Kevin Jewer
DSM Wiseman
- 1,486
- 347
- Jul 25, 2002
-
LaRue,
Ohio
Originally posted by wira4
I am using a programmble ecu which does not do knock detection nor timing retard when knock occurs. I have no way of knowing there was any knock but I could see a high EGT of 1700F at WOT and noticed AFR of 12.3 :1 on the wide band. I was running 98octane fuel and timing was 17* advance. What causes the high EGT at such fair AFR on my 2G DSM? Boost was 28psi with the Green and intercooling is via an Evo 3 FMIC.
Thanks for providing that info! Here is what I think about it, for what its worth.
17 degrees is pretty low, so a slightly high EGT at any reasonable AF ratio doesnt surprise me. I noticed that anything over 20-22 degree advance would significantly lower EGTs, while also telling me there wasnt any apreciable knock. But I have to be careful saying that, since when using an AFC type device, you can really move down on the airflow maps and still get high timing while knocking since you are lying to the ECU about airflow. I'm assuming your ECU doesnt do this though. My "goal" for timing is ~21 degrees on pump gas, and 23-24 on race gas. But just when I really started to make progress on race gas last year, the tracks closed.I find it very difficult to get good timing at 22 psi with 94 octane, and suspect that it will be equally difficult at 28 psi with 98 octane. Over 22-23 psi I use 110-117 octane and have very good results (on a turbo similar to yours, mitsu TDO6/50 trim hybrid). I also run quite a bit richer than 12.3:1. I have found over time and different setups that it is much better to be too rich than too lean. I was suprised by this since for years DSMers have been preaching about leaning out as far as possible. I think the ONLY advantage to this line of thinking came about from using the AFC, and that is the increased timing you get.
When I run lean and timing gets pulled the car is amazingly slow. When I run pig rich (10:1) but advance the timing significantly (since they are adjusted independantly in DSMlink) I gain 40-50 WHP. I have seen evidence of this both on the track and on the dyno. In fact the first night I tried this method, I went from a best of 12.4 at 110, to 12.2 at 115. A friend tried the same thing on the dyno, adding fuel even though he was never knocking at the current settings, and gained 40 whp on the dyno. I never would have realized the difference here had I not used DSMlink and tried out a few theories that most poeple thought were obsurd.
I'm sure the "fast guys" already know this, and this is how they actually benefit from using standalones. Independant control of timing and fuel. To relate this to your situation, you cant read knock, but I wouldnt be surprised if you were knocking despite a normal EGT of 1700 degrees.
So my advice would be more fuel AND more timing if your particular ECU allows it. If you do try this, be sure to tell me what the effect on EGT was, and what increase in power you found, whether measured at the track or on the dyno. I'm quite curious.
By the time I started tuning this way, my EGT probe had long since comitted suicide. Your situation is one where you can make use of an EGT guage, since knock retard isnt interfering with the results, and one reason I hesitate to call EGT completely useless. Every setup is a bit different. As for my writing style, there are two things to thank for that. One is my mom harrassing me about it for the last 25 years,
. And the other is a complete frustration with the half assed attempts some people make at posting. The information might be very valid and useful, but if no one understands what the hell the poster is trying to say...
And we are all still learning, especially me. So I'm glad people find this thread useful.
Its sticky on a handful of forums, so people must be enjoying it. Good solid info is hard to find, since most of the "fast guys" are too busy being fast, too fed up with forums, or too secretive to post thier findings. So wherever possible I try to let the thousands of hours and dollars I have invested in this help others that may not have done the experimenting themselves yet, or havent reached a point where they have everything needed to do it yet. I always tell people, dont take my word for it. If you have the means, try the things you read and verify the results in every way possible... And that goes for anything you read on the internet. Had I not questioned the common rules of thumb for EGT, I never would have learned all that I posted about in this thread...
I have seen cars trapping high 100 and teens, add 5 degrees of timing (through knock reduction) and trap 4-5 mph higher, in the 120s. When my car gets to the track I can experiment with changing only timing (since it is seperate from knock reduction with DSMlink) and see what the difference in traps is. But what I have seen in the past with my car and others, anything less that 20 degrees is costing you, over 23-24 is the area of diminishing return. This is asuming race gas and no knock. On pump gas, I can remember when everyone and his brother that had DSMlink (not fooling ecu about airflow) was saying that we'll never see much over 18-19 degree timing on pump. I wondered if that was true, right up until I started running 22 degrees on pump and picked up HUGE power increase over 17 degrees. But I wont attempt to quantify that difference here until I go to the track and do some back to backs for some hard numbers. 

