[Nikhilb2008]

So, this is the stuff that is painful to write....

I dont know how my friends Joe and Venkat will handle the fact that I am publicly posting about everything. I kinda dont care. The tuning scene is quite political and most people dont post the real facts in public. There is a lot of misinformation floating around. People only post the good stuff and rarely do people post issues with the car.

Most threads I notice end mid-way. There are no long term updates.

I dont want to be one of those people. So, here is the full, unadulterated, painful truth.

A lot of heartbreak, heart burn, and here we are:

While the ECU overheating issue was 'burning', I had to make a trip out of Bangalore for about 10 days.... Gujarat and Bombay were on the agenda. So, I left the car with Venkat to figure out a better place for the ECU and do some tuning and testing before I got back.

When I was in Bombay, early on a Sunday morning, I got a FB message from Venkat saying that he had good news and bad news. Having already had my share of bad news, I was quite apprehensive.

I called him as soon as I could. The good news was that the ECU overheating problem is resolved. The bad news is he's suspecting the turbo is about to fail.

He was driving the car the previous night while Joe was tuning it and they heard a droning noise coming from the engine bay. Suspecting the worst, they wrapped up and got back home.

On Monday, he took apart the turbo assembly and turns out I was scammed by the ebay seller. Not only have I got a fake Disco Potato but the turbo I received isnt even a ball bearing turbo. It is a journal bearing turbo.

We did have a few doubts about this turbo way back in October and that was one of the reasons we decided to try out the CompTurbo Oilless turbo.

I had contacted the eBay seller but he stalled me and then stopped responding completely.

Even when the turbo failed, I tried contacting him but it was a dead end. Since I had bought the turbo in August, I was out of luck with regard to ebay and paypal helping me out.

In hindsight I should have contacted Paypal in October itself when he stopped responding but it was the first time I was using eBay and Paypal and I didnt know about Paypal's 6 month protection.

I got screwed by the seller and by my own lack of awareness.

















You can imagine I was beyond depressed. I was shattered. Close to 5 months and now the count was 3 turbos. One failure and 2 not suitable for our usage.

Car had done about 1,42,000 kms by now. 13,000 kms since we started the turbo project.

[Nikhilb2008]

Anyway, fighting against common sense and sane advice, I decide to pour more money into the black hole.

I order what I hope is a genuine Garrett GT2860 RS from a seller on eBay called Fujo Industries.

The shipment reaches me in double quick time! It better as I paid a bomb for Fedex International Priority Shipping from the USA.

The below pics are of the CHRA. It seems genuine and the compressor also moves more freely.











This was received by me around the first week of April and soon after I had a weekend getaway with some friends.

Venkat worked flat out with Chandru to get the car ready in double quick time.

I must say here that Venkat is a very curt, "I'm-always-right-you-are-wrong" kind of person. He's a guy you cannot take home because of his salty language. He must have been a sailor in a different life.

However, I experienced a kind of special commitment from him that I never expected. The way he worked on my car ironing out all the small niggles after installing the new turbo was amazing.

The work was done in a tearing hurry and when we took the car for a spin on 13th April, we found a few drops of oil leaking from the drain line from the turbo.

I wanted to take the car to Chennai on 14th. So, reluctantly, I had to leave the car behind and go with my dad in his car.

When I returned on the 17th, Venkat came home in my car and I had a spin in it. It was mindblowingly refined and smooth!

Since that day, the 17th of April, I have clocked about 4000 kms o the car.

To properly test the car, we went to Hyderabad and returned to Bangalore on the same day. 1200 kms in a single day in temperatures of 42-44 deg C. The car performed brilliantly.

The new turbo has a wastegate limited to 7PSI. So, currently, my car is running 7PSI of boost. We have connected a boost solenoid as well which can take it up all the way to 14 psi. We hope to have this enabled soon now that the rest of the car is working well.

After this 1200 kms round trip, I had my own plans. I drove from Bangalore to Goa and thereon to Pune and returned to Bangalore.

The total distance covered was about 2300 kms in 8 days.

Add the in-city driving I've been doing and I have crossed 1,47,000 kms now.

This brings my total running with turbo(s) to 18,000 kms. Out of which 4000 kms have been run with the current original Disco Potato.

