tuning a 944s2

[Guest]

hi guys whats out the for the 944 s2 are there chips ou there ? are they better left with the std air filter and who makes a good exhuast for the 944 .

has any one ever tried running a 944 on nos as i would love to fit this to mine i had it in my st24 mondeo and it was fantastic

count down on now 4 days till i pick her up

 

[edh]

The best way to get a faster 944 is to buy a turbo []

 

[pauljmcnulty]

First things first!

I'd suggest making sure that everything is working as it should before doing anything else. I'll assume belts etc.changed recently, but what about gearbox oil, brake fluid, anti-freeze? The chances are that on a 20-year-old car you might need to pay attention to the suspension, steering and brakes to get anything nearing the driving experience you should be expecting from an S2. Then, make sure the electrical systems are all working fine, as it's dim headlamps, worn HT leads or dizzy cap, leaking sunroof etc that can spoil the ownership experience.

Then, when you're happy that you don't need to spend any money for a while, think about tuning. Search back a year or so and you'll find several threads that say pretty much the same thing: De-cat and chip help, but there's not a lot of power gain to be had - more improving the delivery.

Nox kit - I think you'd be the first on here? Check out Brett on the 928 forum, but don't get toooooo carried away.....[]

 

[Diver944]

Paul's absolutely right to make sure the car you've got is sound and running to its peak in standard form before looking at any tuning.

Once you're happy the car is performing properly there are a few things that can be done with the S2 but don't be expecting much of an increase in peak power, more a better delivery and throttle responsiveness. Take a look at the Top 10 N/A chart here:

http://www.cannell.co.uk/944%20UK%20League.htm

and you'll see that the highest performer is our own Peter Empson at 223bhp with a MAF kit and rebuilt, breathed on head. Scroll to the detailed chart at the bottom for indvidual cars details. Peter will soon be in a section of his own when the supercharger is finished [8D]

 

[Neil Haughey]

Or log on to Rennlist and follow the thread by the guy down under who has turbocharged his S2 Cab. Whats more is that he left the engine mechanicals totally stock including the 17+ year old head gasket and it didn't blow up.

Next step (or rather a more sensible first step) is to replace the head gasket with a special 3mm or so thick Cometic one which will drop the compression ratio just enough to run a few PSI of boost more or less safely.

Not sure about power since the guy on Rennlist is AFAIK the only person we know of in the world who is currently working on a turbocharged S2 with stock internals. My guess is that given the hugely better flow characteristics of the S2 motor a few PSI boost is possibly up in the 350 Bhp range.

I am very very tempted to start this project myself, since its not a million miles from the mods I have built myself on a turbo car before.

 

[Diver944]

ORIGINAL: Neil Haughey

My guess is that given the hugely better flow characteristics of the S2 motor a few PSI boost is possibly up in the 350 Bhp range.

Depends what you mean by 'a few psi'

My turbo engine is basically an S2 engine, but with 8v head and bored to 3.2L and it took 15psi of boost to see anywhere near 350 UK bhp

The chap on Rennlist with an S2 Cab that was turbocharged at standard compression ratio blew his headgasket after ony 3000 miles of turbocharging and once apart the engine is toast, bores scored, pistons damaged etc. My personal feeling is you need really low boost (under 6psi) and a very healthy engine if you want to turbo the standard compression []

 

[Peter Empson]

Blimey, you're not hanging around []

I used the Promax chip and it was great, a rolling road remap is better but I'd wait till you've done everything else first to get the best benefits from the latter.

As for the exhaust I have the Essential Styling Janspeed one, it isn't too noisy (trackday friendly) and is dyno proven.

Take care with the intake, it seems quite easy to lose torque with too short a pipe if you're not running the airbox.

The heads seem rather prone to wear so I'd make sure that's in top condition if you're getting serious. I'd have loved to have seen what was possible with my car by having the bottom end rebuilt (mine has well over 150K on it), a custom exhaust manifold made and then another remap. I think there was quite a bit more power available there, but the SC route has distracted me from that for the time being.

 

[Peter Empson]

ORIGINAL: Diver944

The chap on Rennlist with an S2 Cab that was turbocharged at standard compression ratio blew his headgasket after ony 3000 miles of turbocharging and once apart the engine is toast, bores scored, pistons damaged etc. My personal feeling is you need really low boost (under 6psi) and a very healthy engine if you want to turbo the standard compression []

I can't find that thread now but in the back of my mind I seemed to remember at the time thinking there was another issue that may have been responsible (might have been mapping related?). This may have been wishful thinking however.
Whatever, I'm looking forward to running big boost, even if it's a couple of years away []

 

[Diver944]

Here's the thread where he announced the bad news and showed the gory pictures []

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/showthread.php?t=400702

There are a few other threads that mention it as well, but this one has a number of theories why it happened - running rich, high EGT's, too much boost (10psi), bad mapping - take your pick

 

[Peter Empson]

Thanks Paul.

 

[Guest]

great info guys thanks roll on sat

 

[morris944s2john]

That chap was using 10pis boost. What if you had a low pressure turbo and just brought the S2 cylinders up to 0psi, i.e atmospheric pressure on the induction stroke. I read in another thread that could give a useful 60 extra horses.

I think, reading the Rennllist thread that weak mixture in a few cylinders was the cause.

 

[Neil Haughey]

My first thought was piston slap causing the internal damage, the HG was a blow caused by age, he talked about this before. The consensus on the thread over there is I believe heading that way. I think I need to join up to rennlist again. Not been on for a good 5 years.

BTW he said over in the S2 section that he wasn't get boost until way up high rpm and eventually (correctly IMHO) diagnosed too much back pressure. I have had this problem twice now on turbo cars its a PITA, and actually kills the engine because you can very often end up running very very high EGT's without realising it.

Looks like it could all work OK if one uses the Cometic HG, keeps the boost down to 6 or 7 psi and puts a properly big exhaust system on there including manifold so you don't get the back pressure problems.

BTW this guy needs to be lauded because he is trail blazing here and probably solving a great many problems for everyone else interested in similar mods.

Lastly with respect to 3 litre + 951 engines, they will never have the natural air flow characters of a 16v head. Patrick posted some figures awhile back that showed just how big the difference is. This is why I believe a 16v motor will not need much boost to get really good power.

 

[morris944s2john]

I just read about the 968 turbo S (15made), which should give some idea of the potential of a turbo S2 engine. 0-60 in 4.7 seconds and 180mph top speed. True supercar numbers! (although it wont be supercar).