Hello and a story of the mild mods on my CC GSR, so far

[Dave_GSR1.8]

Well I have been reading these forums for some time now, as I bought a stock CC GSR about 2 years ago (love it, addictive and always want more power), which I have been slowly fixing up, though nothing too flash, compared to some of the cars I have read about I feel a bit underpowered!

Anyway I thought it was about time to sign up as maybe I can occasionally contribute something from my limited experience.

What has been great has been the amount of stuff one can learn, so far I have (after searching the forum);

- had the lifters replaced (from Meek, nice and quiet now)
- found recommendations for the best oil
- had a 20mm whitleline rear sway bar fitted (huge improvement)
- had a 3" turbo back exhaust fitted
- had an ECM link chip fitted to the standard ECU board by Springy Motors
- fitted new carpet (Knox Auto carpets, as recommended in one of the threads, big win here!)

What I still plan to do;

- fit a FMIC
- fit whiteline castor correction bushes.

What I would like to do. but won't be for quite a while, due to the usual constraints (money, skills, time);

- upgrade the turbo (the consensus seems to be that for a stock engine with mild mods such as mine a TD05-14B is a good way to go).

Where I am up to at the moment;

- just had a tune on the new chip, and I am making some extra power but not dramatic, only, wait for it..., 104KW at the wheels. I was hoping for 115 to 120kw. The tuner said he could not put any timimg on it as it kept knocking, he felt that the engine might be a bit tired. Needless to say I was a bit worried by this as it has only done 50,000km since a refresh (new rings, new bearings, two new rods, ceramic coating on pistons, hone out bore, new timing belt etc, so a cheap job but at least bought back to a reasonable condtion). So I had some diagnostics done to try and find out what the problem is.

Had compression test done, 180psi dry, 200 wet, across all cylinders
Leak down test done as well, 5 % on all 4 cylinders
Had PCV valve replaced (was told it was a bit iffy)
Had compressor side of turbo checked for any oil residues, none found
Had CAS checked for base timing, and see if it had thrown any codes, but all good

So no obvious problems, so either I have unrealistic expectations, or there is some problem not found yet, or the side mount is really holding me back (which everything I've read here says is... not very good)

So, my next move is to replace it, as this seems to be a worthwhile thing to do, even if I didn't have my current tuning puzzle. Plan is to tackle this after Xmas but I will have to do it myself (which could be a bit of fun, quite looking forward to having a go).

I will post up any progress when I can get to it (ie after xmas!)

 

[4piknup]

Sounds like you are pretty well researched and on the right track.
Welcome

 

[evo-gsr]

104kw sounds low. Doesnt a GSR normally have more than that from factory?
And...Welcome mate!

 

[Dave_GSR1.8]

Hi gents, thanks for your welcome!

Re "104kw sounds low" - yes thats what I thought. I'm not sure what they should be at the wheels, from the factory; I had 87 kw at the wheels from a different tuner when I had a leaking intercooler and the standard exhaust. There was a case study for a CC GSR at RPW in Perth that came in stock and made 125hp at the wheels (93kw), and after a few mods;

ECU : Haltech E8 Plug and Play Kit with Boost Control
Other Mods : K&N rampod with short ram intake system, RPW 2 1/2" exhaust including dump pipe, PWR 300X600 Intercooler,

it got to 122kw at the wheels on 95RON (this from their site). So from what I can see a stock GSR of my vintage (1993) normally makes around 90kw at the wheels - so they seem to lose 50 kw throught the transmission (which seems rather a lot to me but from a sample of two thats what it seems to be).

Anyway, the the leak has been fixed and with the 3" turbo back exhaust mine started on 92 kw when the EMC chip was fitted, and before the tuner started to chase power. He managed to get to 104Kw. I was hoping for more but I have a strong suspicion that the side mount is holding me back, and I guess the TD04 turbo will be a factor as well. So next is a FMIC and another tune.

I also need to find out how much, if any, oil residue should be in the intake where it connects to the throttle body. I was told it was dry but I had a look myself this morning and I would not say it was dry, but its not saturated. Should it be bone dry or is it OK to have a bit of oil there ?

 

[4piknup]

I work awd losses at 30% so that bit is about right.

 

[BMGTZ]

log the inlet temp and post that up.....how much boost are you running?

 

[Dave_GSR1.8]

Ok, finally got a logging run (bit of a learning curve on the ECMLink software but wow!). The log starts halfway through the run as I lost the first lot of data (my fault, still getting the hang of the app).

