K-star injection vs. Motronic

["Victor Farren" <vfarren@rrs.cdie.org>]

I don't have a lot of experience w/ 16v tuning besides the bolt on
stuff, so this may be a futile exercise.  But lets continue anyway.

Lets assume that the K-star, delivered to the US runs $450-475.  
Then you have to install it, or have someone install and then have
someone tune it.  Cost - ???????  $500 sound reasonable??

Total cost- ?? somehwere around $1000??

Advantages - 
exact fuel mixture timing mixture for all RPMs, particular to each
engine.
no custom parts have to be made
don't have to swap in new wiring harness
keep original KE-Jetronic system with associated fuel distributor,
idle stabilizer valve, coil etc.

Disadvantages - cost of tuning it???  Probably lots of $$$
No new balanced injectors, knock sensors etc.


The Motronic coversion done right, a la Brett VS:

Garrett chip (the best) is $140, 
motronic injector to CIS-E fuel line convertors are $90, 
new injector seals, seals, & assorted gaskets ~$30.
two new knock sensors & replacement gold harness pins ($100)
new 4th plug wire sensor ($40),
clean / balanced motronic injectors ($120+), 
fixes for bad Motronic harness connectors ($15 each), 
new O2 sensor ($45), 
DeOxit contact enhancer ($12) as Motronic is very sensitive to
resistance build up at the connections.

Total is near $600 without including the Motronic stuff you will need
such as wiring harness, fuel distributor, idle stabilizer valve etc.
(as per Tech procedure on Scirocco.org - thanks Brett!) 

Total Cost - $800 - $1000 (assuming you can get Motronic witing
harness and associated parts for $200-$400 - which should be
reasonable now that Motronic cars have been around for a while).

Advantages:
Lots o' new stuff - seals, knock sensors etc.
Chipable
easier to get system set up initially -

Disadvantages
Not quite as tailored to particular engine needs as the K-Star
Custom parts have to be made
Lots of fussing with new wiring harness (not dificult, just tedious)


End result:  Seems like a toss up, except that the major variable is
finding someone to tune the K-star, and who knows how much that will
cost.

What did we learn from this - not a whole lot except that I am bored
at work!

HTHs someone.

Victor

>>> Brett Van Sprewenburg <brett@shell.netacc.net> 09/26 12:41 PM
>>>

I just can't stay out of the this discussion because I went through
some of the exact same questions.  :)  Not to mention that I
actually
enjoy a technical discussion on car tuning.


> FYI
> http://www.auto-amd.com/kstar.html#Price 
> 
> Seems like an alternative to Motronic for us 16 valvers.  I am
> curious if anyone has used this, knows of anyone who has used it,
> etc., especially the UK listers.  Its not cheap, but its not
'that'
> expensive.  I guess the trick would be finding someone in the US
who
> has experience tuning this system.

Well converting 290 UK pounds (for the KS3-01) to USD is between $400

& $450.  In order to be comparible to Motronic, is has to be the
KS3-01 
at least.  Add shipping and you're probably closing in on $450.  The

K-Star system sounds like a tuners delight!  My thoughts on this is
that 
is essentially what I paid Garrett Lim to do...run dozens of times
down the 1/4 mile and many hours on a dyno to find out where "my"
engine 
runs lean, where it can stand more advance, retard, enrichment
at what RPM's...etc.  Pretty cheap for only about $130 IMHO, for 
what it does.  I freely admit that I probably could have gotten
closer to my ideal with a K Star like system, but it's a question
of time vs money for a street car.  On a more all out car (race
or turbo applications) where exact timing / fueling is the
difference
between 1st and 3rd or a burnt valve or melted piston...it's 100%
worth it...no contest.  16v tuning (or extreme engine tuning) is 
not cheap, it just isn't.  We've all heard the addage of "how
fast do you want to go?" is tightly related to "how much do you
want to spend?".  




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