Modified engine life (Was: IA prices)

[jcadman@ix.netcom.com (Jeffrey Cadman)]

With all of this talk of pricing for the IA mods and the performance 
gains provided, I have to ask what kind of risks you run by making 
these changes.  In other words, with a 40-50% gain in engine 
performance, do you run the risk of reducing engine life by more or 
less than 40-50% over what would normally be expected from a stock 
set-up?  Also, assuming you use the 92+ octane gasoline as recommended, 
is knock what really causes the engine failure, or is there something 
else like wear, heat, pressure, etc.?

I have to admit, I'm jealous of those of you with these mods.  I got a 
chance to ride (with 4 others in the car!) in Tom Forhan's 200 tqw (IA 
Stage I) and Mike Spiers 5kcstq (IA Stage II) and I was thoroughly 
impressesed.  I'm just trying to justify (read: find) spending $800, 
without fears of spending more to repair any problems.

Jeff Cadman
'86 5kcstq

_________________________________________________________________

Zafer wrote: 
>
>
>The reason Ned has Stage I and Stage II both at the same list price 
($795)
>but doesn't automatically give max boost (2.0 bar) is that
>you have to use 92 or higher octane gas with this level of boost. This
>was explained to me by Ned. Apparently, 92 (or higher) octane gas is 
not
>available in all parts of the country. Ned mentioned that 90 is the
>max octane you can get in, say Montana. So, he has two separate EPROMS
>and recommends one or the other based on where you live.
>
>Higher octane gas essentially has a higher anti-knock index (ability 
to
>resist pinging or knocking/detonation). With higher boosts, knocking 
occurs
>more easily. Prolonged knocking will destroy the engine. Normally, the 
engine
>ECU detects knock and dials back (retards) the timing to avoid or 
reduce
>knocking.

>Zafer
>'87 5KTQ IA Stage II.
>
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Zafer Mehmood				   AT&T Bell Laboratories
>zm@mhcnet.att.com			   Murray Hill, NJ
>