Do's and Dont's on Turbo cars

[Nick VR4]

Let the engine oil warm up before hitting boost this takes a good 15 mins depends on air temp etc or get a oil temp gauge fitted
Dont go with the water temp guage as this is misleading oil takes longer

Do allow time for turbo to spin down and to cool down before turning engine off
Turbo's can spin at over 100,000 rpms
They also get very hot 300c and the gases through them a lot hotter 900+c
Either drive slowly for the last 10 minutes of your journey or sit in car with it idling for a while

happy driving
8)

[Ed]

Hey Nick would a turbo timer take the place of doing all of that?

[Nick VR4]

Hey Nick would a turbo timer take the place of doing all of that?

Sort off yes to keep the engine idling after the engine is shut down and ignition key is removed.
But not for the getting oil up to a good temp

[BraindG]

what i tend to do is just pull off under 2k and dont exceed 2k for a mile or two then slowly build up till the cars nice and warm.. I never welly it after starting the car first thing in the morning..

[H7]

Hmm, not convinced about turbo timers, for a couple of reasons:

1. OK, a turbo timer is probably better than nothing if you switch off your engine immediately after a blast and the turbos are still red hot BUT, it would be much better, as Nick suggests, to run it off boost for a while and let the airflow cool the engine as well as allowing the oil to cool the turbos.
2. A turbo timer will keep the engine running whilst stationary, allowing the oil to cool the turbos a bit, but not a lot. Certainly not as much as a good cool airflow will. Also, keeping your engine running after you've locked the car and walked away from it doesn't feel very secure (I doubt whether the configuration of my alarm would allow it anyway) and what would the insurance company say if some tealeaf managed to make off with your car with the engine running (don't know if this is possible or not, but I'd take some convincing!

[Nick VR4]

Good point H7
i dont think i'd like to leave my car running locked up
And thats if you could do that with the alarm/immoblisher activated

Also isnt it illegal in the UK to leave a car ticking over without you being in charged of it
I know we all start a car and get out to clear frost/snow
But to be in the house with it idling im sure thats something like
'Undue care and attention'

[H7]

I'm pretty sure you're right, Nick. No insurance company would pay out on anything if you've left the engine running, whether or not the keys are in the ignition. I'd also be surprised if it's not an offence to leave the engine running - every other thing to do with cars is an offence in this country!

[evo]

When I got the insurance sorted for my vr4, I mentioned i wanted to put a turbo timer onto it, and they had no problems with it.
I dont think the person on the other end of the phone understood it's exact role, but they looked it up in their 'know-all' book and said that because it isn't a performance enhancement, then all is sweet.
The initial reason I joined TGC was to get some info on installing the turbo timer I purchased, but still haven't been able o get a scrap of info on it...all I have found out is the 'general' color coding of wires, of which i also have another 3 to work out, and even some switches on the side to sort thru that are in japanese... oh the fun of it. I know that a couple of these will be for the alarm/immobiliser etc.
When shutting down with TT installed, most times they only run for 1-2 minutes, depending on how hard they have been driven, which isn't all that long that you would walk too far from it. If not you'll be sitting in it if you didn't have the TT already running.

[Nick VR4]

I still dont like the idea of a car running while i'm locking the doors
Perfer to sit in the car for a few mins and let the turbo spin down
I normally back off the power near home anyway

[Mante]

guys a different angle..

turbo timer, some like some dont....curretnly my alarm system DEI 6500 has the remote start which I can leave on for 5 min to cool down the oil. The only way someone can take my car is with a flat bed, that would be funny to see someone try to drag my 8g off the ground being its lil over 2' off the ground

[spirit979]

I think I will stick to the old fashioned way i.e. let the car warm up properly and sit there for a couple of minutes at the end to let it cool - really don't fancy the idea of a turbo timer.