Sprint Booster V3 Info + Review

[Goodchia]

Right, Sprint Booster V3 arrived today and as everyone on here has been so amazing helping me out over the years I thought I'd return the favour and post my thoughts in case anyone is in two minds about buying one, as I was.

Sorry if it's a bit long winded but I thought it best to get it all down however, if you're inpatient and don't want to read it all then just buy one. Seriously, BUY ONE. For everyone else, here's the long version:

Background

I thought it was total b*****cks. I assumed that it essentially just makes the car think you're at 100% throttle when you're at 50%, giving the illusion of better response. I was wrong.

After a few recommendations and the V3 coming out, I did some proper research and found that the Sprint Booster actually affects the speed at which the throttle body butterfly opens. Modern car throttle bodies are factory set with quite a slow opening speed. Some rubbish called 'drivability'. Because roadcar. So, flooring the pedal only makes the throttle body open wider. This is the key - The Sprint Booster makes the throttle body valve open faster.

With a 30 day money back guarantee I thought 'f**k it...'

I bought one from eBay as it was the only place I could find (with little research) that shipped to the UK. It was coming from Greece so I paid the extra tenner postage. Ordered Tuesday and arrived the following Monday. All good. Link below:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122398884530?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Testing

Firstly, my 6 year old sister could fit it so don't be worried about getting one if you're not too handy with a 10mm spanner.

Test 1: Started her up and went for a spin. First impressions were 'It's alright... Certainly a bit sharper but nothing crazy like I've heard about'. This brings me to Rule 1: Read the bloody instructions. There's a little switch on the side that tells it if you have an auto or a manual and if you start off in auto, it doesn't work very well.

Test 2: Of course, I immediately set it to 'RACE' and put it on it's highest setting, as you do. Crawled out the drive way on 2% throttle and on to the road. Crept up to around 3k in 1st gear and pinned it. Holy...s**t. It really works!

As I said, no matter how fast you mash the throttle normally, the throttle body won't open any faster. With little effort you can get the pedal to the floor way before the throttle body is fully open. With the Sprint Booster fitted (and on it's highest setting), you don't even need to pin it, by the time you're at 30% throttle it's fully open.

I went for a blast up some country lanes and christ, what a difference. With it 'off', you only ever really get a kick in the back upon initial acceleration, 197's and 200's roll through the gears pretty smoothly. With the Sprint Booster 'on' (and set at max, still), you get a nice womp when changing gears and good shove in the back every time you lift off and get back on it.

Exiting corners is a dream, it makes rev matching a walk in the park and even my pretty poor attempts at heel toe were massively improved simply because the revs flick up so much quicker.

Of course, none of our cars have any proper power below 3k and the Sprint Booster doesn't change that. But, for those of who who are like me, like a proper Sunday blast and see over 23mpg as a warning that you've been taking it too easy, the Sprint Booster is EXCELLENT. End of.

Daily driving

Firstly, it has an 'off' button so none of this really matters but, it also has 18 settings for 'sport' and 'race' which I tried them out.

Set to 'RACE' and on any of its the 9 race settings I found it way too much around town. I can imagine fairly easily ending up rear ending the car in front if you were in traffic and not paying much attention. However, dial it back a bit, find the setting you like and personally I think it makes the car feel like we all think it should (minus the 200 extra ponies). I drove back home on 'SPORT' and on '4' and it was perfect. Fine for driving around town but still has that extra bit of immediacy for over taking grannies... Or Corsa's.

Final Thoughts (Finally...)

For the £186, I genuinely (and more importantly, personally) think it's a more worthwhile buy than a remap on these NA engines. I've got two 197's at moment (check my 'for sale' post if you want one!), one with a remap and now one with a Sprint Booster. I'd take the Sprint Booster any day. It doesn't make your car any faster but it feel so much more immediate that it doesn't really matter.

Important - If it’s wet and you’ve got traction control off then seriously, be careful. I was getting spin from the front wheels just pulling out of junctions in the dry with traction control on.

Anyway, I hope this helps at least one of you - I'll keep an eye on the thread in case any questions come up.

Cheers.

