Another Mark Adams + Austec + ACT success story
Discussion
This is a bit of a long story - but it does have a happy ending (though I guess I've just ruined any suspense) ...
I've had my Griff for about 6 months now, and during that time it's run perfectly. For one weekend. Just one. When I first had it.
Since then it's had an intermittent idling problem. The poor old thing just forgets how to idle sometimes, especially when it gets a bit hot. It's been into a couple of places in an attempt to get it sorted, but no-one has been able to find the problem. To be honest - I'd almost started to get used to it - but, in the meantime it's developed another few bad habits. The faults have been found, and fixed, but the car has been feeling less and less sorted (and certainly less and less special) as time has gone on.
The worst journey so far was down to Crawley on Thursday. Not only would it not idle - it wouldn't rev either. I'd pull up to traffic lights keeping the revs high enough to stop it from stalling (causing every one around me to think 'What a prat') only to have it stall when I tried to pull away (confirming the 'prat' theory beyond any doubt). When it took three or four attempts to restart after coming to standstill in traffic on the M25 I decided I was going to sell it. I didn't care how much I'd get for it - I just wanted to get rid of it. Luckily, I was on my way down to Austec Racing at the time ...
The first few runs on the rolling road were ‘interesting’ to say the least. The car was spluttering away at lower revs and miss-firing whenever the they climbed above 2k or so. Any attempts to get a BHP figure were useless – but I think I did see it hit 40 BHP at one stage! Not a good start.
However, within 10 mins or so Mark had already identified an ignition problem. Within another 10 he had diagnosed either the coil or the ignition amp to be at fault. Within an hour it was confirmed to be the ignition amp and he had also found a problem with the airflow meter – so this had been temporarily replaced with a spare one. At this stage the car was already purring like a – er – Griff! In an hour (or may be less) the car had been transformed – and was now producing a quite reasonable (IMHO) 215BHP (at the wheels) – still with the standard ECU. Now for the interesting bit…
I had already decided to go for Marks re-mapped chip and, since I clearly needed a new air-flow meter, I went for the Bosch one that Mark recommended (and decided it would be a pity not to fit some ACT smooth bore pipes at the same time).
Once the airflow meter and pipes were fitted - which turned out to be slightly more complicated than expected - since my airflow meter had been mounted a few inches away from where it should have been - it was back onto the rolling road for the ECU mapping. The first few runs were promising, at about 225BHP; at which point I would happily have paid and driven home.
However, after a quick look at the timing and pressing a few buttons on the ecu-mapping-thingy, Mark embarks on another run - and this time it’s … 247BHP! I nearly fell over (and even Mark seemed surprised). A further, final run topped out at 251BHP (all at the wheels).
Now – I should point out that (despite being impressed at the time!) I’m not interested in getting into a numbers game. I know there are more powerful cars out there. I know there are variations between rolling roads/measuring equipment etc, etc
More importantly, I know that the car I drove home in was completely different to the one I arrived in – and was FAR better than it ever has been before. Everything is so much smoother. It feels more powerful, more refined – and it even … idles! Who could ask for more???
The simple fact is, I asked Mark and the guys at Austec to sort my car out - and that’s what they did. I can (and do) thoroughly recommend that you take your car to them. They know what they’re doing!
So, a big thanks to all involved; Mark Adams, the guys at Austec and Tim from ACT (who still hasn’t charged me for the new ECU!)
I am now a very (very) happy Griff owner (and it's not for sale)!!!!
>>> Edited by fiveHundred on Tuesday 29th March 23:19
I've had my Griff for about 6 months now, and during that time it's run perfectly. For one weekend. Just one. When I first had it.
Since then it's had an intermittent idling problem. The poor old thing just forgets how to idle sometimes, especially when it gets a bit hot. It's been into a couple of places in an attempt to get it sorted, but no-one has been able to find the problem. To be honest - I'd almost started to get used to it - but, in the meantime it's developed another few bad habits. The faults have been found, and fixed, but the car has been feeling less and less sorted (and certainly less and less special) as time has gone on.
