KOU Motorsports FWD Update Options

[JMoushon]

OK, so nearly 4 months have passed since I signed on with KOU Motorsports, and much has changed with the car. Some would assert that with a sponsor and 4 months' time, we should have built a monster, but allow me to lay out our objectives.

When Travis abd I first set out on this adventure, we had a simple goal. Run 12s consistently in a street-driven FWD DSM. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, enter the facts and we'll see how things look...

Firstly, I live 100 miles from the shop. With the seemingly omnipresent construction on I-74, this is about a 2 hour trip each way. Next, I work as a tech full-time at Saturn of Peoria. Lets also add that for the last few months, I have been making the trip out to KOU for work. Not on my car, on customer's cars.

So, in the past 4 months, we have had roughly three days time to work on the FWD.

It started as a 14b/smic/450 car. Then it changed. First came the MAF-T, 660s, and Wort E-PROM. Not a bad bit of mods, and driveability with the new ECU was drastically improved. Then we got a wild hair to try out a big turbo. In goes the Frank3. Well, that lasted all of about 12 hours, out it came. A bit too much for the type of driving I like to do. I guess I am spoiled by higher than normal compression and a small turbo, but I despise lag. In retrospect, it wasn't that bad, but the big turbo went against our original goals, so it was retired. Back to the venerable 14b we all know and love. A few more weeks go by, and we decide, on a whim, that maybe a 2g i/c, with it's bigger inlets and outlets, would be good for our relatively mild set-up. It works great, for about 1/4 mile. The flow increase is apparent, but unfortunately so is the lower volume of the unit. Time to put a band-aid on the band-aid. An hour later, we have routed 2 OEM washer nozzles into the bumper, spraying onto the face of the i/c. Note: Although the spray does not doo much during a run, heat soak recovery time dropped from 15+ minutes to about 3 minutes, for what it's worth. I run that for about a week, and Travis and I decide enough is enough... If you're gonna see how quick you can be on a 14b, why not just use the right parts? Enter the Air/Water intercooler. A beautiful piece. Hand fabricated aluminum, 3 gallon sump, the whole shebang. 3" in/out, awesome. With some help from Travis and Wort, it goes in without a hitch. Response has clearly improved, lag is nearly non-existent. Which brings us to the current day... The i/c is great, albeit currently it is functioning more like an interheater, as the pump is not yet functioning. Run an A/W i/c empty, and you may as well not even have an intercooler. I picked up the necessary fittings, hoses, and a switch today, and will have it all plumbed up by the weekend, if all goes well.

We are by no means done, but with all the supporting mods in place, we should be ready to see how far a 14b can be taken. There is still more weight to lose, and we may have some other tricks still up our collective sleeves, but it's very close. In this, we will also see how fast a 14b car can go on the stock clutch. Scary, and I'm certain when I start leaning on it it will go, but it'll be fun to see.

To this day, the set-up is roughly as follows:

14b, ported to within an inch of death
Air to Water intercooler with full 2.5" piping (KOU)
MAF-T with 3" MAF (blow-thru)
KOU chipped EPROM by Eric Wort
Denso 660s
Walbro GSS342 255 hf/hp
Apexi S-AFC2
Kris144 Intake
3" TBE, side-exit
Ported o2 housing
KOU ported 2G manifold (beautiful)
KOU stainless clutch line
KOU shifter bushings
Ball/Spring MBC
Nitto NT555R DR's
Front: KYB GR2/Eibach Pro-kit
Rear: KYB AGX/Intrax
AWD halfshafts

That covers most of the general set-up. There is more, check the garage for everything. It looks to be a promising year, I'm sure we'll get tired of te 14b by mid-year, and who knows what will happen!

[JMoushon]

And Spy, you better put bigger nozzles in that Fire Chicken, cuz you're going down.

[awd4kicks]

Good luck...KOU boys! It's nice to see someone else getting serious about the 14b. If you make some good times I will be the first to congradulate you, because I for one know how tough it can be with the 14b.

You know I had the benefit of AWD and 1.70 60ft. times to reach 12.6's. So hopefully your mods really bump up your MPH through the traps with that fWD. Then again I was full weight and you are be much lighter.