The entire trip to Goa, Pune and back was very smooth. Car gave a mileage of 9+ kmpl on the highways. This was with a mix of peaceful cruising and aggressive driving.

I feel with a very lightfoot, it can give me 10+. Full on leadfoot mode, I doubt I will get more than 8.5kmpl.

Overall, I must say the car feels phenomenal now.

Idles beautifully. A bit high at the moment (900 rpm) but smooth and refined.

Low speed crawling in city traffic is miles better than the stock Civic. 2nd gear is enough for speedbreakers and even 3rd gear is very useful for pottering around in slow moving traffic.

My car is true Jekyll and Hyde. Peaceful and smooth and silent one minute and then throwing your head into the headrest the next second.

Can my car be faster? Of course it can! And we will be making it by enabling higher boost of 14 PSI.

Can my car be even faster? Of course it can! But do I want anything more? NO! I dont! I dont care what my car is capable of. I want it to be silent, smooth, reliable and quick enough to embarass premium cars on the highways!

We shall be hitting the dyno soon to fine tune the ECU maps and also get an idea of how much power and torque we are making. That should hopefully close this build.

As of now, I am very close to 100% satisfied.

Once we finetune the maps and smoothen out the torque and power curves, I should be properly happy!

[Rahulkool]

I have been following this thread through all ups and downs but never replied. Hats off to you for the work you have got done on your car. Hopefully the rogue ebay seller refunds the money. Did someone told you about the seller for turbo or you just decided by the feedbacks ? I need a ride when you are in chennai

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

I have been following this thread through all ups and downs but never replied. Hats off to you for the work you have got done on your car. Hopefully the rogue ebay seller refunds the money. Did someone told you about the seller for turbo or you just decided by the feedbacks ? I need a ride when you are in chennai

Thanks Rahul! You can get a drive when I'm there next. Maybe we should plan another Ambur meet. My turbo petrol and your turbo petrol!

The rogue ebay seller refunding me is highly unlikely.

Venkat helped me choose the seller. He did have a 100% rating. But later on hindsight we realised that the rating was an aggregate of all small items he sold.

The genuine seller, Fujo Industries has a very good rating earned by selling only Garrett and other genuine brands. He specialises in car parts.

[Nikhilb2008]

A couple of quick videos showing how smoothly my car idles.

It is still a bit high and under certain conditions, it increases by itself for a bit and settles down again.

We havent had time to sit and properly tune it as I've always been pressuring Joe and Venkat to give my car back asap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhU0Qw1fNbg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ9X-oIYJVI

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

A couple of quick videos showing how smoothly my car idles.

Awesome updates Nikhil and Civic is still my favourite design amongst any Indian cars. It still looks a total haute' on road even today amongst all the latest machines

And now with these changes, it sure must be an Indian version of "The Aventador" !!

Just like the idling videos, can you please post the 'Acceleration' video as I for one, surely want to see how freely the engine revs and how quickly the speeds climb !!

[JediKnight]

Dude what are your 0-100 times.
I want a sub 6 sec 0-100 time on my stock 2014 Honda City.
Wondering if a turbo can get me there.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Awesome updates Nikhil and Civic is still my favourite design amongst any Indian cars. It still looks a total haute' on road even today amongst all the latest machines

And now with these changes, it sure must be an Indian version of "The Aventador" !!

Just like the idling videos, can you please post the 'Acceleration' video as I for one, surely want to see how freely the engine revs and how quickly the speeds climb !!

I can, but obviously, the speeds will be illegal. Dont know if it would be prudent to post in public!

Originally Posted by JediKnight

Dude what are your 0-100 times.
I want a sub 6 sec 0-100 time on my stock 2014 Honda City.
Wondering if a turbo can get me there.

0-100? Dont know and as of now, dont care too much! Car feels quick. Whenever I get a chance I might do some runs with a Vbox or whatever.

A turbo is the only way to get to your target.... Whether it is possible on a Honda City or not, I dont know. Venkat would be the best person to answer that question. I do know that he is working on a turbo Honda City Vtec as of now. He would do a good job like he did with my car.

Also Race Concepts Joel has done some good work on Honda Citys. And on turbos. I have not worked with him though. I've spoken to him at the race track a few times.

