Hi there Kafka,

Very nice and congrats! You are not making it easy for me (still stock).

Are the intercoolers the main reason your kit is 620 hp, versus just the ECU & exhaust upgrade only only?

If you don't mind, how about a short story version please? Is stock better in certain situation, like traffic jam? TIA.

 

Hi Cannga.

Your advice to go with the Bilsteins before power upgrade is solid. It's very important to experience the new balance etc. before adding more power (lots of power stock anyway ).

The intercoolers do add a bit to the overall 620 package's power of course (see AWE site for numbers). They may not be for everyone but I included them as I will be doing some spirited driving this summer (including track time) in Southern California and probably Las Vegas and Arizona so I want to keep those turbo temperatures reasonable. As you know excessive heat can be an (reliability) issue for our turbos under certain conditions and I don't want to take that step into new or modified turbos (out of my league). Cooler temps = more power = happy turbos and engine life. Driving in Canadian winters don't require bigger intercoolers - just patience.

The new kit is very similar to stock, just a bit smoother, in stop and go traffic. No problems whatsoever and I drove in traffic today after after a huge snow storm and -18C temps. You do get a lot of "looks" driving in these conditions - looks that suggest people are wondering if I need or have failed the mental health component of the driver's test. Hey, it's great in the snow with Zotozeros and you get to play and learn from so many different new situations without the need for speed nor power.

Re short version: The hand held flashloader really appealed to me for a number of reasons one being that I let others drive my car at times (e.g. my son). (1) So I like the option of flashing back to like-stock when others in my family want to drive for fun and (2) for others and myself to seat-test compare the tuning differences between like-stock and new "pump" modes. It's not a one way/product is better than an other way/product question at all, it's just that this suits me. That's the short version.

Hope you are still enjoying the Bilsteins as much as when you got them. They are amazing! Your comparison between stock and Bilstein normal-sport modes using the 1-10 scale is right on - a classic piece of info for those considering this mod.
K.

 

Can,

You are welcome to drive my car anytime for your research.

 

Mike,
Thanks for the generous offer! I might take you up on it if/when I get serious. And yes EVOM versus GIAC remain the 2 front runners.

Kafka,
Thanks for the detailed response. Regarding reason number 2: Interesting! I thought I was the only placing some emphasis on the ability to go back to stock, if only for the reason that I like to be able to compare and learn in minute details what the changes are, of tuned versus stock.

Re. Bilstein, sill loving the Bilstein; to put it mildly it's a "life saver" for the car. There is no doubt I would have sold my stock Turbo had I not found the Bilstein solution. As it's turned out, I've test driven Lambo Gallardo, F430, Corvette, and found that the modded Turbo, while obviously not yet perfect, yields very little to any of these super and beautiful cars. And that's with my untuned ECU car. I could imagine with an ECU tune the Turbo would truly lay waste!

 

Kafka997,

<!--StartFragment -->Thank you for the kind words and great pictures. Congrats on the upgrades, I am really happy that you are enjoying your car and that the installation went well. Rob at Tunerwerks and Mike of AWE Tuning have both been great for us to work with too. Give us a call if you are in the Irvine area when you come down to Southern California, we would love to see your car.

 

Kafka,

Thanks so much for your business.

Repeat clients are the most rewarding part of my job.

 

congrats on all the work, looks great