Sorry for the super long title, but I don't know what the hell is going on with my car. The car was completely clean last night before I went out driving, and less than 24 hours and 100 miles later, my bumper is COVERED in soot. I've always had some fuel buildup on the bumper when I wash the car each week, but NEVER has it been anywhere close to this bad.



Allow me to give you a quick timeline:

Nov 04 - Car goes to dyno and makes 440whp @ 18 psi. Car gets in accident that night after female driver changes lanes into the right front of the car.

Nov 04 - Feb 05 - Car is in the body shop being repaired and repainted. Car is run only to be moved within the shop. The shop is very reputable, and the car was not driven outside of the shop except one time to check the alignment by an old man who has worked there forever. Car was picked up on 2/24, checked over by mech. on 2/25. Drives fine. No problems.

Last Saturday (2/26) - Car goes to dyno to run 20 psi. 110 octane in the tank. First pull @ 13 psi yields 330 whp (quite low). Second pull @ 20 psi (solid the whole time according to boost controller) yields only 415 whp. The intercooler pipe popped off on that run just before 7k RPMs; however, peak power on my 440 whp chart was just before 7k RPMs. AFRs for the 440 whp run (18 psi) were in the Mid-High 11s, but AFRs for the 415 whp run were in the High 10s-Low 11s. Tuner did nothing except monitor AFRs on the dyno during the second dyno session. Nothing was changed with the tuning. Fuel pressure same as before. Both runs with 110 octane.

Last week - Car goes into the shop to have restrictive intercooler piping redone (caused pipe blowoff). Piping turns out great. After fixing minor vacuum hose issue which sends boost to ECU, car runs strong and pulls hard.

Last night - I raced friend with a very fast 03 Cobra. He makes a little over 500 whp and 500 wtq. I was running 20 psi. Both of us took 195 lb passengers (Cobra had cameraman, extra weight really hurts me). We went from 45-130. He put an instant car on me at the hit and ended up about 2 cars out at 130. I've raced a very similar Cobra before on 14 psi, so I know that I only picked up about 2 cars with an extra 6 psi (obviously not right).

So anyways, my concern is this: What could cause my car to suddenly run at least a solid point richer? I have a few ideas, but I would rather allow you to comment.

 

Unfortunately I dont know whats wrong with your car BUT my white FD looked way worse after driving from Texas to So. California. One side was white and the other was black. After washing it the car, some of that junk got into the paint. Waxing the rear took it right out.

 

sometime the car will run rich if the intake to the turbo is clogged.

 

heres a pic of mine...
cleaned off the right corner to highlight the difference...

 

Looks EXACTLY like mine.

 

Might clean it all off and see if it comes back.

One thing though - I've run MANY RX-7's with no cats. If you drive in the rain with no cats, there's a chemical reaction that happens that leaves an orange-yellow film on the back of the car. It's REAL obvious with a white car.

If you have that, get a bottle of Castrol Super Clean and a sponge. Hose down the back of the car, spray liberally with Super Clean, rub it down with the sponge, then hose off. It's that easy - takes it off SUPER quick. You will have to re-wax the car to get the shine back, but I and a number of friends have done this for YEARS with no ill effects to the paint.

Dale

 

In order to make an accurate diagnosis, I must see the video of fd vs cobra.

I'm no xpert, but, Seriously running rich could be a result of so many things. I would definetly suspect that you were blowing out flames through the tail end, with the mods you have I would think this wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

 

i hate this stuff but its what happens when u run high boost and make lots of power

i am making 350rwhp and running 100% premix
with all that and lots of flameage my white bumpers gets f'ed up!

I use turtle wax bug and tar remover and that works pretty good and leaves a good shine ill try the castol stuff next time

 

rofl. I have you all beat.

 

Holly that one damn dirty ***!

 

Plugs, wires, ignition problems ?

 

i'm sorry were they track racing? no? well then take your line of **** somewhere else. mustangs are all about drag racing, and if you drag race one and lose, it doesn't matter what ELSE you can do rice boy, you still lost. let's not be ricers here.

 

wow, who pissed in your coffee?

 

it is dangerous to be that rich, the fuel will dilute your oil and lower its viscosity

might want to fix your car rather than ignoring the problems

 

Is that a racing beat muffler? Holy **** I have never seen the outside of one coated in carbon! You might need a box of brillo pads for that bad boy!

 

Where does my post indicate that I'm ignoring the problem?

 

Thermal Research makes the catback.

I washed the back of the car this morning before I went to school because I didn't want the sun baking the fuel into my paint. It came off fairly easily with regular car wash soap. I'll drive it for a few days and see if the problem continues. It could be just the 110 octane, but I doubt it.

 

came off with metal polish. And rubbing compound took most of the soot off. I cant really fix the paint it burned off though. :o

And ya, thats racing beat. Nice and shiney now

 

I just noticed I'm missing a "than" from my thread title. Duh.

 

...ricers who think rx7s are the best **** in the world.

...people (not piano) who drag race their "super amazing handling imports" and when they lose, cry that atleast they can turn better/get better fuel economy/better hp-to-liter/whatever line of BS. -lottta this in the STi forums.

...ricers who think mustangs are **** "just because they only drag race" and even in that "they suck at it". it seems every idiot has seen some stock v6 stang drag race and just cannot comprehend reality.

it's not pee in my coffee, i don't drink coffee. just trying to stomp out the ricer mentalities early.

 

I agree with what you've said. The above statements and other similar ones are what gives the import crowd as a whole a bad name. I try not to make excuses when I lose even when I know my car wasn't running properly. It really is "run what you brung" out there. If you go out with that attitude, you can have a good time and gain respect from other drivers. If you go out with an "imports rule, domestics drool" attitude, you'll make few friends and many enemies.

Most of the car people I hang out with are domestic people, but I don't like them because they drive domestics, but rather because they are level-headed, cool individuals.

 

Not to perpetuate a flame session.......But.
I don't drive around looking for my next target or anything like that. My 7 is modified, and it is considerably louder than stock, so I do get the occasional "Honda Squirrel" looking to try and "Pimp me" or whatever the hell kids say nowadays. But damn near everytime I pull up on a mustang, or one pulls up on me, they think it's a stoplight war. I don't waste my time, because I know where MY car excels, and it isn't in a straight line! But then the inevitable look of sarcasm like "I just kicked your ***, import boy" always comes, and that is the part that sucks. If they would have noticed, I wasn't trying, and if we were on track, it might be a different story.

 

I faxed a pic of the bumper to my tuner and he says your running a 10 AFR which is of course is too rich. Just pull a little fuel out and post up another pic and I'll find out again what the AFR is for you. He also recommends you take a sample of the oil and submit it to the oil lab for viscosity testing as well.

 

man u guys got nothing on steve-o.

 

Thanks for the input.