A while back I purchased a set of Phenolic spacers from Autospeed Performance to use on my car. A well read visitor will note that I have thoroughly documented how the similar phenolic thermal spacers from 034 failed to impress me. So why would I purchase another set of these? It wasn’t to try and prove or disprove Autospeed’s claims that:
Proven to reduce intake air temps as much as 10%
Reduced intake air temperatures result in better throttle response
Maximizes spark advance
Reducing the influence of detonation
Overall increased torque and power
Though it would be great if these phenolic spacers managed to do all that for my S4. No, I bought the Autospeed spacers because I had sold off the 034 spacers only to discover a while later that my RS4 Y-pipe did not fit on top of the stock S4 manifold as well without them. I simply bought the phenolic thermal spacers to raise the intake manifold slightly.
As a side bonus I do plan on subjecting the Autospeed product to a similar rigorous evaluation as I did with the 034 product, who knows, maybe the phenolic material Autospeed uses in their thermal spacers is capable of delivering the results claimed.
Adding to the inventory of products to test out on the flow bench I’ve acquired a Silicone RS4 MAF accordion hose from 034 Motorsports. I didn’t pick this up just to test 034’s claim – “Features a larger inside diameter and smoother surface for better flow” but I will be able to put it to use on my car as well.
I made a couple of logs this afternoon to look into an apparent difference in the narrowband O2 sensor readings reported by ME7Logger and VCDS.
The VCDS data is B1S1 and B2S1 in the legend and also has fewer sample points on the chart. ME7Logger uses OSVoltageSensor1/2 in the legend. The wideband sensor is an Innovate LM-1 with tailpipe probe so the readings are post catalytic converter.
The VCDS logged event showed a slightly leaner AFR on the wideband which should have translated into some difference in the narrowband readings, the question is if the scale of difference in narrowband readings is appropriate for the different wideband measurements.
I also logged a slightly different boost profile as I work on trying to have an acceptable temporary tune on the car. This presented another opportunity to look into how the compressor absolute pressure relates to the manifold absolute pressure.
In hopes of getting some additional insight I looked at the pressure readings at idle. How much of this difference is due to pressure drop and how much to senor differences will have to wait for another event, next I’ll try logging both sensors with the engine off.
PSIa in the legend corresponds to the Turbo’s Compressor Absolute Pressure (CAP).