Get 'er together James so you can be tuned for Slo Pny Drag Day and so you don't have to turn anymore races away. Cause how well you race your car is all that matters in this scenario!

[xian 1g]

needs less sound dampener.

[Rizzo]

keep those mods coming, James

[JMoushon]

needs less sound dampener.

I'll leave the weight savings and sound dampening removal to you, big boy. I gots 6 cans of solvent with your name all over them!

[mitsu90]

you need to put some of those mods on the mighty max

[JMoushon]

keep those mods coming, James

We'll do our best!

Currently, it has come down to getting the combination of parts we have to work together well. As soon as the intercooler is plumbed correctly and operational, I can start the fine tuning process, which I suspect will not be the easiest task in the world. Even with a killer logger, the chip-burning capabilities of Wort, total control of fuel, and the combined minds of some of the best forced induction guys in the area (Marcus, Nate, Wort, Spy, Rizzo, Cool, and the staff at KOU, among a slew of others), getting a 14b to function at 24+ psi is not going to be easy. We have to get it tuned and ready to rock in about three weeks, which includes figuring out how to get the bastard out of the hole. Also, we are looking into a couple other things that although they will be highly beneficial to going fast on a small turbo, tuning will be a nightmare.

Makes me wish I had the money to get those slicks y'all got. BTW, they look awesome in the pics!

[mitsu90]

you want slicks??

ebay

[xian 1g]

get the car and the solvent to me. it'll be squeeky clean, and highly toxic.

[NOMIEZVR4]

what do you guys expect to trap at?

My FWD ran a 14.1 when marcus drove with a testpipe, exhaust, mbc(18lbs race gas) and intake.

I now have a dp and motor mounts. I want to see what will happen with higher boost and race gas. Good Luck guys

Nomie

[xian 1g]

i expect to trap him in the ass when his girl ain't lookn. then ask for seconds.

[JMoushon]

what do you guys expect to trap at?

My FWD ran a 14.1 when marcus drove with a testpipe, exhaust, mbc(18lbs race gas) and intake.

I now have a dp and motor mounts. I want to see what will happen with higher boost and race gas. Good Luck guys

Nomie

I was trapping in the 104-107 range last year. The slower my et was, the higher I trapped. When I ran 13.4, I trapped at 104.9. For this year, who knows.

I'd like to see at least some high 12s out of the car at slo-pny day, but the first trip to the strip is always a handful The way I see it, I could run great, or very poorly. It's going to come down to tuning and traction.

As for the actual question, I'd like to see 110-115 early in the season.

[badbu68]

have fun with my old a2w setup, the pressure drop is almost nil on that thing.

[eclipgst]

Hey moushon, good to see everything is coming along. But lets not forget about my fwd also wanting to see 12's this year.

[eclipgst]

This is so true spy.

[JMoushon]

14b makes it difficult, without a (non-factory) power adder. Actualy, traction is even worse, but a tiny turbo does not make it any easier.

[JMoushon]

Tuning is such a vicious cycle. You get it tuned, add a part, tune it again, etc. But there are certain mods that are simply impossible to tune consistently. Enter the air/water intercooler. Tune it for te cold water, and 20 minutes later, knock knock knock. Water becomes hot, air follows suit, bad things happen. So I tune it to the point where it will run slightly fat when cold, without grenading when it's hot. Sounds simple enough.

Add the propane. It's in and operational. More variables make a consistent tune harder to accomplish, and I am certainly at the point where I need to think about ways to even it out a bit. We have kicked around the idea of giving the intercooler it's own radiator, and have talked about various possible mixtures to achieve the coldest intake air. Three weeks till the "season opener" at Slo-Pny day, and although I have the hard parts in place to make a 14b scream, it will all come down to the tooooooooooon.

[badbu68]

You need a heat exchanger for the a2w to work correctly on the street.

That's what gives it a consistent temprature below ambiant temp and what makes it better than an a2a ic.

A fan behind it will help as well. Especially while sitting in traffic. This makes it more effecient than an a2a as well due to the temprature never fluctiating very much (ie heat soak).

-Joe

[JMoushon]

Exactly what I was saying, but put far in far more direct terms. Thanks for the input Joe.