K24 street tuning timing

Good morning guys,

I'm new to tuning, I have a boosted k24 in a BMW E30 on pump e85 right now. This is my personal car and where I'm at I don't have access to a Dyno so I have been street tuning the car, currently I'm trying to get a range for how aggressive timing can be on a stock k24a on about e70? The car is on 20lbs of boost and currently at about 18⁰ of timing but I've been told that I have timing pretty low. I have tried to use the knock sensor however I have switched it with a new one and continue to get error codes for the sensor itself.

Hey, what ecu? What turbo? Is the motor built? 18* at 20psi in my experience is already pushing it as far as stock motor goes. Ethanol might not knock but excessive timing will cause high cylinder pressure that can lift the head or bend a rod. In my experience if you are not knock limited on pump fuel then adding lots of timing on Ethanol doesnt always produce more power on K series engines. I have seen more power at times from proper VTC angles and Vtec then timing. Post screen shot of your CAM ANGLE Target Map, turbo specs and Ignition map and Log and I can see if I can help.

So currently I'm running a K-Pro v4, it's a 6662 rev9 turbo journal bearing, The motor is stock except for the fuel system, 2200cc injectors and a 450 fuel pump and I'm limited to the stock cam angle on a K24A. Thank you for the advice. I thought that I was kind of pushing it where it was so when people told me to push it farther I wanted to get some outside advice on the situation. For some reason I'm having a hard time attaching pictures

Hey, with that boost and that turbo, even though thats not the most effiecient setup as I usually prefer Pulsar Turbos for budget guys you are still in 500-550whp range assuming you have the RBB TSX Block with Vtec on both cams. You dont really need the RBC Cam phaser as most turbo K series will only be between 25-30* Cam Advance. I have picked up 40WHP on a 6262 stock block K24 RBB by reducing cam angle up top but it did have Skunk2 Tuner 2 Cams. This engine made 580HP on my Mainline Prohub at 18psi and only 14-15* of timing, this comes out to be around 630HP on a Dynojet for comparison. Pretty much Cam angle controls overlap of the cams. The better the engine flows the more overlap it will take in NA form. But overlap can be detrimental on turbo cars as you will suffer an EGR effect as backpressure increases. With turbo K series you can play with the cam timing. I would say keep it maxed at 25 and taper to maybe 20 by redline. Im not sure what you rev it to. But if you have a type s Oil pump and Springs and retainers then you can rev her to 8200-8600 pretty safe assuming you have the TSX rods not the weaker Accord or CRV ones.

Okay I really appreciate that, The car does have the type as oil pump but honestly since it has such long gears I haven't really seen a need to run the red line above stock for what I'm doing right now. I'll definitely take a look at the cam command and make sure it's not doing anything too crazy. Everything on it should be from a stock K24 TSX