Anyone cracked open a sprint booster yet to see what awesome technology beholds it ?

Probably has a 99 cent opamp inside one of the plastic connectors and that's it. Would be easy to make if someone's willing to make the sacrafice

 

A Sprintbooster was vivisected om youtube and yes, it was just a couple of resistors and an op-amp. But WHICH op-amp?

 

I take it the fine Sprintbooster folks ordered op-amps and opted for the blank top option ?

Shouldn't be that difficult to figure out for someone with a few basic tools. Doesn't need to be the same op-amp, just share the same specs. As I understand it from that report that was cited on the "other" Sprintbooster thread, there's actually room for improvement as I believe the Sprintbooster design is actually running WOT at 2/3 throttle. So it may get you there quicker, but you also appear to loose a bit of the throttle scale.

 

When I'm sitting at a stoplight, and the lane ahead merges, it's nice to have a more linear feel as to how hard I need to accelerate to beat the other traffic. Before the SB, there was no knowing when the throttle lag would end, I just had to floor it to accelerate quickly.

Another example. I want to pass a car doing 40. Pre-SB, I would push the accelerator, but nothing happens! I push a little harder, nothing much yet,... finally I just push it to the floor, and I scream ahead. Thats not good driving. With the SB, you know just how fast per pound of effort on the accelerator your going to go.

Is it worth the money? I don't have dollars to throw around, but it was worth it to me.

 

The thing about building a knock off is this, Boulekos Dynamic found a need, did the homework, built and marketed a product that works and actually it is not an unfair price, no other manufacturer has introduced a device for any brand of car to correct drive by wire throttle lag, at least none that I have found. Although several on this forum have questioned the price and thought it could be built for only a few dollars none have recreated one at any price so I am glad I bought mine when I did and have been able to enjoy mine all this time rather than waiting on a cheaper imitation knock-off that may or may not work to come along. Boulekos Dynamic owns the right to what is inside the little box anyway, JMHO
This has turned into a different discussion, I believe the question was:

 

I think this thread speaks for itself, the only negative comments come from those who don't have one. Love my sprint booster.

 

It also looks like most of people with the SB are on non-SRT XFires too. Who has it on a SRT other then MikeR?

 

I do not have a SB on mine. I was referring to my mods as my sprint booster. Sorry if I confused anyone.

MikeR

 

Had one, it sucked, I sold it. Is that better?



I bought a Sprint Booster and installed it on my '04 with a MANUAL transmission (yes, I even got the "less sensitive" automatic version). The ONLY effect it had was to change WOT to somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 throttle.


I think most of this praise is coming from drivers with automatics - if you drastically change the distance the pedal has to travel to achieve WOT, it's going to FEEL like the lag lessens or goes away. If you have an automatic and you don't have a sprint booster, just floor it all the time... you'll get the same effect.

It does NOT make your car faster.
It does NOT make your throttle snappier or smoother.
It does NOT "remove throttle lag" - this is a misconception

ALL IT DOES is change the travel of the pedal from this: |----------------------|
to this: |-------------|


Oh yeah... one other thing it does is make you post on this board about how great it is so you don't feel like a total chump for blowing $300 on two bucks worth of Radio Shack parts.

But hey.. if you want to act like a chump, buy a cheap aluminum intake tube, stick a K&N knock-off cone at the end of it and tell everybody you just installed a "cold-air intake" and talk about how it's boosted your power by at least 20HP... nobody here has done that, either.

 

Sorry you had such a terrible experience with the SB Oxy ! But it sounds to me like Lil Johnnies parents ! Lil Johnnie joined the military, upon the day of graduation from boot, his parents went to visit and witness the parade of new enlisted. As Lil Johnnie came marchin by, his Mama exclaimed " Honey look ! You were right ! The military did do our son some good ! Out of the 600 graduates he's the only one in step ! "

Chump ???

 

Not a terrible experience, just a... disenchanting one.
As much as the thing is hyped up, you'd think it has all the pizazz of a drinking a cocaine & viagra martini out of Halle Berry's navel.

The simple fact of the matter is that the sprint booster changes the WOT position, and that is all. Anything else is... well, I'll be nice and say "perceived."
If changing the WOT position is what you're after, more power to you. However, I think it's a horrible disservice to fellow XF owners to claim it does otherwise.

