Got the RS-4s mounted up, we’re ready for summer!
Got the RS-4s mounted up, we’re ready for summer!
Hopefully at this point things become a little more interesting. I hinted at it a couple posts back, but I've added a Hondata K-Pro to the car.
I've been trying to wrap my head around this whole EFI tuning thing. For now I've just been getting myself familiar with the changes that Hondata made in their tune vs the OEM Honda one. There are a *lot* of parameters you can play with, as each fuel and timing table has 6 different variations based on the amount of advance applied to the cam gear.
What's also interesting is how Honda does knock control. Honda tunes the engine on the dyno, first establishing maximum brake torque with really high octane fuel, and then figuring out the maximum timing with the engine on pump fuel. The car then figures out what octane the fuel is and makes adjustments from there. I took the time to plot the timing (y axis) vs manifold vacuum (x axis) to compare the MBT curve (blue is OEM and grey is Hondata) with the knock ignition limit (orange).
From what I understand about the ECU, it's supposed to pull timing back to the orange line where the MBT curve exceeds the knock limit curve. But looking at the datalog above, it hasn't been retarded that far. It looks like the orange line is just how much it is being retarded from MBT at that load/rpm/cam angle point? I still have some reading to do.
OEM EFI can be pretty dang esoteric sometimes. I still haven't wrapped my head around GM's virtual VE or whatever they call it, but Ford's inverse torque map makes sense when you look at the tune from the problem that some engineer was probably trying to solve.
Is everything using manifold pressure for load, or is some of it TPS and/or some of it grams/cyl/cycle, or what I think of as the 'Ford' method of just condensing g/cyl/c down to "Load percentage"? I'm deeply curious.
Also, you are making me want to watch Kantai Collection again.
Knurled. said:Is everything using manifold pressure for load, or is some of it TPS and/or some of it grams/cyl/cycle, or what I think of as the 'Ford' method of just condensing g/cyl/c down to "Load percentage"? I'm deeply curious.
As far as I know tuning is all MAP based.
Knurled. said:Also, you are making me want to watch Kantai Collection again.
I was tempted to post this at the beginning...
All I can think of when I think of Kongou is "Sssssit."
("Oktavia" was named after an anime character, too...)
How do you like the RS4's? I did a track day on them last weekend and was impressed.
mazdeuce - Seth said:How do you like the RS4's? I did a track day on them last weekend and was impressed.
I'M SORRY I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THIS TREAD NOISE!
I'm putting them through their paces this weekend, Trackday on Saturday and Autocross on Sunday!
So, I figured out that clunk in the front end that I've tried like 4 sets of swaybar endlinks to fix. Both of the strut shaft bolts were loose at the top mount. Good job previous owner.
Sweet. I love that everyone here races their sh*t.
damen
red_stapler said:mazdeuce - Seth said:How do you like the RS4's? I did a track day on them last weekend and was impressed.
I'M SORRY I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THIS TREAD NOISE!
I'm putting them through their paces this weekend, Trackday on Saturday and Autocross on Sunday!
Awesome, let us know what you think. And yes, road noise is a bit.......excessive. At 75mph it is the only noise the car makes drowning out all engine and wind noise. I'm willing to forgive a lot for a tire that is sticky and has durable shoulders.
The RS-4s lived up to their reputation of sticky + durable.
That looks properly fun. It also looks like there's all kinds of room in the video, yet when I drive there all I can see is Armco with a tiny ribbon of asphalt between those walls of steely death.
After years of hearing how bad the EP3 is from all the Honda fan boys in the world, how was it?
mazdeuce - Seth said:That looks properly fun. It also looks like there's all kinds of room in the video, yet when I drive there all I can see is Armco with a tiny ribbon of asphalt between those walls of steely death.
I really enjoyed the track, but it takes some James Hunt levels of fortitude to go hot into 16.
mazdeuce - Seth said:
After years of hearing how bad the EP3 is from all the Honda fan boys in the world, how was it?
Lots of fun to drive! It needs more power though.
The shifter is terrible; it is fantastic during daily driving, but it just turns into rubbery goo at high RPM. I'm planning to get some more components to hopefully help with that.
I had an issue where the car went into limp mode, it threw a CEL for the VTEC solenoid. Topped off the oil and it seemed OK after that. I really hope I don't need to replace it, as it has rusted into one solid block on the back of the engine. I'd probably have to pull off the cylinder head to change it.
Also, photo:
Some 3 wheel action over the weekend:
Interesting watch.
I think the FN2 is the worst Civic. Damn torsion beam.
Question: If the EP3 is the *worst* honda, then what's the best? The CRX?
GIRTHQUAKE said:Question: If the EP3 is the *worst* honda, then what's the best? The CRX?
If we're talking Civics, it's the EK9.
Apparently I was dealing with a broken shifter cable for the whole trackday:
I was able to kludge together a fix. Crushed the factory clip for the dust boot around the broken portion of the sleeve, and then zip-tied it for good measure.
Finally managed to get the shifter cables swapped out this weekend. She's probably about 10lbs lighter if the rusty mess on my garage floor is any indication.
The Acuity shifter bushings are a lot nicer than the generic ones I put in before. Since the shifter mechanism moves up and down as well as fore and aft, they use a spherical bearing, which works a lot better than a solid bushing.
I came across a really good deal on an air intake, so I decided to go for it:
Hopefully it makes some cool noises. :)
Honda's have the best intake noise!
Was the broken shift cable the source of the rubbery goo issue or are there still improvements to make?
Run_Away said:Honda's have the best intake noise!
Was the broken shift cable the source of the rubbery goo issue or are there still improvements to make?
Yes, the broken portion of the cable sleeve allowed the cable to deflect instead of pushing the lever, that was the source of the problem with 1-3-5. It had no problems pulling so 2-4-R were OK.
I’ve only dry shifted it with the car off and no knob installed, but it is very mechanical / Miata-like now with the spherical in there.
You need you a degreasin', man. 
Thread made me look at RS4s on Tire Rack. Then I saw they'd be over $1k for a set in my size, and I concluded that my crummy old all seasons really aren't THAT bad.
Knurled. said:You need you a degreasin', man.
It's keeping with the traditions of British cars that came before.
Intake sounds cool, shifter works great! Can't wait to get back out there.
+1 on your crazy levels of greasy schmutz under the hood. Anime makes it ok though.
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