WizardBlack

Yeah, the S30 heatsoaks like a mofo. I had to use Fyresleeve on my fuel line and I am thinking about putting something reflective and insulating on the fuel rail itself as well. I try to tell everyone about the IAT (and installing it in the engine bay) but it's evidently a touchy subject with some people. I always install them on the outlet endtank of the FMIC.

I'll have to look at my Haynes manual but 28 degrees sounds way to high. I remember looking up my '77 280 idle numbers and it was supposed to be around 10 degrees. Maybe I forget, I dunno. Be that as it is, my car idles at 13 degrees at stoich at 850 rpms.

Closed Loop EGO != Autotuning. For closed loop EGO control, most cars I've ever tuned need about 10% authority for a bit of adjustment without getting crazy. I like to see about 20 ignition events per adjustment with a 1% step. If I could, I'd cut both numbers in half, but I don't think the step can be a fractional percentage. Over that 10% authority and you need to tune more. I don't ever recommend the "autotune" feature on any car. Ever. I've yet to see the strategy that can deal with samples that aren't dead on the load cell and not screw up and chop up the fuel table.

Uh, yeah. OS Giken car with twin-cam cross-flow head, etc. Search it up. Somewhat of a touchy subject.

They seem a bit questionable to me as they cannot even properly label technical details on some of their products. I would not buy from them unless you can compression test, leakdown test and otherwise generally inspect the engine first. Likewise, be absolutely SURE you know the visual difference between an RB20 and an RB25 transmission as some places sell an RB25DET powertrain swap with an RB20 trans.

I have an '06 STi for a DD and I'd never yank that thing for another motor. They are very nasty when built up. I honestly don't see any point along the $-to-performance scale where a Porsche motor would be superior; barring some current model exotically priced engine. Subaru's new blocks are very tough and well engineered and ridiculously cheaper than a Porsche engine. Don't get me started on the Mitsubishi EVO thing. I used to have one as a shop car (and development platform). First EVO to have an AEM in it. (even before AEM did, LOL) However, that thing wasn't dubbed Satan by everyone who knew it for no reason. I never had a ton of issues with it (it ran very nasty, actually) but the current owner has put no less than 3 built motors in it so far.

As an update, I have been road tuning the Megasquirt/Holset setup. I find a bit of the fuel curve a bit odd. I suspect the fuel pump isn't raising pressure adequately since I continually have to jack up the VE numbers for each load row. Either that, or the new Aeromotive regulator isn't doing it's job (doubt that). The car pulls pretty hard. I've got it partially tuned, so A/F ratios are in the high 11's to low 12's. I am at 10 psi creeping up to 14.5. I see no reason to lower the A/F ratios more than that. Likewise, I will be adjusting my wastegate actuator up so it stays at a solid 15 psi across the board. I've really no idea what amount of whp it has now, but it should pull on a 350whp EVO at 50mph+ quite nicely. My diff is welded (by previous owner) and totally shot so it SCREAMS at 45~70 mph really loudly, so it's tough to hear some things at those speeds. I took it up to 95 mph today (for the first time) and was surprised how smooth and quiet the whole car felt when it got up in that range. When I get a chance, I need to shim my (brand new) turbo oil pump more since hot idle oil pressure really doesn't read on the Autometer oil pressure gauge. I have a -6AN line to feed the turbo which is part of the issue. I use the throttle to keep the revs up to 1100 in traffic to bring oil pressure up to 12 psi for the time being. I know the Holset is oil cooled but I am probably over-oiling it at the moment which just slows the spool down (theoretically) even though it spools well. I am in Ohio and temps have been 70~85 degrees F when I operate the car. I have a carbon (non-vented) hood and dual electric fans with a cold thermostat and 20 psi rad cap. It stays anywhere from 170 F (on cold days at speed) up to 190 (on hot days in town). I will say that the radiator cap is the last thing I changed. I went from 13 to 20 psi and it made a notable difference. I'll post some pics of the car actually sitting outside and on the ground (for once). I've been busy with work and my newest toy; a '94 Q45 without active suspension and with TCS. I bought it with some electronic (not electrical) issues that I have been routinely going through and fixing. Likewise, it came with a spare motor which had a tweaked rod from a stuck fuel injector (stock injectors fail routinely on these engines). It had slight interference from a crank throw to a pad on the bottom of the associated piston. It ran that way and supposedly sounded like rod knock, but I doubt any block or crank damage occurred. I have been tearing it apart with plans to build it (not rebuild) and go 20 psi on pump gas with twin 35R's. That's a couple stages away from now, however.

