am i too slow? or am i just expecting too much?

[Deadly BlaZe]

ever since i tightend down some hoses, i've started to hit about 9.5 psi at 3.3k, which is better than the previous 6psi at 4k. now, i dont know if you guys feel a pull or not on a stock 1g tsi awd, but my car doesn't really pull that much. like lets say, if i'm in 2nd gear and at 2k, am i supposed to feel any pull at all at WOT til redline? i mean i'll feel the pull if i down shift, but not if i stay in the gear. i'm not sure if i'm just expecting too much out of a stock car or if it is the car itself. thanks for any help. i was also thinking of raising boost to about 14 psi. would i feel a difference in power?

 

[Daem0n]

It sounds like it's a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B. How much maintenance has been performed on the car? In addition, read Stage 0: Free Mods to verify that your car is at 100%.

And yes, you would feel an increase in power by turning up the boost to 14psi. You should not go higher than that on the stock fuel system.

 

[darkness_fallz]

Remember man- you have a 15 year old car, so you have to think a lot about what kind of condiiton it's in. What are the miles sitting at? When was your last tune up? Is the turbo in good\decent shape? What octane fuel are you using?

All of those are going to contribute to what kind of power you're making. If you have the time\money, then I'd recommend doing a full tune up if you haven't done one since you owned the car. Reset the ECU (remove the negative battery terminal and let it sit while you're doing the tune up). Run the car to almost empty and fill up with actual premium if you've been using plus or even regular (shame on you if you are). Hell- if you're really feeling ambitious, before you do the tune up start it off with a bang by doing a seafoam cleaning.

 

[-red97rum-]

ever since i tightend down some hoses, i've started to hit about 9.5 psi at 3.3k, which is better than the previous 6psi at 4k. now, i dont know if you guys feel a pull or not on a stock 1g tsi awd, but my car doesn't really pull that much. like lets say, if i'm in 2nd gear and at 2k, am i supposed to feel any pull at all at WOT til redline? i mean i'll feel the pull if i down shift, but not if i stay in the gear. i'm not sure if i'm just expecting too much out of a stock car or if it is the car itself. thanks for any help. i was also thinking of raising boost to about 14 psi. would i feel a difference in power?

That boost level is about right for a stock car with stock exhaust. How are you measuring boost? Don't trust the stock gauge, it's not very accurate, get a real boost gauge. Go through the car before you really start beating on it.

Change all fluids and pay close attention to the condition they are in.

>do a boost leak test.
>check compression - you might as well do it to see where you're at.
>Install new plugs/wires - go a heat range colder if you plan on upping the boost.
>check for any failing belt's/hoses
>wouldn't hurt to run seafoam/mccc through it *before you change oil*
>change engine oil - cut apart oil filter and have a look at what it was catching.
>flush coolant and install a new thermostat.
>change tranny oil.
>change xfer case oil - check to make sure it's not leaking at the DS yoke.
>might as well do the rear diff fluid while you're at it.
>check all cv boots while you're under the car
>there is plenty more stuff to do I can't think of right now...

*Then do free mods, rewire your fuel pump, get a MBC, get a better flowing cat-back, crank up the boost to 14-15psi, and your car will start to "wake up."


Cheers,
Dustin

 

[92GSXBaltimore]

when i bought my tsi fwd back in the day it felt like the fastest thing i had ever been in. It was pretty much stock except for a 2.5inch pressbent cat-back, and boost tuned up to 13.5psi. Stock 1g awd dsms will do about 15secons flat in the quarter mile, so depending on what your comparing how fast your car feels will make a diff, ie: if your used to driving an Evo or something in the low 13's.

 

[measy90tsi]

it sounds to me like you got a boost leak somewhere. when i first got my talon it pulled pretty fast to be a stock car it would hold me in the seat at take off. it should hold 10 to 11 psi. when u start losing that u feel a big power loss. also try compression test

 

[RyanTSi]

it sounds to me like you got a boost leak somewhere. when i first got my talon it pulled pretty fast to be a stock car it would hold me in the seat at take off. it should hold 10 to 11 psi. when u start losing that u feel a big power loss. also try compression test

No. 1 u doesnt = you
No. 2 a stock Talon doesnt boost 10-11 psi stock, more like 7, and if you are gauging by the stock boost guage, don't. Its crap, it is just an avg. of air before and after the MAS, an educated guess if you will. But i do remember when my bone stock Talon felt like the fastest car Ive ever driven....

And soon it will be.

Ryan

 

[92GSXBaltimore]

my gsx, when it was bone stock, maxed at 10.5-11

 

[drewvr4]

this is one of those hard things to help with since no one can see or feel the car, hear noises and all that good stuff.

judging by what your saying there sounds like somthing isnt exactly right, but as to what...who knows.

try doing what these other guys are saying and maybe that will fix it

 

[Deadly BlaZe]

this is one of those hard things to help with since no one can see or feel the car, hear noises and all that good stuff.

judging by what your saying there sounds like somthing isnt exactly right, but as to what...who knows.

try doing what these other guys are saying and maybe that will fix it

your completly right on that comment. But here is another way i was comparing the power earlier. I was driving my friend's civic, and at around 55mph in 5th gear, if you push down the gas you can feel the car pull a bit, nothing great, but in 5th gear..i thought it was sorta impressive for a civic. Then when it comes to my car, in a situation like that, my car would barely feel any power, like its just sitting still. It seems like my car accelerates better than his in that situation, but u could just "feel" it more in his car. I was thinking this is an awd issue and you'd feel it better in fwd or rwd. what do you guys think?

 

[daveyfx]

Of course you have more loss through the AWD drivetrain than your friend's Civic with his FWD setup but you should have considerably better "pull" than that Civic particularly in the taller gears.

I'd just stop speculating and take the advice of those that have been posting. They're trying to help you and making subjective observations is not a good way to diagnose potential problems

 

[92GSXBaltimore]

if your car feels like it is sitting still when you floor it @55mph in 5th gear then you have some problems with your ride

 

[dsmsucks]

Your stock so dont swet it! Your hot spot is off the line

 

[fastalon82]

im willing to bet that if you log your car and check your knock and timing your knock is sky high and your timing is way down. You probably have phantom knock which is usually most often found in lower RPM's. If you have alot of phantom know in the lower rpms the ECU will pull back timing, however in most cases, there is really not alot of phantom knock at the higher rpm's. Thats why this didnt happen when your turbo spooled up slower because there wasnt enough boost to cause any kind of knock or even phantom knock at the lower knock threshold in the ECU. And thats why it pulls when you downshift. The RPM's are high so no or not alot of knock.