If you can't hear then maybe you can't feel it either then, and I guess if it is occuring, other cars on the track must be experiencing it too, maybe like a temporal retarded ignition zone or something, becuase using the other racers as reference, the cars aren't losing or gaining ground on the other cars any differently throughout the sessions. Those we walk, to those that walk us. Modified 911 Turbos scoot pretty good and pull the same as the sessions continues on, and running neck and neck with lightened and modified s2000s with good race rubber lap after lap I guess isn't valid or a measureable means then either... oh well. as for those we lap a few times, I dont' pay too much attention to the mirrors.

 

You might well be 100% right... All I can say is what my experience was with detecting engine detonation. I will say that my supercharged GSR ran the strongest just before the #3 cylinder went bad.... Actually, it reminds me of the old days when my buddies and I had Triumph Spitfires and MG Midgets, etc. They also ran the best just before the valves burned in them. In retrospect, we must have been running them way too lean and the timing advanced. There were no computers or other devices to control timing or fuel in those days.
Anyway, If you are having good luck and no problems with your cars, more power to you (no pun intended)

 

Very true... however, there are other "shadetree" mechanic's tail tails... plugs being the easiest... to tell if one of the "holes" are running lean. What I was getting at was that Shiv talks a great deal about this... more so than any other tuner. I was kind of hoping for one of his long winded replies. Just to make sure the "air" is clear, I have no beef with him or his take on anything except what is "real hp".

 

I have read and heard about that method too, Is there a place where one could look at pictures of the appearance of plugs that are in lean cylinders? I seem to remember that the color of the electrode insulation tells a lot about the temps, which tells a lot about the leanness of the mixture... Pictures would be really nice to see....

OTOH, looking at the plugs after running lean for a while might be like closing the barn door after the horse ran off.... The damage might already be done. I guess it could be useful as a forensic study? Autopsy, post mortem findings?

 

Whatup,

You can get good info from plugs, but I think it's important to read them only immediately after a WOT run. The plugs may look very different after a WOT run as opposed to after cruising. There are pics on the net or in service manuals with different pics of plugs to indicate different issues, such as detonation, running rich, running lean, blowby, etc. For example, if you see bits of the electrode missing, that may be bad. It could also have oil on it or smell like gas. You can even get little speckles of aluminum (from the piston) if you really had some detonation.

Back when I ran N20 in my 4 door GSR, I was known to pull the plugs a little "frequently" since I was kind of paranoid, hehe.

Thoughts?

FB