gpfarrell
11-30-2006, 10:40 AM
As Trilogy #146 has been alive for over 12 hours now, I consider myself to be perhaps the single most knowledgable source of Trilogy information, at least in my own house.
Having read extensively about the product prior to purchasing it, I was quite befuddled to already note the following complaints:
1. I've driven other forced induction cars with a feature called Turbo-Lag. Turbo-Lag is great, it's a meaningful delay in acceleration that gives the driver time to gather his (or her) thoughts before any noteworthy increase in velocity occurs. With the Trilogy kit I don't have any time to think about anything... as soon as I mash the pedal everything gets blurry. :shake:
2. While others have complimented the kit for being so complete, I feel otherwise. For instance, I beleive the standard-duty indicator lamp for the traction-control will be woefully inadequate now. The light is flickering on just about any time I take my foot off the brake. Clearly a heavy-duty lamp should have been included in the kit. :burnout:
3. The installation manual didn't mention anything about Christmas lights. My wife, who must know something about superchargers, told me in no uncertain terms that if I ever wanted to drive a supercharged Marauder I better put up our Christmas lights first. This step isn't covered in the manual and added considerably to the total time of the project.
4. Also, the installation manual is too dam (didn't want to curse) pretty to use. I had to make additional copies suitable for greasy fingers and chocolate donut crumbs.
5. Hunger management: How about a little help on this one! Prior to the installation my car seemed to have an ordinary diet consisting of low-calorie rice and most anything with less than 250 horsepower. Now it wants a seven course meal with such treats as Super Sport Salad, Italian Sports Car Soup, Hemiburgers, a side of Vette pasta... where do I find all of these culinary delights in Pittsburgh?
6. During the initial test drive last night I noticed a banging sound on the 2-3 shift. Further analysis revealed this to be my skull hitting the headrest. This seems to happen on every full-throttle 2-3 shift. How about some extra padding for the headrest? How much could that have cost? Is the bubble-wrap that you shipped to me even available in Light Flint?
7. With the "Tip Sheet" in hand there is no excuse to be a hero mechanic. Everything you need is right there... even 24 hour phone-your-new-friend help lines. How can I claim to be brilliant when some Tall Boy named Chuck could diagnose my silly mishap from a thousand miles away? How do I brag about being so smart when everything goes smoothly, or somebody who doesn't know me from a Camaro drive drops everything to help me?
8. No additional provisions for cargo restraint? Anything left in the trunk just gets plastered into the cargo net now. Haven't the other 145 drivers noticed this?
9. I think the most comparable thing I could buy for performance & exclusivity would be an SRT-8 Hemi Something that would cost me $10,000 - $12,000 more than I have in #146. Aside from the Mercury being faster, what am I supposed to do with $10,000 - $12,000 I have left over?
10. Clearly, the supercharger is going to put an extra strain on the steering system. Before the conversion, my Marauder pulled away straight and true. Now, every time a stoplight turns green I'm sawing at the wheel like a possessed sprint car driver just to go straight. Shouldn't I get some heavy duty power steering fluid or something?
JB... thanks for the Kool-Aid! :beer:
Having read extensively about the product prior to purchasing it, I was quite befuddled to already note the following complaints:
1. I've driven other forced induction cars with a feature called Turbo-Lag. Turbo-Lag is great, it's a meaningful delay in acceleration that gives the driver time to gather his (or her) thoughts before any noteworthy increase in velocity occurs. With the Trilogy kit I don't have any time to think about anything... as soon as I mash the pedal everything gets blurry. :shake:
2. While others have complimented the kit for being so complete, I feel otherwise. For instance, I beleive the standard-duty indicator lamp for the traction-control will be woefully inadequate now. The light is flickering on just about any time I take my foot off the brake. Clearly a heavy-duty lamp should have been included in the kit. :burnout:
3. The installation manual didn't mention anything about Christmas lights. My wife, who must know something about superchargers, told me in no uncertain terms that if I ever wanted to drive a supercharged Marauder I better put up our Christmas lights first. This step isn't covered in the manual and added considerably to the total time of the project.
4. Also, the installation manual is too dam (didn't want to curse) pretty to use. I had to make additional copies suitable for greasy fingers and chocolate donut crumbs.
5. Hunger management: How about a little help on this one! Prior to the installation my car seemed to have an ordinary diet consisting of low-calorie rice and most anything with less than 250 horsepower. Now it wants a seven course meal with such treats as Super Sport Salad, Italian Sports Car Soup, Hemiburgers, a side of Vette pasta... where do I find all of these culinary delights in Pittsburgh?
6. During the initial test drive last night I noticed a banging sound on the 2-3 shift. Further analysis revealed this to be my skull hitting the headrest. This seems to happen on every full-throttle 2-3 shift. How about some extra padding for the headrest? How much could that have cost? Is the bubble-wrap that you shipped to me even available in Light Flint?
7. With the "Tip Sheet" in hand there is no excuse to be a hero mechanic. Everything you need is right there... even 24 hour phone-your-new-friend help lines. How can I claim to be brilliant when some Tall Boy named Chuck could diagnose my silly mishap from a thousand miles away? How do I brag about being so smart when everything goes smoothly, or somebody who doesn't know me from a Camaro drive drops everything to help me?
8. No additional provisions for cargo restraint? Anything left in the trunk just gets plastered into the cargo net now. Haven't the other 145 drivers noticed this?
9. I think the most comparable thing I could buy for performance & exclusivity would be an SRT-8 Hemi Something that would cost me $10,000 - $12,000 more than I have in #146. Aside from the Mercury being faster, what am I supposed to do with $10,000 - $12,000 I have left over?
10. Clearly, the supercharger is going to put an extra strain on the steering system. Before the conversion, my Marauder pulled away straight and true. Now, every time a stoplight turns green I'm sawing at the wheel like a possessed sprint car driver just to go straight. Shouldn't I get some heavy duty power steering fluid or something?
JB... thanks for the Kool-Aid! :beer: