g-tech any good?

[SVXMAN2001]

I was looking through a magazine today and saw a set of tires for sale and with that you get a g-tech (one of those things that measures 0-60, 1/4 mile, hp, ect.) are these things reliable? Not too interested in the tires but the g-tech thing sounds interesting. How much do they usually run for? what's the difference between this and a dyno test? dyno price?
thanks in advance

chris

[oneothefewproud]

Chris,

I think i saw one at www.tirerack.com and they even give you the retail price for it.

Wayne

[SVXtypeR]

I've been following this thing for years..

The G-Tech Performance Meter Pro is basically an accelerometer with some built-in logic to calculate (estimate) HP, lateral acceleration (skidpad G's), 0-60 (forward acceleration), quarter mile times, 60-0 (braking) and a couple of others I may be missing.

The device is pretty accurate for the price ($149, equal to the price of two baseline runs at the dyno) and was a real breakthrough when it was first introduced. If your're interested in more than a seat-of-the-pants evaluation of your go-fast mods, it's well worth the price.

[immortal_suby]

I have one - it is pretty neat to play with but it made me realize how hard it is to find a flat stretch of road to test it on. Any incline messes up the internals - I ran a high 13 in the 1/4 on a slightly uneven road according to that thing. It is also kind of cheap - the plastic it is made of is weak and the mounting system is hard to get the thing to be perfectly level. I don't regret buying it but it gives a very wide variance of results depending on the road surface you are testing on.

[KEVINL]

its a good way to estimate your cars performance but if you want real solid numbers you need to run a 1/4 mile at the track

[kvnobrien]

Originally posted by KEVINL
its a good way to estimate your cars performance but if you want real solid numbers you need to run a 1/4 mile at the track

Speaking of which, I'm still waiting for the offical 1/4 mile turbo. :)
Nudge Nudge. :D

[KEVINL]

as soon as AZ is less than a 100 degrees at night I will drag my car. the car is all sorted out I am just waiting for decent weather

[ehyde111]

Originally posted by SVXMAN2001
I was looking through a magazine today and saw a set of tires for sale and with that you get a g-tech (one of those things that measures 0-60, 1/4 mile, hp, ect.) are these things reliable? Not too interested in the tires but the g-tech thing sounds interesting. How much do they usually run for? chris
Chris, I had a g-tech for a while when I owned a different car. They're fun, but hard to use on the highway. As stated in an earlier post, it's difficult to find a flat stretch of road as inclines throw it off. The most difficult thing, I found, was starting out. You need to start from a dead stop and it takes at least 1 minute to set the thing (set mode, set vehicle weight by tilting the machine up / down, leveling the thing). You look very conspicous doing this on public roads. You could always take it to the track, but then you'd have more reliable 1/4 and 0-60 times and could get HP from that. I'd shy away from it unless you knew of a place without traffic where you could use it.

I have no idea about accuracy of the measurements. From other conversaions, it's good for pre and post mod tests. As long as you put in the same weight and average a couple of runs you can see if your mods helped any.

Don't buy one new, though. I got mine used for $80. Check out some other car clubs. I used to belong to www.240sx.org and would frequently see them on their classifieds section (club links -->Classifieds --> aftermarket parts). I'll bet eBay has them too.