For automotive enthusiasts with turbocharged vehicles, the turbo is literally the lifeline. If the turbine shaft breaks and the turbine is ingested into the engine, you can kiss that engine good bye. If you run too much boost, you can kiss a piston, head gasket and / or rod goodbye due to detonation. If you run your car hard and shut it down immediately thereafter, say good bye to the longevity of the turbo. Obviously, there are a number of things one can do to prevent those problems above – you can buy a quality turbo made by a reputable manufacturer; you can make sure to tune your properly so that boost, fuel map, fuel delivery and ignition are in order; and you can add a turbo timer.

Indeed, a turbo timer is one of the easiest and most economical additions to a turbocharged vehicle. Although it won’t add horsepower, it’s a convenient tool to increase the longevity of the turbo. How does it do this? There’s no need to go into lengthy details as this information is readily available all over the Internet. Simply put, it allows the flow of cooler engine oil through the turbo, preventing hot oil from coking. Coking decreases the efficiency of the turbo, makes the turbo run hotter and decreases turbo life. Considering that turbo timers cost around $100 retail, it’s certainly an affordable addition to any turbocharged vehicle.

HKS USA, marking their 35th anniversary as the premier performance engineering and manufacturing company, introduced the latest iteration of their almost ubiquitous turbo timer in two versions, the Type 0 and Type 1. And, needless to say, the HKS Type-1 turbo timer quickly found a home in Project Evo.

Redesigned for 2008, the new HKS turbo timers feature two separate components – a display module and control module. Whereas previous generations were one unit, the new design allows for more discreet placement of the turbo timer. And the new design scheme match perfectly with the latest generations of the HKS EVC VI boost controller and HKS A/F Knock Amp, a tuning tool designed to detect knock.

For Project Evo, the new HKS Type-1 turbo timer was called into action. The display module was mounted at the bottom of the instrument cluster garnish for a clean, not-in-the-way installation. Since a turbo timer is not something a user will constantly play with, it can be mounted virtually anywhere within sight.

The control module, on the other hand, is a mount-it-and-forget-it piece of the puzzle. Since accessability is not an issue, it was mounted under the dash near the glove box. A rather convenient place was found near the ECU, so some industrial-strength double-sided tape and zip ties were called into action. And care was taken to ziptie the plug / wire from the display module away from the path of the glovebox to prevent potential tangling and damage. In all, installation took about an hour. Fairly simple, even for the most novice of home car mechanics. Do pick up one of the readily available HKS turbo timer harnesses to make things as simple as possible. For the Evo, the model designation is MT-6.

So what is the difference between the HKS Type-0 and Type-1 turbotimers? Glad you asked:

New HKS Type-0 Turbo Timer

- Red-backlit LCD display
- 2 timer modes
- Battery voltage indicator w/ peak value and warning function

New HKS Type-1 Turbo Timer

- Same basic timing & voltage features as the Type-0
- Light blue-backlit LCD display
- Full auto mode timer function, automatically calculating idling time based on the most recent driving pattern
- Vehicle speed and RPM display
- User programmable speed warning
- User programmable two stage RPM warning / shift indicator
- 1/4 mile timer
- 0 to 60mph timer
- Stopwatch function
- MPH / SAE or KPH / Metric measurement

For the expanded functionality of the Type-1 turbo timer, you must splice into the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) and RPM signal wires going into the ECU. So if you are concerned about potential vehicle warranty issues, I would suggest contacting your vehicle manufacturer.

With the new HKS Type-1 turbo timer, RPM warnings were set at 3,000RPM and 6,900RPM. The former for economical shifting around town and the latter for aggressive driving near the Evo’s redline of 7,000RPM. Certainly more convenient and safe, not having to look down at the tach during aggressive driving.

The current economy has forced many car enthusiasts to hold back major car parts purchases. But the new HKS turbo timers are a relatively economical addition to any vehicle with true functionality that adds to the joy of car ownership. Enjoy.

Sourcebox
HKS USA
13401 S. Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90061
(310) 491-3300
www.hksusa.com