The worst journey so far was down to Crawley on Thursday. Not only would it not idle - it wouldn't rev either. I'd pull up to traffic lights keeping the revs high enough to stop it from stalling (causing every one around me to think 'What a prat') only to have it stall when I tried to pull away (confirming the 'prat' theory beyond any doubt). When it took three or four attempts to restart after coming to standstill in traffic on the M25 I decided I was going to sell it. I didn't care how much I'd get for it - I just wanted to get rid of it. Luckily, I was on my way down to Austec Racing at the time ...
The first few runs on the rolling road were ‘interesting’ to say the least. The car was spluttering away at lower revs and miss-firing whenever the they climbed above 2k or so. Any attempts to get a BHP figure were useless – but I think I did see it hit 40 BHP at one stage! Not a good start.
However, within 10 mins or so Mark had already identified an ignition problem. Within another 10 he had diagnosed either the coil or the ignition amp to be at fault. Within an hour it was confirmed to be the ignition amp and he had also found a problem with the airflow meter – so this had been temporarily replaced with a spare one. At this stage the car was already purring like a – er – Griff! In an hour (or may be less) the car had been transformed – and was now producing a quite reasonable (IMHO) 215BHP (at the wheels) – still with the standard ECU. Now for the interesting bit…
I had already decided to go for Marks re-mapped chip and, since I clearly needed a new air-flow meter, I went for the Bosch one that Mark recommended (and decided it would be a pity not to fit some ACT smooth bore pipes at the same time).
Once the airflow meter and pipes were fitted - which turned out to be slightly more complicated than expected - since my airflow meter had been mounted a few inches away from where it should have been - it was back onto the rolling road for the ECU mapping. The first few runs were promising, at about 225BHP; at which point I would happily have paid and driven home.
However, after a quick look at the timing and pressing a few buttons on the ecu-mapping-thingy, Mark embarks on another run - and this time it’s … 247BHP! I nearly fell over (and even Mark seemed surprised). A further, final run topped out at 251BHP (all at the wheels).
Now – I should point out that (despite being impressed at the time!) I’m not interested in getting into a numbers game. I know there are more powerful cars out there. I know there are variations between rolling roads/measuring equipment etc, etc
More importantly, I know that the car I drove home in was completely different to the one I arrived in – and was FAR better than it ever has been before. Everything is so much smoother. It feels more powerful, more refined – and it even … idles! Who could ask for more???
The simple fact is, I asked Mark and the guys at Austec to sort my car out - and that’s what they did. I can (and do) thoroughly recommend that you take your car to them. They know what they’re doing!
So, a big thanks to all involved; Mark Adams, the guys at Austec and Tim from ACT (who still hasn’t charged me for the new ECU!)
I am now a very (very) happy Griff owner (and it's not for sale)!!!!
>>> Edited by fiveHundred on Tuesday 29th March 23:19
. 
. At the end of the day it is what you are happy with and from your post I assume you are 
. 
.. dare I say it, it seems quite reasonable... 
As if the story weren't quite long enough - a final
chapter...
After the session at Austec I was, of course, quite
keen to show off my Griff's new found talents. So I
called a mate of mine and arranged to take him for the
drive I'd been promising since I got the car (now it was finally in a state to impress him - I thought...)
After a quick look at the gleaming paintwork (yes - I
washed it before I took it round - sad, I know) and a
look under the hood, we were ready to go...
He got into the passenger seat, and I got into the
drivers side and closed the door. As I did so, the
door-mounted speaker fell out of the door and into my
lap.
He was so impressed, his sides were still hurting an hour later.
chapter...
After the session at Austec I was, of course, quite
keen to show off my Griff's new found talents. So I
called a mate of mine and arranged to take him for the
drive I'd been promising since I got the car (now it was finally in a state to impress him - I thought...)
After a quick look at the gleaming paintwork (yes - I
washed it before I took it round - sad, I know) and a
look under the hood, we were ready to go...
He got into the passenger seat, and I got into the
drivers side and closed the door. As I did so, the
door-mounted speaker fell out of the door and into my
lap.
He was so impressed, his sides were still hurting an hour later.
TVR's... gotta love 'em.fiveHundred said:
He got into the passenger seat, and I got into the
drivers side and closed the door. As I did so, the
door-mounted speaker fell out of the door and into my
lap.
He was so impressed, his sides were still hurting an hour later.
Glad that you got it all well and truly sorted though
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