Quote:
Originally Posted by 05SVRACER
Gotcha,
I mainly want to get rid of the timing retard. Has always made it feel like it's being held back, I think that's more noticeable being a 5spd. Even with timing pulled and the additional fuel I'll get spark knock, but it's not all the time.
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At or above 3000 RPM's, the knock sensors' signal is read by the ECU and will protect against spark knock. Yes, that means the ECU completely ignores knock below 3000 RPM's. That's why our engines ping so much under boost in the low throttle/RPM situations.
If you pull timing above 3000 RPM, the ECU will add it back in. I experimented with this (Gadget from URD laid out the principles first though) and did a WOT run in 2nd gear and I saw a max of 17 degrees of timing advance. I then changed the ignition map to -2 to pull two degrees of timing and what do you know, my next run showed 19 degrees of max timing advance. Did I just gain two degrees of timing? No, it just added it back in since the ECU looks to run at max timing advance.
Do a WOT pull and record your max timing. Should be around 16-17 degrees (higher if you have timing retard) at it's highest point. If you see anything less, you can benefit from higher octane fuel like methanol.
As a rule of thumb, each degree of timing adds 1% of max HP. So that's about 2 HP, not very much. Even if you manage to gain say, 3 degrees of timing advance (which would be generous) that's only 6 HP. The deckplate mod will give you more HP than that and be way less work. Or switching to a high flow filter like from aFe Power. Or removing 120 lbs of tools and junk from your rear cargo area (free power!). Catch where I'm going with this? There's easier and cheaper ways to get more power from your engine.