![]() 05/27/2014 at 23:43 • Filed to: Mazdaspeed, Protege, Mazda, downpipe, 3 inch, exhaust | ![]() | ![]() |
So yeah.... the car has been running a bit strange for a while, under low vacuum to low boost it would experience a real lack of power. As in i could watch the wideband and it would go from 10-11ish on the AFR scale, to 15, 16, 17's all of a sudden. Which is not only really annoying but also rather, how should i put it, expensive in the long run, not that i would constantly push it to perform under such circumstances, but mainly annoying.
So after re-downloading the R4 software on my replacement laptop, this story by the way necessitates a quick sidebar rant. Some peckerless specimen of excrement stole my laptop/charger/mouse whilst breaking into my room, yet leaving the other roommates doors and the front door untouched. Which gives me, an almost a without a shadow of a doubt, certainty about who did it. urghhhh, anyway..........back to the story.
After fiddling with the tune a bit, in the above mentioned region of the performance, that is to say rather in the lack thereof, I've managed to extract the desired level of powaaahh, that was between levels of when Yoda tells Luke to "unlearn what you have learned" and when he raises the x-wing from the swamp.
But just like Anakin, I too have succumbed. Both of us gave in to our quest for more power, and both of us have unwillingly caused what we were trying to prevent. Certain doom!!!!
The particulars of what had happened was, that under severe acceleration and a meticulously chosen shift point in the upper reaches of the RPM range, a rather pleasantly satisfying, and "NOT-AT-ALL-damage-inducing" explosion could be produced out of the exhaust. As you can probably imagine this was my undoing.
During a particularly vigorous pleasure drive and after a rather obscene backfire, something happened. The car would not build boost anymore, or to be precise, would struggle to get up to 2 or 3 psi. I should also mention that in the days prior, a certain metal sound began emanating from the car, which could be heard reflecting of the neighboring buildings as I was creeping by. It was that type of certain sound that only a whole bunch of small metal pieces rattling around in a metal cylinder/pipe could produce. And just like the premonition dreams of a disturbed Anakin that have materialized into him killing Padme, I too, have realized what that sound was, when it was certainly too late.
What ensued was a mad dash to eliminate all other possibilities. No vacuum leaks, no boost leaks, wastegate wasnt stuck open, blow off valve held and finally the exhaust wasnt plugged up.
So here is the solution: replacement low mileage stock turbo, all new gaskets and THIS monster!! It is a full 3 inch Pope Engineering & Performance downpipe. Just reading about its dimensions does not do it justice. Compared to the stock exhaust it is MASSIVE.
TL;DR: retuned the car, started backfiring, blew the turbo turbine blades, got a replacement in addition to a monster 3 inch downpipe.
![]() 05/27/2014 at 23:50 |
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Ooh, very nice. Approval.