Cusco Earth Grounding Kit

[markmatley]

Spec'd out the Cusco kit through individual parts on McMaster-Carr (assuming wire terminals were for the usual 8mm bolts on the engine) and included heat-shrink wrap suitable for up to 450 F, all came out to be ~$40. Yay~

Assuming I go with gmookher's advice, I can get it down to about $10. Sweeet!

[sw20kosh]

Originally Posted by JoeBoxer

Cusco seems to produce a lot of parts that don't really provide any results, this and the big bore throttle body seem to just be out there to take peoples money. Some people will buy it just because they think it wouldn't be available if it didn't add power or they want it for bragging rights on the show circuit. I don't have a lot of respect for Cusco for offering stuff like this.

This may be a bit dramatic but this is why I refuse to put any Cusco products on my car. I have seen this on other platforms I have owned. They have lost my respect/interest and are so greedy.

[silverbullet]

I haven't gotten my ohm meter out and done any legit testing yet but I have noticed that the electrical system does become a little taxed at idle. With the headlights, rear defrost, radio, and heated seats on, flipping on the climate control can almost stall the car when the AC compressor kicks in. Obviously this is with the alternators output at a minimum and as rpms increase so do the available amps to the system but, theoretically, if someone hadn't done all their maths right during the engineering process, I guess it might be possible for conditions to be just right to get a random weak spark that causes a misfire that causes the ecu to pull timing or modify the DAM value slightly. Even with that in mind, I really don't think that is the case here and I don't believe marketing a product like this as a HP increasing mod has any justification in today's market. Hell, even all the popular spark voltage increasing boxes to put on muscle cars back in the day didn't do anything but prevent misfires and put some colored cables in your engine bay.

[tisb0b]

Originally Posted by sw20kosh

This may be a bit dramatic but this is why I refuse to put any Cusco products on my car. I have seen this on other platforms I have owned. They have lost my respect/interest and are so greedy.

If no-one bought the product then they wouldn't be making it. There is a demand and they are meeting it, basic business. Hating a company for producing items that customers want is stupid.

[silverbullet]

For anyone interested in the full article.

http://www.importtuner.com/powerpage...13_scion_fr_s/

$2561 in parts for 6.8 hp and 6.4 lb/ft. Apparently Cusco thinks we are all stupid.

[JoeBoxer]

If you want a grounding kit i would suggest the Chase Bays one.

[Huehuecoyotl]

what does the chase bay cost?

next tiime I will try using a s grounding strap

[2point0]

Originally Posted by Huehuecoyotl

what does the chase bay cost?

$100 and there's isn't much wire involved.

http://www.chasebays.com/product/sci...rs--subaru-brz

Better off getting some 4g or larger wire and terminals from a local audio shop. Heat shrink is dirt cheap.

[sw20kosh]

Originally Posted by tisb0b

If no-one bought the product then they wouldn't be making it. There is a demand and they are meeting it, basic business. Hating a company for producing items that customers want is stupid.

No where did I sat I hate them. I just refuse to support them.

Buying products because of hype and name brand blindly and paying exorbitant prices is stupid. C wut I did there?

Originally Posted by silverbullet

For anyone interested in the full article.

http://www.importtuner.com/powerpage...13_scion_fr_s/

$2561 in parts for 6.8 hp and 6.4 lb/ft. Apparently Cusco thinks we are all stupid.

[markmatley]

Calm down guys! We're all car friends here.

I understand that all of us buy products based on many different factors, some include hype, some include price, effectiveness, design, brand name, etc etc the list goes on. But what we need to focus on is whether someones home grown solution or brand name bought item does or doesn't relieve our cars of issues that we may have/already encountered.

So as soon as I get my 8 gauge or 3 gauge wiring and terminals and the heat shrink tubing, Ill post my home-made solution up and tell you guys if anything unusual happens. Note that I do not have an aftermarket stereo or any other electrically taxing equipment besides retrofits.

[2point0]

Originally Posted by markmatley

So as soon as I get my 8 gauge or 3 gauge wiring and terminals and the heat shrink tubing, Ill post my home-made solution up and tell you guys if anything unusual happens. Note that I do not have an aftermarket stereo or any other electrically taxing equipment besides retrofits.

Since you're doing this yourself, if you have a soldering iron/gun or any kind of torch, I recommend soldering the terminals.

On my WRX, I think I used 8g wire, but I'd slide on the heatshrink, crimp on a ring terminal then set it in my bench vise and aimed my torch at the connection for a bit (cheap propane torch from Home Depot). Once it was hot, I pushed the solder in from the top and basically filled the whole connection. I then slipped the heatshrink on past the end of the wires and shrunk it down so the whole thing was covered except for the ring itself. Very solid connections and fairly weatherproof.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by 2point0

Since you're doing this yourself, if you have a soldering iron/gun or any kind of torch, I recommend soldering the terminals.

On my WRX, I think I used 8g wire, but I'd slide on the heatshrink, crimp on a ring terminal then set it in my bench vise and aimed my torch at the connection for a bit (cheap propane torch from Home Depot). Once it was hot, I pushed the solder in from the top and basically filled the whole connection. I then slipped the heatshrink on past the end of the wires and shrunk it down so the whole thing was covered except for the ring itself. Very solid connections and fairly weatherproof.

That's the way to do it. Wondering if this will help with idle issues as it did on my WRX.

[2point0]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

That's the way to do it. Wondering if this will help with idle issues as it did on my WRX.

I would think so. One of these days I'll either adapt my old wires to the BRZ or just start fresh with something heavier. It's amazing how much strain there is just turning on the rear defroster.

[markmatley]

Originally Posted by 2point0

Since you're doing this yourself, if you have a soldering iron/gun or any kind of torch, I recommend soldering the terminals.

On my WRX, I think I used 8g wire, but I'd slide on the heatshrink, crimp on a ring terminal then set it in my bench vise and aimed my torch at the connection for a bit (cheap propane torch from Home Depot). Once it was hot, I pushed the solder in from the top and basically filled the whole connection. I then slipped the heatshrink on past the end of the wires and shrunk it down so the whole thing was covered except for the ring itself. Very solid connections and fairly weatherproof.

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

That's the way to do it. Wondering if this will help with idle issues as it did on my WRX.

Roger that! Was planning to double crimp then solder the end of terminal with the wire attached just in case. I have heat shrink tubing that should withstand up to 492F, and is chemically resistant (oil, acid, cat pee...LOL).

I haven't had much idling issue, but maybe I'll keep a better eye on things before I do this mod to see if any changes occur.