 

[sevenfourate]

Great review - and sounds a fabulous product.

Wonder if and how this would with with a remapped car. ie: Would there be any negatives / conflict with the remap.......

 

[Chris]

Nice little write up there!

Think your little 6 year old sister would find it easier being able to fit in the footwell!

 

[Big Ben]

Great write up. Sounds a great product.
As Shuv said I'd be curious to see if it was compatible with a remapped car

 

[Goodchia]

I'm also curious about the remap and whether it's worth getting one on my newer 197!

I need to get the old car washed on the weekend. As it was so easy to fit, I think I'll put the SB on the remapped car and see what it's like.

To be honest, I'm expecting it to be even better, the only real lag left in the car is below 3k and the remap dialed that out a fair bit so it should just mean the Sprint Booster has more to work with.

I'll let you guys know!

 

[sevenfourate]

I'm also curious about the remap and whether it's worth getting one on my newer 197!

I need to get the old car washed on the weekend. As it was so easy to fit, I think I'll put the SB on the remapped car and see what it's like.

To be honest, I'm expecting it to be even better, the only real lag left in the car is below 3k and the remap dialed that out a fair bit so it should just mean the Sprint Booster has more to work with.

I'll let you guys know!

Fantastic ! A quick swap over to your mapped car - and a little review of that would be helpful to many.

Inc me

 

[Shocker]

Hi
I have fitted a racechip throttle response kit to my rs200t and I thought the same as goodchia that it was a bit of a con but no I completely concur with the findings and think it's one of the best things I've ever used
The car is a lot more lively and the mpg has got better by 2-3mpg to and from work

 

[Flange]

Im wondering will this help my flat spot at 2500 revs due to my exhaust

 

[sevenfourate]

Im wondering will this help my flat spot at 2500 revs due to my exhaust

Personally i'd remap the car first over fitting a Sprint-booster type unit....

Will help the fuelling / driveability in all areas and be so much nicer to drive than standard. At 'only' around £100 more than the cost of the Sprint-booster.

 

[Doogle]

Interesting write up, I have considered one of these since buying my 197 as there is that slight lag that gets a little annoying. Even coming from an older turbo diesel the lag was noticeable.

I have fitted a lightweight crankshaft pulley that I bought from Raptor and he said he sold his Sprint Booster because it was too much combines. Id be intrigued to try it and see if it is excessive, as you say you can dial it right back or turn it off in traffic.

 

[suj]

I have a V2 (so only 3 modes, Off, Sport and Race) and I am with you, I thought it was a gimmick until I bought one used as a "if I don't like it, i'll sell it on".

I have mine off for normal day-to-day driving, but then a nice country road and it's on Sport.

Yours being a V3 has individual settings for each setting to help fine tune, that must be great!

Also @sevenfourate Shuv, reading around before I bought one, people said remap still makes throttle response (throttle maps) the same, so this still helps even with a map

 

[Goodchia]

@suj You'd definitely love it, you can have it on sport but a low setting for normal driving. Best of both worlds. Maybe eBay yours an get the newer one, I doubt it'd cost you much more. You'd probably sell it pretty quick on the forum tbh.

 

[Goodchia]

I was thinking about this remap vs. Spring Booster thing...

A remap increases fuelling and timing meaning you should have extra power and torque. But, fuelling is controlled by the fuel injectors which are essentially controlled by the throttle body opening. Sprint Booster increases throttle body response.

So, whether it's standard power or remap power, if the throttle body is opening quicker then the injectors will fire faster and you'll get to access your cars 'power' that bit sooner. If you think about it in terms of driving the car, the Sprint Booster makes your car start accelerating sooner and a remap makes it accelerate harder.

In a perfect world you want both, right?

 

[sevenfourate]

I was thinking about this remap vs. Spring Booster thing...

A remap increases fuelling and timing meaning you should have extra power and torque. But, fuelling is controlled by the fuel injectors which are essentially controlled by the throttle body opening. Sprint Booster increases throttle body response.

