Its been quite some time since I have posted anything new on my car.

The best 60-130 my car ran last year was a 5.42. At the track, I turned over a trap speed of 139.52 in the 1/4 mile set at 1.42-1.44 bar of boost on 3071 turbos with .63 ARs. On another night I turned over a 142.1 trap using my driftbox. I post these numbers for comparison purposes against my latest data.

Many of you may remember that for the longest time, I was experiencing issues where my car would trip cam actuator fault codes which caused a reduction in acceleration power. The CEL read "P0021 - cam position actuator over bank 2 - timing over advanced". When the code was present I would have intermittant power loss issues (especially below 5500 RPMS). The car wouldnt get out of its own way. I was irritated and discouraged. Power was down and the upgrades that were in place to help improve performance were worthless. I was determined to find the problem. Check engine lights linked to this fault haunted me for 1-1/2 years until we FINALLY figured out what was going wrong.

The cam fault would point most in the direction of the cam actuator but the dealer thought it was something linked to my "flashed ECU" since they never dealt with a problem of this nature previously. After months of discussion with the dealer and Todd and no difinitive solution (outside the scope of opening up the motor and hopefully finding something), Todd at Protomotive had come across some valuable information through another source that was having trouble with the exact same thing.

Long story short, we had to take apart my motor to replace the bank 2 cam (the ENTIRE cam). The sleeve inside the defective cam shifted and from the factory was supposed to be welded or fused in place, but somehow slipped blocking the oil passages responsible for triggering the cam to move back and forth from retard to advanced mode. The cam in my car was frozen in high power mode so I would only get into good HP numbers when I got my RPM up into the 5500 range or higher. Power would be really sluggish on the low end of the power band. The problem drove me nuts for a very long time. Todd from Protomotive passed along the information to David Hart at Prototech in Fort Lauderdale. From there, Prototech got my problem resolved. The guys at Prototech broke the motor down replaced the cam and reassembled everything perfectly. I havent had a problem since.

Here are some of the photos of the cam:





I made some changes to the car (few odds and ends) while it was at Prototech during the cam fix. I stepped up the power related components to a set of 3076 turbos with .63 AR's, 4.5" Proto intercoolers & 80 lb injectors. All of these components were installed at Prototech.

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Then came the tuning...
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Todd preferred to have the car in his shop in Arkansas but I wanted to avoid shipping the car out to him. Instead, he set me up so we could tune my car remotely. Through his direction, I insalled a real time diagnostic program called ScanXL on to my laptop and connected it to my OBD-II port in my car. This program captures specific information about what is happening under throttle (good or bad). It records a full range of generic diagnostics off the powertrain system and other important areas. It acts similar to that of a Porsche PWIS. It allows viewing, charting, logging and playback of diagnostic data in real time. Here are a few screen shots of what the ScanXL program looks like:






Once everything was hooked up I drove out on the road and ran a variety of full throttle runs at varying boost pressures and loads. A variety of PIDs were captured to monitor short term and long term fuel trims, Air fuel ratios, Ignition timing, MAF, Engine RPM, Load, etc. All of this data streams directly to my computer while the car is running. I also had a fuel pressure gauge run into the car to monitor fuel pressure when under higher boost pressure. This was in place to make sure we were
not running out of pump at the higher boost levels. A Profec Spec II was used to adjust and monitor boost pressure.

Each run was closely monitored to make sure everything was doing what is was supposed to. I then would send the captured data files and run parameters to Todd by email for review. Adjustments to the tuning files were then made and new files were sent back to me to retest. I then used Durametric flashing cables to flash my the ECU again using my laptop. After a few rounds of back and forth, the tuning was complete.

I now have 3 programs I can select from all sitting on my laptop:

Program 1) 93 octane file for low boost. (1.2 bar)
Program 2) MS109 file for medium boost (1.40-1.65 bar)
Program 3) MS109 file for high boost (1.65 bar+)

I then ventured out to see what the 60-130s would look like using the most aggressive program: "Program 3". I disconnected the Fuel pressure gauge, removed the laptop diagnostic equipment and set the Profec to the desired boost pressure. I then connected the Driftbox and went out to make some passes.

I only ran 6 passes and screwed up all but 3 of them. Also the car was having some boost fading issues......I felt that something in the car's transition into boost was off……it was felt like the boost was coming in a little sluggish and audibly sounded as if something was holding it back. Even though I figured this would obviously hurt my times, I still went out and made the best of it.......The 'best of it' wasnt bad at all....

Here is the best run out of the 3.



4.54 seconds 60-130mph. Starting in 3rd - 1 shift. I backed that run up with a second pass at 4.57.


I believe if the boost fade issue wasnt apparant, I may have shaved off a little more time. With that said, I'll try to get back out there after that boost issue is addressed.

As for the HP of my car, I have not dyno'd it since the latest changes. However, Todd dyno'd a 997 GT2 (stock heads cams etc) that made 822 rwhp at right about 800 TQ. This car had nearly the same configuration as my car. That GT2 ran a best of 5.3 but Im sure it could do better with those kind of power numbers.

With that said, Todd mentioned he believes my car has around 850whp maybe better...

My thanks goes out to both shops for their help in getting my car back in shape.

Let me know what you guys think.

Keith

 

GOOD LORD MAN! 4.54 seconds is flat out warp drive. Congratulations on a stunning run. Are you running a stock internal engine or have you added rods, head studs, etc.?

PS: This is my 900 post WooHoo

 

Glad to see you got it figured out, I could only imagine how frustrating that would be!

Great #s too! Congrats

 

 

Awesome. It's a good feeling to get everything running right. Congrats.

 

Please let us know what your boost hesitation problem is when you figure it out. I know with he weather we have had here in Houston its been tough to constantly dial by boost controller in to optimal settings I suspect that your problem may be as simple as a slight wastegate adjustment.

Good luck and great runs.

 

Its going in today to check the system for leaks, wastegates, etc etc. Well know soon....

Gotta run right now - be back tonight.

 

Great runs Keith!

 

WOW, absolutely phenomenal!

Since the problem was a structural flaw in the motor and not your "flash"did Porsche help off set the cost of you motor tear down?

In any event, some pos rep for ya.

 

Congratulations Keith, amazing times! Is this the same Keith Ta that formerly/currently owned Supras and lived in San Diego btw?

 

Confirmed 4.54 on a 1.75% decline! Congrats, Keith!! Awesome run!

 

Wow Friken insane!!! that is some serious *** hauling! Props to Todd K for tuning another street monster!

 

I believe it is. The MKIV I remember him having was a stellar example.

 

Congrats on the new times!

Ruf Germany was here a few weeks ago and we discussed a similar issue. They mentioned that they are seeing this exact issue or VERY similar issue starting to pop up in the 997 based engines.

It will be interesting to see if this will turn into a common issue as these engines age.

 

Congrats Keith, very impressive. Art