Two files attached, the full ECM log file (in ECMLink format) and an edited CSV file with just the Intake temps included

......Um, well I tried to upload them but got a message "You aren't permitted to upload this kind of file"

Not sure what the issue is...

 

[Dave_GSR1.8]

Ok, chasing down the prob, but in the meantime

Re "...how much boost are you running?"

Factory, 11psi

Re the Intake temps, it fluctuated between 68oF and 108oF

 

[BMGTZ]

injector size and maf type?

change the settings for logging to centigrade as it will make more sense to me....but 108f is getting pretty hot and does suggest the cooler is too small

 

[evo-gsr]

I agree. That cooler will be holding you back massively. Piss it off and get a front mount on it...much more efficient.

 

[4piknup]

Ecmlink readt air temp at the maf, so has sfa to do with intercoolers

 

[evo-gsr]

The cooler will still limit his capabilities with that setup though.

 

[BMGTZ]

jack, my comment relates to the ability of the small cooler to reduce the temperature...... a bigger cooler will cope better. It would seem from the variance that the air inlet is picking up in the engine bay so in addition to a better cooler a cold air duct to the airbox would be wothwhile along with a vented bonnet. that could also help to reduce the inlet temps.

 

[Dave_GSR1.8]

Hi
Re "injector size and maf type?"

- Injectors are stock (or at least I have not touched them and the car seemed to be stock when I bought it) ==>> 390cc as best as I can find out
- maf type - again stock, no mods here

Re Intake temp read point, thanks for the info, I did not realise this. Given that this is the case I would assume intake temps at the TB would be even higher, so this is good information.

Re “...that the air inlet is picking up in the engine bay” - correct, just near the battery, apologies if I am stating the the obvious

Re changing temp scale in ECM log, found it, done.

If anyone can tell me how to upload the ECM log (and a CSV file) that would be great. Are you only allowed to upload images ?

 

[4piknup]

The cooler will still limit his capabilities with that setup though.

Agreed.

 

[4piknup]

jack, my comment relates to the ability of the small cooler to reduce the temperature...... a bigger cooler will cope better. It would seem from the variance that the air inlet is picking up in the engine bay so in addition to a better cooler a cold air duct to the airbox would be wothwhile along with a vented bonnet. that could also help to reduce the inlet temps.

Agreed also. And this shows that you are very astute (but I know that). I wasnt saying you were wrong just that its not a correct test of intercooler function.

Not sure about the files loading. I load them onto ecmlink forum no issues. Then maybe link to the post? But we need to be members there to see posts.

 

[BMGTZ]

Hi
Re "injector size and maf type?"

- Injectors are stock (or at least I have not touched them and the car seemed to be stock when I bought it) ==>> 390cc as best as I can find out
maf type - again stock, no mods here.

Suggestion....but will involve retune to see benefits. Change the injectors to early evo 510cc as these will become a limiting factor soon if not already. your stockers will be a light beige colour and should have 390 on the side....evo are yellow and have 510......later evo are 560 in case you can pick up aset of them cheap.

I like to use the evo123- 609 AFM....some others prefer the 055afm. both will work well and are able to be used with ecm.



Re “...that the air inlet is picking up in the engine bay” - correct, just near the battery, apologies if I am stating the the obvious.

try running a hose from behind the bumper into the airbox....

Also try raising the rear of the bonnet with some spacers to allow more airflow out of the engine bay up high. this is illegal so dont leave it that way for long

 

[Dave_GSR1.8]

Thanks Brian, Jack, Jamo for all your input, this has really helped flesh out a more detailed upgrade path, but still within my means!

- cold(er) air intake
- Magna 055afm (guessing that this is the easiest to get hold of)
- Evo 1 injectors
- FMIC

Not sure about raising the bonnet, I'm too old to be attracting the attention of the law; to give you an idea, the last time I was playing around with cars it was on a Hillman Hunter GT with twin stromberg carbs (dreadful car).

If anyone is interested it looks like I have managed to upload a logged run (its a CSV file, had to cut it down a bit as it was too big), thanks robtom.

One think I noted the duty cycle on the injectors was hitting 88% so it looks like Brian was correct as my understanding is that 80% is as high as you want to go.

 

[BMGTZ]

try removing the stock ducting from the air box as that will create a nice path to run a piece of flexible pipe to the airfilter. leaves a big hole that goes into the mudguard area.

and... i can remember the hunter GT when it was new as my dad had one. he bought it because of the rally history of the car.

 

[4piknup]

where is the ecmlink file?