Yep, I finished the install of it today. There has been some skepticism about it. Even the guys I bought it from didn't know how well it would work on the Evo 8. Well, it does work, and for those of you who are not running a standalone EMS and drag race: THIS PRODUCT IS A MUST!

Check this out:

The T-SPORT Flat Shift is a stutterbox, aka. line lock, aka launch control. It isn't anti-lag. All it does is limit your RPM by cutting BOTH fuel and spark. Spark cut keeps you from running lean, fuel cut keeps you from destroying your cat. converter. You can sit still with your clutch fully depressed and floor the gas. The throttle body will open up 100% and the car will rev to a preset RPM (I set mine at 3,000). Once it reaches that speed, it will "stutter" but because the throttle body is open, there is never a difference in manifold pressure and intake pipe pressure...So your bypass valve never opens. What does that mean? It means that at 3,000 RPM, I am now sitting still and already have about 10 PSI of boost. Time to drop the clutch.....

Now, I have never launched my car. It has over 21,000 miles on the stock clutch, but I drive it hard every day. Many of you have read my posts about how I take care of the drivetrain and how I always make damned sure I am safely in each gear before going on with the throttle or whatever. Well, the car is driven hard, and I have over 21,000 miles on the stock clutch with no launches......

UNTIL TONIGHT!

I finished wiring in the Flat Shift and went out to set it. You have to initialize it with what preset RPM you want it to "stutter" at. This is easy and only has to be done once. It will retain that preset even if you turn off the car / remove the battery / remove the unit from the car. Once the thing was set, I decided to go out on a country road and "test" it. Now, keep in mind. It's the middle of the night, I was facing down a NO OUTLET road in the middle of the country, outside of city limits, no houses - only barns - around for over 1 mile. With the clutch on the floor and the car in first gear, I put the gas on the floor. The RPM's went up to around 3,000....stuttered a couple of times between 2,800 and 3,500...I looked at my boost gauge: 0.7 to 0.8 Bar. A couple of times, I would hear the turbo go into compressor surge, but it would instantly kick back to 0.7 Bar. Then I decided to go for it. I've never launched the Evo before. I've had two 1990 GSX's that I launched all the time at the tracks...but never the Evo. I quickly came off of the clutch pedal. I didn't ride it, I just brought my foot off of it in a quick, clean, fluid motion. The car lunged forward, never bogged, and then was on it's way to redline FAST. I stopped at the top of first gear and stuck my head out the window. Didn't smell the clutch one bit. OK, let's do it one more time and try to watch the boost gauge. Second lauhch: Same thing. Wide open throttle, 3,000 RPM, boost gauge reading 0.7 Bar....Dropped the clucth. This time I watched the boost gauge. It dropped a bit, but never went into the vacuum side. The car seemed to bog a SLIGHT bit, but more of a "lost my momentum" type of bog. It was instantly back on it's feet and climbing to redline. The stock clutch did not slip and once again I didn't smell any nasty burnt organic disc. I drove the car for another 15 minutes or so. Doing some regular "cool down" type of driving just to make sure the clutch had not been overworked and rode hard and put up wet.

Tomorrow when it's daytime, I'll take some pictures of the install. I'll also get some pics of the gauges. It's pretty cool to see 3,000 RPM on the tach, 0 MPH on the speedo, and a positive reading on the boost gauge...All at the same time.

You can also use this to keep the gas planted in between shifts. However, if I am to do this, I will need to adjust my clutch position switch. As it sits right now, it will allow the motor to free rev when the clutch is first depressed, before the pedal gets all the way to the floor. Right now, if I was to take the car to redline and then upshift with my gas on the floor the whole time, it would be cetain death for my valvetrain. I need to readjust the clutch position switch before I do anything like this.

Will I continue to launch this car? No. I simply installed this part to see how it would work. I had a stutterbox on one of my GSX's and loved it. I just thought it would be a cool addition to the Evo, even if it never gets used. So, Timzcat, you were wondering if I ever put the thing in.....Well now you know. And you were right, this thing is awesome.

 

Do you have a link to where you can buy this?

 

Darryl@Ultimate Racing set me up with it. He's very customer service oriented and very knowledgable. This was my first time dealing with his company, and he has earned my respect and I will be a returning customer.

 

so can you not use this with a standalone ems/?

 

You can, but most standalones worth a poo have some type of launch control / anti-lag incorporated into them, so it would be a waste of money at that point.

 

well i have a apexi power fc....running speed density....i do not believe it has this feature...

 

Just kidding....

 

awesome.

 

Seriously, though...I don't know if the Power FC has the launch control / anti-lag feature on it. Worst case scenario, I am sure you can add this to your standalone, though. It requires these signals: clutch position switch / tachometer signal / crank angle sensor / a splice in to the power feed before the fuel injector resistor pack / ground. I think that is all of them. I will confirm this tomorrow.

 

cool thanks man....

 

So is it a new shifter or an computer unit ?

 

It's a small computer that senses when your clutch is depressed and then limits spark activity and fuel delivery accordingly. It's the same thing that domestic drag racers call "line lock" or "2 step" and what DSMers have called a "stutterbox".

 

Cool, I was wondering how it would do.
I am sure for people with a good 2 disc clutch you could push the preset up to like 4000 or so and the thing would be on full boost at launch.

Did the connection for the fuel and spark cut end up being 2 seperate connections or were you able to kill both at the same power source? I know some cars are on the same feed and others have seperate systems to supply power. This was one of the things I wondered about in their installation instructions.

 

I am pretty sure the PFC doesnt have a launch control feature on either MAP or MAF units. The reason I am assuming is that they were not designed with drag racing in mind (I think) and mainly are used for running around tracks.

Unless someone wants to correct me, which I do not mind

 

Also,

Does this affect daily drivability? Do you have to flip a switch for the unit to go active? I would assume so, but just wondering about the operation of it.