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General Attention High Compression E85 Users-Ignition timing questions

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Alright, so I took the car to the track on Friday night. First run launched with about 12psi. 1.976 60ft, 5.099 330', 7.554 1/8 @ 100.20, 11.430 @ 127.27mph. Not bad, but not as quick or as fast as my old setup. (still 1.9 60ft on my old setup.) Boost was 36psi peak falling to 30psi by 8000, 29psi by 8500.

Car weight when last I checked was 3395lbs with me in it.

Felt good to gaptize the C5 Z06 to the right of me though.

Made some changes to the 2-3 shift point, upped the 2 step, and went for pass 2.

This is where things went right and went wrong. On the 1-2 shift, the trans just kind of couldn't make its mind up, bounced off the rev limiter, ad said F it, and went into 3rd. So it was essentially a 1-3 shift with some dead time in between.

1.723 60ft. WOO HOO! 4.896 330ft, 7.534 1/8 @ 94.67, 11.517 @ 124.09. So basically, no 2nd gear and only ran .1 slower and lost about 3mph.

Peak boost was 38psi, falling to 30psi by 8000.

I don't spend a lot of time at the track but I was figuring had I not had that 2nd gear issue, it may have been on par to do 11.1-11.0 in the 130ish area. Correct me if I am wrong as I could be completely off on that guess. But I shaved some serious time off that 60ft.

Coolant temps stayed pegged at 206f for each pull and IAT's reached a high of 122-123f.

Anywho, that's that. I need to figure this trans deal out and look into moving on to a bigger turbo setup. The motor seemed to perform well though.
 
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For doing nothing more than a motor change (is that right?), It looks to be running about the same minus a little bit different tuning approach. With no changes to the turbo and fuel syatem It is doing what I expect. About the same. One engine should be able to perform about the same as the next when the displacement stays in the same neighborhood.

The only way to make it go much faster is to cram more air into it. It likely will get to where you want it (11.0-11.1) with not seat time. You can't expect much for 1.5 runs at the track. It takes seat time to get things dialed in .

Your car is fat. The only way to have a true shot at solid tens is to make it not fat and get more seat time. At least it stayed together. Not a bad night when you he to drive the car home.
 
Figured the trans thing out. low on fluid I believe. I added fluid today. This morning I did a 1-3 pull. Shifted flawlessly and never made it to the rev limiter. Then about an hour ago I did another pull, 1-2, flawless 1-2 shift again. Hopefully that figures that out.

One thing I have noticed is sometimes if I do a pull starting in 1st, it will show up to 7cts of knock and taper down but then nothing in 2 or 3. Other times, like at the track, no knock registering at all. I didn't get a chance to play with plugs to confirm if real or fake though so I know those KS readings need to be taken with a grain of salt.

I'm going to try to do the 1/4 again either on the 4th or the 11th. I want desperately to beat my best time with a clean pass and I really think this setup can do it especially with a low 1.7 60ft.
 
So I was at IFO last weekend. Damn car was acting like yours, crazy knock all over the place, pulled some timing and it didn't help at all. Not really showing up on the plugs. Finals, I give it all the timing back and it pulls clean no a single count of knock. I'm flirting with turning the knock sensor off again.

I have 2 seasons on a felpro composite at 130-140mph traps, so I think I'm being fairly conservative.
 
Fel pro comps do work. I have been using them for years. L19 torqued to 95. I love my composite gaskets. Man...ima do some more testing, and if car does well this week, I am really considering going back next weekend. I was one of the quicker street cars there and there were several hundred. it was a nice feeling not having 2nd and still blowing a lot of them away.

To your point though, it really only shows up in 1st and not every time. If it's real, it's inconsistent because afrs stay the same and i havent touched timing since all my 2nd and 3rd gear runs have been good.
 
For doing nothing more than a motor change (is that right?), It looks to be running about the same minus a little bit different tuning approach. With no changes to the turbo and fuel syatem It is doing what I expect. About the same. One engine should be able to perform about the same as the next when the displacement stays in the same neighborhood.

The only way to make it go much faster is to cram more air into it. It likely will get to where you want it (11.0-11.1) with not seat time. You can't expect much for 1.5 runs at the track. It takes seat time to get things dialed in .

