Das Beast: My E30 track / street build

[MrScuba]

It's Alive!

[dvallis]

Finally going to the dyno

Was down with the flu for more than a week. Finally back alive and working on the car.

We took it on a final test run this weekend. Want everything bulletproof before going to the dyno.

We noticed the engine was feeling rough around 2K to 3K RPM. Checked the spark map and found a very aggressive increase of spark advance right there. Obviously the M20 this map came from wanted it to make power, but ours doesn't like it.



Remapped the spark table with a more gradual transition shown below. Also got rid of the "hole" at 5000 RPM, 180 KPa. This won't make the most power, but should be a hell of a lot smoother for "driving around" testing and be a good baseline for dyno tuning. We'll see in a minute.



Ready on deck for the test run



Instrumented and ready to go. Rob's driving, I'm co-pilot



We immediately noticed the car is waaayyy smoother. Wow. No more stumbling at 2500 RPM. Just smooth power. We were right about the spark map.

Here's a 3rd and 4th gear pull. That's about all we can do without going to jail. :-)



Another more gradual pull, 3rd, 4th, 5th



BOV and waste gate working to spec
Turbo makes 10 psi consistently with 20% duty cycle on EBC. Ready for closed loop tuning
Temperature stayed at 180 the whole time
Car pulled smooth in every gear
Back at the shop no water leaks or fuel leaks
Only a couple of mild drips from the oil pan

VICTORY !

Going to the dyno this week.

[tomstin]

Congratulations!

[ForcedFirebird]

Right on!

Re-calibrate your TPS. Your log is showing -10 to +102%. ;)

[Elysian]

Awesome! Been waiting for this post

[dvallis]

Right on!

Re-calibrate your TPS. Your log is showing -10 to +102%. ;)

Das Beast revs to 102%! And gets awesome mileage at -10% throttle :-)

[dvallis]

Car is at the tuner. We're in line behind a few cars but will get done in the next two weeks.

[Digitalwave]

So when is the first track outing going to be?!

[dvallis]

Looking like March. I have crazy travel in Feb.

Update: We swapped in 0.020" gapped plugs (NGK BPR7ES 5534) per the tuner's request. Will be done next week. Going to tune closed loop at whatever boost he's comfortable with from the dyno runs. Probably sub 20 psi.

Woo!

[zwill23]

It's officially about to live up to the name, bring on Das Beast

[dvallis]

PHOTOBUCKET ALERT

I posted the first thousand or so images on this blog using photobucket, before they started screwing everyone holding images hostage. Later switched to Imgur

You can see ALL the photos in the build by installing this Chrome plugin. The old one no longer works.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/photobucket-hotlink-fix/kegnjbncdcliihbemealioapbifiaedg?hl=en

I'm sure the Photobucket "Arms Race" will continue, but screw them. Enjoy all the photos again, for now.

[dvallis]

More Power Dammit!

Tuner started the car and we had a miss on cylinder 4. WTF, OVER?!



Dyno prep. Note to self. Do NOT pull on your fancy three piece plug wires when removing them or you will pull the freaking wire socket off a hidden lug in the boot. Pull on the nice solid boot. Or don't let monkeys play with plug wires.



Smoke test. Throttle body TPS shaft leaks a bit. No big deal. Also stuck it up the tail pipe and found a small exhaust leak south of the O2. No big deal either.



Woo! Tuner approved for dyno runs. Getting set up.



Click on the pic below for dyno run video.



Dyno sheets pending

[dvallis]

Dyno Results !

Results are in: Das Beast makes 418 HP and 400 ft-lb torque at 19 psi.



Tuner is providing separate optimized Megasquirt maps for 10, 16 and 19 psi. Very cool of him. (+1000 for Roman and Boost Logic in Austin)

All those runs were in 3rd gear. 4th is another story.

See this post for our prior research on clutches. (Get the latest Chrome photobucket plugin from Das Beast post #1 to see pics) We're running a Clutch Masters FX400 that's supposed to hold 550 ft-lbs of torque, or 450 depending on who you ask. It doesn't. At 19 psi 400 ft-lbs the clutch slips like mad with 4th gear roll-ons. Fook!

E30 community, please chime in if you have actually installed and run a Getrag G260 clutch that can hold north of 400 ft-lbs in 5th gear. Some previously looked at options:

UUC E30 Performance clutch, 6 puck ceramic: "500 HP+"
Southbend Stage 4 extreme KF296-SS-X: 500+ ft-lbs
SPEC Stage 5: 600 ft-lbs

For now, we're going to drive and race it at 16 psi 375 HP for now

[dvallis]

Hey, my dyno post got flagged as spam! Paging Mods for a post release.

[dvallis]

Well, my dyno sheet got flagged as spam so here it is again.

418 HP / 400 ft-lb torque at 19 psi



Clutch is not holding in 4th gear at 19 psi. Looking at options. Will run at 16 psi 375 HP / 375 ft-lb torque for now.