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Low Octane tips

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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 08:30 AM
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Default Low Octane tips

Typical goal: 600-650rwhp TT built engine summer car
Problem: I live in Alaska, the highest octane fuel available at a pump is 90
Forged Performance has advised me that with such craptacular fuel, my goal may not be attainable, even with low CR and water/meth
The people on this forum seem to know what they're talking about, so I ask does anyone have any tips/hints/ideas? Oter than moving and buying fuel from a seperate source. And given my available octane, what is a realistic goal? (I've seen a formula out there somewhere, but I couldn't find it)
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 08:34 AM
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What turbo kit you running? What dyno are your goals set on?

I think 90oct + race gas or meth could yield 600whp (DJ) with a good kit, cams and EMS. Shoot for 550whp and anymore consider it a bonus.

650whp regardless of the kit with that crap gas I dunno....
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 08:36 AM
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Meth injection with a 50/50 solution has to be good for at least 3-5 points.
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 08:44 AM
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What about E85? Is that available in Alaska?
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 09:12 AM
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As for E85, no, I haven't been able to find anyone up here, that would mean we are actualy catching up with the rest of the country.
As for the turbo kit, I'm still doin research, the Greddy and APS Xtreme stand out, but someone recommended I look into a GTM longblock and turnkey kit, pretuned so all I would need to worry about is dropping the engine back in, rear-end mods nonwithstanding
and 550rwhp is still wicked fast
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 09:19 AM
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See if you can get a 55gallon drum of race gas delivered to you. I know they (VP Racing) will deliver stateside.
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 09:20 AM
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I think your best bet, like mentioned above is going to be the meth/water injection. You can buy the Methanol online, sometimes even premixed with water, also ofcourse timing is going to be something you really wanna get on point to keep knock down.
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 09:25 AM
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Sounds like that'd be the safest way to go, last thing I need is to drop 25k+ into this and have knocking. And that explains how a guy can drive an 07 RR Phantom around town, I KNOW he wouldn't dare let 90 touch that beauty. What's 55gal+shipping run?
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 09:40 AM
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Originally Posted by MidnightSunZ
Sounds like that'd be the safest way to go, last thing I need is to drop 25k+ into this and have knocking. And that explains how a guy can drive an 07 RR Phantom around town, I KNOW he wouldn't dare let 90 touch that beauty. What's 55gal+shipping run?
Well it's about 400 lbs. I can't imagine it would be cheap. I think you should just consider the meth injection. It's is inexpensive and will do the job. You would be essentially running at least 93-95 octane which is better than most pump gas. You could even go 100% meth or 70/30 or even mix your own ratio to add more octane. Pure meth is something like 113 octane. Don't forget those one step colder plugs
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 10:23 AM
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Increase displacement. You will have a lot easier time achieving your goal with more displacement, such as a 4.1L VQ.

If that is not an option definitely use meth and you should be close. What dyno are we talking about 600-650whp, as that will make a big difference as well
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 10:25 AM
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Originally Posted by 350Z400rwhp
Well it's about 400 lbs. I can't imagine it would be cheap. I think you should just consider the meth injection. It's is inexpensive and will do the job. You would be essentially running at least 93-95 octane which is better than most pump gas. You could even go 100% meth or 70/30 or even mix your own ratio to add more octane. Pure meth is something like 113 octane. Don't forget those one step colder plugs
Ok, let me make sure Im understanding this
sounds like the meth/water, somehwere around a 60/40 is the way to go. Snow Performance and Aquamist (SP?) seem to be what people go with
And I would need at least 2 ECM maps to be safe, one to run (god save my broken engine) straight 90 fuel, and one to one the meth setup
Next question, and if Im talking too much like a noob, by all means let me know, but would I need to actualy have the car itself dyno/street tuned, or could I find a plug-and-play setup?
And thanks to everyone for helping out a backwater bear-hunting alaskan figure out how to have one of the sickest sleeper cars in AK
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 10:36 AM
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There are no 600+whp, water/meth injected 'plug and play' setups. You will need a tune.
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 10:46 AM
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i think Hal's advice to go with a stroker motor is a better way to go. Do you have someone locally that knows how to tune well?

I would really think twice about what you wanna do. It doesnt sound like you have the resources available to you if/when something goes wrong. Just search around, something will go wrong.

The honest best bet would be buy a stock turbo'd car and go from there. You are taking a huge risk not having anyone locally to fix the car and having low quality fuel with no access to anything better..

my 0.02
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 10:46 AM
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As long as the the tune is proper, running 90octane (or 87 even) is perfectly fine and no fear for the engine. You could have a lower boost map for 90 as a fail map if you are out of meth, and a higher boost and horsepower map for when on meth.

I am available to travel for tuning when necessary - and in this situation that is what I would suggest.
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 10:53 AM
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Originally Posted by MidnightSunZ
As for E85, no, I haven't been able to find anyone up here, that would mean we are actualy catching up with the rest of the country.

alaskan bootleggers bible.....problem solved.
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 11:01 AM
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Originally Posted by str8dum1
i think Hal's advice to go with a stroker motor is a better way to go. Do you have someone locally that knows how to tune well?

I would really think twice about what you wanna do. It doesnt sound like you have the resources available to you if/when something goes wrong. Just search around, something will go wrong.

The honest best bet would be buy a stock turbo'd car and go from there. You are taking a huge risk not having anyone locally to fix the car and having low quality fuel with no access to anything better..

my 0.02
Any advice is appreciated. Before I started this thread, I looked around FI for noobs and the Longevity of full builds a bit (I died a little inside after reading Albertos post). The basics, the actual mechanic stuff, leaks, loose clamps, tranny stuff, between me and my step father I'm confident I can deal with. The shop in town, Undeground Performance, has done turbo and boost applications, some tuning too, it just seemed like I needed a shop with high experience for the startup.
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Old Dec 17, 2009 | 06:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Hal@IP
As long as the the tune is proper, running 90octane (or 87 even) is perfectly fine and no fear for the engine. You could have a lower boost map for 90 as a fail map if you are out of meth, and a higher boost and horsepower map for when on meth.

I am available to travel for tuning when necessary - and in this situation that is what I would suggest.
hal, if you do come up here that would be sweet! i dont trust anyone up here to tune my z. is there any way i could get you to tune my z? im n/a also(for now) gas does suck up here. 90 sucks....

also midnight, where in anchorage are you? in the summer i see a few 350z's out. i also see a blue one thats near me.
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Old Dec 18, 2009 | 12:14 PM
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I agree with Hal. A 50/50 water/methanol mix combined with more displacement will do the trick. Detonation resistance of 90 octane fuel combined with proper 50/50 water/methanol yeilds and effective octane somewhere in the range of 110. Combine that with a sensible CR and a few more cubes and 650WHP is very doable.
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Old Dec 18, 2009 | 02:18 PM
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Can I ask why 650? Do you know what 400 hp feels like? or 500?

Just curious because IMHO the sweet spot for these cars is mid 400's. Plenty streetable, plenty fast/powerfull enough to have traction issues. At 600+ it just seems the power is wasted unless you have very specific goals/intentions for the car
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Old Dec 18, 2009 | 03:06 PM
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^
400hp is weak, buy a vette. Way easier.
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