Remember, folks... you'll hear plenty of stories here about how the car "feels so much faster!" after simple things like K&N air filters or a cat-back exhaust - both of which, when installed independently, will give you negligible actual horsepower gains.

Once again...
FACT: The sprint booster changes the WOT position of the accelerator.
PERCEIVED: everything else that is said about it.

 

Guess I'm a CHUMP I've got the sprint booster and CAI. Hey lets not forget my magnaflow exhaust either. Guess I got more money than brains. But you know what I'm happy with all my mods. and that's what counts.

 

Frank and Stogey, if I didn't know better (!), I would say that you are being very nice to Oxy. If he had done his homework, he would have found that not one person who responded to this thread said anything about horsepower gains, or faster. Every single one related an opinion that it "felt" faster. Except MikeR (#11) who recanted (#28).

The fact that this device makes WOT feel like 2/3 of pedal travel is an artifact of what it does. The "shortening" of WOT pedal travel is proportional to the speed at which the pedal is depressed. If one accelerates slowly, you don't run out of "go" after 2/3 of pedal, do you? No.
One must think in ramp times. It controls, as I recall. a 0-10VDC signal. It just gives the ability to reach 10VDC faster. IF YOU WANT TO.

I like mine. And that's what this thread was about, right?

 

There’s a thread on this forum which included a report on what the Sprint Booster actually does.

Clicky

The actual PDF can be read here: http://frontiernet.net/~dbipes/sprin...intBooster.pdf

Not having had a sprint booster fitted, I can’t agree or disagree with the findings. However, it does appear to “deaden” the last 1/3 of pedal travel, which could be disconcerting (ie the pedal peaks at 2/3 of its usualtravel). My guess is that you could physically stop the pedal where it peaks to give you the “it’s on the floor” feel.

I think I’d rather look to other software mods to up the BHP if I wanted some extra kick (remove the limitations built into the ECU for example). According to this document, Sprint Booster does not improve acceleration, rather it gives the illusion by reducing the point at which the throttle peaks.

I am guessing that it feels that the car is faster because your foot is not as far down on the floor for the speed you are doing. I noticed this a lot when I started driving my Crossfire this year. 70mph on my previous car was in a totally different place on the gas pedal to where it is on the Crossfire. As such, the Crossfire feels quicker in part because muscle memory is telling me “this is 50mph” when I’m doing 70.

My (cheaper, and somewhat tongue in cheek) solution: heavy boots and a good hard stomp on the gas!

 

I have no personal experience with the SB, or any other performance inhancing products mentioned (my car is mechanically 100% stock). But I do believe Valkryderguy knocked nearly 1/2 a second off the documented (Automotive Magazine's Road Test) 1/4 mile time of 15.18 sec. for an automatic, with nothing more than a CAI installation.
I don't know how much H.P. is needed to go a 1/2 a second faster in the 1/4 mile, but for the price of a NeedsWings "CAI", I think most "drag racers" would call it a bargain.
I know I would have when I use to drag race.

 

Sorry Hairy, I just wanted to clarify: if one accelerates moderately, one doesn't even know there is a Sprintbooster. You go through the gears and the vehicle shifts at just the same points/speeds. If one is travelling steadily at 70 MPH, the pedal is is in just the same place on two cars, one with and one without. You can then increase speed to...whatever... using the same amount of throttle travel. It just responds differently.

 

Think about what you are saying, If it changed the TPS (throttle position sensor ) to show WOT (wide open throttle) at 1/2 to 2/3 you would launch like a rocket each time you touched the throttle pedal and run out of throttle at 1/2 to 2/3 pedal depression and I am sorry but that just is not a "FACT".
FACT: The SB works
PERCEIVED: What OXY said

 

Does somebody have that PDF available? I guess the link is down right now. I remember reading it, and it definitely altered the curve to have something like 90%WOT at 60-70% pedal travel?

 

That is exactly what happens: you're at full throttle at somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 pedal depression.

 

Increasing air flow (on both the intake and exhaust) will help. Changing your fuel map to accomodate the increased air flow is much more important.

I was being facetious in my previous post - there are many on this board who have stuck some aluminum tubing on the intake, routed it next to the engine and fitted a cone filter on the end and called it a "Cold Air Intake" - which I personally find hilarious... while that system may get you increased airflow, it certainly won't have a lower temperature than the stock setup.