Drove 6 months (4 months winter) on Stage 2 tune with stock parts. Should I be worried?

[DaiLo]

Not the TSP Stage 2 tune but the standard Stage 2 tune that comes with Ktuner. I did drive it kinda hard when I first tuned it but drove increasingly conservative as winter came and went. After the winter, I did a real pull for the first time in months and noticed a smell coming from the engine. Not sure what it was. I tuned it back down to Stage 1 and haven't done any spirited driving since then. Is it possible I did lasting damage? There are no knocks, sounds or smells over the last couple of weeks since then but I'm worried.

And yes I know it was dumb. and my fault for doing it.

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[gtman]

The Stage 2 base KTuner tune is safe and conservative. No worries. Go back to Stage 2 and enjoy.

 

[DaiLo]

The Stage 2 base KTuner tune is safe and conservative. No worries. Go back to Stage 2 and enjoy.

Phew that's good to hear. And what can account for the smell then? I was filled only with 87 as I was trying to save some money during the winter before going back to 91 when the roads cleared. Could that be it? It was only after I did some hard pulls and then I pulled into my garage did I notice but I've never smelt it before.

 

[gtman]

87? Yikes. I wish you mentioned that in your first post. Knock control will bump up and power will be reduced quite a bit. As far as the smell, it might have been the cat. That's a no-no on Stage 2.

 

[kytos]

Don't run 87 with a tune.

 

[dark_knight097]

What kind of smell was it? Exhaust gases/fumes or more of a burning smell?

 

[jayy_swish]

All tunes require premium fuel octane that’s how it gets the horsepower bump. It increases boost = more air forced into the engine = more fuel = higher compression/timing. If you still have some 87 octane fuel put it some octane booster for now and fill up with premium next time or go to a stock tune until empty and fill up with premium. Pre-ignition kills engines and melts pistons. So the tune did not potentially damage your engine as it’s a safe conservative tune, you putting 87 octane might have cause some damage

 

[KTuner]

We recommend 91+ for all included tunes, stated on the application page for this vehicle where the tunes are outlined. We do not recommend octane boosters.

 

[gtman]

JR, should you consider re-wording this blip on the 1.5T turbo application page?

It does sort of imply 87 octane is safe/usable (but with reduced power) on Stage 0 and 1.

 

[KTuner]

Stage 0 and 1 can be ran with 87. We still recommend 91+, as it states there as well!

 

[DaiLo]

What kind of smell was it? Exhaust gases/fumes or more of a burning smell?

More of a mechanical smell if I were to describe it. But like I said, I haven't smelt it again, nor noticed any ticks or weird sounds/performance quirks so hopefully it was just some overheating and permanent damage wasn't done.

And to the others, yeah the wording of "Can be ran with 87" implied to me "can be ran safely with 87". I knew I wouldn't be getting the power increase but I assumed it was still safe based on the wording. Even before this post was made, I went back to 91 so hopefully it'll be ok.

 

[KTuner]

And to the others, yeah the wording of "Can be ran with 87" implied to me "can be ran safely with 87". I knew I wouldn't be getting the power increase but I assumed it was still safe based on the wording. Even before this post was made, I went back to 91 so hopefully it'll be ok.

As he pointed out above, and as the wording states on the application page, that's for stage 0 and stage 1. Not stage 2.

 

[dark_knight097]

What rpm did you do the pull at? It could be that the clutch slipped and burned a bit as I've had that happen before on the stock clutch. Its produces a peculiar smell.

 

[DaiLo]

What rpm did you do the pull at? It could be that the clutch slipped and burned a bit as I've had that happen before on the stock clutch. Its produces a peculiar smell.

It's an automatic. I had it on sport mode so it shifts at about 5.5K-ish.

 

[tacthecat]

Odor is most likely just burning off all the "Winter" mung and build-up on the outside of the drivetrain - moisture etc - and is nothing to worry about.
Think of it as the modern version of "Run hard and put away wet."

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