Owners of modded turbo's

Buzzark · Post by **Buzzark** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:17 pm

To those who've had Rich mod their ECU and possibly other upgrades:

How fast does it make the turbo?
If the standard car is 9 secs to 60, how much are we knocking off that adding going from 120bhp to 170bhp?

As a last 480 fling, I'm looking at going this route and want to know if it'll give me what I'm looking for compared to alternative motors I could choose instead.

Thanks guys.

catgroom · Post by **catgroom** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:21 pm

Hey!

It makes your 480 a completely different car mate,completely.

In short,because he's unlocked so much torque,it feels more like driving a 2.2/2.3 litre 480 to me.You do feel the boost quite considerably if you floor it.

I found a blue ECU for a member a few months back,so I whacked it in to see if it worked and what it used to be like.

The old one felt absolutley shite in comparison,I was bored within about a minute!

It is bar none the best Â£80 I have ever spent,on a car that is.

It should cost,relatively speaking,Â£400 plus.If you feel what it does,you'll know!

Come over and you can test mine if ya like???

Steve.

Murf · Post by **Murf** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:52 pm

i can confirm, by fook its quick!
i havent measured 0-60 cos i'm not all that fussed about that, i think 9 secs for the standard car is fairly conservative anyway!

Roo had a shot of mine on sat, ask him about what difference he felt!

martinholmesuk · Post by **martinholmesuk** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 9:00 pm

massive diff over stardard. On my T2 i used to just spins the wheels for 15 feet before I got grip.

Now on a T25 the lag is more but much more power.

Buzzark · Post by **Buzzark** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 9:02 pm

I'm asking because I test drove a Golf VR6 today - please don't shout at me!
I was truely gobsmacked how much grunt it has. I still like the 480 though and there's johnd's on the market (maybe) and that one on eBay down south.

I've had a standard turbo a few years ago and it didn't really have that much more go than my 2.0 (going from memory, these things are a bit subjective).

The 480 is the much cheaper option, but I'm just looking for the best smile bringer.
Oh, also, how visable is the ECU mod?

Murf · Post by **Murf** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 9:04 pm

Oh, also, how visable is the ECU mod?

not at all, you cant tell its been done. all richard does is reprogram the EEPROMS inside the ECU.

there is simply no contest between my modded turbo and my 2 litre celebration. the turbo blows it away!!

martinholmesuk · Post by **martinholmesuk** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 9:28 pm

Blows away most cars.

tobi480turbo · Post by **tobi480turbo** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 9:54 pm

Hi !

I think a modded 480 means lotÂ´s of phun

IÂ´ve benn at the rolling road some weeks ago and IÂ´ve ~200Hp at the moment ant ~ 352Nm of torque

It sureley could be a lot more but so far itÂ´s very nice driving with it ! probably IÂ´m going to give my 480 a 3" coplete stainless exhaust system to see if I can gain some more power/torque at the higher revs ( but need the money for it at first ).

If you search a little bit arround here all the mods IÂ´ve done can be seem here ... mostly with pics and descriptions

Cheers

Tobi

barlar · Post by **barlar** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 9:57 pm

HereÂ´s one more who has a Rich mod in Sweden. ItÂ´s installed quite recently and I thought IÂ´d ask you guys a few things. ItÂ´s still adapting to the new settings I think, but it seems very hard to get high boost on the first three gears (when "going through" them). At the end of third gear I have about 0.7 bar. The best way to get a quick spool up and high boost is to floor it from say about 2700 in fourth or fifth. When changing gears and revs begin at 3500 or 4000 the boost canÂ´t seem to reach more than 0.7-0.8 before redline.

But I must add that it is in fact a totally different (read more fun) car now with the mod and I recommend it to veryone with a turbo!

/Lars

catgroom · Post by **catgroom** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 10:15 pm

I have driven flat out against a Mondeo ST200 and a Vectra 2.5 V6.Its an exact match for Vectra,slightly better between 70 and 100 mph than the Mondeo actually!

Buzzark · Post by **Buzzark** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 10:58 pm

Oooh what to do! Nuts.

I'd want to keep it otherwise pretty standard, but the ECU mod combined with the skinny light weight of the 480 compared to more modern alternatives sounds like a good combination.

There's nobody nearish (or maybe not that near) Stockport/Manchester able to show me what's on tap is there?

Lol - why are life's MOST important decisions so hard!

Murf · Post by **Murf** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 6:22 am

There's nobody nearish (or maybe not that near) Stockport/Manchester

Glasgow? only 3 hours away!

Buzzark · Post by **Buzzark** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 7:11 am

Murf wrote:
There's nobody nearish (or maybe not that near) Stockport/Manchester
Glasgow? only 3 hours away!

Any decreases on a 6 hour round trip?

Roo · Post by **Roo** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 8:07 am

Murf wrote:
Roo had a shot of mine on sat, ask him about what difference he felt!

I've currently got an MBC on mine so although its quicker than standard, i could certainly notice the difference when i drove Pauls car. i will be ordering one as soon as i shift one of my bloody cars!

Dan the 480 Man · Post by **Dan the 480 Man** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 8:21 am

I don't have the Rich mod yet, but that was why i held out for a Turbo. I saw a few 2.0i that were nice, but the deciding factor was the Rich mod compatibility. I'd heard so many good things about it i thought it would have been a shame to pass the opportunity up!

Buzzark · Post by **Buzzark** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 8:46 am

Rich Pruen isn't around at the moment is he? I read a while back about him moving house etc.

Is he still doing the mods?

VanDerGraaf · Post by **VanDerGraaf** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 11:26 am

The ECU mod is great, as everyone else has said. The power delivery is smooth compared to an MBC setup. Boost is slightly less in lower gears and that's deliberate to protect the engine.

One feature is that all the safety stuff regarding engine protection is still there, working in harmony with the the increased power.
Richard could have made a more "explosive" version of the ECU mod power-wise, but engine safety and longevity was always a big factor in the mod i think.

Another example of why it is such a good product. It barely costs that much more than a dump valve for god's sake!

I think i'm trying to say that Richard really thought about what he was doing, and spent money on proper r+d eg lots of dyno time and rolling road etc

The fact that it kicks arse isn't too bad either!