Sometimes its not feasible to add traction...so the "alternative" is to introduce lag so that boost isnt really a factor until your rolling...

What he said...

 

i would just adjust the boost controller so it gradually ramps up boost instead.

 

Heh...unfortunately the engine and snail manglement system available at the time prevented such cleverness...I was having to muck with springs and crap...

The snail itself was also the problem...this was when I was younger, dumber, and thought I knew it all because I had teh intert00bes...

After seeing Jeff's results with supercharging the MX-3, I decided that I wanted the "supercharged" early power, but with the "turbo" flexibility...

I thought I was being clever and spent a good chunk of cash on a Turbonetics T4 with the ceramic bearing option...and what I thought was a good setup for really quick spooling...

It was improperly sized and expensive...but man did that thing spool FAST...it was very bi-polar...power was almost instant...but very uncontrollable since the car was FWD...

So...without boring anyone else further...I did what any good overconfident punk would do...I treated the symptoms instead of the disease...

I learned alot from my first turbo build...it was an expensive lesson...but some of us learn the hard way by getting our hands burned...

Interestingly enough tho...I DID find that artificially introducing lag into certain areas of the system produced interesting results...some which I intend to follow up on later when I have time...

Using the controller is exactly what I would do now...thats the smarter and "correct" choice...when you can...

 

What size engine? What was the turbine A/R? What was the compressor A/R?

 

2.5L KLZE...

dont remember the rest off the top of my head...ill see if i can dig it up somewhere...

 

Well, the car is finally running. After 3 MAF tube changes and a number of different screen configurations I was unable to get the AccessPORT to control my turbo kit. MazdaManiac worked on it for about 3 hours on Friday night. He was able to get it to idle smothly but as soon as you step on the gas and let off the car would die. We tried replacing the injectors back to stock but still couldn't get it to work. I am still using it to control the idle speed, cooling fan temps, CELs, and the MOP and I have not intention of selling it. Hopefully, I can come up with an intake solution that will allow me to use it to controll more but right now I am just going to enjoy my car for a while before I go making anymore changes.

However, since I was prepared for this we were able to get the car running pretty well using the Interceptor-X and, overall, I am very happy with it. First, time we tried to start the car it fired right up. The AFR was very rich at idle but MazdaManiac had it tuned to about 12.5:1 in less than 10 min. Under cruise the AFR is 14.5:1 and under light load it goes to about 13.5:1. When in boost the AFR is very solid at 11.2:1 all the way to redline. If you like flames you would love to see what it does after a WOT boosted run. I can shoot 3ft flames that I can see in the rearview mirror from about 7000rpm all the way down to about 4000rpm. So far this is the only part of the tune that I really need to work on but if not maybe I can get it featured in Fast&Furious5. We had some issues with misfires between 6000 and 7000 rpm but once we change the dwell settings for the Mazsport coils it came right out and the car pulls hard from about 3000 rpm all the way to redline. I am only running on the .5 bar wastegate spring but the wastegate is controlling the boost very well.

I cant thank PTP, BHR, and Mazsport enough for the parts, service, and help these shops have provided me. Jon, Ray, Jeff, and Scott are some of the best guys in the business and without them and people like them the RX8 would not be the car it has become. Thanks guys for finally getting me boosted!

 

glad to hear you got it running well on Sunday. You'll have to bring it back up sometime soon, I'd love to take a ride in it.

 

+1, just be carefull you don't cook your rear like you almost did on the Dyno

 

REALLY glad to hear it is up and running tommy. That car looks way too clean to be sitting on a trailer its whole life.

We need to get together again before the end of summer so I can see the beast in action.

 

Thanks guys! Its great to have it running again. Even at 7psi it feels awesome. Its really smooth and pulls hard. It feels like I am learning to drive a manual all over again with the new added power and 8 months of driving an SUV. Jeff and Ray were giving me a hard time when we took the car for a drive on Sunday night. Ray kept saying I was going to need one of his Stage 2+ clutches in no time if I kept riding the clutch like that. What I really need to do is learn to keep my foot out of it. I went through 1/4 tank in about 40miles on the way home Sunday night. Oh well, its just gas. I will try to make it back up to Chicago sometime in July.

 

ummmm......turbo.......

 

ummm, so why dont you make your own and quit jebbin yer jaw.. umm.... wait... nevermind...

i mean put your turbo on your car already!!!

 

so in the final analysis the maf was just too close to the turbo ?

 

good to hear tdiddy! lets have some more driving impressions now that the problems are over.

 

Its too short before the MAF.
Also, the BOV is on the turbo discharge, so the airflow - recirculated or not - is not stable when the engine is returning to idle.
The MAF tube needs to be 2" longer before the MAF and the BOV should be on the last charge pipe before the TB.

 

Yeah, each of my 3 MAF changes were to move the MAF further away from the turbo. It appears that helped a little. However, what it did was only give me 2" of pipe before the MAF with a transition from 3" to 3.5" at that connection. As Jeff has always stated, I really need 6" before and 6" after the MAF. And even then I may still have problems coming back down to idle because of the BOV. Eventually I may go with a bigger turbo and redesign the system some more but for now, I'm happy and thats what matters.

 

With the porting, direct port nitrous, and a turbo your car would be crazy fast!

Everybody had their fair share of name calling and trash talking going on. I seem to remember calling Jeff an "*******" at my dinner table. What was his response, "Thank You!" It was a great weekend and I can't wait for the next opportunity to meet up.

 

That was a damn good hamburger, too!

 

You ever find a starbucks?

 

No, but I got coffee from the Mobil station next to the hotel, so I survived!

 

I should have just bought him a case of Monster Java. That would have been easier.

 

wow, those are awful. I didn't know you hated the guy?

 

They f-ing ROCK.
Especially the "Nut Up" flavor.

 

Update

After 3 weeks and 1500 miles the car runs pretty well. I'm averaging >20mpg in mixed highway/city driving. Boost is very steady at .5bar. AFR in boost is rock solid at 11.2:1 in all gears. Coolant temps have climbed as high as 213 with the AC on and ambiant temps in the 90s but most of the time they run ~195 with ambiant temps in the 80s.

The biggest problem I have been experiencing is misfires. I have thrown a couple of random misfire (P0300) CELs already and on Thursday I got to do some spirited driving with some friends. During this 15min cruise I threw a front rotor misfire (P0301) and an ecc. shaft position sensor (P0335) CEL.

I plan on getting a water/meth injection system soon and I will be taking the car for more tuning once it is installed. Hopefully we can fix the misfires with tuning. I'm not sure about the ecc shaft cel.

 

Check out the ESS...it may have a bit of metallic crap on it...or need to be adjusted. I put a couple of washers under mine to move it away from the trigger wheel slightly..and it solved the misfire problem for me