I used to follow that method of tuning. However, the factory ecu reacts to many "sound" events which are not knock and also I have seen it totally miss actual knock and not react at all. This is why I now log the knock signal directly, instead of relying on watching the ecu's response. of course, I also continue to monitor the actions of the stock ecu as when flashing it is imperative to work within the parameters of the factory specified knock counts. I have never attempted to alter or disable the factory knock correction and this is one of the main reasons why my tunes have proven to be so reliable over time.

IMHO - half the battle in tuning is to "satisfy" the stock ecu's knock threshold to avoid the "reactive" nature of the stock ecu in pulling timing and adding fuel. (Not to mention the movement to low octane maps). The other half is to actualy avoid real detonation as much as possible.

The main reason why I am such a huge proponent of custom tuning by an experienced tuner is becuase there is such a huge variation from EVO to EVO on how well they respond to various tuning models. I have seen a huge range of power levels and timing curves on BONE stock evos from a low of 190 whp to a high of an amazing 287 whp on a bone stock 2003 evo.

By lots of practice and trial and error familar patterns emerge.

 

Just by way of counter point, the previous car today, that of evo-ny member Henri, consumed nearly my entire day a marathon day of 5 plus hours trying to track down some significant problems with the car that presented as a huge dip in the power band and a blip in the a/f curve

At first a miss fire was suspected which resulted in a swap of plugs and a test of a back up set of spark plug wires and coils we use in these circumstances

Later, after a boost leak and compression test and a test of a second boost controller to rule out any other causes, a use of my knock ears and data logger showed that the dip was realted to the down pipe contacting the on cross member when the engine was torqing over

When the down pipe was knocking into the cross member it was apparently tricking the ecu into pulling some timing in that area of the map

Just an example of how the tuning MUST go forward IN RESPONSE to what is going on in the individual car.

 

The boost holds all the way and there is no knock. BUT WHY? I want to find out. Probably many factors all together.

 

Here is a guy named Dave came in to have a new Exedy Twin clutch put in today to Pruven and a fuel pump

His mods are

2005 MR
HKS RS Intake
HKS 264 exh / 272 int cams
3" exhaust turbo back - BUSCHUR - w/ high flow cat
Walbro fuel pump
FORGE MBC

Custom Dyno Flash at 23 psi falling to 20.5



Al, i noticed he is using the 264/272 HKS cams. People usually use the 264 intake and 272 exhaust with the HKS cams, he is using them in reverse order. Can this be atrributable to some extra power on this excellent tune? In your years of tuning, whats the best route in cam selection(staggered setups), or did this case study answer that for us all?

 

thats one hell of a tq curve!!

 

I've read this setup mimics the stock ratios and is why some companies sell them as a set of 272i/264e. May have a little to do with it, but I think the car is just one of those lucky ones that gives the owner a head start on modding.

 

Speechless.

 

wow more info. how can one car make that much more power then others

 

Frankly, I have seen little difference in power band or power with various combinations of HKS cams

My suggestion with the FACTORY turbo is stright 264 / 264 which gives you the best idle and driveability while making nearlyh the same power in the range of tghe stock turbos actual power band

272 and 280 cams are for motors that rev higher than the stock turbos effective power band and should really be used with larger turbos and motors built to spin over 8,000 rpms - IMHO

 

this post is a joke...... c-mon at a real dyno it wouldn't of posted those numbers.....
no body knows me but i've dyno'd many cars, dsms, evo's personal own a o5 8,
i have more work on the car than that one , and i know for a fact that this power claim is all
from a poopy dyno that reads high..............

 

Thats quite interesting the the down pipe was causing the problem.

 

Ouch....what do you mean poopy dyno, have you been to Pruven before?

 

That's a bold statement, to one of the the best, most qualified, winningest, and most experienced tuners around. Better check yourself.

 

lol...you might want to check your facts before you spout off next time.

 

That dyno graph is ridiculous . Considering that my friend's 336whp Dynoflashed Evo was trapping at 114 in the fall, I'd expect this thing to do 117 if not more. That's nuts on stock turbo with pump gas.