Hey guys,

I just sent my Evo VI in to MRT to have a new stainless manifold power ported and ceramic coated, and the existing turbo also power ported and ceramic coated.

I'm not expecting any peak power gains, since boost will still be be set at 16psi, but I am expecting to gain a wider band under the curve, as boost kicks in earlier.

Since the compressor housing is being ported as well, I may get some small benefit, because I might be moving more air at less boost, but I think I need to port the throttle body and the intake runners and intake ports for that to work too. I'm not 100% sure about how that works.

But I'll post up pictures and dyno graphs when I get them.

 

I am interested to see how you went. Has the car been back on the dyno yet?

 

Here are the original graphs. MRT isn't done with it yet.

 

Can you tell us what the top one says on the sides ? as the white didnt scan properly with the black.. i'm interested in how they've done it..

Have you thought bout changing the compressor wheels ? or is it not possible on the 6's ?

 

1) The Right side says 159kw at the top

2) The left side says 1273 Nm (This is raw uncoverted figures, which is why it's so high)

Are you suggesting to change the compressor wheels because of the drop off in boost? I'm trying to figure out whether it's caused by the Turbo running out of puff, or the wastegate springs leaking.

 

I was thinking a way of getting more boost without changing the actualy turbo is by porting the housing and fitting a higher rated compressor wheel inside..

While Middleton have your car i'd ask then to find out why the drop, sometimes the ECU can control this, even if you change the Wastegate or get it checked..

 

That torque curve doesn't look quite right. Shouldn't you be able to hold that boost a bit longer.
I say that as my WRX holds 1.3 bar all the way to 6500rpm, I would have thought the evo could do that easily in stock form.

I take it that the EVO is close to stock as it is pulling 159kw (atw?). If the torque could hold that power should be higher. Also the curve is not as smooth as it could be for the power.

What ECU are you running? MRT should be able to check this issue while that car is there. At least tel you what the deal is anyway.

THX1138

 

The Evo has had the following done:

1) Intercooler hard piping and CAI

2) 3" mandrel bent exhaust

3) A boost controller added in

4) A programmable ECU which is clearly very poorly tuned.

MRT told me that by correcting the AF ratio and timing, I should be able to get 20kw at least.

The leaking boost is a pretty worrying problem. If you guys can suggest what I can check, that would be great.

I'm considering getting a complete replacement ECU, rather than the interceptor I'm using at the moment. I'm also considering the replacement wastegate.

 

If your bank account will let you, go the full Autronic PnP board. This will also have its own boost solenoid. It is easy to tune and allows data logging, makes pin pointing the problem easier.

In a friend's STI RA - an Autronic and exhaust got it up to 206kw at the wheels on a Dynapack Dyno - not bad!! Took a good 2 hours of tuning but well worth it.

Issues with leaking boost:
1) Wastegate
2) Solenoid - pretty common
3) Tune
4) Could simply be a stuffed piston on your BOV

Other than that you'd need to have a drive and look at the engine to get more of a feel why it is going down.

Be careful when playing with AF ratio and timing - sometimes tuners have been know to get some great power out of cars - but it goes BANG much quicker.

THX1138

 

What's an Autronic ECU worth?

They were saying Link at $1800 or Motec at $2500 excluding fitting and tuning (which will be about $800)

 

I currently have a Link in my WRX. Love it! For the money there is nothing out there as good and customisable. It still has data logging and can be tuned either via Laptop PC or a hand controller installed in the car.
The Link is a straight replacement ECU - as in just take the old one and pop the link in exactly where the factory one was. It still uses the same plugs but by-passes certain sensors Install is quick and you will the base maps very good.

The Motec is interesting. There are quite a lot of different models of Motec around. For $2500 that tells me it tis the lower end of their spectrum. The Motecs worth running are around the $3500 mark. Don't get me wrong though, these computers are great! Is worth finding out which one it is they are quoting on.

The Autronic Pnp should fall in between somewhere. The unit is a straight ECU replacement and should cost around $2200 ish +tune. Over here it costs around $400 dyno tunes - with great results. In the US they are getting an extra 66hp with an Autronic alone on the EVO8 - not too bad eh? As mentioned before this ocmes with its own boost solenoid.

