Improving Every Day Performance - Theory and Practice
05-14-2004, 11:43 AM
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Improving Every Day Performance - Theory and Practice
I have improved the everyday performance of my MY2000 s2k with a simple exercise. I'm interested in feedback. The results have me satisfied. I've waited 40 days before posting this to make sure I wasn't imagining things.
So, I've seen lot's of posts about MAP sensors, ECU resetting etc because of what drivers call "suggishness". I have experienced that sluggishness many times before. I've had my car for over 50 months. I've done the MAP and ECU things, but still times the car seemed sluggish.
What did I do?
When I start my car in the morning, I let it sit until the RPMs get below 1500. That's it. I believe (and this is the theory part), that the engine's computer is adapting to the environment. The environment here in Texas changes frequently regarding temperature and humidity.
When I start, the engine idols at about 2K, then starts slowly going down. Then at about 70 seconds, the revs dip about 300 or 400 rpms and then come back up. Right after that, something clicks on in the engine, 10 seconds later, it stops. I wait until it gets down to 1500 and then go.
I've been doing this for 40 days now with no sluggishness to report. Does anyone else do this? Comments?
So, I've seen lot's of posts about MAP sensors, ECU resetting etc because of what drivers call "suggishness". I have experienced that sluggishness many times before. I've had my car for over 50 months. I've done the MAP and ECU things, but still times the car seemed sluggish.
What did I do?
When I start my car in the morning, I let it sit until the RPMs get below 1500. That's it. I believe (and this is the theory part), that the engine's computer is adapting to the environment. The environment here in Texas changes frequently regarding temperature and humidity.
When I start, the engine idols at about 2K, then starts slowly going down. Then at about 70 seconds, the revs dip about 300 or 400 rpms and then come back up. Right after that, something clicks on in the engine, 10 seconds later, it stops. I wait until it gets down to 1500 and then go.
I've been doing this for 40 days now with no sluggishness to report. Does anyone else do this? Comments?
05-14-2004, 01:44 PM
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From general reading I've done, it's actually not good for the engine to let it idle too long, even 1 or 2 minutes, when the engine is cold. Reason being: when the engine is cold, it does not fully and properly combust the gas inside the combustion chambers as it does during normal operating temperature. When this occurs, the gas that's left over finds its way into your oil, mixing with it. Of course, this is something that in small quantities can't be avoided; you always have to start your engine cold at some point in time. But at idle, the engine takes longer (than if you were to begin driving soon after starting the engine) to warm up and get to its optimal operating temperature, causing more gas than necessary to find its way into your oil. I usually wait about 10-15 seconds after I start it to let the oil find its way through the engine, then I take off......slowly. As long as you keep your RPM's lower, driving on the engine cold is no worse for it than leaving it at idle, and it will warm up faster, therefore less gas seeps into your oil.
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05-14-2004, 02:28 PM
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Then again, the engine is warmed up but the other parts of the car ie suspension are still not up to par. I'm too impatient to even try this theory as I had to install a turbo timer in my other car since I couldn't wait that minute or two. Anyways, if it works for you, more power to you
05-14-2004, 02:30 PM
#10
Even if this works (never trust the butt dyno), instead of wasting 3 minutes a day and torturing the motor at idle, why not spend a hundred bucks and install a CAI.