Need Some S4 Advice
12-19-12, 12:48 AM
#1
Need Some S4 Advice
After alot of searching, reading, and a few pm's I have found loads of info about my car, but I could not find exactly what I am looking for. Long story short I bought a mint 87 TII, with some handling mods, RB cat back, and a cone filter. Thanks to PA's fantastic roadwork I ended up having to put a 3" downpipe with cat delete (No emissions in PA and cheap) on the car. My concern is that my car came with a cone filter, and no stock airbox, I purchased an FCD but I am still concerned about boost creep and going lean on the stock fuel system.
I installed a boost gauge and have only got on it a few times, and it seems it will pull to 10.5+ pounds, but I have not kept my foot in it for fear of exploding parts all over the ground.
Keep in mind the car is my daily...and my only vehicle, which trailers my mx bikes and takes me everywhere I need to go. Here is my plan to make my car safe to beat on, while keeping it reliable. Budget is not bare bones but I would like to keep it reasonable.
3" down pipe, no cat, RB cat back
Cone filter
RB FCD
FD fuel pump (already installed)
Flow tested 720cc injectors for secondaries (purchased, sitting on work bench)
Rtek 1.7 or 1.8
Port stock wastegate while ECU is at Rtek
Wideband (on order)
I really wanna be able to hold this thing wide open, but I am being very conservative as I do not want to pull the motor.
Do you guys think I should do anything to try and keep the boost in check besides the wastegate porting? I am very mechanically inclined, but turbos and rotaries are new territory for me. It seems I should save for an Rtek 2.1 or something better....but this is the most I plan on doing to this car. Thanks for the input, all constructive critism is welcome.
I installed a boost gauge and have only got on it a few times, and it seems it will pull to 10.5+ pounds, but I have not kept my foot in it for fear of exploding parts all over the ground.
Keep in mind the car is my daily...and my only vehicle, which trailers my mx bikes and takes me everywhere I need to go. Here is my plan to make my car safe to beat on, while keeping it reliable. Budget is not bare bones but I would like to keep it reasonable.
3" down pipe, no cat, RB cat back
Cone filter
RB FCD
FD fuel pump (already installed)
Flow tested 720cc injectors for secondaries (purchased, sitting on work bench)
Rtek 1.7 or 1.8
Port stock wastegate while ECU is at Rtek
Wideband (on order)
I really wanna be able to hold this thing wide open, but I am being very conservative as I do not want to pull the motor.
Do you guys think I should do anything to try and keep the boost in check besides the wastegate porting? I am very mechanically inclined, but turbos and rotaries are new territory for me. It seems I should save for an Rtek 2.1 or something better....but this is the most I plan on doing to this car. Thanks for the input, all constructive critism is welcome.
Last edited by Robert Stanton; 12-19-12 at 01:14 AM.
12-19-12, 07:20 AM
#2
Looks like you're on the right track for all the supporting modifications. Port the wastegate well. As large as you can go. Keep in mind that some people say to weld a washer on the flapper so you can go larger on the port. That's great, so long as you have the right grade steel for the job. Don't just tack on a galvanized steel washer and expect it to last, because it'll eventually end up looking like a diseased flower.
720cc secondaries are a good starting point for cranking the boost up. Keep in mind that once you port your wastegate, you shouldn't see any creep past the stock level. So if you want to increase the boost, get a boost controller. And yes, install the wideband and fuel pump.
Rtek... I have mixed feelings on Rtek. Some guys swear by them, I've never ran one in my car before so I can't say much. However, every Rtek owner I've personally met isn't that big of a fan of them. I paid less than $500 for a full standalone ECU, but that was a Megasquirt, and it requires a LOT of soldering and wiring. In the end, I'm much happier with the full standalone. You have 100% control of EVERYTHING, whereas the Rtek only allows you to control fuel maps... up to a certain amount. And Rtek seems like the only thing you can use to control the damn thing is a Palm. Maybe someone else can verify that, but I haven't seen anyone with a laptop attached to their Rtek.
720cc secondaries are a good starting point for cranking the boost up. Keep in mind that once you port your wastegate, you shouldn't see any creep past the stock level. So if you want to increase the boost, get a boost controller. And yes, install the wideband and fuel pump.
Rtek... I have mixed feelings on Rtek. Some guys swear by them, I've never ran one in my car before so I can't say much. However, every Rtek owner I've personally met isn't that big of a fan of them. I paid less than $500 for a full standalone ECU, but that was a Megasquirt, and it requires a LOT of soldering and wiring. In the end, I'm much happier with the full standalone. You have 100% control of EVERYTHING, whereas the Rtek only allows you to control fuel maps... up to a certain amount. And Rtek seems like the only thing you can use to control the damn thing is a Palm. Maybe someone else can verify that, but I haven't seen anyone with a laptop attached to their Rtek.
12-19-12, 11:04 AM
#3
Looks like you're on the right track for all the supporting modifications. Port the wastegate well. As large as you can go. Keep in mind that some people say to weld a washer on the flapper so you can go larger on the port. That's great, so long as you have the right grade steel for the job. Don't just tack on a galvanized steel washer and expect it to last, because it'll eventually end up looking like a diseased flower.
720cc secondaries are a good starting point for cranking the boost up. Keep in mind that once you port your wastegate, you shouldn't see any creep past the stock level. So if you want to increase the boost, get a boost controller. And yes, install the wideband and fuel pump.
Rtek... I have mixed feelings on Rtek. Some guys swear by them, I've never ran one in my car before so I can't say much. However, every Rtek owner I've personally met isn't that big of a fan of them. I paid less than $500 for a full standalone ECU, but that was a Megasquirt, and it requires a LOT of soldering and wiring. In the end, I'm much happier with the full standalone. You have 100% control of EVERYTHING, whereas the Rtek only allows you to control fuel maps... up to a certain amount. And Rtek seems like the only thing you can use to control the damn thing is a Palm. Maybe someone else can verify that, but I haven't seen anyone with a laptop attached to their Rtek.
720cc secondaries are a good starting point for cranking the boost up. Keep in mind that once you port your wastegate, you shouldn't see any creep past the stock level. So if you want to increase the boost, get a boost controller. And yes, install the wideband and fuel pump.
Rtek... I have mixed feelings on Rtek. Some guys swear by them, I've never ran one in my car before so I can't say much. However, every Rtek owner I've personally met isn't that big of a fan of them. I paid less than $500 for a full standalone ECU, but that was a Megasquirt, and it requires a LOT of soldering and wiring. In the end, I'm much happier with the full standalone. You have 100% control of EVERYTHING, whereas the Rtek only allows you to control fuel maps... up to a certain amount. And Rtek seems like the only thing you can use to control the damn thing is a Palm. Maybe someone else can verify that, but I haven't seen anyone with a laptop attached to their Rtek.
My main concerning what are the supporting mods needed to keep my car safe with the exhaust and intake mods i have done. Some posts I read claim it will be fine with just a fuel pump, and other claim I need a ported wastegate, bigger secondaries etc.....I guess I will know better when the wideband is set up.
A full standalone would be ideal, but I am trying to keep funds in the bank as I have some plans of an autocross machine to be built over the winter months....
12-20-12, 12:09 PM
#5
If you port the wastegate enough you will not go past stock boost levels. It will eliminate boost creep. At that point, you're safe with the larger exhaust and open intake. When you start raising boost, you'll then need the fuel pump, injectors, wideband, and ECU tuning.
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