Didn't know where to post this exactly. It's technical, and a bit of a story.
So, background on the car so people can understand where it's at:
Used to be a 47lb S3 setup on e85, and made a little over 450 to the wheels on a stock (somewhat hurt) motor, with 27-28psi and 33-35* timing. When the motor went it was time to build it to support that power and more.
Current build:
e85 (bosch in-tank setup)
8.0 je pistons, eagle rods w/625s
Strap kit, IJ windage/scraper
Ported/built head from bob@ravenworks (+1/+3)
externally gated S3 w/58lb wheel, td06hr turbine
tial external bov
shortram, 3" exhaust, big intercooler, etc
Crower S2 cams (switched to) BCS3
In the beginning of the tuning, i was using a 14.5lb setup in the WG, which we didn't push too far in regards to boost, and was able to handle around 25* of timing. Upon moving to a 16lb setup, the timing wanted to come down (excessive knock, turn timing down, less knock).
At 26psi (wgdc maxed), the car would only demand 18-20 degrees at most (and still knocked a little). It was a 400whp car at this point. Not dyno'd, just a comparison of cars i'd raced while at this point in the tuning.
The prematurely maxed boost, low timing, low compression in cylinders (125), slow spool led Nigel to believe the cams were too big (totally right, was a bad decision to use Crower S2).
Recently switched to BCS3 (on the same tune for the CS2 still, mind you), and the car felt peppier at lower RPMs (compression is up to 135 now). Upon WOT, the car has started knocking even worse, bringing timing as low as 14* at 26psi on e85. The current knock is always at 5000-5500. (and was at that spot before the cam swap)
WGDC are still maxed out. I need to do a wg line and solenoid test just to make sure it's properly functioning, but thats only 1 issue.
I'm no genius at reading plugs. I've been told an assortment of metal looking specs in the porcelain are a sign of knock. Not knowing if the sensor is being legit, i've been constantly trying to read the plugs (and seeing specs). Have tried copper, 1step iridium, and 2step silver plugs, which all yield the same results as far as how the car behaves.
This isn't a knock at Duster, the current tuner. The man knows how to tune cars. I'm just at my wits end with the real/false knock and don't know where to go from here. The money i've spent trying to make this huge S3 run like a monster is ridiculous.
If you have questions, ask away. I'm sure i've left out information that people need.
So, background on the car so people can understand where it's at:
Used to be a 47lb S3 setup on e85, and made a little over 450 to the wheels on a stock (somewhat hurt) motor, with 27-28psi and 33-35* timing. When the motor went it was time to build it to support that power and more.
Current build:
e85 (bosch in-tank setup)
8.0 je pistons, eagle rods w/625s
Strap kit, IJ windage/scraper
Ported/built head from bob@ravenworks (+1/+3)
externally gated S3 w/58lb wheel, td06hr turbine
tial external bov
shortram, 3" exhaust, big intercooler, etc
Crower S2 cams (switched to) BCS3
In the beginning of the tuning, i was using a 14.5lb setup in the WG, which we didn't push too far in regards to boost, and was able to handle around 25* of timing. Upon moving to a 16lb setup, the timing wanted to come down (excessive knock, turn timing down, less knock).
At 26psi (wgdc maxed), the car would only demand 18-20 degrees at most (and still knocked a little). It was a 400whp car at this point. Not dyno'd, just a comparison of cars i'd raced while at this point in the tuning.
The prematurely maxed boost, low timing, low compression in cylinders (125), slow spool led Nigel to believe the cams were too big (totally right, was a bad decision to use Crower S2).
Recently switched to BCS3 (on the same tune for the CS2 still, mind you), and the car felt peppier at lower RPMs (compression is up to 135 now). Upon WOT, the car has started knocking even worse, bringing timing as low as 14* at 26psi on e85. The current knock is always at 5000-5500. (and was at that spot before the cam swap)
WGDC are still maxed out. I need to do a wg line and solenoid test just to make sure it's properly functioning, but thats only 1 issue.
I'm no genius at reading plugs. I've been told an assortment of metal looking specs in the porcelain are a sign of knock. Not knowing if the sensor is being legit, i've been constantly trying to read the plugs (and seeing specs). Have tried copper, 1step iridium, and 2step silver plugs, which all yield the same results as far as how the car behaves.
This isn't a knock at Duster, the current tuner. The man knows how to tune cars. I'm just at my wits end with the real/false knock and don't know where to go from here. The money i've spent trying to make this huge S3 run like a monster is ridiculous.
If you have questions, ask away. I'm sure i've left out information that people need.