2011 Mazdaspeed 3 | HFS-4 Install

[skeurton]

I bought an HFS-4 system over a year ago and finally got around to installing it this past weekend. It was pretty straightforward, but I took my time since there is A LOT of wiring involved, more than your average WMI kit. I wanted to keep everything nice and tidy, so most of the time was spent planning out how everything was going to be routed and secured.


To start, here's the car...

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/23.jpg

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/24.jpg


I mounted a 4-quart tank on the driver side panel in the hatch, using strips of metal to secure the tank. Once the panel is in the car, the tank rests right up against the wheel well, which gives it quite a bit more support.

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/01.jpg

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There is a foam piece that surrounds the spare tire. On the underside of the foam is a perfect space for the pump. With a knife and some minor modifications, the pump fits nice and snug. It's hidden from view and really keeps things clean in the hatch.

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/04.jpg

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The gauge is secured in a custom pod, which is molded to the defrost vent.

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/08.jpg

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/09.jpg


The controller sits in the glovebox. All the wires and tubing running into the engine bay pass through a large hole behind the glovebox itself.

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/10.jpg

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/11.jpg

[skeurton]

I used Posi-Lock wire taps to connect to the ECU. Cleaned it up a bit with electrical tape and wire loom.

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/12.jpg

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/13.jpg


I had two bungs welded into one of the IC cold pipes, just in case I might need to run two nozzles at some point.

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/14.jpg

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/15.jpg


Here you can see how the wires and tubing were routed into the engine bay from behind the glovebox. Again, I used wire looms to keep it looking tidy.

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/16.jpg

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http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/19.jpg


The FAV is mounted on the driver side frame rail, just above the nozzle on the IC pipe.

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/20.jpg

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/21.jpg


And finally, I secured 10 gallons of VP M1 for $74.

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/22.jpg

[Richard L]

Pretty comprehensive, great pictures.

[skeurton]

I made the switch from 50/50 to 100% meth. So I added an extra nozzle to make sure it can spray enough meth. Thank god I had that extra bung welded on when I did.

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/photo.jpg

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/photo2.jpg

I've also spent a lot of time tuning in the past week. I like to use Virtual Dyno to help visualize and quantify any changes that I make to the tune.

Here's where the car was BEFORE installing the Aquamist system:


326hp / 364tq
22psi across the board
11.8 AFR
Max timing of 13* at redline


http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/WITHOUT%20Aquamist.jpg

And here's where it's at now:

393hp / 385tq
0.8mm+0.9mm nozzles, 100% meth
22psi to 4500rpm, 26psi from 5500rpm to redline
11.8 AFR (NOTE: I had to scale down the open looop mass airflow in order to achieve targeted AFR)
Max timing of 19.5* at redline


http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/WITH%20Aquamist.jpg

As far as cooling the charge air temps, here is a comparison just to illustrate how the meth is helping.

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/BATs.jpg

I must say that I am very pleased with the results!!!

[Richard L]

Looks good.

A few questions:
1. Is the turbo sized to go beyond 400?
2. What psi were you running before and after

It appears something is limiting the power pass 5500. From the air temp plot, the system is producing more heat than the methanol can cope. Could it be the size of the turbo or something restrictive at the intake.

Overall it is very good gain (without) any hardware changes other than boost and timing. What is your next step?

[skeurton]

1. 400hp is right about on the edge of that the turbo is capable of. It's a custom turbo based around a gt2871r compressor. If you look at the compressor map, I made a red line that illustrates basically how I'm running it with this tune. The way I'm pushing it at max boost and max airflow, it's operating on the edge of its efficiency range.

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/GT2871R-743347-4_comp.jpg

2. Here are the boost numbers:

BEFORE: 22psi
AFTER: 22psi to 4500rpm, 26psi from 5500rpm to redline

As far as the temp rise at the end, my guess is that the turbo is running out of breath at the top of the rpm band due to the way I'm pushing it. It's just pumping out a lot of hot air at that point. When I was running a 50/50 mix, I didn't see a temp rise at the end, probably due to the water. However, I also didn't see as large of an overall temperature drop either. Here is a graph of 50/50 vs nothing at all.

http://imondepression.com/ms3/Aquamist%20Install/BATs2.jpg

The next step will be to continue to tune. I'll probably dial the boost back a bit to keep things safer and more reliable. I've gone about as far as I want in terms of hardware, short of building the motor and replacing the clutch.

[paveltol]

First I thought you have a stock turbo, anyway, you are making very nice numbers.
What gas are you running on? Is that BNR Stage3 turbo you have? If yes, it is exactly the same turbo as I have. And I am in the process of adjusting the HFS4 system right now on my Mazdaspeed6).

[skeurton]

First I thought you have a stock turbo, anyway, you are making very nice numbers.
What gas are you running on? Is that BNR Stage3 turbo you have? If yes, it is exactly the same turbo as I have. And I am in the process of adjusting the HFS4 system right now on my Mazdaspeed6).

Yup, I've got a BNR S3. I'm running on 93 gas from Shell, and use VP M1 meth.

If you're in the process of adjusting things and tuning, here are some tips that might help...

