Anybody miss their M20?

[E30auddie]

Married living in base housing. Don't get me wrong, I love the military and the pay really is good, but it sucks having a horsepower/E30 addiction! Nor do I plan on getting out any time soon! AF FTMFW! :pimp:

[digger]

10whp on a dyno is pretty convincing. :p

he was talking about not being convinced about K&N showing power gains. Not that him being convinced changes how things behave.

Ran the K&N several times untill stable results swapped in new paper one several times until stable results and then put the K&N back in and did several more runs and compared the 3 stabilised runs all done with about 30-40mins on the same day. A definatite gain (obviously not earth shattering) of around 4% across most of the rpm band (not just on topend) with peak gain of 6-7whp. It should be pretty obvious which two curves are the K&N and which is the paper filter

[ChaseN]

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I wouldn't miss the m20 if I ever swap my iX... It's a fine motor, no doubt, but there's nothing overwhelmingly endearing about it to me.

Frikkin E3 pay sucks.

A single E-3 living in the barracks (assuming that you do) isn't too bad my man. One day you'll get out, and realize how hard it really is to make it on the outside!

[QUKBMER]

This why i havent swapped mine. I love my m20 2.5

[nando]

Eh, I'm not convinced. Regardless, I do believe one could notice a 12hp bump in power.

10whp on a dyno is pretty convincing. :p

[nando]

it wasn't a smart ass comment at all. If you didn't check it, I'd blame that rather than the shop - you wouldn't be the first to blow up an M20 because of that. Sometimes they will run for a long time like that. On mine I got away with running .011" clearance. The owner of r3v spun a bearing after a while because the pistons were being pushed down by the valves - another guy had busted off a bunch of valves and grenaded his motor in a few hours.

for that matter it could happen on an M50 if you don't check before putting it together.

[rpob5t]

you never checked valve/piston clearance at TDC, did you?
I saw basically the same thing.

considering that I ran about 15 auto-x events on it and 2 track events without a hitch before it let go I don't think clearance was an issue, that and the valve was broken at the keeper so I put the blame on the machine shop who probably re-used old valves when they re-built the head and considering that it let go on track @ about 4000 with no warning (never tightened up or lost power, it was actually running great, it just went BANG), I'll stick with this diagnosis. Probably should have sprung for SS one piece valves or at least put new ones in myself if anything, but that's ancient history at this point...


Thanks for the smart a$$ comment ;)

[Wh33lhop]

except that the paper filter was brand new and the K&N not and still made more power............i am not interested in flow, more so power.

Eh, I'm not convinced. Regardless, I do believe one could notice a 12hp bump in power.

[nando]

considering this is how me and my M20 parted ways, I can't say I miss it so much...

It did run really nicely though with the cam (schrick 284) it... right until a valve broke :p

you never checked valve/piston clearance at TDC, did you?

except that the paper filter was brand new and the K&N not and still made more power............i am not interested in flow, more so power.

I saw basically the same thing.

[pr0craztinazn]

I'm still ironing out the bugs in my swap, and even with it's current semi-reliable state, I'd keep my M50 over my eta, even though my chipped eta was a strong runner and gave me consistent mid-30s mpg with highway driving. The only downside is transmission removal; everything else is easier to access by far.

[digger]

Sure, replace a sooty old filter with a brand new K&N panel filter, you'll see a few hp, but after a "recharge" or two that K&N will be outflowed by a $10 FRAM. K&N panel filters are pretty much the royal purple of intakes.

except that the paper filter was brand new and the K&N not and still made more power............i am not interested in flow, more so power.

[Wh33lhop]

if by dropins you mean replacement panel filter then one worked on my M20 i have back to back to back dyno plots to prove it.

Sure, replace a sooty old filter with a brand new K&N panel filter, you'll see a few hp, but after a "recharge" or two that K&N will be outflowed by a $10 FRAM. K&N panel filters are pretty much the royal purple of intakes.

[digger]

Yeah, k&n drop-ins net you exactly zero power.

if by dropins you mean replacement panel filter then one worked on my M20 i have back to back to back dyno plots to prove it.

Several times i have done chnages and thought i gained some power but had actually lost some often as already said due to sound change and placebo, dynos are a tool for evaluating the effectivness of mods not ones ass.

[e30rapidic]

M20 = 45mph in 2nd or 5th gear no problem. haha

[E30auddie]

It was a drop in filter. It would not have made any audible differences in noise. If you've driven any car enough you will be able to feel any horsepower difference no matter how big or small the hp gain is. :) For instance, I can definitely tell when mine has her off days and on days. Some days she just runs stronger than others and I can immediately feel it.