When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I asked a couple knowledgeable friends the same question. Here's a quote from one of them ---
"Back when I had my bike shop I would break in my motors by driving down the road bringing each gear up in the rpms and let the motor drag back down to a lower rpm and shift and do the same in the next gear. Slowly I would increase the rpm before the next shift but I ALWAYS let the motor drag down to lower rpm before shifting. About 10-15 min drive doing this. I'm a firm believer in breaking in the rings on boths sides and by letting the motor drag down in rpms you breaking in the back side. Then we would load it on the trailer and go to the drag strip. There we would make 3 passes increasing the shift points higher and higher till at normal max rpm. "
The other response was similar in accel / decel handling. Neither one is safe to do in city driving, but I'm out in the boondocks with lotsa wide open hiway --- hiway 50 in Northern NV --- "the loneliest road in the country".
Try doing a search on "engine break-in" for other opinions.
/\ this is what ive always done/heard.
get it running up to temp, tune for wot, and beat the hell out of it to seat the rings
Didn't make it in time for MOTD, but Buzz is back to life!
I've done the break-in / ring seating, now gradually starting to stretch him out. Will switch over to the performance maps in the Manic tune soon. Growls like a monster, and rumbles throughout the cabin due to the BSH engine mount.
Any advice on heftier turbos (thinking about the GMTC Extreme 45R)? If I upgrade to Manic Stage 3 (etc.), do I need to update the (stock) injectors?
I'm running a big Garrett and Manic stage 4 with OEM injectors. Old dyno, before I blew it up, was at 360+WHP. Yes, it was hungry at the top end, but that can be compensated for with WMI --- big jet and more meth than water. My next dyno is scheduled for the AMVIV weekend. I'll post results when I return home.
I'm not recommending the Garrett --- it's fine for my driving habits (cruising and high speed), but not suitable for others (jack-rabbit starts). There are others out there with better performance at lower RPM's, and can still produce desirable boost levels. Study the charts and get dyno pro's opinions.
I'm not necessarily wanting to go to a WMI (though the appeal of cooler temps and cleaner valves is strong), mainly due to tank mounting considerations.
i dont think there are any injector upgrades available, the n14/n18 doesnt share any other common manufacturing family and little aftermarket. Maxing them out (as OBW said) you'll need to push them to 350hp or so, which has only recently became an achievable goal tuning wise.
for the turbo, swapping a k03 or k04 is just a remove and replace - they are the same physical size, inlet tube needs to be bigger but nbd everything else fits like stock. the larger k04 turbos should put you around 300hp easy (E45R/GTD), Tigger has developed an even larger k04 and dialed in the tuning to keep drivability very good.
Thanks ... I didn't know of any, nor had I read any comments on this or other forums about uprated injectors for N14s (plenty of chatter about injectors for R53s though).
I am leaning toward the E45R, given my driving desires (highway commuting plus mountain roads). Anybody running that?
As for intake tubing, I've got a JCW hard pipe at hand (stock MCS "ribbed" tube's on there now). Any advice on that front?
I swapped the BSH lower mount out for a stock with Powerflex Black bushings. Took the vibrations way down. (Vibrations from the BSH actually killed my battery ... replaced it with an Optima yellow top.)
Put in Brisk plugs (2 degrees colder). Seems to be a better idle. We shall see.
Changed out the O2 sensor for a new one, plus a mini cat spacer, so that I can run the stock map without worrying too much.
Looking forward to the FrankenTurbo and Manic Stage 4.
I tried Brisk plugs a few years ago --- bad choice --- missing at high RPM and / or moderate accel. Went back to OEM, but have since changed to NGK1422's. Which Brisk PN did you go with?
I swapped the BSH lower mount out for a stock with Powerflex Black bushings. Took the vibrations way down. (Vibrations from the BSH actually killed my battery ... replaced it with an Optima yellow top.)
Put in Brisk plugs (2 degrees colder). Seems to be a better idle. We shall see.
Changed out the O2 sensor for a new one, plus a mini cat spacer, so that I can run the stock map without worrying too much.
Looking forward to the FrankenTurbo and Manic Stage 4.
How do you swap between stock map and your performance map? What equipment is needed?
It's a Manic Stage 2 tune at the moment, so I'm using their SPS switch to select which map I want. It's extremely fast and easy (via the OBD dongle) to do the switch.
