In short (and from what I've read), by providing a cleaner signal to the ECU, which makes some sense to me since the ECU would then presumably make more accurate adjustments while you drive, hence driveability improves. If you take the time to read the reviews and the information from the vendor, you'll learn the theory behind it.

Like Project, I read lots of reviews - literally a couple hundred. Can they all be wrong? Can they all be experiencing only the placebo effect? Several even tried the Stillen or other kits, found no benefit, then went on to say the the GG/SxExCx/Black Betty kit made a noticeable difference. It's everyone's prerogative to believe what they read or not, I am rather a skeptic myself, but neither do I simply dismiss such large amounts of even anecdotal evidence based on the premise that "well it's on the vendor's site, so it must be false...".

 

I have read everything, I understand the mentality, but the ECU is digital. If the voltage drops or fluctuates too much (bad ground) then the ECU would not work. It wont magically work better if its already working properly.


I too Read the reviews. But after talking to a Few EE's and some searching I decided it was a waste until scientific testing. The Placebo effect can be very powerful.

There was a similar thing on another forum where there is an AC pipe in the engine bay, people started to cover this up with insulation foam claiming that the car shot colder air and colder air came sooner. Everyone started doing this mod. A bit later someone attached a flow meter to one of the AC vents, and found the air to be no colder then stock, and the air came out cold at the same time.
Scientific tests proved the gains to be false, but yet most of the people who bought the insulation said it was colder when it really was not. Aka Placebo effect


Which is a great example with these grounding kits, which people say A and it might be B. But no one has done Testing to confirm A or B.

So Until then, I wont buy one. But that's up to the individual.


We can talk about this all day and night,so I am going to stop posting in this thread . If you want to keep talking to me just shoot me a PM.

 

My 2c is that you can never have enough ground connections. I work in an auto parts store and I would estimate 40% of electrical problems stem from bad grounds or loose connections. If u want to spend $100 on a grounding kit, go for it. I probably will soon regardless of all the opinions expressed before this.

 

I had to come back in after your comments and just say this.

Too many grounding connections and then you can suffer from grounding loops.

 

Sure, but what if the signal to the ECU routinely fluctuates a little due to inadequate OEM signal grounding, and some of the 1's get changed to 0's...wouldn't cleaning that up potentially make for a smoother-running car? I'm no EE, so this is out of my area of expertise (assuming, of course, I have any LOL)

In the end, each of us will make his own decision and we won't prove or disprove a kit's efficacy through continued discussion. When I install mine I'll throw in my two cents' worth.

 

Oh finally i got the Grounding kit on! Anyone want to see pix? If so, i'll post them up tomorrow.

 

^ yes!

 

Rather read your review. Does it work?

 

Ok i can understand why the car is more responsive because you reset the ECU. It's always going to be more responsive when you reset the ECU even if your bone stock. So my review is going to happen like maybe at the end of this month. I do notice that the gears are shifting smoother. That's all i can say for now

 

Mike (soundmike) did a test with a voltage meter before and after installing a grounding kit and showed measurable improvement

 

I read elsewhere in another post that digital signals either work or don't work which is false. Digital signals are subject to degradation just like analog signals.
Sure there is a threshold at which the ecu wont work, but to say that it works exactly the same at all voltage levels is not necessarily true.

Digital signals are not as cut and dry as "works perfect or doesn't work at all". I do not have a degree in electrical engineering, but like I have said before I have worked with digital signals for the better part of 14 years. As with anything electronic, grounding plays a vital role. Just because it appears to be working properly that does not mean that it is actually working ideally. There could be a ton of errors within the digital signal (very easily caused by a poor ground and fluctuating dc voltage) causing a less than ideal digital signal. Digital signals provide a faster more precise signal, but are not as resilient as an analog signal so they are more prone to degradation.

I do not believe that any positive gains that you see from better grounding will show up on a dyno, IMO that's a waste of money and time.

I'm not here trying to sell grounding kits to anyone, but I do stand behind my belief that it has improved shifting from what I knew prior to installing additional ground wires. I bought the car used so for all I know the shifting response (my baseline in which to compare changes to) may have been degraded. I do not discount the fact that I may have had a poor/corroded ground before, and fixed that inadvertently by installing additional grounds which brought the shifting response back to the way it should have been from the factory.

 

Well, i lied! Pix are going up now. Hope you guys can see this. Lighting kind of sucks.

 

So much for my wire tuck.

 

looks great! how does it feel!

 

You do know that a digital signal can degrade due to a bad line. I mean you do know that right? If the line is dirty, not all those 1's and 0's will be transmitted correctly. I see it everyday.