Headstuds, 100% not legal. thermostats are allowed to be changed (inherited rule from stock class- 13.10.I). 2 piece rotors will be legal next year according to fast track.

 

So you're gonna make me run on the street tires then?

 

Apples to Apples Dave, only the best rubber for you, but don't beat my stinking time man!

Thanks for clarifying the rules guys.. No head studs for me, I will just pick up a thermostat then. My car was running kind of hot when I would get back to paddock, higher than I want to see, that is why I want to try this thermostat and see if it drops my temps when I get back into paddock. Head studs were strictly a safety measure for the amount of boost I am running.

 

Don't fret about the headstuds. I've run 30+psi with stock headstuds on both my evos for alot of racing miles and never had a problem. I think my red car has about 150 dyno pulls on it, along with 2 seasons worth of 3 drivers beating the crap out of it on the autocross course. . .

As long as you have a good tune and are not getting detonation or pre-ignition you'll be fine. . .

 

As far as E85 goes, I have a friend who has been running it for a year and logging. He has been very unhappy with how inconsistent it has been. Season change, company, state, the mixture is very different sometimes. He had less issues filling up where ever on 92 and then running alcohol injection (granted not legal for us to use).

 

That's why having an etOH % gauge is a good idea. Short of that, there are a couple other things you can do to make sure you are running safely:

- have a safe, somewhat conservative tune, that way if you get a really bad batch of gas you won't blow your motor

- always use the same gas station (or at least the same company/brand) as you were tuned on. Every time you fill up your tank, fill up 3-4 five gallon jugs. . . or a 55 gallon drum . . .

- know the dates when stations in your state switch to "spring/fall" or "winter" blend (summer is usually 85%, spring/fall is 80%, winter is 75% - the etOH gauge will read about 2-3% lower than that because there is a couple % of additives in the etOH to make it undrinkable)


EVOlutionary

 

Do you guys log your cars before events? Or just got out as it was tuned?



The way I figured I would do it (since my car for now, is still a street car) was to have two different tunes. One conservative street tune and then a full autocross tune, probably on 112. I normally arrive to big events a day or two early, even on driving to Milwaukee double headers. I could run the tank down to nothing, then fill up with 112 (canned) and log it to make sure there are no issues on the tune.

I figure logging every time prevents any bad gas issues, or other changes. It also would make it so I don't have to worry daily driving around town.


Thoughts?
-Mike

 

Nope. Never log mine. I have complete confidence in my tuner and with the etOH gauge I always know exactly what % etOH is in the tank. . .

One good thing about ethanol - ethanol is ethanol. Pure. Plain and simple. If there is 85% ethanol in the tank, even if the 15% of gasoline it's mixed with is "bad", there is little chance you will hurt your motor.

Gasoline, however, is a mixuture of MANY different chemicals with widely varying densities, octane ratings, burn rates, etc. . .

When we push our motors to the edge, we entrust their livelihood to companies like VP Fuels to ensure consistency on a batch by batch basis. How much do you trust your local Gas N Go that also sells 100 octane "race" gas? The less faith you have in your fuel supply, the more conservative your tune should be. With ethanol the margin of error is much larger. . . so your tune can be pushed a little harder. . .

 

That's why I planned on buying canned race gas for the events. Logging would take car of the bad tank issue, as I would know prior to getting out there and really hammering on the car.

So with E85 do you have to adjust your tune when you see a change in the percentage?

 

During the summer racing months the pump E85 here is fine. In colder months I mix in pure ethanol (VP sells it in 55gal. drums) with the "winter blend e85" for street driving. . .

I never adjust my tune. . .

 

My latest question, can I eliminate my Mass Air Flow sensor in BSP?

 

Mike,

Are you really making enough power on the stock turbo/cams that the MAF is a flow restriction?

 

Gobs and Gobs of power baby!! From what I am told it is......Legal or not...

 

His beast will be making WAY too much power for your GM loving fingers once I get done with it

Believe it or not I've seen significant power improvements on completely bone stock Evos by removing the MAF system and switching to a Speed Density system. The power improvements quickly escalate for aftermarket turbo'd motors or even stock turbo's running a poop load of boost.

I've actually seen a a half dozen or so motors with big turbos (Reds, 35Rs, 42Rs) that have sucked the MAF screen right out of the MAF box. In fact on one car the screen was sucked out of the box and ripped the MAF sensor out with it I'll have to look around because I took pictures of it because I couldn't believe it had actually happened.

And yes the conversion can be done using the stock ECU. At this point there is no reason for any Evo owner to run a standalone such as the EMS, the stock ECU has been dissambled to the point that anything can be done with it.

 

Dave, speaking of tunes your car could use a touch up now with all the advancements that have been made with the ROMs. If you want give me a shout or PM and I could go over your tune again to bring it up to date.