It feels very good, I’m impressed with the suspension refresh and the Superpro bushes in particular, they don’t make the car jiggly and give a very smooth ride overall, especially when cruising. It still feels very adjustable in corners. My understanding is that the difference between them and the Powerflex is the way they load up, Liam explained the science bit and advise the Superpro, I’m very pleased I went with them as this is one of the areas I was unsure of, of what ones to use. I had the Nitrons wound right back to full soft and that combination makes it compliant with not ideal road surfaces.
At last, in the dry I can use full throttle as opposed to the damp where any level of boost becomes interesting! I find I’m waiting that little bit longer in the bend before booting it compared to before as the surge of torque requires real patience. I don’t think it is ideal. A Stage 2 or below or an NA let you tip the car into the bend and get on the power early whilst you wind off throttle through the corner. What I found today was that I would hold off and wait until the car was mostly straight and then use the power, even then the car would start to wiggle at the rear and you could feel traction starting to break. I’m not sure if I can overcome this through better driving and getting more used to the car, again only time will tell as I feel my way into the car more.
Without a doubt, some of the finesse of the car has been bludgeoned out of it by the sheer torque. Anyone who says a stage 4 doesn’t take away some of the refinement and delicacy of driving around a corner is on crack in my view
I had a play with a Caterham, not sure what model, it kept with me reasonably well but it was obvious my car had more power to weight as I could pull away fairly easily especially at higher speeds, the extra power showed. Cornering wise my car held its quarter, but that is probably driver related rather than car as a Caterham will corner better than a VX.
I managed to get the vbox on it to get some data.
4.36 seconds to 60. I got near identical times on two runs trying more revs the second time and got much more wheel spin. The road was dry, a drop of 50 centimeters over that distance, I was on KU39s, air intake temp 21 degrees, ambient air temp about 7 degrees. I was sympathetic with the clutch on both runs rather than hammering it, first run was from 1,500 revs and feeding it in, the next was 2,500 and bringing the clutch up a bit more sharply but not abruptly. The combination of my mechanical sympathy and lack of launching talent tells me if murdering a clutch is your thing then my car might dip below 4, but who cares. For me the point of this is for comparison purposes with my Stage 2 to help show the difference to help people get a feel for the differences between a 2 and a 4. I have previously posted data on my stage 2, 0-60 launched with similar sympathy. The difference is over a second, it’s not overly scientific but gives a flavour.
2.8 seconds 50-80. It was either in 3rd or 4th gear, probably 3rd, I didn’t get the chance to do a 5th gear test but I think it will be quite slow as the revs are bogged down in 5th at about 1,800rpm and the pick up relatively slow in 5th until you’re at about 2,300, but I am ok with working through the gears to get the most out of the car. I'll dig out my stage 2 times for this as well.
It’s good fun, the sheer kick of power is quite something, I can blat past a car in almost bike like speeds. I certainly enjoyed my drive, the thrill and novelty put a big smile on my face. My current, early thinking on it is, it's fun however a stage 4 is a compromise and speed isn't everything. Modder beware is what I would say. Like all these changes, go in with your eyes open.
Edited by dw1, 17 February 2013 - 09:54 PM.
I was taken pax in Stuwys SC stage 2 today, which felt really good, much better than before, then took stuwy for a drive, both very different cars on the way the power is delivered.
Even on the motorway with a 4th gear pull test at 2k my turbo lag made a good match, only 4k upwards stg4 came in to its own.
As you have said above, stage 4 turbo does remove the safe zone on how you treat the a bend, starting the learning process all over again.
Its been well over a month from my last drive in mine, more so due to the weather stopping me taking it out
so are you happy you made the move?
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