[keithmac]

WI works to better effect when the ambient temperature is higher and the IC`s are less efficient at dropping the charge temps, if you`re using methanol as an octane booster the change in temp may be less of a factor?.

I tuned for 12:1 afr on the supercharged Golf with WI active and tuned for audible knock (or lack of it!), the car with that tune did a full trackday at Donnington and lived, you`ll never hammer a car as hard on the road so it was a good solid tune.

You can rig a knock sensor up to a laptop or amplifier and listen for knock through headphones, or if you have access to diagnostics on the cars ECU you can keep an eye on the knock sum which is a better way in some respects.

If you tune in winter you need to keep an eye on things as the ambient temps get higher in summer and may need to retard the timing slightly or up the water/methanol rate to keep knock at bay.

Another good way to check the tune of the engine is to pull the sparkplugs after a hard run and check the tips, I believe specks of metal on the electrodes are a good indicator of knock, it`s a bit of the piston top stuck to the plug!.

Another point is not to completely go with what the Rolling Road guys say unless you have proof they have good reliable tunes on the same engines, I read recently a lad with a GTO had a RR tune done with no knock monitoring at all, just AFR and that`s near on fatal for one of these engines..

If you can do it safely road tuning is a good way to set your car up, you can spend as along as you like to get it perfect and all it costs is time and petrol.