gTech Pro- totally pointless and FUN!
 

Well, I got my 1st generation gTech in the mail this week, and yesterday was a warm day here, so I went out to have some fun with it. And, the only definitive thing I can attest to here, is that it is fun. Scentific, no, not at all ... but serious fun.

I bought mine on eBay from a guy named gTechPro - I presume it's somebody associated with Tesla Electronics, as he offers support, warranty and everything. I paid $26.95 plus $6.55 for shipping for a total of about $34. At that price, this is decidedly a WFT item. I spend more for a bottle of vodka that I consume in one evening of martini's with my buddies.

So, results:

1) Usage: It's a fussy little thing. It's not accurate unless it's deadcentered in the car, and algined along the car's centerline. I also doesn't "zero out" well unless the car is on a level surface. I found that if your starting point isn't perfectly level, you can drive to a spot that is, then zero it, then gently motor to your starting point before starting a run.

2) 0-60 timing: The pavement was damp with dew and snowmelt mixed with salt, so not exactly a powerhouse traction combo. I couldn't launch with the DSC off lest i just get uncontrolled wheelspin.

In three passes, lauching the car at 3500 RPM, DSC on, and getting the "traction" light both at launch and at 1-2 shift, the best I was able to get was 6,6 seconds - presumably because the traction control really puts the dampers on things, and that last for at least a second each time. I tried one DSC off launch, got uncontrolled wheelspin that caused me to abort the run. Then I tried one run launching with DSC off, and then hitting the DSC just after the car "hooked up" in 1st gear. That one I aborted after the 1-2 shift because I got enough wheelspin that the car began to oversteer. So, I'll try this again once spring comes.

60-0 braking: Again, three runs (to match the others) and best I logged was 135 feet with the ABS chattering like mad. Blame damp, salty pavement.

Horsepower: This, you can do from a standing start, but you aren't "penalized" by a slow start. Best HP reading I got from it was 182 - this is "down the road" horsepower, which unlike "crank" and "wheel" horsepower, is also affected by weight of the driver, weight of the fuel, wind resistance, road slope, etc. For visibility reasons I only did my runs in one direction (I could see close to 2 miles on the road I was on going one way, going the other, it was blind - not a good idea to do performance testing blind). I'll try this again when I can estimate a better "at test" weight to crank into the gTech.

I didn't get a chance to check 1/4 mile and instantaneous/constant g's ... will do that another day on better pavement.

That said, even if the data is statistically meaningless, it was serious fun.

Although one stat was irrefutible. In 45 minutes of playing with it, with at least 15 WOT runs through the gears to 85 mph or so, I burnt through nearly a 1/3 of a tank of gas although I probably only drove 10 miles. OOPS!

LoL... sounds like fun! I remember my friend had one in his wrx... That thing gave horrible readouts in my rx7 and in his wrx, but it was fun tooling around with it--especially when it gave like 3 second 0-60 times :)
Don't they have a 2nd gen or 3rd gen gtech now?

FS

yup - which is why this one is so inexpensive.

Acutally, the timer readouts on 0-60 were uncannily accurate - I had my son doing stopwatch checks, and it was within 1/10th of a second of what he was timing, so was accurate for my blood - in fact I'm sure it was more accurate than my son and the stopwatch as the gTech has no reaction time.

Got mine last night (from the same guy as StewC625) and tried it out this afternoon. I floored it to redline in first and second and got 192 hp. It was level before I started and I was on a flat road so I guess that should be pretty accurate... well, except that my 3200-pound weight estimate (for my base 6-speed, a full tank of fuel, me, and various crap) could've been off.

It's a fun little toy. It'd be nice if it saved settings (it's annoying to have to remove it from the windshield to set the weight) but for $33 I can't complain.

Pretty much my feeling too - very cheep for a "WTF" purchase. And fun.

6.6 seconds, wow. The best I could get with a 5k launch, dsc off and shifting at 9k was 6.73. That sucks for me. I mainly got myne to see before and after results from mods.

I got a gtech on ebay after reading this thread. The best thing for me though is the reassurance that the power is still there at 22000 miles. I found the horsepower mode to be a bit off (due presumably to errors building up in the speed measurement). So I figured out a conversion factor from g's.

Weight in lbs x speed in mph x g's x 0.002665 = hp.

I get XXX in 3rd at XXmph, I figure XXXXlbs with me and a tank of gas. That's 198hp. I had been worried about seal life span and such, and so I was glad to see good power at 22000 miles.
--Dave.

The one "day to day" statistic that I would like to know from you guys is the 5-60MPH run. That way you go steady at 5 MPH and then floor it till 60 without having to put so much strain on the drive line and waste clutch/rubber. Can someone try and post the results?

OK since no one responded to my recent post, I decided to read up on the G-tech pro. Now I know why you can't get 5-60MPH readings. Sorry folks for asking a stupid question. I just ordered one as well to mess around with. Took the mail option and should get it in 2-3 weeks.

Doing a 0-60 without slipping the clutch much (ie starting at low RPM) might give you an approximate 5-60.