Difference in driving a turbo

monkeypants

Looking at purchasing a turbocharged petrol motor shortly. It'll be my first, so what differences in driving style, care and maintenance should I be aware of?

ltdslipdiff

Always let her warm up before driving her on, and visa versa let her spool down and cool down before knocking her off. Regular oil changes with good quality oil essential too. Enjoy the surge of on-boost power

Supergurrier

Turbos are very simple devices tbh, just your regular servicing tbh.

As for driving style well it depends on the car

dahamsta

Depends on the car and power, but mechanically, don't switch the engine off the minute you arrive, give the turbo time to spin down.

Mycroft H

It depends on the turbo. Some are big and take a while to take off and then pin you to the back of your seat and others are small and drive much like a diesel with power down low.

monkeypants

ltdslipdiff wrote: »

Always let her warm up before driving her on, and visa versa let her spool down and cool down before knocking her off.

How much time are we talking about for warm-up and cook down? Seconds? Minutes?

Osborne

I let my car cool down for 2 minutes after a regular drive and 5 minutes if driven hard or for a long time. I have a turbo timer though so I don't have to sit in the car like a lemon.

What are you thinking of buying?

TestTransmission

What's the car in question?

bazz26

Golf/Passat tsi?

dingus12

You talking about a Golf Tsi or a supra?

monkeypants

Mazda 3 MPS. Had a quick test drive today. Was very nippy. Just trying to gauge the TCO now.

Supergurrier

What Year MPS ? Newer one is abit well mad in the head or so i hear

monkeypants

Supergurrier wrote: »

What Year MPS ? Newer one is abit well mad in the head or so i hear

It's a 08 and on the old tax system.

Supergurrier

New model though, abit rough around the edges but some people like that sort of thing

MetzgerMeister

My last car was a Mazda6 MPS which has exactly the same engine as the 3. It's a nice engine to work on but you'll have to remove the intercooler to get at the ignition coils or spark plugs. It takes 5W30 but if you have trouble with the turbo seals, an easy solution is to just use 10w30 and problem solved. It has been known to happen but not on an Irish car as far as I know.

Have the car idling and open the bonnet. It you can hear a loud knocking sound from around the oil filler cap, this means trouble. These engines often suffered from stretched timing chains. This is almost e2000 worth of a repair. Not all of them suffered this but a lot did so just be careful.

With regards to letting the turbo cool down before turning the engine off, you do this if you've been driving the car hard. Driving it normally after driving hard counts as "cool down" time but NEVER shut it down straight away after boosting the hole off the car

If you have any further questions, ask away or PM me if you wish.

Although the new model was on sale in 2008, none were sold in Ireland as it was after July 1st 2008 which would have meant that like the RX8, they would have been e2100 to tax. The one you're looking at is the old model.

Also, make damn sure he takes that white crap off the bodywork, it ruins it!

goz83

I have an Apexi turbo timer, which you could install. It connects to the ecu and has instructions for most cars as to what wire goes into what hole. It can measure air/fuel ratio and battery voltage aswell, if you wanted to bother with that sort of thing. I bought it a year ago for my car and never bothered installing it. Cost about E35, but it's yours for E20 if you want it. I'll probably never get around to installing it, plus I don't actually need it, as I don't have a turbo car.

dingus12

You can get the apexi turbo timers brand new for 12 stg on ebay, I have one and it works perfect. It's a fake but I'm thinking yours is too at 35 euro.

goz83

dingus12 wrote: »

You can get the apexi turbo timers brand new for 12 stg on ebay, I have one and it works perfect. It's a fake but I'm thinking yours is too at 35 euro.

I couldn't tell you mate. It was just a bit of an impulse buy. I received it, opened it, looked at the instructions, planned on installing, then planned on having it done and then never bothered, as I couldn't decide where to put it on the dash. 12stg sounds dodge cheap. I got mine online from a motor store with 50% off. Don't know what a genuine one costs, or looks like (mine could be either genuine, or fake), but I would have went for a cheaper one if it does the same thing and has good feedback.