You need to think in how far you going to take the car. The Autronic has the highest level of customisation with more table values available to the tuner. Also it comes with onboard Anti-lag and Launch control - so should the Motec

When the new car arrives in a couple a months I am putting an Autronic into, for me there is no other choice for the money.

THX1138

 

THX1138,

Dont be so sure the Autronic is the best way to go ....

The old ECU argument, has this been covered on this forum ?

The ECU you choose is only as good as the TUNER !

But Yes, Autronic is among the best ECU's on the Market, along with Motech - remember Autronic developer came from the Motec campus.

Just a thought for ya, do you think a bunch of Aussi's in lets say 10 or so years can come up with a Computer (ECU) that adapts to most cars, and gives the tuner greater flexability, and is suppose to mimic the Factory ECU. Yet it takes the Manufacturers Millions of dollars and years of testing to Perfect there ECU's ....

I have had experiences with Most ECU's LINK/Microtech/EMS/Autronic/MoTech the list goes on ..... dont care what you tell me Nothing Beats the Factory ECU - If there was only a way to Tune the Bugger .... but there is ....
The Only ECU I was happy with in my REX, was :-----
ECUTek - Your proabably all aware of this concept, its the ability to recalibrate the origianl Factory ECU, just like a Aftermarket one. Surprise is, this technology has been around for years.

In my opinion, for a everyday street car, I would never replace the Factory ECU - I would find or wait for the technology to remap the existing ECU - So much better .....

for anyone that is intrested - visit http://www.ecutek.com
As far as I know its only for WRX's but I'm sure there is a EVO derivative ....

I know what you gonna say, "But you said the ECU is only as good as the Tuner" - True, So when MRT where in Melbourne doing ECUTek tunes, I got mine done, could not be happier with the Car.
but now it's sold, making way for the new EVO8....

I love the Autronic - but would never put a Aftermarket ECU in a street car.

If we were doing Targa Taz or something like that, then I have a different song and Tune - but just so you know it would be Autronic or MoTec.

 

RIP WRX you have good points which i have spent many a night discussing with other car tuners.

The same argument has been discussed over and over with teh WRX TD04 turbo - which in my mind is the best all round setuop for the car

Over here in WA we have had more than 3 cars go bang with the ECUtec and our distrubitors have dropped them. So in the west they are not a preference - tuners are partly responsible but some was the ecu.

For me, these cars have always been for track / tarmac rally use (as per my avatar). So aftermarket ECUs are the only way we can get the car into and out of the tricky situations we put them through - also keep in mind our weather over here(currently 40deg today) Also being able to tune for fuels and other variables on the fly are great to have when stuck 300km away from any mechanic.

This is why i mentioned that Sunder needs to sort out what the car will be used for. Then he can sort out what in the car needs changing.

Changing an ECU is always a big step and needs to be thought through very carefully. Also keep in mind that ECU changes void warranty on the car.

With the EVO 8, as long the Performance pack is added at the riight price it will be the best option for the short term my my driving. And should keep many owners happy for the long term.

THX1138

 

Just got the manifold and turbo back. MRT will fit them on Monday.

I also got the Perfect Power Tuner ECU cable and installed the tuning software on my computer. Will be retuning also on Monday.

I CAN'T WAIT! I HAVEN'T GONE ON A GOOD DRIVE FOR WEEKS! Been driving a nearly stock Pulsar for the last month or so.

 

I get my Evo back tomorrow. The bill came to significantly more than it should have at $2200 (I was told about $1300 + dyno tuning, but they couldn't figure out how to tune my car, and gave up after 5 hours - but still billed me for the time)

What do people think of the air fuel ratio? It does look "untuned" but the guy who did it, says that he intentionally made it rich near redline, in order to cool the cylinders so we could run slightly higher boost.

Tomorrow afternoon, I will have the "after" dynographs posted. Will be looking at why the boost bleeds off so significantly after it peaks.