Anyway, your V1 install, although stealth, is lacking a bit in coverage. Sure, you're still getting readings from behind, but you are still masking them a bit behind the plastic. The Speed Detection game is all about who has the first glimpse of the other guy. With the plastic in the way you are giving the peace officer a few more critical seconds of being able to spot you up at speed. And that can be the difference between a ticket and being passed up while he chases a ghost in front of you (who would suspect a Smart of speeding? ). If part of the drive to go to those lengths on the stealth factor were to hide the unit from the eyes of theives while the car is parked, then it is well worth the exchange of seconds out on the road IMO
Forget radar detectors, just learn how to fight tickets. I am talking about non-egregious violations, like 75 on a freeway or 60 in a 45 on a big highway. I fought 7 tickets and beat 6 (well I beat them all but the judge just screwed me on one), and got the speed limit raised in Milpitas after beating a speed trap there. I'm not a lawyer and I don't dispense advice, just real world knowledge about the process and your rights. Most people fear the courts, but it's no big deal once ya know what yer rights are.
Once ye learn how to fight tickets well, there's no reason to fear tickets...especially the BS ones (which are the ones I've mostly fought).
I love the turbo....how do you take off the turbo when it's time for smog...pay someone to do it? I guess smog checks don't come up that often. It would suck to have to pay someone to remove and re-install the turbo for every smog test but I guess it's worth it.
It's silly, the turbo should just be street legal. I mean if I can ride a 160 HP motorcycle on the roads why can't we add a turbo to a Smart car?
Glad you're happy with the turbo. Still haven't seen any 0-60, 1/8 or 1/4 mile times. I'm still stock and still able to test whenever Tim and the guys at SFR have a car in to do some testing like that, for back-to-back comparo of '09 stock vs turbo'd on the same road/weather conditions.
Also been into the SFR shop now that they have moved to their new location. VERY nice shop space now. In-floor dyno for tuning, multiple lifts, including a nice, black/black/black Smart sitting there getting what looked to be at least a Stg2 kit (if not more...saw the intercooler and Split Second unit). Super nice guys.
Anyway, your V1 install, although stealth, is lacking a bit in coverage. Sure, you're still getting readings from behind, but you are still masking them a bit behind the plastic. The Speed Detection game is all about who has the first glimpse of the other guy. With the plastic in the way you are giving the peace officer a few more critical seconds of being able to spot you up at speed. And that can be the difference between a ticket and being passed up while he chases a ghost in front of you (who would suspect a Smart of speeding? ). If part of the drive to go to those lengths on the stealth factor were to hide the unit from the eyes of theives while the car is parked, then it is well worth the exchange of seconds out on the road IMO.
Uberpanzer,
I am still very happy with my Turbo upgrade for the Brabus little Smart car. I have not videoed any 0-60 times with the car because I am not really into the numbers just looking for that push and the seat of the pants feeling Glad to hear your experiences seeing the SFR shop. So far it seems that they have built a very stable and reliable product.
I'm not sure I agree with your less sensitive detector behind plastic hypothesis. I have 4 Valentine 1 radar detectors so just for grins I pulled the one out of the Ferrari 599 and put it on the windshield using the cigarette adapter. It seemed to go off at the same time that the one behind the plastic in the headliner. (remember: there is a piece of red plastic covering the front and rear detectors). The front is un-obstructed glass. I'm not really going for a look to prevent theives just a clean install. I appreciate your thoughts about the speed detection game and a smart car speeding. (If I really want to go fast anyway I would not do it in my smart I would do it in the V12 Ferrari )
Oh I totally agree that the Smart is not THE car to be going fast in. The V1 is there for Extra Info that you should have, in case someone is out there shooting radar. In which case, fine, the extra time (even if marginal per your test) you would get is moot. I'm used to trying to make sure the caravans of BMW's going to Bimmerfest and such are 'protected', so we try to get the best performance out of each detecetor.
Is it bad that I got the Smart becuase it was a new car with a warranty but I can't wait for that to expire so I can put the turbo on it?
Is it bad that I got the Smart becuase it was a new car with a warranty but I can't wait for that to expire so I can put the turbo on it?
Uber... I turboed the car so I can make the warranty expire quicker! HAHAHA... but yea.. if your dealership manager is cool... they'll still warranty the other stuff, obviously not the engine and powertrain things.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RottenMonkey
Did you need to install new valves and pistons to deal with the increase in compresion?
Hmmm nope... maybe eventually but after driving it so hard to the point where you'll be scared to take your car to that level, I'll be confident to say you wont blow your engine up.
The Mitsubishi 3B2xxx series of engines were designed to be used at higher sustained output levels as a percentage of total output available. Where a typical auto engine might use 15% of it's output on average, the 3B2xxx series engines were probably designed for at least double that figure. This implies that the Smart's engine is pretty robust compared to engines of similar horsepower. The 3B2xxx engines use low tension piston rings to reduce friction losses. Low tension rings are typically installed with more ring gap as combustion gas pressure between the top ring and the oil control ring is needed to force the oil control ring out against the sides of the cylinder to reduce oil consumption. My Smart had no perceptible use of oil over 4K miles -- even during break-in. The only car I've ever had (and still have) which runs this "dry" is an MB 560SL. Having more ring gap is a virtue for engines being supercharged or turbocharged with aftermarket kits. The engine will be able to sustain more heat in the combustion chamber without worries about scuffing the cylinders or pistons. The limiting factor becomes detonation. For aftermarket turbocharging, the primarily culprits are the compressed fuel/air mix getting too hot before the spark plug lights it off and/or ignition timing which is too advanced for the level of boost.
I'd be very surprised if the engine in the USA Smart Cars didn't retain many of the internal attributes of the turbocharged engines used in Europe. As such, this engine is a very good candidate for aftermarket turbocharging. Lowering the compression ratio may not be necessary and may reduce the driveability and economy of the car with little gain in peak HP. Certainly, LittoDevil has been pushing well over 1 Bar of boost through his engine and has been having lots of fun! The SFR turbo kit does have it's issues, but LittoDevil is keenly aware of them as he's probably the only guy who's been pushing the kit past it's limits to find them. Small performance shops are REAL lucky to have distributors like this beating up their products. They can find and fix issues that a year of beta testing wouldn't find.
As for waiting for the warrantee to run out before installing a turbo -- the Smart warrantee has many time windows... For parts which are subject to wear, the time limit is 1 year. Emissions equipment, by law, is covered for 5 years. I'd say, you're probably better off installing the turbo after driving the car for a month or two. Any issues would have popped up by then. Anything else, as Steve McQueen might say -- "is just waiting... "
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). If part of the drive to go to those lengths on the stealth factor were to hide the unit from the eyes of theives while the car is parked, then it is well worth the exchange of seconds out on the road IMO
I am talking about non-egregious violations, like 75 on a freeway or 60 in a 45 on a big highway. I fought 7 tickets and beat 6 (well I beat them all but the judge just screwed me on one), and got the speed limit raised in Milpitas after beating a speed trap there. I'm not a lawyer and I don't dispense advice, just real world knowledge about the process and your rights. Most people fear the courts, but it's no big deal once ya know what yer rights are.
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