Your car is fat. The only way to have a true shot at solid tens is to make it not fat and get more seat time. At least it stayed together. Not a bad night when you he to drive the car home.

My current best with the 1.913 60ft, 4.972 330', 7.447 @ 101.01 1/8, 9.582 1000' 11.359 @ 130.75mph motor was:

8.3:1 pistons, head was stock port 2g head with 1 legit hks 272 cam and 1 delta/hks 272 regrind installed straight up with stock cam gears. Evo Springs/retainers. Evo III intake manifold. Stock turbo throttle body.

Motor now is 10.5:1 pistons, curt brown ported head with kiggly springs/retainers, GSC S2 cam +3/-3, Evo III intake manifold with some light port work in the plenum, and a n/t throttle body.

Weight should be the same withing 20-25lbs, fuel system is the same, turbo is the same, boost is higher up top but falling to the same, timing is about 5* less.

First Run was 1.976 60ft, 5.099 330ft, 7.554 @ 100.20 1/8, 9.658 1000', 11.43 @ 127.27mph.

Second Run was 1.723 60ft, 4.896 330ft, 7.543 @ 94.67 1/8, 9.707 1000', 11.517 @ 124.09mph
 
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Trans wouldn't go into 2nd so it hung out in the middle of nowhere before deciding it would then just go into 3rd. So it was essentially a 1-3 shift with some empty time in the middle. I really have a feeling that pass was going to break my current ET record and be pretty close to my current trap record.

Here is the in car vid. Watch the gear display on the steering column and listen to the car. The fact that I busted off an 11.5 with that BS boggles my mind.

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My conclusion as of yesterday is one or both low fluid level/heat. I did a pull yesterday AM with trans temps only around 140-160ish on the return and it shifted perfectly on every shift. I then checked fluid when I got home and it was low, so I added some, went and ran errands, then did a 1-2 pull and again, 1-2 shift was flawless and immediate.
 
lowered it from 8500 to 7700. The problem was on the 1-2 shift, not the 2-3, so the rpm shift point change on the 2-3 shift had no influence on the issue with the 1-2 shift.
 
Those changes will get you minimal gains. Less than a half a second. Nothing major changed to add 50-100hp to give you a large jump to say a mid 10 or anything.
 
I have yet to confirm at this point...but I think I blew my welded center dif this weekend...

Car feels fine and shifts fine until about 80, then it starts to shimmy, by 90mph it shimmys bad, and I can spin the front tire(s) from a roll in 1st and 2nd, so I am pretty sure there is no power going to the back. Ha ha. DSMLIFE
 
I think I know when it happened, but honestly, it sounded like a back fire to me when the car hit the rev limiter. I just have to narrow down where the issue actually lies as there was no fluid leaking from anywhere. trans shifted fine, etc. Car feels normal just putting around town and even cruising on the freeway. But you try to go faster than 80, or punching it in 1 or 2, and that's when you start realizing, "somethin' aint right."
 
@Kapok6 I am sure all of your running gear is fresh as you seem to have a very sweet ride, but make sure something like this didn't happen. This is my front Passenger Strut, it took so much torque that is was ready to fall apart and made my car drive obviously horrible and dangerous. 25 year old struts want to tear apart with high hp and torque. Just want you to be safe rather than sorry....This happened after a tuning pull so I have brand new items there now.
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Yeah, i'll definitely be checking the struts. Mine aren't old though, they are Koni inserts in KYB GR-2's housings that have no rust. I have seen good condition struts twist, but those were on 1.3 60' cars that were pulling any timing when brake boosting/launching.
 
I don't think it is the issue for you, BUT wanted to post that up so everyone can see that on these old cars you just never know what is next and that strut of mine could have killed me. When you find the issue, let us all know what was letting the car jiggle/shake above 70-80. Be safe my friend!!!
 
You and I are in the same boat my friend. my vibrations usually are random when on the highway though. If the rear tires don't move it could also be your transfer case. Put your car up on jackstands. Very carefully see if the tires rotate when moved by hand. If you move the front passenger then the front driver should rotate. You can also attempt to put it in gear and slowly release the clutch see if all 4 spin.
 
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