Vargas GC turbo initial review

[gtman]

@Smoothie

According to Derek Robinson aka D-Rob, it's virtually impossible to dyno a CVT unless it has the paddle shifters. If it does, here's how he does it:



As far as you saying your car seems less snappy off the line but builds power nicely after that, that's honestly the best setup for the CVT.

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[curlichfc1]

I mean we probably sound like broken records but the turbo’s vargas have created for our platform are well built, responsive, and hold power thru redline, I have another friend Matt who just got a gc+ and intends to make a post in here when he’s done tuning but that thing even now is pulling hard and sounds freaking good, loving that people are seeing how great this turbo is.
Attaching a sound clip of Matt’s gc+ then 2nd will be my gc same intake setup.

 

[gtman]

Make sure Matt also adds his car to my tuning thread if you can. I know posts in this Vargas thread are important but I'd like to think my tuning thread is valuable to the communuty as well.

 

[curlichfc1]

Trust me I’ll make sure his first post in the reliability thread before he makes his way in here with his personal experience with the turbo, appreciate what you do by your personal time to put all the data together.

 

[gtman]

Appreciate that, thanks. I enjoy helping the community. I just wish more tuned owners would take the time.

 

[Smoothie]

@Smoothie

According to Derek Robinson aka D-Rob, it's virtually impossible to dyno a CVT unless it has the paddle shifters. If it does, here's how he does it:



As far as you saying your car seems less snappy off the line but builds power nicely after that, that's honestly the best setup for the CVT.

Yeap, mine does come with paddles, it was done in the manual S mode. Mistake we did was not loading the cvt up for a bit at 3krpm

 

[Neosky]

Sound clip for GC+

 

[TheDeliSauce]

Make sure Matt also adds his car to my tuning thread if you can. I know posts in this Vargas thread are important but I'd like to think my tuning thread is valuable to the communuty as well.

I'm still working out the issues with my SI (Head is having issues from previous oil starvation events shortly after 2nd built rebuild). Once I get a new L15B7 head on & working I'll have a monster update for the thread. It's been one hell of a journey so far.

 

[Builtfc1]

Sound clip for GC+

How did you add this long of a video? I tried it never works.

 

[Sport-injected]

How did you add this long of a video? I tried it never works.

You should be able to upload directly from your phone, you can try to reduce the video quality if too large.

 

[Builtfc1]

You should be able to upload directly from your phone, you can try to reduce the video quality if too large.

I’ve tried it never uploads like it does with photos

 

[Neosky]

How did you add this long of a video? I tried it never works.

I sent it to my group chat in messenger. Then from pc, I downloaded it from that group chat as an mp4 file. Then uploaded that file in here. And yeah, I feel ya. Phone recordings are large nowadays

 

[Smoothie]

Hey guys, im thinking of doing a drop in Skunk2 Cams, stg1. Hoping to get the turbo to kick in a lil bit earlier
Any comments?

 

[Redwing]

Hey guys, im thinking of doing a drop in Skunk2 Cams, stg1. Hoping to get the turbo to kick in a lil bit earlier
Any comments?

I would say go for it. Keep in mind Kelford also has their EZ cams which are comparable. Unfortunately, if you have a CVT, the main gain from "stage 1" cams is in the midrange where the torque is the highest. If you don't tune out the massive torque spike from the turbo, then it could very easily damage the CVT. Same is true for any major engine modification really.

As for turbo responsiveness and spool speed, I would not expect a massive difference. There probably will be some increase in spool rate (faster spool), but I would not expect it to be a huge factor. Maybe 200-300 RPM of a difference but the only way to know for sure is to test it.

For people that have experience running skunk 2 cams check out:
Precord96's FK7 - 2020 EX Build (Is a CVT and uses Skunk2 Ultra stage 1 cams)
optimoprime's - Civic Si Build (Uses Skunk2 Ultra stage 2 cams)

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