- Skip using any mixture of meth/water and just use straight meth. I tried 50/50 and 70/30 mixtures, and while the bit of water helped cool the BATs, I wasn't able to advance the timing as much. It seems the MZR DISI engine loves the huge octane boost from running 100% meth. I'm up to about 20* of timing and still no knock.

- I'm using 2 nozzles, 0.8mm + 0.9mm

- I'm running the system off IDC only and looked at my datalogs to set the threshold. I wanted it to start around 5-7psi, which was about 36% IDC for me. The threshold trimmer is set at 42% at the 12 o'clock position. One tick mark to the left is 36%.

[Richard L]

I am curious to know, what is the limiting factor of this engine producing higher power?

[skeurton]

I am curious to know, what is the limiting factor of this engine producing higher power?

Fueling and engine internals. There is someone out there with a custom build making over 700hp.

[paveltol]

Yup, I've got a BNR S3. I'm running on 93 gas from Shell, and use VP M1 meth.

If you're in the process of adjusting things and tuning, here are some tips that might help...

- Skip using any mixture of meth/water and just use straight meth. I tried 50/50 and 70/30 mixtures, and while the bit of water helped cool the BATs, I wasn't able to advance the timing as much. It seems the MZR DISI engine loves the huge octane boost from running 100% meth. I'm up to about 20* of timing and still no knock.

- I'm using 2 nozzles, 0.8mm + 0.9mm

- I'm running the system off IDC only and looked at my datalogs to set the threshold. I wanted it to start around 5-7psi, which was about 36% IDC for me. The threshold trimmer is set at 42% at the 12 o'clock position. One tick mark to the left is 36%.


Thank you for the tips! I am in the very begining of tuning, running on 22 psi and 91 fuel, but haven't finished my tuning process so far. Halfway I had to switch from fmic to tmic because of endless issues with blowing or leaking silicone and piping.
I will be running 5 small jets: 1 pre tb jet and 4 direct port jets, but first I need to do all the primary adjustments with a single pre-tb jet.

What ambient temperatures are you running at?
Do you have any knock at partial throttle after long idling in a traffic jam?
Do you have stock internals?

[skeurton]

Thank you for the tips! I am in the very begining of tuning, running on 22 psi and 91 fuel, but haven't finished my tuning process so far. Halfway I had to switch from fmic to tmic because of endless issues with blowing or leaking silicone and piping.
I will be running 5 small jets: 1 pre tb jet and 4 direct port jets, but first I need to do all the primary adjustments with a single pre-tb jet.

What ambient temperatures are you running at?
Do you have any knock at partial throttle after long idling in a traffic jam?
Do you have stock internals?

Lately, ambient temps have been 85-90F during the day, and 75-80F at night.

Every once in a while, I see part throttle knock, but it's random and never more than 1-degree.

Yup, still on stock internals. I plan to dial back my tune until I can build the motor and replace the clutch.

[paveltol]

I'd like to do something with part throttle knock. On 91 fuel I have 1-2 knock retard according to the Dashhawk gauge. It is very common issue with these engines, when moving in city traffic or cruising on highway. It can be false knock - the ECU may be adjusting the timing. But it can be real knock as well.
Have you thought of any solutions for that? Is there any way to trigger the system when the ECU sees knock at loads when IDC is not reached? Richard, chime in please!

[Richard L]

Do you have an output from dashhawk, it may be possible to use it to active the HFS. I am sure I can find a way to do it.

[paveltol]

There is a miniUSB slot on Dashhawk - it was made to connect Dashhawk to PC. This device is no longer produced.
However, there is another powerful tuning&diagnostic tool - AccessPort by Cobb tuning.
Both these devices read signals from oem OBD2 port.

Can't it be easier wiring up to knock sensor?

[Richard L]

knock sensor needs to be processed differently with an algorithm that suits a particular engine. Ideally includes infos such as ignition timing, load and knock spectrum. On top of all that, sharp cut-off filters has to be employed or noise will dominate.

Assuming the dashawk possesses all those abilities, how does it translate it visually? It may be easier to splice into the final stage of knock signal internally. Provided they exists in some analogue form.

Porting a usb requires more work and if it unlikely we will do it an an one-off. If you haver a circuitry of the dashawh or let me open it up to take a closer look.

[paveltol]

Probably I can source and send you a used Dashhawk.
I am not sure Dashhawk can help with finding a clean Knock Retard signal - it displays multiple parameters at the same time. Also user can adjust the quantity and type of these parameters displayed.

The only thing I can think of now is as follows: Dashhawk allows you to adjust visual and sound alerts for the parameters displayed, so you can probably connect to sound alert. But the alert frequency and volume are not progressive with the growfth of Knock Retard. And the user will have to set only one alert for KR so that the system would not trigger because of any other alert.

[Richard L]

The sound alert is a good output to use, tell me more about it? Does it change pitch of just blips faster.

[paveltol]

Neither of these - with the KR increase it just keeps on blinking and ticking(sound) with the visual increase of KR value.
KR normally happens at part throttle when the Engine Coolant Temp reach 99+C and Boost Air Temp reach 70+C.

[Richard L]

It is probably a single/train of pulses send to a piezo sounder. It might work. The HFS4 has a secondary PWM input that may be used to spray based on the pulse. Need some modification.

[paveltol]

I got it. You will need a working Dashhawk as far as I can understand.
Will you need a Mazda with a knocking engine?)