Ok well I had my mind set on FI for awhile now...but Ive been talking to a bunch of guys locally and they all say that it is ALOT of maintence...something is ALWAYS breaking or messing up (fowling plugs, breaking belts, blowing intake hoses off etc etc etc....is this true?

Im looking for a setup that I can put on and now have to worry about this...this car is my DD and I dont have time to be fixing all this stuff weekly....should I still try to go FI or should I just go a different route?

 

12k+ miles and 2 years on my TTi street kit and no problems turbo related whatsoever...

 

id like to know that too...but i now im going with ATI setup.

 

This Car is being driven every week to a road course, driven hard for several hours of a lot of wide open throttle driving, then driven home. It has the same blower belt on it that we put on it last year, and it gets 28 mpg on the highway.
http://www.exoticperformanceplus.com...Car.php?car=40 Bob

 

I'm still a newbie by all means when it comes to FI. I've had a turbo car for two years but have only driven my car maybe 4 months of that because I am always having problems. I blew a head gasket once. No big deal. Replaced it. I blew another one and on the way to the shop to change it, the motor decided to push all the water out of the motor under normal driving. Usual that doesn't happen unless you're under boost. I guess it built vacuum/pressure. So the motor ran a little hot and when I pulled the heads, I checked the bores and the cylinders were just a little too scarred to chance it. If it had been all-motor I wouldn't have worried about it, but you take a risk when you're building cylinder pressure with boost. So I had to pull the engine, buy new bearings, rings, gaskets, a little over a thousand after paying for assembly. Then I get the motor back. It is running strong and I'm racing a guy and after the race, oil pressure drops to 17 and won't raise with rpms. Bearing failure. It could be the bearings themselves, the oil pump, the machine work, or the engine builder. Who knows? But I don't think it would have happened without boost. Cylinder pressure is a strain on a motor. I think about it like this. I can bench press 250lbs. But on PCP I can bench probably 500lbs. My muscles can't do it by themselves but they can with a "power adder" if you want to call it that. So everything is all good while I'm on PCP, but after that **** wears off, my body is gonna be like, "man....... ****.... you" because I've stressed every muscle and tendon past what its used to.

If you keep power down to a reasonable level 500-550 rwhp, I think it can be very reliable. You can make that on 7-9 lbs depending on your set-up. But once you get up to the 700+ range, 13+lbs, its a crap shoot in my opinion. The issue is that when you have a problem, it is ten times worse with boost. I watch the air/fuel as much as the road when I'm racing now because all it takes is one time for you to lean out and "pop" That doesn't happen with all-motor set-ups. You tune for 11.5a/f and you're fine. Then all of a sudden you're at 13.5a/f and your detonating like crazy. Tuned on motor you're at 13.0 to 13.5 (lol, I don't remember). If you go up to 15.0a/f its not nearly as big of a deal. You're engine can pull enough timing to save itself from itself. It can't pull enough timing in the world to save itself from 15lbs of boost being forced into the engine at 13.5a/f. I constantly check my coolant temp because you never know when you might blow a head gasket and push all the water out. I watch the oil pressure because you never know when you might spin a bearing or chew one up because you were detonating. Take it for what you will but its a risky game IMHO. I would bet that 94.9% of the people with FI cars have a second car they use for a DD or back-up. When I get my car running next time around (yes, it is down as we speak) I will drive it everyday that it is nice (and gas isn't $4.00/gallon). But I don't drive it on long trips, in the rain, in a lot of stop and go traffic.

 

I had the domino effect for the longest. If it wasn't the tranny then it was overheating or something else.

 

See thats what I do not want....my car has been problem free for 8 months now and I want it to stay that way...

 

I'd say as long as you aren't pushing your limits and actually overbuild things you won't have any problems once the initial possible bugs get worked out. What i mean by this is the guys that make 800rwhp on a transmission built for 800 max are gonna be much more prone to breakage than the same guy running a transmission built for up to 1300hp. Same thing with motor and everything else on the car.

Rob

 

thats exactly right......thats why im spending A LOT more money than some people might think necessary just on the engine. and just gonna run the pulley that comes with the ATI kit, around 8lbs. running AFR heads with rocker rails, and some more stuff, i dont want to be fixing things, i dont have the time for that. i rather be safe than sorry.

 

Things you will need. that will break.

Rearend.
driveshaft
clutch.
Springs?struts?
r you buying a full procharger kit? New fuel pump?

The main prob is you get the BUG. You have to keep going faster and faster. With a d1sc kit and thats all your car will be just fine untill you breakl the rearend. Or you need a clutch. IF you want a no problems fast car go buy a new Z06. If your gonna FI a camaro or Firebird you better learn how to fix things.

 

I have been around a bunch of FI cars for a while. Here is what I have seen. Even the most well thought out and expensive builds have some "bugs" to get worked out. However the guys who are trying to make as much as possible with as little as possible are the ones who have "problems" all the time and thereafter. So I say if you want a DD boosted car. 1, Keep it simple and street reasonable. 2, Pay for the good parts now so it won't slow you down later. Just my .02

 

i think we all know those things HAVE to be upgraded. but i think the threadstarter was talking about just the engine or turbo/sc. u might not need to have a FI car to break some of those parts u mentioned. im getting a 427 with the D1 and probably wont drive it until i get more money to upgrade the tranny and drivetrain.

 

ok whatever. the **** will break and you will have to fix it. You can blow a hose rip a belt. Its going to cost alot of money to get a fbody FI'ed and not have to tweak on it all the time. try a p1sc kit and have bob do the work and tuning. Thats the way i would go.

 

I Hope Mine Goes Well, Almost Done With It!

 

**** or get off the pot, time to make a decision....these feeler posts have been going on for a LONG time already.

If you have no problem doing the maintence to your car yourself than its not a big deal. If you have to have a dealer or shop check your oil for you then its going to be a big chore.

My SDCE/procharger set up was really worry free. Just change the charger's oil when I changed the engine oil....and that was about it. The SDCE kit is awesome for making s/c'er belts last a long time.

The turbo set up needs to be tended to a lil more often. Check all the hotside bolts from the headers to the crossover and anything inbetween quite often to avoid any exhaust leaks. Check the condition of the sparkplug wires since they are often really close to the exhaust manifolds. Check any hoses or wire harness that run too close to anything on the hotside for cracks or melting plastic. I do this monthly. Beat on the car and you'll have to let it cool down for a couple minutes before you turn it off so the oil doesn't cook onto the bearings.

As for the rest of the car, its the same no matter if you go with N2O, S/C'er, Turbo, or big power NA set up. You'll have to build the rest of the car to handle the added power or you WILL break stuff.

The TUNE has to be dead on, or if its on the edge or tuned a lil wacky and you'll be rebuilding the engine sooner than later.

Boils down to what you want to do and if you are serious about it, but most importantly can you afford to DO IT.

J

 

well right now the car is down for the tranny... so i'm thinkin when the tranny is built up, she should be good for ahwile, but so far, maintenence wise i've only had to replace the o2 sensors.

 

Well I had my mind totally set on FI but one of my good buddies said when he had his S/C'er setup he was doing something to his car every week maintence wise....He said he would drive it for a couple days then BAM a few days down time fixing ****....I dont want that...

 

its gonna happen get a new z06

 

any performance mod is going to come with risks of breaking, you have to accept that when you make the change. other than blowing up the original motor at 90k my tire bill has been the only significant money spent

 

Im starting to think he was telling me this cause he doesnt want me to be faster than he is...