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Tuning for different octanes without a dyno

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I currently have an I6 turbo that is well-tuned for 100 octane for the track and I would like to tune for 91 for general "around town" driving. However I recently moved away from the west coast where my tuner was and into the boonies and I haven't been able to find a dyno rental locally. I nabbed some of the tuning courses here hoping to learn some of the basics and maybe get some insight into how I would go about doing a few things; and should I find a dyno rental I feel better equipped to modify maps at least.

My key concern right now is that without a dyno, it'd be too dangerous to tune for 91 just by reducing target boost levels and that I'd need to do a fair bit of ignition map massaging as well to avoid knock. Is there a good safe starting point to go from translating the 100 octane tune to 91, or any other inherent tips/issues to reference?

Please and thanks!

Does your engine / ECU have knock sensors? I think that or some other knock detection gear is required to make sure your boost / timing is safe from knock. You will not be able to easily tune for max performance without a dyno however. You need to be able to measure small changes due to ignition timing.

Also, you might reach out to your previous tuner. He may be able to work remotely to help you -- and he already knows car...

As for finding a dyno -- Google search is your friend. Also telling us where your boonies are might be useful.

Yep, if I can get a dyno rental secured for a time period where he's available he'll do remote tuning. I'm in WV now and I have found some dyno rentals a couple hours away, but it does make for a long day to tack on four hours of trailering plus load/unload/setup and then actual tuning time.

The ECU is an AEM Infinity 506, so it should have knock detection and I can get the gear as well, but I'm mostly curious about starting reference points going from 100 to 91 via road tuning. I'm not looking to max the car out on pump gas, just get a good safe tune for small trips and the occasional spirited drive with significantly reduced boost targets and the OE rev limit. The resulting power output is not important at all, so long as it retains drivability and isn't causing damage to components.

For example, if I take out 4-6 deg of timing across the board would that be reasonably safe enough to do a quick drive and then check logs? Would I also need to rework the VE table? It doesn't seem like I would, but this is all very new to me and I'd hate to overlook something essential. Would lambda targets change, or is that less important when changing octane?

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