Mods:
Vortech V2 kit (bought used 8000 miles)
Spearco radiator
HKS exhaust
Not sure if these make a difference:
broken secondary O2 sensor with CEL
40 series tires on 18" wheel (supposed to be 35)

I took my car to have it dynoed with wideband at Jotech. Kenny Tran was the dyno'er.
I forgot exactly what the highest AFR was, but it's just under 14, I think it hit at least 13.7.
In the middle of the pull, he gave the signal to stop because it was too lean in VTEC. I guess he was scared of blowing the motor on the dyno. The wideband was put in the exhaust pipe behind both the cat and the HKS resonator, if that makes a difference.

I know I NEED EMS, but at the moment, I can't afford to throw more money at it. Vortech has the recalibration kit for the FMU which richens up the mixture. Kenny said that this was a corner cutting method, as the timing will still be off and not ideal (?) . Is this right? I was under the impression that the black box handled the timing fine, I just need to richen up the AFR?

 

So you have ZERO engine management?

omg

 

is this the stock pulley 7psi that the votech comes with? if so then yes, FMU + black box should be fine for what you are doing. just gotta crank the fmu more to raise fuel pressure in boost. pretty sure they are adjustable.

my mind is boggled as too why they didnt do this for you

 

Welcome to the world of crap fuel management ! On a serious note you can make the fmu work better along with the aid of a apexi vafc as i did prior to doing things the right way . Recalibrate the fmu with the 12 to 1 disc and add the vafc 1 or 2 will be fine and go back to the dyno . I was able to get my af ratio down to the mid 12 region with those and it worked well for 4 years ! The vortech timing box pulls only 3 degrees of timing out but it works . For me at that time it was the only choice i had . Now though i run an aem ems and would never go back ! Best of luck !

 

get greddy emange at least

 

The supercharger was an impulse buy, and I don't have the money currently to do it the right way. I've invested ~$3800 so far, and really can't afford it right now. I do plan to add EMS, smaller pulley, and bigger injectors.

Yes I'm on the stock pulley.

The FMU is not immediately adjustable. You can buy "recalibration discs" which I heard were just washers that make the FMU put out more fuel.

 

only 3800? if it was an inpulse buy. i would have bought it and not installed it on the car until i had everything else ready. Safety wise... its gonna be a few weeks until you probably get the money for the rest of the stuff. is this car your DD?

 

Awesome. Good to know. I may go this route. Thanks

 

Yeah, $3100 used. The rest is install, dyno, and misc parts.

I was anticipating the "Vortech runs lean" threads wouldn't be applicable to me, so I could just bolt it on and go.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to do a bandaid fix which is much more cost effective than EMS and tuning which could come out to $2k.

The car isn't my DD, so I'm not too worried, just a bit upset that I can't go enjoy it.

 

oh, the CT then comes with a FMU that you can just crank a screw and adjust it. i thought the VT was that way also, guess not. anyways, buy the disc that changes the ratio and at least be able to drive the car in boost

my rec is to buy a few of them in different ratios and bring them to the dyno. see which one works best. if you do a vafc it can trim out fuel fine, but cant add fuel.