My car woke up today...

[09Speeder]

i have had my car for roughly 6 months now (09 MS3) and the entire time i have had it (2700 miles worth) the summer months have offered up a pretty hot and steamy diet of intake air temps for the MS3 to chew on. Power delivery has always been smooth but always seemed a bit underwhelming compared to the old SRT4.

I have changed out tires, 215's for 235's and added a CAI but other than that the car is stock.

Well, today the weather here turned pretty dry and cool - 70 ish - and on my normal commute to work i was getting on it where i normally do and instead of the normal "tug" and "pull" i get from the steering when accelerating 2nd-3rd on a roll - BAM - i wind it up in 2nd and the front wheels start ripping it up and screaming all over the place and then i bang in into 3rd with a nice sounding "chirp" of the tires and a quick run up to 4th.

A few more times on the way to work i punched through second with the same results and i'm thinking where has this been the past 6 months??!! So on my way home thinking the morning drive was an anomaly i get on it again roasting the tires from a roll in second??

Beats the hell out of me why, and i am not complaining a bit, but for some reason today this thing just decided that today was THE day to get pissed off and scream. Totally different attitude and the only thing i can chalk it up to is the weather. Never made this much of a difference with the SRT4 but maybe some of you can speak to it for the MS3 - is it that dramatic of a difference in our cars?

 

[SwampAss]

it's dramatic in the MS3. Once it hits mid 40s this car catches fire. My 1.8T GTI was the same way even with an FMIC. Adding a downpipe, larger TMIC, and a more aggressive tune makes a dramatic difference still. I feel like I'm the quickest thing on earth when the temps drop. I know I'm still small potatoes in the grand scheme of things but let me live my lie. (sun)

 

[BillTheCat]

Yep, most any engine with forced induction will come alive as temps drop. Especially if they're intercooled, which all forced induction setups should be, IMHO.

Here in FL, I'm still waiting for temps to drop below 90. Or the humidity. A friend of mine from Cleveland who recently sold his MS6 & bought a MZ3 asked me why I always run the A/C. I explained to him that opening the car window here is like getting hit in the face with a gallon of bathwater.

But for those 3-4 weeks when the daily highs are below 60 and I can turn off the A/C, it's game on, pal!!!

 

[boostdog]

same here in my wrx temps were in the 40's this morning...she felt like a new little beast. i love cold air!

 

[chief_wiggum]

Me too -- I love fall.

 

[Kain]

Move north.

 

[coololddude]

Engines love cold Air. Should not be that different to make someone wet themselves though. I cant say for sure since I wet myself a lot nowdays!!

 

[essejkcamraw]

MS3's hate florida. but love floridas winter. HAH

 

[hugador]

Tell me about it. Temperature have drop down in the low 80s. Car feels like a whole new animal.

 

[pcpower]

it's true... ms3's like to stay cool. the engine told me so when I was driving home last week.!.! :]

 

[Nliiitend1]

Just a friendly warning to those of you who may have less-than-optimally tuned cars with breathing mods:

Cold weather could increase the chances of catastrophy (i.e., engine failure) related to less-than-adequate fuel delivery.

Every autumn there seems to be a steady stream of victims when the temperatures start dropping.

 

[MikeHTally]

More oxygen in cold air.

 

[79535]

With fall hitting in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and temperatures around 2 degrees celcius (35.6F according to google) my MS3 has had a very noticeable power increase.

This coupled with my performance tires being cold creates a huge amount of wheel spin! It is this time of year that my front tires get the most amount of wear.

As mentioned above, risk does increase for an untuned, modded MS3. It was around these temperatures that I believe I cracked my rod (engine didn't fail until next year when I was bagging it in the summer). Car was parked shortly after the incident for the snowy months. I was running a Cobb AP which I believe was the culprit.

 

[Texaco]

Seems like a range of temps for my MS3. I do notice more power below 50 degrees, but then lose it again below 35 degrees.?

 

[ElGaspo]

opening the car window here [FL] is like getting hit in the face with a gallon of bathwater.

good 'un. i like to say that when you come out of an A/C environment and step outside, it's like getting smothered w/ a hot wet towel. still waiting for nite time temps to dip < 80 here in beautiful Borlando, FL, home of the world-famous Holy Land theme park. (braindead(braindead(braindead

 

[MSMS3]

I think it's more than just more oxygen molecules in cold air. I've been racing and modding for over forty years (I'm 59 years old), in a variety of pretty hot NA and forced induction rides going back to the muscle car era and up to now. NA cars, like big carbureted American V-8's like colder air and do get quicker, but all my forced induction cars, several Saabs and a Volvo before the MS3, all responded in a much hightened way to colder air.

There is something about the way that the combination of the compression (and heating up) of the air in the turbo followed by the less than 100% effeciency of the intercooler in bringing temps back down, that is really enhanced when the ambient air gets a lot cooler. This is on top of or in addition to the benefit from denser air from being colder.

I also think, pure speculation on this, that the ECU's of modern forced induction cars are optimized for ambient air temps of about 60 degrees. Once you get to 60 degrees, or even down in the 70's these cars just seem to run so much quicker. Ultimately the ECU spoils the fun when it gets too cold by forcing fuel cut to prevent the engine from leaning out too much. But find the sweet spot around 60 degrees and things get really fun, IMHO.

Just an opinion.