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Da Intro
So much has happened since last month’s
article! Here at Sports Car Revolution we’ve
started on our 2005 Formula D killer, I’ve
discovered Ali G (and he is now my hero) and my
drifting comrade Paul Hand won third place in the
last drifting competition for the Canadian season.
Paul was only beaten by two pros, and as he considers
himself a pro-amateur, this was quite the victory!
All right, enough about Paul. Let’s get back
into making a drift engine durable for little coin.
I did some research. Screw the little coin idea.
Sorry guys and gals, but drifting isn’t cheap.
Nissan was fully aware of this, however. With their
pulse on the Japanese drifting market, Silvia’s
and 180’s were made stronger with each model
change. Although the S13 SR20 was super durable,
the T25 turbine just wasn’t that strong. Boost
came on healthy in the 3400 rpm range, but the turbine
would max out at about 14psi. There are cases of
some people running up to 15psi, but really, this
type of engine abuse is asking for trouble. Just
because you have the power to crank your boost high,
it doesn’t mean you should. “But Mike,
no offence but shut up! I just picked up an Air
Fuel ratio meter and it tells me everything I need
to know. I’m not running lean!”
Yeah. Sure. And my Grandma can still eat Captain
Crunch. An Air/Fuel ratio meter is a great diagnostic
device that can hook up to your Oxygen sensor by
splicing the ECU signal line. But before we get
into how to make your air/fuel measurement better,
let’s take a look at how an O2 sensor works
in the first place.
Da History
O2 sensors never used to be present on automobiles.
Back in the day, cars would pollute, engines were
huge and gas was cheap. As soon as emission control
regulations came into play, the modern gasoline
engine was restricted in a huge way with catalytic
converters, PCV valves, and yes, you guessed it,
O2 sensors. This part of history is quite interesting,
if you care. Older muscle cars got hit with this
change the hardest as emission regulations dropped
horsepower by as much as 60% in some vehicles. No
joke. In the early 70’s there actually were
4000 pound beasts with 120 horses. The biggest concern
from manufacturers was how to get that robbed power
back. Nowadays, things like O2 sensors can serve
2 functions; emissions regulation and power creation.
Here’s how this happens:
The O2 sensor in a vehicle is designed to regulate
the amount of burnt air and fuel at an optimum level.
All things being equal, 14.7:1 is the perfect, or
stoichiometric, air fuel mixture for both engine
performance and emissions control. At this ratio,
no unburned fuel pollutes the air, and enough fuel
is available to cool a combustion chamber. O2 sensors
on vehicles these days are connected with as few
as 1 wire to as many as 4. The additional wires
help heat the solenoid in the O2 sensor, which enables
it to measure correctly. As spent air and fuel pass
by the sensor, the ECU receives a variant voltage
signal. An extremely high voltage signal tells the
ECU that there is too much fuel in the system, and
then, subsequently, less fuel is delivered until
the next pulse is registered. If too low of a voltage
signal comes through, then there is too much air
in the system, and the ECU will balance this equation
by adding more fuel; again, until the next pulse.
But here is the problem with using this OEM device
as a performance monitoring system. The ECU will
basically receive three signals from the O2 sensor;
Lean, Stoich and Rich. These three voltage patterns
do not help the ECU differentiate exactly where
the ratio of air and fuel is, but instead, informs
it that it is not at 14.7:1. Will this tell you
if you’re truly running lean? No, it won’t.
By the time the O2 sensor makes another sample,
the system will have richened everything out and
you will have no clue what your mixture actually
is. For example, if you have a Civic, with an exhaust,
intake, cams, etc. you’ll still be alright
with the stock fuel curve. Start adding boost, however,
and you could have a real problem.
Da Lesson
When you shove more fuel into a combustion chamber,
you have an inefficient explosion with an insufficient
amount of oxygen required to ignite all of the fuel.
This can occasionally foul plugs and kill your fuel
consumption, but rarely does running rich damage
an engine. Running lean, however, creates a super
hot environment with not enough fuel available to
cool the pistons, thus burning a hole right through
them with consistent abuse.
There are two real solutions to monitoring this
catastrophe, and they both involve gauges. An Exhaust
Gas Temperature gauge is an extremely accurate way
of measuring a lean situation. There are a few manufacturers
that make Exhaust Gas gauges with several probes,
requiring you to simply tap each of the collectors
on the header and shove a probe into it. Now you’ll
have the ability to check the temperature of each
cylinder, giving you accurate lean/rich read outs.
