Thanks for the kind words, Robert. It did not come without challange, however. During some of the lower boost runs, we experienced some bad misfire:
Tons of misfire near peak torque, where the engine is most efficient. This was on 91 octane only, with some conservative ignition timing numbers, and the water-meth disabled. How did we solve it?
GROUNDS. Grounds are extremely important. By moving the battery and chassis ground from the thermostat housing (like stock) directly to the head, and providing an additional 4 gauge ground from the chassis to the cam gear side of the head, the misfire was completely cured!
The public support with this build has been phenomenal, and we at Bisimoto Engineering thank you for all your well wishes, and questions via emails. A common inquiry was why we chose the Dynapack Dynamometer for our testing and development, and for this build. The first insight is the concept of direct measurement and the elimination of the tire/roller interface. On a conventional inertia style dyno, the operator would try to tune a vehicle, while measuring what the roller was doing instead; unfortunately the roller and the car are never doing the same thing. There is always some slippage, and some loss of power in the transfer, but how much that is being lost in both cases is unknown and variable. On a front wheel drive vehicle, this phenomenon can be exacerbated if the front wheels are out of alignment. If you can eliminate this source of variation in the system, you have much more precise and repeatable measurement. In addition to that, noise is greatly reduced (very important in high boost and high compression tuning in order to hear audible ping), safety is increased by a huge factor (no straps to break), the system is much smaller and easier to live with in a shop environment, and performing partial throttle tuning is very possible and simple, yielding excellent drivability and fuel economy to boot. How often does the average enthusiast drive, drift or road race at full throttle? So why do so many shops only tune for wide open throttle environments? Power sensitivity, is also key, as even a 0.010” gap change in the BKR8EIX NGK plugs, or turning the lights on show a difference.
We prepared for high boost tuning by upgrading to the Torco SR-5 20w-50 synthetic oil to protect vital engine components during dynamometer runs, and also replaced a faulty original idle control valve with a new one from the local Norm Reeves Honda dealership in Cerritos, Ca. With premium unleaded 91 octane coupled with the AEM water-meth kit and Gen 2 AEM EMS, I proceeded to increase boost levels in the tuning session from the 13psi wastegate. Amazingly, at 19psi, it made over 480 whp on the pump gas, water-meth combo, and the NGK plugs looked spectacular. Higher boost levels were explored, and at an amazing 38-40 psi max range, the Bisimoto Wagon hit an astonishing 708whp at 487 ft/lbs of torque!
I was not very pleased with the condition of the plugs after that pull, as there was slight specking of the NGK plug’s porcelain indicating minor detonation. This simply means that the combination of 91 octane and the Water meth combo is a stout setup when hovering around 30psi, and I would not recommend higher boost levels than that on this setup.
To solve this, we simply upgraded the base fuel to Torco 108 unleaded. With slight tweaking of the tuning map, the same boost levels and the Torco fuel on board, the power jumped to a crazy 724whp and 500 ft/lbs of torque, and the spark plugs looked phenomenal. Here is a conparison of the two curves: 91 octane + AEM water-methanol and Torco 108 + AEM water-methanol:
Avid turbo enthusiasts may balk at the boost curve, but we find this quite appealing. It allows for good gas mileage (we documented above 28mpg even with spirited driving) due to its wide vacuum/low boost region and gives decent traction until 6000 rpms are exceeded. With the AEMs boost-per-speed function, high rpm wheel spin has been tamed. The vehicle has also been setup for anti-lag at the race track, and builds a healthy 10psi at rest hovering around 5700rpms with the launch control function. This allows for nice buildup of boost, and keeps the boost levels up in-between shifts. The AEM EMS is simply marvelous.
We at Bisimoto Engineering, are very pleased with the result of this build, and the initial goals of the project were exceeded. Choosing the right components, with technology and impeccable tuning on your side, the amazing can be achieved. We plan on keeping you updated as we perform improvements to this setup...
Linear Mode