I have 3" mandrel bent stainless on my car with the XR-1 muffler. It sounds very nice. Then again, I have another "muffler" made by Holset to quiet things down. It's not overly loud, however.

I honestly don't think the RB has much on the EJ257, but that's just me, I guess. I've built 650+ WHP STi's for customers so I'm probably a tad "slanted" I guess. Sounds is totally preference, IMHO. I bet you could fit a 4-cylinder like the 4G63 into a GC8 or GDx chassis, but only as RWD.

One of my instructors said you should envision a string tied between your right foot and your hand on the steering wheel. Don't break the string and don't let it slack out on you. Probably pretty common tool for new drivers, but handy to help underscore your point for him.

Don't bother with the 3076; just grab a 35R.

As an update, the car seems a lot less compliant now (which I expected), but the left rear toe causes tire squealing a lot more now. Practically any amount of turning causes it to squeal. Likewise, it's more nervous (or dynamically unstable) at highway speeds. I am gonna leave it for now since I will maybe drive it 100 miles on weekends before winter when it gets a big overhaul again.

Ditto. I did a third off the narrow end.

Suffice it to say that different cars with different powertrain configurations require different behaviour, braking, throttle application and timing, etc. Just try what they're saying (consciously) and you should start to get a feel for how it works. I know how you feel as I came from all AWD turbo cars, so that was a tad different as well. Heel-toe is very common, but focus on your braking, weight transfer, timing, steering first.

850?.... That's totally normal.

I think I answered your question on another site, but it's 60 according to the book.

http://www.atlanticz.ca will help you get stuff taken apart, but if you only got to jacking the car up, I'd just snag a Haynes manual off ebay to start with.

LOL, that's pimp! I'll be snagging one of those...

If you plan on getting that stuff apart, you should be hitting it with PB Blaster every day to start getting the rust dissolved.

Sounds as if you could be too rich at idle. This is helping your (theoretically lean) cold starts the next morning but making your (theoretically rich) hot starts even worse. (On a side note, I've never seen a map come from a California car have proper (really) COLD start enrichment. They usually need beefed up quite a bit.) Likewise, your after start enrichments seem too high to me. Also, don't "pedal" the gas when trying to start. I am not sure if the megasquirt does any AE while cranking, but if it is, you are only making things more confusing for yourself. If the car won't drive about while cold it could be either after start enrichment, coolant enrichment or your base fuel map. Get the base fuel map dialed in really good when it's at operating temp. Particularly at those very high load points at idle rpm and above. Don't try to tune it while sitting still on a hot day with the hood closed, though. It'll hit the high load points more when it's cold so they are crucial to get dialed in before trying to drive around a parking lot with it cold. Hast thou a wideband?

12.5:1 is awfully rich for idle. Even lower than that is pretty rough. That's got to wear your cylinders faster. Mine idles at stoich. It's alittle grumpy and I can tell it will idle smoother when it dips into the 13's but it should be fine. Use your base ignition map to counter some of the rpm fluctuations caused by stoich idling. IOW, set the point that is both lower in rpms and higher in pressure to a bit more timing. If it's sucking a bit hard because it's at stoich it will slide into that cell and the timing will nudge it back up. Idle is much easier to stabilize on standalones with closed loop timing control for idle. 13's are practically always better for power, but that's the tradeoff with fuel economy. FWIW, any time I tune a standalone on a car that starts with a basemap I always shut ALL enrichments off until the base fuel and timing maps are 98%. Likewise, I've yet to see many standalones that can implement a decent dMAP/dt enrichment. Basically I set mine pretty soft and use a bit of dTPS/dt enrichment for vacuum only (when that can be configured).

Pics!

LOL. Watch the video... ANTS: OMG! Run away! The storm god is going to blast the lands with his fury of hydrocarbons! Ahhhhh!

Good god, I'd tell him I'd take it off his hands for free just for the penalty of letting a rare-ish car go to waste in the outdoors. It looks like the earth is trying to suck it back in.

I've been down the very same path as far as fire is concerned. On a side note, be wary of "cheap" wiring. You get what you pay for. Just because you get the same gauge of wire with the cheap brand doesn't mean you get the same strand count. Gauge of wire means very little without a good strand count. I have used Painless multiple times and would never buy stuff off ebay without being able to see the strand count. Go look at Wal-Mart wire. Made in China. Very very VERY few strands. May as well just buy solid core. Anyone who has experienced a catastrophic failure of wiring knows to treat it like fuel. Both can start a fire. Don't skimp. Get the good stuff. It will flow more for the same gauge of wire. It will be more flexible. It's labelled. It will last better.