26 replies to this topic

[MAXR]

...An honest appraisal DW1! I fully understand. I have always said that Stage 2 around 260 horses (not cows!) is a perfect balance of control, balance & power. I never wanted any more power, but like you did, I too got carried away watching others boosting their car's to stage 3's now stage 4, which made me crave for more, more, more. For a road biased SC VX, there is NO benefits in getting more power than a stage 2, unless boasting is more important than the driving. Throw damp or rain into the equation (which seems like most of the year!) & a stage 2 would be a far better & safer drive. However, there are benefits on track of going to stage 3/4, not massive though. IMO most drivers will of course use the extra power to go quicker around the track, that's a given. But from what I've seen, that's just giving them a couple of car length's down each straight. I find driving in a straight line with foot to the floor boring, it doesn't do anything for me! What's more important to me, is using 100% of the available power your car has wherever possible & to learn how to enter & exit each corner onto the straights as fast as you possibly can. Bumblebee quoted "It's only as fast as you wanna drive it, drive it softly, its a normal car" Well, of course that's true! but IMO using a slowish car to it's maximum is far more rewarding for the driver! Max

[Rickwoo118]

...An honest appraisal DW1! I fully understand.

I have always said that Stage 2 around 260 horses (not cows!) is a perfect balance of control, balance & power. I never wanted any more power, but like you did, I too got carried away watching others boosting their car's to stage 3's now stage 4, which made me crave for more, more, more.

For a road biased SC VX, there is NO benefits in getting more power than a stage 2, unless boasting is more important than the driving. Throw damp or rain into the equation (which seems like most of the year!) & a stage 2 would be a far better & safer drive.

However, there are benefits on track of going to stage 3/4, not massive though. IMO most drivers will of course use the extra power to go quicker around the track, that's a given. But from what I've seen, that's just giving them a couple of car length's down each straight. I find driving in a straight line with foot to the floor boring, it doesn't do anything for me! What's more important to me, is using 100% of the available power your car has wherever possible & to learn how to enter & exit each corner onto the straights as fast as you possibly can.

Bumblebee quoted "It's only as fast as you wanna drive it, drive it softly, its a normal car" Well, of course that's true! but IMO using a slowish car to it's maximum is far more rewarding for the driver!

Max

Good post max.

[mbes2]

Bloodly VX modding lol

[rob999]

And that's why lotus drivers love their 118bhp motors. You love modding Mark....

[Zoobeef]

Anyone I've spoken to with low boost maps. Use the switch as a gimik when they first get it then switch to high and leave it there.

[dw1]

The more I drive the car, the more I am starting to learn it better and to get to grips with its characteristics and how I have to adjust my driving style. I knew it was going to be different but I didn't realise just how different it was going to be. It really is like getting a new car and having to learn it all over again, with the exception that you already know some of its handling characteristics.

Going back over the data I logged on the fantastic run I had two weekends ago in the dry, it's starting to blow my mind and explain why the car feel so different. Here are the only two runs I did where I wanted to do a rare 0-60 test to understand the delta from my car at Stage 2. I still don't know the bhp of the car now and don't really care. These data tests show real world performance and help give an idea as a reference point.



You can see that on the blue run I got a slower start, I remember I had some wheelspin. To me what is interesting and really magnifies the new characteristics of the car is at higher speeds. You'll see that I did a very lazy gear change to third in both tests just after 60mph as I was only thinking about logging a 0-60 test, then I put my foot back down and even still the car is hitting 80 in 6.9 seconds.

It's this sheer force of shove that means you can no longer treat the car like you used to. When going to a Stage 2 you get a big increase in power but you don't have to significantly adjust the way you drive. Now the car demands that you do.

The more I'm driving it and learning it, the more I'm liking it.

Edited by dw1, 28 February 2013 - 09:47 AM.

[mbes2]

haha wait till you get that feeling that you want more!! then it scares you