I finally got my car on the dyno yesterday and although I knew the car wouldn't be kicking out anything like the 275bhp numbers being bounced around the garage I had it mapped at, I thought it would at least be on par with other people who have a similar spec to me; around 250 brake. Turns out it was wheezing it's way to a fairly unimpressive 210bhp and 260ft lbs.
The dyno operator Charlie, at Surrey Rolling Road reckons there is a restriction somewhere (mechanical rather than electrical) and the car should be putting out more power for the spec. It was also leaking a bit of oil from the turbo. When it was hot I couldn't see where it was coming from but later on I noticed one of the oil pipes had oil around the base so I'm assuming it's coming from there under pressure. Is this something I can just tighten up or will it need some sort of thread lock?
The turbo was also red hot and Charlie said it shouldn't have got that hot after a couple of pulls. This is what leads him to believe there is a restriction somewhere that's overheating the turbo. That and he could hear something didn't sound right before the car came on power. He said there was a distinct lack of low down power and he'd expected it to be more instant. The leak obviously wouldn't help the turbo cooling either.
The strange noise and lack of low down power I think I may have an idea on. I got my mechanic to fit my Forge actuator for me and looking at where he's clamped the TIP to the turbo, I think it's too far up the pipe and it's popped off the turbo. Anyone who's fitted one will know what a pain in the backside they are to fit on properly! I hope this is the problem as it will be an easy and cheap fix to do!
The other thing he expressed concern about was how close the cat is to the turbo. Although it's a sports cat, it's so close to the turbo (standard position) that it can be causing a restriction and making the turbo heat up. Has anyone else had experience with this and is a decat the answer? I've seen one on eBay that looks like a cat so would be an ideal replacement. I'd just have to get a sensor spacer to stop the car throwing a light up.
Failing that, it could be the turbo itself. It seems to run fine and it's boosting well but if I've changed everything else it has to be that by process of elimination. It's also the only thing that's an unknown quantity to me. As I say, it looks fine but you can never tell until it's under real load. Are there any other things I might have missed that might be causing this lack of power?
Any help definitely apreciated!
Cheers,
Giles