Jas W

What is the safest i can up my boost to on a standard my99?

Brun

I wouldn't touch the boost unless you have a knocklink and an AFR installed.
My MY99 running a Tek3 and full decat is pushing just short of 19psi

Jas W

what do these do? i do have a full de cat on though.

Brun

The knocklink monitors knock (pinking) which is an engine destroyer and the AFR monitors fuel against air so you know ur not running lean, which again destroys engines

Aztec Performance Ltd

iTrader: (234)

I have a tek3 which brun speaks of. Mapped for MY99/00 with de-cat and air filter/induction. Makes a big difference

It will be up for sale in a few weeks time. Not had the need for AFR or knocklink but you will if you decide to go for a manual boost controller instead of a map.

Email me if your interested bob07977@hotmail.com

Bob

Keigo

Knocklink doesn't seem to be that important for Uk cars, unless you are really pushing the mods. With standard decat and boost up, it's debatable. On my car (MY98 UK) with full decat, k&n, Blitz Dual SBC boost controller running at 1.14 bar - just before fuel cut, knocklink never shows any sign of activity. I run the car on optimax.

UK cars are mapped to 95 RON as standard anyway, so the chances of detting is very low, compared to Japanese imports. So my personal advise would be to save your cash on knocklink for now, and spend it on other mods. When you come to changing your turbo, intercooler, injectors, fuel pump, etc, then yes, I would recommend a knocklink and AFR meter.

If you want to get a Manual boost controller such as Dawes device, then a boost gauge will be needed to monitor the boost level. If you get yourself a electronic boost controller, available from HKS, Blitz, Apexi, Greddy, amongst others, most of them will have a digital built in boost gauge, so it won't be necessary to get a separate boost gauge neither.

Standard UK cars can read up to 1.25 bar, IIRC, and fuel cut comes in at 1.15 bar. Start with low boost, and raise it slightly each time, and test drive. Repeat the process until you hit fuel cut (you'll know when you do, as the car feels like it's suddenly hit a wall), turn the boost down a notch, so that you won't hit it again.

Hope that helps.

ozzy

Unfortunately, every car is unique. I noticed some red lights on my knocklink just with a decat. Turned out to be a bad batch of fuel (Optimax), but it just goes to show that even a fairly std car can det.

I wouldn't run the risk of running a car without a Knocklink.

Stefan

greasemonkey

That is an unsafe policy to adopt.

Not really, they have a high octane and a low octane map, which is selected primarily via input from the knock sensor. As the knock sensing system isn't particularly effective at higher engine speeds, you can't rely on this. Brun's advice is sound.

This is bad advice. Strictly my opinion of course, so the original poster can make of it what he will. While not a cure for all ills by any stretch of the imagination, a KnockLink and and AFR meter will often give advance warning of impending issues before they become threatening to the engine. IMO they are worth fitting to standard cars, let alone modified ones.

AJbaseBloke

Gonna agree with greasemonkey, doing anything to a turbo car without the minimum monitoring (boost and knock, + AFR if possible) is asking for trouble. Getting unlucky with some fuel, or getting filled with the wrong stuff etc... Too late if you are picking bits of rod out of your bonnet.

Short cutting when modding a car is usually a short cut to tears. IMHO, if you can't afford to monitor, you can't afford to mod (esp. when a "whoops" = new engine).

HTH

The_Judge

A Knocklink and AFR gauge can also pick up a failing MAF sensor, which if not rectified can be just as catastrophic to a standard engine as it can to a modified one.

I like that. Good quote...