Search Results for "What should I do to make my car faster, or handle better?"

Poor boost is often a symptom of other problems.  It is important to know why the boost is low before attempting corrections.

The DSM ECUs have partial control over the amount of turbo boost through the use of the boost control solenoid (BCS) a.k.a. thewastegate bypass solenoid.  Under normal driving conditions, the BCS is open and allows the wastegate to open at the normal intake pressure.  Should the ECU detect a serious problem with the engine, it will often close the BCS, causing the wastegate to open sooner and lowering the turbo boost produced.

The ECU uses the BCS to reduce turbo boost in several situations.  Should the ECU detect a large amount of airflow into the engine, the BCS will be pulsed off and on to reduce the air intake to acceptable levels.  This can lower the turbo boost significantly, and usually only occurs at high RPMs.  This is usually a temporary problem, which disappears when the intake airflow drops to more normal levels.

The ECU will also close the BCS if it detects significant engine knock.  Knock, also known as preignition or detonation, is a damaging condition brought on by excessively advanced ignition timing, lean air-fuel mixtures and/or low octane or poor quality gasoline.  The BCS is the second and last line of defense against knock - the ECU will first retard the ignition timing in an attempt to prevent knock.  If this fails, the BCS will close to reduce the intake air flow (and boost pressure) to a minimum value, hopefully eliminating the knock at the expense of engine power.

A simple LED monitor circuit can be constructed to check the operation of the BCS.  If the BCS is pulsing, or remains closed during typical engine operation, it means that you may have some other problem that is making the ECU very nervous.  This is often accompanied by retarded engine timing, resulting in a further power loss, all of which makes the car much slower than it should be.  Note that the operation of the BCS monitor is not necessarily intuitive - study the Troubleshooting section, this issue of the Diagnostic Port, and the Boost Solenoid Details page very carefully before deciding you have a problem.

If the BCS is not operating as expected, suspects include poor quality gas, excessive turbo pressures, injector malfunctions, oxygen sensor malfunctions, and anything else that can lead to a low-octane, air-rich mixture inside the cylinders.  Differences in mass airflow sensors from car to car will also affect the operation of the BCS.

If the BCS is fine, the timing may still be retarded due to airflow or knock problems.  If you are certain this is not the case, it may be time for some modifications; see "What should I do to make my car faster, or handle better?" , above.

If you are certain this information does not relate to your problem, check your intercooler hoses. Often a hose has popped off, or is leaking air badly. Another spot to check is the wastegate actuator; make sure the actuator rod is still connected to the wastegate door. Otherwise, the wastegate may be flopping open and letting out all the boost air. Sometimes the arm has broken off the wastegate due to a rusted-out holding pin.

This is probably the #1 question that people love to hate.  Performance upgrades to the DSM cars have been extensively discussed since 1989, resulting in a easy-to-follow and initially inexpensive upgrade schedules for our machines.  These schedules, when followed, willeventually make your car the Godzilla you've always dreamed of owning.

Before posting questions, please do the following:

• DSMTuners Thread: Basic Horsepower Upgrades - 1G 4G63T
• Check out the Go Faster Recipe for Turbos (1G cars)
• Check out the Go Faster/Turn Faster/Look Faster Pages for Turbos (2G cars)
• Road Race Engineering's suggested 2G DSM upgrade path
• Even more tech guides at DSMtuners.
• Check out Luis Haddock's Newbies Page.
• For handling, read Benjamin Sabini's Shocks & Springs FAQ.
• More handling in the Race Car Dynamics series, written by Dennis Grant.
• A quick reference guide to handling can be found at this FAQ page of the Calgary Area DSM site (mirrored on this site here).
• Auto owners: check out Club DSM Automatic.  (Recommended for MT owners, too.)
• Look at the staged upgrade series from Buschur Racing, Extreme Motorsports, Doug's Dynopower, Archer Racing, and Diamond Star Specialties.
• Look around at the other vendors.
• Read the VFAQs at Tom's site for information on common upgrades.
• Finally, a brief guide to how to drive your new beast can be found at rallycars.com.

The Last Word: Given the current age of these cars, you'd better be prepared to invest in a lot of replacement stock parts to keep everything together during the upgrades.

This is the pretty much same question as [[What should I do to make my car faster, or handle better?]] above.

You will also want to check the Fastest DSM Drag Times page, maintained by James Heck, to see who is running times similar to those you want.  Auto owners can check out the Club DSM Automatic pages for more auto times.

You will likely also need practice.  As one Digest member said:

"The single best investment you can make ... is *seat time* as the adjustment range on the nut behind the wheel is really large. :)"