle before falling back to the sustained boost level.

All new Gtec1 chips will have this slightly modified overboost map from now on.

If anyone is running an original Gtec1 with an EBV (rather than electronic boost controller or PRV, where the chip has no control over boost) and is having boost pulsing problems then they can contact me for a free upgrade to the new version, which should at least reduce or hopefully eliminate this problem.

Bit late to jump on the band wagon but....

I've had all 3-4 options tried on my car at some point.

first I went for Chip and no boost Gauge. Worked fine, noticed a big difference in acceleration from 2nd gear upwards.

Then I got used to the power so fitted a Boost Gauge to see what was boosting at. It ran to a max of 1.4-5 very briefly when floored then settled dwn to 1bar before dropping below 1bar towards the top of the rev range.

Then fitted a PRV and set it to 1.2bar. Much better hold of boost. Only disadvantage was that it was very much 'boost off' then suddenly 'boost on' which makes the ride quite jerky, but fun.

Using the car daily I got fed up with this on/off boost so cleaned standard EBV and re-connected it up. Again boost spiked quite high at1.4bar but this was really brief before it settled down 1bar ish again. The ride was very much smoother but lacked the 'head back in seat' feeling from the GTECH.

I ran this for about 2months before swapping back to the PRV and living with the fact that it is quite harsh on acceleration but very quick.

I would like the acceleration a bit smoother TBH but without sacrificing the extra power the GTECH gives.

had gtech 1 with filter and bailey dv for about 3 months and all was fine. Then got round to fitting a gauge after that just to keep an eye on things. Just go for it.

I have fitted the Gtec 1 along with a boost gauge running the standard ebv and I get boost fluctuations from 3rd gear upwards. It overboosts to around 1.3 and then goes down to 0.9 and then goes back up to around 1.1 about half a second later. I did clean the ebv as shown on the forum somewhere which seemed to stop it from happening all the time, but it does still do it.

Note that I used to only see 0.8 bar as standard, which I'm sure isn't right.

Dan