Turner Motorsports Stage 1 initial thoughts

So I got Turner's stage one upgrade installed on Friday and have been driving as much as possible ever since I picked it up yesterday afternoon. The kit is a 15% reduction pulley, shark injector with custom TMS software, and spark plugs. It's incredible. The car is just so much faster now, pulling hard throughout the rev range. It has changed it to a car that demands a lot more throttle control though. If you're driving with the DSC off, which is tempting since the DSC is a little too invasive especially when you're putting that much power to the wheels, you can very easily spin the front wheels in a corner if you get a little too excited on the throttle. This upgrade is great too because the car is completely civilized at normal around town cruising speeds - you notice that the car pulls slightly harder in the low revs but basically the road manners are the same. However, if you do want to drive hard the power is right there and is accompanied by a satisfying whine from the supercharger. it's definitely addictive. I've already found myself want to take on a 3000GT and an STI. They would win, but at least this car would make them put the chips down to do it.

The guys at Turner were really helpful. I live in Boston, so dropping the car off on Thursday night and picking it up on Friday afternoon presented a bit of a logistical challenge. They dropped me off at the Newburyport trainstation (in fact waited 1/2 hour for the train to get there since it was cold) and then picked me up on Friday. And the work they do is excellent.

One last thing - and I'm not trying to start yet another Works vs. other kits war - but one of the things that gave me pause when I was looking to upgrade the car was that works drivers always talk about the "integrated" feeling of the upgrade. I imagined that this meant that the power delivery was uneven with a spike in the torque curve. To be fair, I haven't driven a works car so I can't make a fair comparison, but I can say that my car with the TMS upgrade feels like the car should, flat torque curve, power on demand throughout the rev range, and the needle charging the rev limit in 1st through 4th gears (haven't had a chance to go fast enough to test in 5th and 6th yet, but I'll let you know. ).

Anway that's enough of my babbling. The car goes like a bat out of hell and it puts a grin on my face every time I stomp on the accelerator. I'm off to go driving somewhere....