[bhuvan_prasad]

Eagerly awaiting the dyno run. Not so much for the numbers(which I'm sure will be fab, given the build and components), but more to see how close the road tuning + a fantastic ECU like the Elite, can get to perfecting a power/torque curve, without a dyno(of which good ones are very rare to come by in India, currently). Congrats once again Nikhil, you better keep some money aside for tyres and clutches now

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by bhuvan_prasad

Eagerly awaiting the dyno run. Not so much for the numbers(which I'm sure will be fab, given the build and components), but more to see how close the road tuning + a fantastic ECU like the Elite, can get to perfecting a power/torque curve, without a dyno(of which good ones are very rare to come by in India, currently). Congrats once again Nikhil, you better keep some money aside for tyres and clutches now

Thanks Bhuvan. Next time you're here in Bangalore, we should go for a drive. You in your rocketship and me in mine!

Tyres are ok for now.... 205/55-16 MC5 are capable enough.

Clutch: We are on the stock clutch as of now which was changed 8k kms back.... Seems to hold up fine. Will change as and when required.


Have uploaded a video of me crawling in traffic. Mainly 2nd and 3rd gears.... showing how driveable the car is now.

This is very important for me as this car is a daily driver. It is not supposed to be a screaming drag strip king.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm4supn1b-U

[landcruiser123]

Lovely project. Waiting for the number from the Dyno. Do you know the approximate 0-100 timing? Also, how is the in-gear acceleration?

Would love to sit in this beast on the highway.

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

As of now, I am very close to 100% satisfied.

That's as close you'll get to being fully satisfied.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Lovely project. Waiting for the number from the Dyno. Do you know the approximate 0-100 timing? Also, how is the in-gear acceleration?

Would love to sit in this beast on the highway.




That's as close you'll get to being fully satisfied.

Thanks!

And no, I will be 100% satisfied. If I have learnt one thing over the past few months, it is that Blackworks has made me set realistic expectations and I am confident that they will meet my expectations.

In gear acceleration is phenomenal in my opinion. There is a bit of lag but generally post 3000 rpm, the car just GOES!

[TheTeacher]

Congrats, Nikhil! Glad you're enjoying your precious after a few glitches. I will demand a ride the next time I am at your store (next couple of months) !

Best Wishes!

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by TheTeacher

Congrats, Nikhil! Glad you're enjoying your precious after a few glitches. I will demand a ride the next time I am at your store (next couple of months) !

Best Wishes!

Thank you Sir! Glitches galore but shrieks of joy in abundance as well!

Would also like to mention a small issue that we have faced and which I forgot to mention earlier.

After we resolved the ECU overheating issue, we kept facing an issue with the DBW. Occassionally (especially in hot weather or bumper to bumper city traffic), my ECU would sort of show an error and go into a limp mode.... Throttle would just not work. It would be stuck open at 5% or something.... Enough to just get the car to the side of the road or a few kms ahead by modulating the clutch pedal. Throttle pedal was dead.

When we connected the laptop and checked, we saw it was some error related to the DBW.

We contacted Haltech (who by the way have amazing customer service) and we realised that we had lengthened the wires to make the ECU sit in the passenger cabin. Due to this, maybe there was some sort of electrical problem causing the Acceleration Pedal Sensors and Throttle Position sensors to lose communication for a fraction of a second sending the ECU into a limp mode.

Venkat redid the wiring like 3 times to sort out this issue and for now I can confidently say that the problem is done and dusted with.

Currently, we are facing an issue where after some highway driving, when I approach a toll booth, the engine dies. Start the engine again and it doesnt idle. I have to switch off the car for a minute, allow the ECU to reset itself and then it behaves fine until the next time I slow down.

Faced it a lot when I was driving to Goa and returning from Pune. I had to stop, switch off my car for 2 minutes and then proceed.

It is an annoyance but not the end of the world. I use the time to drink some water, stretch my legs, use the restroom. That still isnt good enough for me! I like to drive non stop for as long as possible. I hate stopping to take care of this.

However, Venkat has promised that he will look into this wierd behaviour and sort it out. Given how my past experience has been, I am not worried.

[Nikhilb2008]

We had a chance to go to the Dyno at Red Rooster Performance Coimbatore.

They have a pretty impressive setup and we did a couple of dyno runs and tuned the maps as well.

This is the result.

Car has run 19,500 kms since October.

5,500 kms since April 18th.

Nothing more to say.