So, whether it's standard power or remap power, if the throttle body is opening quicker then the injectors will fire faster and you'll get to access your cars 'power' that bit sooner. If you think about it in terms of driving the car, the Sprint Booster makes your car start accelerating sooner and a remap makes it accelerate harder.

In a perfect world you want both, right?

I hear you and see the points entirely.

***Just for reference my car was rich at some points of the rev range, throttle openings etc. So fuel was actually dialled out in places. I guess just 'safely rich' from the factory. Possibly why you MAY get increased performance AND better MPG after a remap.....

Lets ask this question then. If like me you've had a car remapped and add a sprint-booster. Would there be a need (Ie: Would it fuel / perform better) after having the map tweaked again to suit ? Or is the car effectively doing exactly the same things as before - its just being 'fooled' into doing them faster by the SB ?

 

[Tutuur]

Personally i'm still baffled by the fact you guys love these sprint boosters so much! Chris (efi) has a perfect solution for this coming with his remaps. So that's £186 off your remap which improves the car on many more fronts then just the sprint booster!

The only thing a sprint booster does is multiply the output of the throttle potentiometer, basically the same as moving your foot faster/deeper. Nothing more, nothing less....

 

[Shocker]

Personally i'm still baffled by the fact you guys love these sprint boosters so much! Chris (efi) has a perfect solution for this coming with his remaps. So that's £186 off your remap which improves the car on many more fronts then just the sprint booster!

The only thing a sprint booster does is multiply the output of the throttle potentiometer, basically the same as moving your foot faster/deeper. Nothing more, nothing less....

I thought the same that it was a load of rubbish
But I got the remap first which is great then I added the booster last week and it has made the car a lot more lively and easier and nicer to drive
You have got to try them to actually notice it makes the car a lot nicer to drive

 

[Goodchia]

If you're baffled (as I was) then you can't have tried one.

If you're near Reading, come and have a go... I guarantee you'll change you mind.

Personally i'm still baffled by the fact you guys love these sprint boosters so much! Chris (efi) has a perfect solution for this coming with his remaps. So that's £186 off your remap which improves the car on many more fronts then just the sprint booster!

The only thing a sprint booster does is multiply the output of the throttle potentiometer, basically the same as moving your foot faster/deeper. Nothing more, nothing less....

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Timbo]

I've had a Sprint Booster on a previous car....it works as @Tutuur describes, and is possibly the biggest performance placebo I've ever encountered. Still, if you are otherwise reluctant to plant your right foot, you might find it useful.

 

[Goodchia]

Maybe they've changed how they work because that's certainly not the case anymore.

The stock throttle butterfly is mapped to open at a specific speed no matter how hard or fast you mash your foot, you cannot get it to open faster without a throttle controller (Sprint Booster) or a different throttle map. That's fact.

For arguments sake, say you mash your foot to 100% and a stock mapped throttle body opens in 1.2 seconds. With a Sprint Booster it'll open faster, let's say 0.5 seconds. That's where the difference is. It's nothing to do with whether the pedal is half way or all the way down.

To save further discussion on this, any of you guys are welcome to come for a ride in my car if you can make it down one weekend (or you're at French Car Show in July!) - I guarantee you'll go out and buy one.

I've had a Sprint Booster on a previous car....it works as @Tutuur describes, and is possibly the biggest performance placebo I've ever encountered. Still, if you are otherwise reluctant to plant your right foot, you might find it useful.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Tutuur]

Won't ever be near as i live in the Netherlands, let me tell you this, i remap these cars myself and i guided Chris into this modification. No need to convince me as basically whatever the sprint booster does, i can do it directly in the ecu.....

Regarding your second post, you're contradicting yourself there. Let me educate you on how it really works:

First the ecu looks at what angle the throttle pedal is at, this corresponds to a map in which torque request is set. This torque request is then used in a different map which is torque vs rpm, the combination of both leads to a certain throttle opening.

What a sprint booster does is just multiply the output of the throttle pedal, leading the ecu to think you've moved your foot further. Absolutely no change in throttle speed whatsoever as you describe it.

Only thing i can think of is it having a downside even, because for instance at 70% throttle you'll have 100% torque request, you'll lose resolution in the throttle pedal which badly influences modulating power....