First cool day of the season for us here in Atlanta.

I have had the turbo since May, so most of my time with it has been in the heat of the summer.

It is amazing what a difference the cool air made in the turbo's responsiveness, and, I believe, the power it puts down.

On my ride into work today, I was shocked by how much faster the car seemed. I figured it would be noticeable, but it is very much so.

I did turn down the boost controller so it stayed no higher than 14psi; no surges, etc, just smooth strong and responsive.

I guess it just gets better?

Bastard! :(

I moved from CA to NYC.. and I've never had my SCed Z3 out in sub 30 degree temps.. I imagine the car should just pull much much harder.... Looking forward to a nice cool (but dry) Oct/Nov here in the northeast....

DakarDave
I hope you enjoy snow !!!!!

What wrong with you hukalaki what do you call the first cool day of the season I bet I have colder weather here. Ha Ha :)

If you think that your car pulls hard you just wait till the temp drop below 40'F :eek: :eek: :D

With cold air below 60'F the turbo will build boost faster with lots more TORQUE :eek:

e46Freako -
I love snow... I just want to go to it... not it coming to me :)

Sh!t, it's still 108 here.

Originally posted by M3TurboCa
What wrong with you hukalaki what do you call the first cool day of the season I bet I have colder weather here. Ha Ha :)

If you think that your car pulls hard you just wait till the temp drop below 40'F :eek: :eek: :D

With cold air below 60'F the turbo will build boost faster with lots more TORQUE :eek:

Tonight here in TX I saw 65 intake temps, all I can say is WOW, this makes so much difference in all gears. From a stop to red in 5th my max intake temp was 120, and that is in the red in 5th. I usually see that on the highway crusing.. It is amazing how much faster the car is with cold air!

ADam P

This morning on my way to work the outside temp was 48'F :eek: I have not driven the car in 5 days using my other car and Whoo !! :eek:

With every 10'F drop in temp below 60'F you can feel the motor making lots more torque definately builds boost faster and harder :)

hukalaki what outside temp are you getting down where you are the temp here this entire week is pretty cool. Today a high of 55'F and tomorrow 50'F

I know once the temp here gets below 40'F and Im driving hard under full boost on the highway I have to reduce the 1.0mm nozzle to the .7mm I get misfire above 5500rpm+

Too much cold and dense air with the water/methanol injection.

M3TurboCA,

The ambient was about 47F yesterday; same today in the AM.

WOO HOO!

Warms up pretty quickly to 75, though.

It's amazing what a difference IAT makes.

Re the water/methanol, what kind of system are you running? I'd think with the denser charge coming in the intake that the H2O would add to the mix, not make it more difficult.

Any idea as to whether the 2s requires re-calibration?

>>.. I imagine the car should just pull much much harder.... Looking forward to a nice cool (but dry) Oct/Nov here in the northeast....<,

DakarDave, trust me, its going to feel like you have > 30 more horsepower when its 50-60 degrees and less. It really will feel like a different car. Its like the cheapest mod youve ever had, and certainly, the greatest bang for the buck out there!

Guess - I should wait til spring to test my DEI wraps.... :)

I could prob put them on, and do testing this sprint.... Good thing the DEI stuff attaches via velco... so easy on ... easy off..

-Dave

Definitely tune your boost levels down. I was up in Toronto, ON this past weekend at bimmercruize, and man, let me tell you. I was crapping bricks. I was taking a few guys for rides in the car and all of a sudden after a hi-boost stint ... my car was stumbling and running funny. First thing I thought, crappola = engine rebuild! Second thing, GOD -- this tow bill back to Md is going to be HUGE!

At idle, it would seat and almost die with the rpm's shooting back up to 1K. Then, when you stepped on the gas, it would bog ... and I could not get on the boost.

1) No CEL's were being thrown (thank god -- although, one guy said, "maybe your CEL light burned out" --- yeah, that made me feel better....) -- and I looked at the hoses in the engine -- nothing.

So, I ran to call my mechanic (mind you, 10:40 p.m. on a Saturday night) and I manage to get a hold of him. He tells me a) busted engine -- huge detonation, everything went kablooey (CRAP!); b) completely fouled a spark plug somehow in a cylinder; c) blew my headgasket (CRAP again); or 4) vacuum leak somewhere.

He said, "I think it is a vacuum leak...what is the ambient temperature there." He then said to look at the turbo inlet pipe where it connects to the TB. Man, that thing was completely pushed off ... WHOA! I tightened it and re-clamped it back on there (10 mm BTW) --- drive it around, tested boost settings again, ran like a champ and decided -- no more high boost in winter.

Conclusion --

[u]Cooler air = boost spike/creep = must turn down boost or be careful --- this holds true EVEN FOR the supercharged guys ... you might see boost creep [/b].

Second conclusion -- check clamps and resecure them periodically.

Third conclusion -- make sure to get your mechanic's HOME phone number to call if you have problems.

Fourth conclusion -- make sure to carry an adequate spare tool set, just in case. I bought one of those 144 piece things and carry it in the trunk. I bought a crappy one for like $30.00 at Sear's (some no name brand). It's been INVALUABLE!!

Fifth conclusion, find a mechanic that rocks and can tolerate calls for help at 10:30 on a saturday night! :buttrock

NoSoup,

That is also a common problem with old fuel injected 911s, which would have idle problems from intake manifold gasket vacuum leaks.

I learned that one personally too.

But blowing off your intake--that's some powerful stuff!

I've already adjusted the boost downward and checked it on the road--holding 14psi steady.

Ham

Originally posted by hukalaki
NoSoup,

That is also a common problem with old fuel injected 911s, which would have idle problems from intake manifold gasket vacuum leaks.

I learned that one personally too.

But blowing off your intake--that's some powerful stuff!

I've already adjusted the boost downward and checked it on the road--holding 14psi steady.

Ham

Ham,

Just a suggestiion since it is something I do on cold days every millenia here in Miami (LMAO). I usually play around with the low boost knob on the controller to avoid from losing my "optimal" setting in high boost. If the my desired boost setting is not reached in the range capable with the low boost knob, then I will start trimming back on the high boost knob.

hukalaki: Re the water/methanol, what kind of system are you running? I'd think with the denser charge coming in the intake that the H2O would add to the mix, not make it more difficult.

Im running the standard 1S system set to come on at 6-7psi with a 1.0mm and then the winter months a .7mm

I dont think that you need to adjust anything not unless you get a misfire then just reduce the nozzle when the colder temp arrive. Yes but then again its not like Toronto where the damm temp is cold 8 damm months of the year.

Damm you get back into the 70's today wish we had that kind of weather.

The reason the cold air makes your engine prone to misfire is that the air mixture is more dense and its harder to ignite the fuel
mixture.

Then you have to deal with water/methanol being stuffed in the combustion chamber when mixxed with cold air tend to blow out the spark.

Cold air also reduced the octane requirement that is why a forced induced car can run more boost with out any effort. :)

MCubed, I've sent you a PM for an off topic question.

Re the boost controller, I have to admit that I don't fully understand the interactivity of the sharpness and the boost controls for the low and high boost settings.

However, through trial and errror I found what I think is the optimal setup for my car for the low boost, sharpness and high boost to maintain boost levels without falling off too much at the upper end.

With the change in the weather, boost creep is definitely going to be present, so I appreciate your "boost controller secrets".

But I thought you should just adjust one boost knob or the other, because you can change the stability of the boost controller.

Seems like you are suggesting using the low boost knob to control the high boost? What's the advantage to that vs turning down the high boost?