Ok it's come time for me to make some major upgrades to my EVO and I'm debating on if I should get all the work and tune done now or wait until Sunoco goes back to full 85% here.

Mods: S2's, M2's or kelford's (don't know which cams I'm going with yet)
Head studs
ID2000 injectors
HKS ignition amp
Exedy tripple clutch


The only mods I have right now are turbo back exhaust, 9 turbo, motor and a Hallman MBC.

My goals are to run 21psi daily driver but I want to be able to crank it up to 30psi at any given time. I know it's saver to run high boost like this on either a higher octane or ethanol but how about running this high of boost on pump gas 93? I do really want to run E85 but don't have patience to wait for my local gas station to switch back to full.

Also next year I will be going with a bigger turbo+intercooler hense the ID2000's (need injectors that will work good at idle with these mods but will also keep up good with a bigger turbo.

SO, first off. Should I wait for the ethanol or will I be fine running 30psi on pump for a season and also, for the Mivec head, which cam set will be best. My local tuner has done Kelfords in the past and that's what he recommends but I see tons of people running the S2's and Cossie's. I don't want to have lobe wear in 30k miles.

 

Why would you run 30psi on pump anyway? You have to have seperate maps for e85 and pump. Also there is no reason in waiting for it to be "full" e85, I make more power on the lower ethanol content in the cooler weather. Save your money and don't buy the HKS ignition amp.

 

I don't see a point in 30psi on a stock 9 turbo. ^ true, you will need duel maps to run e85 and 93. If you stick with one you could tune if to your target max boost level desired via ebc. That way you could turn it down and back up when desired. If you get a tune in this cold weather your gonna need to retune when it warms up or your gonna knock.
Cap depend on what you want from the car. Short and long term. Kelford are nice, but also aggressive.

 

Go with the Kelfords

If your car is a daily driver E85 will bite you in the butt. I'm averaging 14mpg city/highway (lots of highway and little boosting. lol)

If you're going bigger turbo then just go e85 then

I wouldnt run high boost on pump (93 oct probably for you)...your stock turbo will peak then taper way down. It happens to everyone. and for my e85 map, i'm only boosting 28. I've seen 30psi on stock turbo but everyone gets retuned because of "safety"...im sure that even at 28+ the turbo will wear out pretty quick.

 

Yes I know you need different maps for 93 and E85, that's the whole point of asking what I am because I can't get the car tuned to run ethanol right now because the gas stations aren't at full 85 percent since it's winter here. So when they do switch to full, I'd need to get it tuned again. Also why wouldn't I want to run 30psi??? That's the only reason I am getting studs put in. It maxed at 27psi as it sits on pump gas and holds no problem. Also the temprature outside has no influence on how an engine runs, tune for summer and winter has to do with the consistancy of the fuel the stations are selling, not the temprature of the air going into my turbo.

Also, what makes you say to stay away from an HKS ignition amp? I will definitely need an ignition upgrade and I'm not going to spend $1000 or more on coils since that would be overkill at this point.

This is more of a long term build, I want to do these mods right now, then next fall/winter upgrade the turbo, exhaust mani, intercooler, then in the future go with an intake mani, coils and eventually upgrade to a stroker.

Note, EVO 9 TURBO, 28 or 30lbs boost is not too much for the turbo. If I can tune it on 93 with 0 knock count, what is there to worry about?

 

because of this. Spoolinup

i would suggest switch it to e85 already. get it running good. but wait a until it gets a bit warm to tune for wOT

 

Just an FYI - at 30lbs on e-85 you will be getting close to needing more ignition than that HKS thingy... I had one on my car and it just wasn't hot enough. Car would break up at around 32-33lbs of boost on e-85.

The reason for this is that ethanol (which is an alcohol) is much more difficult to ignite than regular gasoline. Your ignition will need to be upgraded to run 30+lbs of boost on e85. I know some guys have gotten away with it, but I couldn't on my car. Its a crap-shoot if you would be able to or not.

 

there are quite a few gas stations that are around here for ethanol, i would go test each one. i found more than one that kept E85 throughout the winter. but depending on if you want to keep traveling out to that same gas stations, especially if its out of your way it can be annoying. but i just filled up two 55 gallon drums to make my life easier.

 

I was running 32psi all day long on my IX Turbo. Stock Coils 120k on them. It is all about the plug gap.

I have since turned the boost down to 28psi, to keep my torque in the 430 range. I was up into the 470tq DJ at 32psi. Now at 28psi the car is very manageable, and does not break the tires loose in every turn.

 

I always thought that if you set your tune in the winter it wouldn't be so bad in the summer? I know that on my car it runs a little richer in the summer which I thought was a good safety margin assuming your timing isn't to aggressive. For example when my car was tuned in the summer with afr's in low to mid 11's it was then to lean in the fall to winter months, so I went back and had them add a little more fuel to keep it safe.

 

i made close to 800hp on a dynojet with e85... STOCK ignition on aem.. runs like a champ

 

What do you recommend that will be better?

 

So you want to run 30psi on stock intercooler? You are just going to be blowing hot air.

I'll say it again, it does not really matter if its "full" e85 because it is the temperature that changes the tune with e85. I suggest learning to tune the car yourself so you can adjust it for weather changes. E85 varies every month/ few months so you plan on only running it for 1-3 months max?
Anyway its "safest" to get be tuned on e70 with a slightly richer afr and let it lean itself out when it becomes e85. But hey what do I know, you already have made up your mind

You do not need an ignition upgrade either.

 

I don't have a daily driver but it is a pain to have to go out of your way to gas up and the gas mileage is not nearly as good. So those factors in place you just need to decide if its worth it.

 

Ok first of all, there is NO need for an upgraded intercooler with the stock turbo. Little do you know, the stock intercoolers these cars come with cool very well. SO to answer your question, yes I will be running the stock intercooler until I upgrade the turbo. Second, the temperature outside has NO influence on how the motor runs. Engines do not care what the temp outside is. The fuel companies change the octane level so normal flex fuel cars have easier cold starts. Again, the temp outside does not matter, it's the mixture of the fuel. Second, no the fuel mix does not normally change every couple months. Usually it's either 75% or 85%. Give or take a little but right around there. Yes I can tune it to run rich on 75 and it will lean out when it changes to 85 but I'd rather not do that.

Oh yea, FYI, getting your car tuned to run 70-75% and HOPING your car isn't gonna lean out on full 85 is NOT the safest or smartest thing to do but rather a gamble.
Also I do need an ignition upgrade, I do not want to max my stock ignition out and risk break ups and miss fires at 30+psi
Thanks for the useless facts tho!