Betty's Garage Grounding Wires Installed - Impressions

[finagle69]

I recently purchased a set of Black Betty's "Betty's Garage Grounding Wires". I installed these in the suggested time of 15 minutes with absolutely NO difficulty whatsoever.

My car is a 5AT, which historically benefits from grounding kits moreso than a *MT would.

Link to purchase and info thread. http://myg37.com/forums/engine-intake-exhaust/182792-bettys-garage-grounding-wires-finally-here.html

Packaging/Shipping

Product was adequately packed and shipped using USPS Priority Mail for a max of 3 business day delivery. It arrived on my doorstep in short order!

Product Quality

Excellent. It is easily discernable how much care was given when the materials were being constructed into the complete kit. Connectors, shrink wrap, and techflex wrapping are assembled by hand and look and feel perfectly rigid and imperfection-free.

Installation Instructions

The installation instructions are posted in the purchase thread linked above, and provide precise, detailed written and pictoral descriptions of the installation process... it's not that hard, it's only 3 wires!

Ease of Installation

You've pretty much gotten the idea already. It's freakin' easy. out of 10 (10 being difficult), it's a 1.

Review

This is always the most suggestive part of any grounding kit review, but I'll take a stab at it. Note: ECU resest was performed due to the battery negative terminal being disconnected for 15 minutes. No need to perform further reset.

Idle: I couldn't tell a change in idle, but I've always thought my car had a pretty solid idle anyways.

Electronics: I cannot comment on how the grounding kit will help stiffen the electronics system due to large amplifiers as I do not have an aftermarket sub/amp installed.

Throttle: I could tell a slight difference in throttle response, though I would honestly attribute that to a combination of the ECU reset coupled with the Placebo affect.

Shifting: Here's where the most appreciable difference was felt, IMO. Where downshifts used to be plagued by a slight lag or hesitation, the rev matching commences immediately! It almost seems that the rev matching starts as soon as I fully depressed the down-shifter. Up-shifts seemed slightly quicker as well, but not as dramatic as the up-shifts on my car were pretty quick to start.

The implications of the shifting improvements are pretty clear; during spirited driving, you can be more confident that when you command your car to go to a certain gear, it will do so post-haste.

Impressions: Overall, I love the kit. It is an 8AWG/Black techflex package that is completely understated and is not visible at all. I wanted a stock look and feel that it is retained. The improvements I felt in the shifting department made me a believer in the kit and kits in general. Absolutely worth the price of admission, and it's less than half the price of any other retail kit!

Thanks Black Betty for a great, top-quality kit!

Feel free to ask any questions. I'll be more than happy to help in any way I can.

[KAHBOOM]

Adding my review.
Everythimg I experienced is consistent with finaglr69.
1 Better throttle response
2 Quicker upshifts
3 Downshifts are now slightly quicker.

Result #2 was the biggest improvement. I no longer have to "time" my 1-2 upshift. Before I would have to click the upshift paddle no later than 7000 RPM. I can now click the paddle just before redline without a delay and without bouncing off the rev limiter.
I have the 8AWG set.
I may see if Betty is willing to make a couple more wires to complete a 5 wire set to further maximize the improvements.

[finagle69]

I'd be interested in a wire completing the big 3. positive battery to alternator. i'd really like a ground upgrade for the ECU, though i'm not sure where it is. i think it's close to the drivers side behind the fender well?

[Black Betty]

Thanks for the words of confidence gentlemen. If you'd like additional wiring PM me with specific requests and I'll do what I can. ECU grounding isn't something I'd advise, but if you want me to fab something for you I'm your man.

If you'd like a positive alternator to battery wire, I'll do that too. PM me for specific requests and costs.

I may have a few custom touches and extras to implement in the near future. Stay tuned.

[erasat]

Originally Posted by Black Betty

Thanks for the words of confidence gentlemen. If you'd like additional wiring PM me with specific requests and I'll do what I can. ECU grounding isn't something I'd advise, but if you want me to fab something for you I'm your man.

If you'd like a positive alternator to battery wire, I'll do that too. PM me for specific requests and costs.

I may have a few custom touches and extras to implement in the near future. Stay tuned.

Hi.

Can you answer the couple of questions I asked earlier today in your Vendor thread? Thanks in advance.

[Black Betty]

Originally Posted by erasat

Hi.

Can you answer the couple of questions I asked earlier today in your Vendor thread? Thanks in advance.

Answered in the other thread. Sorry, I usually waste far too much time here but was really busy today. Place your order!

[erasat]

Thanks, I will talk to my buddy to ask him if he is interested also, and will let you know.

[bboysteele]

Great job Black Betty! You the man.

[finagle69]

What are the reasons why you wouldn't advise beefing up the ground to the ECU?

What about the TCM? From memory, I believe the Gord's kit provides grounding to this module. Any thoughts?

Originally Posted by Black Betty

Thanks for the words of confidence gentlemen. If you'd like additional wiring PM me with specific requests and I'll do what I can. ECU grounding isn't something I'd advise, but if you want me to fab something for you I'm your man.

If you'd like a positive alternator to battery wire, I'll do that too. PM me for specific requests and costs.

I may have a few custom touches and extras to implement in the near future. Stay tuned.

[KAHBOOM]

What does grounding from th epositive terminal to the alternator do?.. just curious.

[finagle69]

Originally Posted by KAHBOOM

What does grounding from th epositive terminal to the alternator do?.. just curious.

all of these grounding upgrades are intended to reduce or eliminate the bottleneck of smaller gauge wires. the main path of electricity is from:

Batt + > Alternator > Engine > Chasis > Batt -

[Black Betty]

Originally Posted by finagle69

What are the reasons why you wouldn't advise beefing up the ground to the ECU?

What about the TCM? From memory, I believe the Gord's kit provides grounding to this module. Any thoughts?

Because I'm not technically adept enough to give you expert advice on it.

If you are familiar with doing something like this yourself, be all means go for it. If you know the best location to grounding it and how to get it done safely, and you just want me do do the fabrication, I'll do it.

[J.Oh]

Pictures !

[GiGGaplease]

what would grounding wires do for an 6mt? the looks at the 5at, this is a good mod. if there are any major improvements, i would likely get these.

[2008G-Man]

I see the reviewer in post number 1 did a ECU Reset. Have other done this, and is it a requirement? I assume you need the right computer tools to perform this yourself.