jturkel

I am looking to upgrade my pulley setup to get more power. I currently have a Code3 SuperCharger Pulley with a Belt Wrap Kit (good for another .5lbs of boost ~ 7-10whp) and am looking to upgrade to the 185mm.

I have also ordered headers and hopefully will be installing them within the next week or two. Furthermore, I live in AZ and only have access to 91 octane.

I am getting a custom dyno tune in late March (21st I think) to obviously get my car tuned by LET for my mods.

My questions are:

1) Would it be safe to run my car on 91 octane with headers, 185mm Pulley in addition to full SL55 intake, colder plugs, and wires without a tune? Like, would I be running rich or lean at unsafe levels?

2) Would I be better off using a 181 with my headers until tune day, and then swap in a 185 to get a tune?

SilverBulletAMG

Should be fine but only way to know for sure is with a dyno readout. I could be wrong but I would think the ECU should be able to compensate and keep you in the safe zone. Jerry could tell you for sure quickly though.

hooleyboy

you should be fine for the time being. With more air you will want more fuel. Here's a thought: maybe LET will do a mail order tune for the time being and then dial it in when you do your dyno tune.

hooleyboy

I agree the ECU should be able to add fuel to an extent.

TemjinX2

the mods will make you run on the lean side. i agree with the others, the ecu should compensate, but i would just drive easy until you tune it.

OverDrive

I ask Jerry the same question.... He Says your fine if you run the 185 pulley with out the tune, But does not recommend redlining it or going past 5000 rpms, The ecu is pretty smart and will add the extra fuel to a certain extent.

billapex

The ECU will only add additional fuel up to the maximum point programmed into the tables or up to 100% duty cycle of the injectors.

And to see if you're running too lean, you'll have to have include the wide-band O2 function of the dyno, not just plain old dyno runs to measure hp and torque.

I agree that until you get a custom tune, you shouldn't rev the motor high, but I'd be more conservative and say not over 3,500rpm.

As for plugs, I'd switch to colder copper-core plugs, which are more resistant to detonation (pinging) than platinum plugs.

Bill

jturkel

I purchased a one step colder NGK Iridium plug to replace along with my magnecor race wires and will install once i get the headers. will those iridiums be ok?

///AMG4EVER

You will be running very lean and the car will fall in its face everytime you gun it. The ECU will simply not let you and will throw timing at higher boost.

I think it will be safe to drive it as the ECU protects the engine anyway.

jturkel

yah...i figured it would pull some timing under load. i would like to prevent CELs and such, so gunning it would have to not happen.

hmm.....idk....5000 seems high with headers and 185 without a tune on 91 octane, but thats what Jerry says, huh?

So this setup could not provide enough fuel then without the tune.....yah, i think LET does their custom dyno tunes with a wide-band to monitor those A/Fs and whatnot....

and i think 3500 RPMS sounds more reasonable than 5000, but again, i would find that quite difficult to do for like a month lol.

i like your idea mike. i think i will ask jerry if he could do that for me. that would be awesome!

billapex

I've never had great luck with Iridiums on supercharged/turbocharged cars, but they may work fine with lower boost levels. You'll just have to see what the tune does. If it's nice and safe (i.e. the air/fuel ratio is conservative and consistent), leave them in. If you experience detonation and can't get rid of it without taking out tons of timing, thus cutting a lot of power that you're trying to gain, a simple (and cheap!) switch to colder-than-stock copper plugs may do the trick.

Bill

jturkel

hmm interesting....how/what would you define to be low boost? i think with the 185, people are seeing 21lbs of boost......not sure if that would be affected much by my full intake and headers......which copper plugs would you recommend? or would silver be even better than copper?

SilverBulletAMG

The 185 kit does not qualify as "low boost" by any means. IK22s have served me well. Keep your 20s and see what the dyno says. Don't waste your money unless you need too. Until it's on the dyno, we're just talking hypothetical’s....

jturkel

i know....i actually ordered the NGKs that are the comparable heat range (one step colder) to the IK22s....i already have them sitting in my garage so am going to install those when I install the headers.....

SilverBulletAMG

Sounds good. Side note: you get your headers from Vadim yet? He PMd me a couple days ago and said there was a delay waiting for them to get coated and he would email back by Monday with an update and potential tracking number. Tues. afternoon and I have yet to hear anything. I know you ordered a good week before I did so....

billapex

Whoops! I think I was thinking of another thread that was talking about 7-10psi. 21psi is definitely NOT low boost.

Better breathing in/out won't necessarily increase boost, but it may, depending how much more air the new intake and headers flow.

Regarding plugs, I'm partial to Autolite or Motorcraft. The Autolite part number in the stock heat range is #3924. Your local parts guy should be able to get the plug that's one range colder. And because of the higher boost levels, you may need to tighten the gap up a bit to prevent the spark from blowing out. Stock gap is what, .040"? Maybe tighten it up to .036" to be safe. Blowers are hard on spark plugs, so the gap will grow over time. Starting out by gapping them down a bit will ensure that the gap doesn't grow to an unsafe level too soon.

Bill

jturkel

Nope not yet....he also told me that the coaters are running behind. he said he would check on Monday (yesterday) and let me know...saying that he should be sending them out this week. Haven't heard anything back yet.

stock gap i think is .036...someone correct me if i am wrong.......i am told that the optimal gap is between .034 and .035. I guess worst case scenario, i will check out those plugs then.

TemjinX2

why not just use octane booster to boost the octane in your gas until you get a tune.

jturkel

will that make enough of a difference to prevent running too lean? i still dont know if, even with a lot of octane booster to make it like 95+, if it would still be safe to go WOT. idk.

TemjinX2

you can always just buy some race gas...but i think its like $7 a gallon. Maybe run e85..then again i'm not sure if the c32 can run e85. I remember only certain w203's can run e85.

SilverBulletAMG

Most boosters are a total joke = snake oil! I could **** higher octane after a shot of good Scotch.

billapex

Not necessarily. Plus, octane boost coats plugs, O2 sensors, etc. Manganese? I can't remember what the coating is, but it doesn't help the operation of plugs and sensors. If you run ANY type of additive to boost octane, I recommend Torco. The best stuff in the biz. http://torcoracefuel.net/pro-accelerator.html

Bill

billapex

Agreed!

Macallan 12 year = 93 octane
Macallan 18 year = 95 octane
Macallan 30 year = 100 octane

c32used

You will be fine just don't WOT it til tuned.

jturkel

yah...100 octane is definitely not cheap....idk if i would want to do that for a month

haha.....too funny

yah ik ik, only problem is how difficult that will be for me lol....i think i will contact LET (jerry) and see if i can get a mail-in tune for now and have them customize it more when they get down here so i can drive it to my liking