Upgrades and drivability

[victorspecial]

I am close to raising enough money to make some meaningful upgrades to my '97 SET. I have already done intake upgrade and turbo silencer removal.

Next, I'd like to go turbo back on the exhaust with 3in DP and Sport Ex. Then I might go for Stage 3 ECU upgrade. 240 hp sounds like fun.

Now, will this negatively affect my winter drivability? This is my only car and I need to drive it year round. We get pretty good winters here in Central Oregon.

BTW, it is an automatic and I have found use in the Winter Driving mode. Will this usefulness evaporate with more boost and quicker spool up?

Thanks,
Dave
'97 SET vert, 78K miles

[mike saunders]

Dave, Winter Mode bypasses "first" gear and will make the car's torque come on more slowly to eliminate wheel spin from a standing start. I've used it maybe two or three times in the last three years, and only during ice storms, because I find I can do the same thing by just feathering the pedal gently. (With a 5-speed, I do the same thing, or start in second...)

I'm thinking any substantial ECU mod will probably affect Winter Mode, and I'd regard a Stage 3 in that category.

Still, I don't think it will hamper the car's driveability at all...

[victorspecial]

Thanks for the reply. I do undersand how Winter mode works. I have heard of folks who swap out their modded ECUs or remove their MBC+As in the winter to make their cars more managable. I just don't want to have to change the car over to adapt to the seasons.

I was going to do the mods anyway. I don't mind a little suffering for the apparent rewards when the roads clear up. Just wanted to go in with eyes wide open.

[Jeremy R.]

At lower RPMs my car still seems to drive about the same as it always did. It isn't until 4000 RPM or so that the ECU really releases the power. I haven't driven in a lot of snow, but the car drove fine in the snow I've encountered. Of course having a manual transmission can really help.

[stuart_mc]

Jeremy's right - My car is StageIII and it's perfectly mannered until you plant the loud pedal

As for winter driving, take the usual precautions - after all stopping is more important than acceleration on snow

[ragtopcav]

Originally Posted by stuart_mc

As for winter driving, take the usual precautions - after all stopping is more important than acceleration on snow

Do something fun, get into a snow covered car park do a speed run then brake, do the same again with the ABS fuse pulled and observe a shorter stopping distance . ABS isn't always your friend.

[Marks900SE]

Originally Posted by ragtopcav

Do something fun, get into a snow covered car park do a speed run then brake, do the same again with the ABS fuse pulled and observe a shorter stopping distance . ABS isn't always your friend.

In the recent snow that we got up here, me and a few of my buddies were out from 2-3:30 am in a parking lot more fooling around and just checking of our ebrakes worked, but in those times you will notice that if you push the brake almost all the way down to the edge of locking the tires, you WILL stop faster than mashing the pedel till ABS comes on.

Its all fun and games till someone cracks a rim...wasnt me but my buddy who had a c900. We have video of all the night so we'll see if i can get a good clip of something.

[Tweek's Turbos]

I have trouble driving my 95 manual in winter. I am also using the 16 inch snows, when I should prolly use 15s.

Do to this, I now use an 89 900 for a winter car. (mainly so I can mod the 95 and not worry about downtime.)

[stuart_mc]

Originally Posted by ragtopcav

ABS isn't always your friend.

Soooo true!

Almost wrote off my jag once because of ABS and an icy road