Woohooooo!!! Stage 3 software now sorted!! (Thread now updated after road test)

[Duncan]

Originally Posted by IamtheStig

Has he crashed and burned?????

lol, no I'm here. Had a bit of an incident when out on the road test which sidetracked me for a while - explained later in my post.

Originally Posted by spoons

Blown a hose off probably at 8,500 RPM !!

Now walking along the hard shoulder !!

- erm no - not quite that bad!

Originally Posted by mark1319

I think he's came back, logged on to vec-c then thought bu88er this Im going for another blast

lol, it was almost the case! lol. Will be going out 'chav hunting' a bit later though!

Originally Posted by Ian T

I bet Duncan's grinning from ear to ear

Might be!

Right here we go....

Did the remap as per earlier post and warmed the car up with a bit of normal driving around, then headed for the local bypass/dual-carriageway to see what the score was. Rolled off the roundabout onto the dual-carriageway in third gear and planted the throttle expecting the car to take off like a scalded cat - which it didn't seem to. Hmm, I thought and carried on driving a bit more. It was by no means slow, but I was thinking that it wasn't significantly quicker than the Stage 1 at this point. Did some more driving and was beginning to wonder if I was going to be hugely disappointed as I didn't seem to be getting the kick from behind that I thought I'd get.

I pulled over in a layby and decided to remap back to the standard map, gave it a bit of a drive (just in a 40 zone) then stopped again to remap it, drove it again and I could definitely feel the difference so I knew I was definitely in the remapped mode. So just did a bit more general driving around as I was wondering if things needed to settle down with any settings or whether it had to 'learn' anything before it allowed full power to kick in. I'd noticed earlier that the maximum boost was no more than it had been on Stage 1 at 1 bar, and I was expecting it to be more than this.

So, was pootling along in second at 30 and came off the roundabout again onto the dual-carriageway and planted the throttle. All I can say is OMFG!!!! - the car took off like a scalded cat and the boost hit 1.5 bar!!! , into third and boost again whips round to almost 1.5 bar. This is more like it I thought. Into fourth and still it's pulling like anything. Looked down at my speedo and oopsy!, I was literally into license losing territory for a 70 limit road. This is what I had been expecting, and it looks like it needed a bit of time for things to settle down.

As I mentioned, the boost is now running a good bit higher than before. I was getting 1 bar maximum on Stage 1, and that would only be from third gear upwards. 1st had minimal boost and 2nd was about 0.6 bar - that was one thing that I wished had been different on stage 1 (the boost pressure in second gear) as sometimes I'd find it 'lacking' in second to then launch you into third where things really took off - that's now all rectified!! Now on Stage 3 it will hit 1.5 bar (21 psi) from 2nd onwards!!

The noise from the engine and exhaust is just sublime - nice rumble at idle and a slight roar when opening up, but nothing too intrusive for a long distance drive. The engine revs soooo much more crisper and you can hear the turbo shifting the gases through the exhausts - it really sounds nice. So it should with a 3" downpipe and 2.5" pipework!

Further driving around soon reinforced that the power delivery is huuugely deceptive. As I said in second when I floored it at 30 the car took off like a scalded cat, then in further gears it doesn't give that same initial kick but look at the speedo and you can see that the power is just being delivered at a constant rate. The graphs that BSR show for the Stage 3 show the reason for this very nicely.....



....especially the torque. Quick climb to max torque and it just sits there in a lovely level line right up to 4500rpm. Keen to get it onto a RR to see if my graphs look similar, and of course see if the power/torque figures are in the right place.

My little incident was on the return leg of the dual-carriageway. It's been a really windy day today and at this particular moment time I was hitting *cough* mph when suddenly I heard this crack from front nearside part of the car. "Oh " I thought, 'What the hell was that?!!' Looked over to see the trim that sits in the gutter that runs from the bottom of the screen and along the roof the roof now hanging loose and bent right back.....





The trim had been a little loose on one part along the screen part and would sometimes pop up slightly (the clips just losing their grip) and with the combination of the strong side wind and my speed it's lifted up, caught the wind and been bent back on itself - so it's completely goosed. Fortunately where it bent back and caught the A pillar it hasn't scratched anything. I thought the end bit may have caught the A pillar or door on it's travel backward but it only slightly scuffed the paint where the bent bit touched the pillar - so easily rectified. Took a trip to the dealer to order a new one, nearly dropped when they told me the price - £80 inc VAT!!, plus painting cost! Needed to be replaced so I ordered one. At least it came with the other part that clips along the A pillar/screen - what the painted trim then clips into so all the clips will be new so should hold properly. Probably weakened when the Autoglass type guys have pulled them off to replace the screens it's had. Saw one of them remove them from my car once and I almost chinned him as he showed no care/gentleness in taking them off, just ripped them off!!

Edit: Forgot to say, I bent the trim back and slotted it back in place - now secured with some long strips of gaffer tape to keep it in place until new one fitted.

So, that was my road test - and I'm a very, very happy man. BSR does exactly what it says on the tin and has had me grinning, yet again, from ear to ear!

Originally Posted by Astrase20

So whats next D? .......Larger intercooler????

D

[Caterman]

Nice work D. Now you know why i'm keeping the Saab. With close on 250bhp and a mountain of torque you can't help it m8!

[mark1319]

You had me worried for a bit there D. Good that it has turned out to be as good as it sound and by your words it sound awesome. Sorry to hear about the trim m8, Im not going to lie but I laughed my tits off when I seen it Hope you get it all sorted soon. A very good write up D it sounds like a hoot, I really can't wait to get mine sorted now.

[spoons]

Originally Posted by yorkshireborn

still no word has anyone rung around the hospitals just in case.

lol - sounds fantastic... and as always... 'almost' without incident !!

[vectraturbo]

Welcome to the BSR stage 3 club

[mark1319]

And hes gone already, must be away to abuse some chav racers

[Big Sig]

Ahh I knew it! I'd recommend a set of vernier pullies too, I had them on my last RST and the difference they made was incredible imo, that was pushing out 210bhp too!

[ditchp]

sound's like you got just what you wanted there mate, more va va voom than most, and a real wolf in sheep's clothing

[Duncan]

Originally Posted by mark1319

YSorry to hear about the trim m8, Im not going to lie but I laughed my tits off when I seen it Hope you get it all sorted soon.

lol, don't worry - once I saw it hadn't caused any other damage I had a laugh too - "The Power of BSR, it'll rip your trims off!!"

A bit of bending back and gaffer tape soon had it secured well enough that it's not going to come off again before it gets replaced.

Originally Posted by vectraturbo

Welcome to the BSR stage 3 club

Originally Posted by mark1319

And hes gone already, must be away to abuse some chav racers

I may be about to go for another spin....

Originally Posted by ditchp

...and a real wolf in sheep's clothing

Oh yes indeedy - a very nice 'sleeper' methinks.

[pogo]

sounds like a top result there D well done,now get out and spank it a bit more lol