Nice to see comments from people that are properly technical, you are both totally correct with all your points there lads

Christian,
The turbo will come on song a little sooner than that graph shows, but the fast ramp rate we were working with essentially makes it more like its in a lower gear, so the turbo doesnt spool quite as well like that as it would in real life, but its good for when mapping further up to stop the engine being under load on successive roads quite as hard.

Rick,
Yes we run mikes Van rich too, low 11s and high 10s, for the same reason, the standard manifold is rubbish.
Could get away with a bit leaner in a lighter vehicle im sure, but Mike works the van hard and quite often has himself, another fat bloke like me, a couple of engines and various tools in the back, so it can see 2000kg plus quite reguarly, which means its under a lot more load so heat buildup is even more of an issue than it otherwise would be. the aerodynamics of a high top connect with a lighterbar arent exactly great either, so again loads more strain than it would see in a fiesta or normal focus.