EGT gauges, especially the multiple probing units,
can cost in excess of $1200 so they may not be the
most affordable route. A cheaper solution involves
a Wideband readout, which utilizes the technology
of the O2 sensor, but records it in a much more
manageable fashion. The Wideband sensor has between
5 and 7 wires suitable of resisting more currant,
therefore they can provide readings of anywhere
between 9.5:1 and 20:1. This is an excellent tool
that allows a tuner to maximize his/her fuel curves
with precision and accuracy. The Wideband units
cost relatively less than the EGT gauge, but still
be prepared to spend about $700 on a reputable name.
The safety though is sooo worth it.
Booyakasha. Me checkin’ out to see me Julie.
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By:
Michael Kent
The evening began with a fan-dazzling stroll
in the country. A brisk summer’s eve
was upon us, my friends. As the briskly breeze
melted into a mild chill, our bottoms heated
up through the glorious leather upon which
we were perched. Gliding through the air like
a bird infested with love and purity, we seemed
to hover to our evening gala.
Now read that paragraph again with a British
accent, angle your head upwards, and frown,
just a touch.
That’s right, it’s a joke! Precisely
what every on looker must have thought about
me driving the Audi A8 L. Packed with hooligans
my age, and blasting Dr. Dre, we redefined
the night cruise.
It is so hard to put an A8 into words. Short
of a BBQ, the A8 L has every possible feature
known to man. Independent heater controls
(with a temperature readout) for everyone,
including the backseat drivers, a special
Ski Bag that extends through the back seats
for maximum trunk space, adjustable Air Ride
suspension from inside the cockpit, self leveling
ridicouloso Xenon headlights, 19 inch chromies
on Pirelli P Zero’s and 16 way power
adjustable seats don’t even start to
rifle off how loaded this car really is.
Personally, I love the words Audi and Turbocharged
when they occur in the same sentence. Sport
Audi’s make me imagine the perfect blend
between American Luxury cars and Japanese
Turbo-yama speed machines. Literally, in the
middle are all the Euro manufacturers making
a mix of the two. Audi have the recipe for
this perfect blend. Unfortunately, the A8
is not turbocharged, so like always, I was
expecting the big, heavy 330 horsepower 4.2
liter V8 to create understeer and brake fade,
but oh yeah! I didn’t take any of my
own advice from the last Audi I drove!
Instead of announcing a pleasant Oh Yeah,
I’m screaming Oh Yeah like I’m
hitting the money shot. Acceleration of this
2000 kilo beast to 60 happens in a scant 6.3
seconds. With a car full of heavy set ruffians
like me, the A8 still out accelerated a stick
Integra GSR with a fart pipe and intake. The
throttle is responsive and the transmission
is precise. Handling is surprisingly predictable
with the continually variant air suspension
and the Electronic Stability Program which
stays out of your hair until you lose at least
2 tires. With ESP turned off, you could have
all 4 wheels screaming, and still keep the
car at its apex, with a lot less effort than
you’d think.
So you can get there through hell and high
water with a reasonable level of comfort and
speed, but it all counts for nothing if you
don’t know where you’re going!
I’ve always been skeptical about Navigation
systems; especially one’s that talk.
But with a trick LCD screen hidden between
the center vents, how can you not play with
the nav features?! (plus the Nav voice has
cougar written all over it!). Precise and
accurate, I tried everything I could to confuse
the system. Changing directions, turning it
off then on again real quickly (by far the
stupidest test ever) and nothing seemed to
phase Ms. Audi. From your current position,
the A8 L calculates the shortest route. Miss
your turn? No biggie. The Nav system quickly
routes the next fastest route and even asks
you to make a U turn if possible.
My large Guyanese buddy had a great idea.
They should have a hardcore thug navigate
those that can afford this car around town.
“Turn Left Muthaf***a!”. “I
said right, beeyatch!”. See? That’s
what this car does. It makes you dream. Enough
leg room to fit a stripper party and enough
trunk space to hide the body… uhhh…
I mean…
You know what I mean. If there’s any
car worthy of a Dream Car title, it’s
the Audi
A8 L.
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What
is 6 x 83 x .987345 + 22 – 5?
We
can care less. Since we are crunching numbers
all day long for our 2005 season, all we can
think about is math. That is why we’re
opening the door to you! Ask all of your automobile,
house and spousal related questions and have
them answered by the real cheese in the industry!
We’ll pick the coolest question of the
month and post it in our next newsletter for
all of you to guess on! Email your questions
to mkent@sportscarrevolution.com.
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