So I'm sitting here working on one of my R/C car orders and watching (well listening anyway) to some of Jay Leno's garage videos. One of the videos, he mentions performing an "Italian Tune-up" on his modified XKE. I know I've heard of such a thing in the past but I wasn't sure what it was or if it was just a myth.

I know that after I run my 914 on the highway, it seems to run better. Running around town on on slower back roads like I do daily seems to cause it to bog more and sputter even back fire through the exhaust or carbs.

Thoughts?

Can work in cars that run rich and/or have under-performing ignition systems. Getting the motor nice and warmed up can help burn carbon off the plugs.

Modern cars don't need it IMHO, but it can actually help in some older ones.

--DD

Don't tell my wife that the newer ones don't need it. I've used that excuse to go for a spin every weekend. She swears it runs better when I'm done with it.

She lets me drive her car once in a while too.

Newer car can also benefit. My MR2 turbo saves maps in it's computer that run the system. It picks the appropriate one for your input. If you're toodling around, a less aggressive map does the work and it will continue to us this map as it is the most frequently used. The boy racer map is way down the totem pole for usage....unless utilized most frequently or last. Switching over to the hot map from the toodle map takes a bit, from what I read. Ain't computers wonderful?

ya that shit is just frustrating on my one ton when i go from using it as a daily driver to towing the toy hauler. it just chokes down so bad i thought that i was losing the fuel pump, no power at high load. it took about three good pulling sessions to get it to pull hard again.

I don't know about the cars, but the Italian tune-up always makes me feel better.

Italian tune-up....

Blipping the throttle to clear the soot off the plugs before flooring the pedal.....

In the day, it was common practise to take a car out on the open road ,( Blow the

Carbon Out ). Today I know a very old couple that have a Turbo 911, wife drives

it very slowly. They take it to there Mech. about twice a mouth , that is what he

does. Takes it out on the E-Way ,5 miles up and 5 miles back runs perfect.

See ya in 2 wk. , of course it,s a freebe . Dave

I do pretty much the same thing with Babydoll!

Except the interval is a lot more than 2 weeks and I usually have other things that I have to fix.

But other than that, yeah, same thing.

Another technique...to include in the Italian Tune up is to....and this has only evolved since the introduction of ,water, ...excuse me ...ALCOHOL... into gasoline is to ...(If the car has been sitting awhile).(IF you do not slosh the fuel around by MOVING the car ).....is to...start the ENGINE,and let it IDLE for about 5-five minutes (or more)...observe the tailpipe...watch as the accumulated water,,(heaver than gasoline) is pumped ,and burned off as water vapor....I have observed this to the extent that water just drips out the tail pipe...extra-normal...water vapor....you are burning off the accumulated water at the bottom of the tank.....THEN ...read ONLY THEN ....is the car ready for the Italian tune up,drive it like its stolen,blow it out drive......NOW why you may ask does this work.?...YOU are NOT doing a full throttle excersise with comprised OCTANE..(fuel)...which will cause misfires, and DETONATION. You are avoiding engine damage from BAD GAS. Besides it makes good (mechanical)sense to get the engine warmed up to operating temperature before you put a heavy load on it.

The Italian tune-up and high rev driving made a lot more sense prior to CD ignition. 356 and 901/911 plugs fouled very easily.

I knew guys that kept hot plugs in for around-town driving. Then changed to colder plugs for weekend backroads or AX.

Best I remember racing 4-cams were started with hot plugs, warmed up and then had cold plugs put in.

Cars that do a lot of short trips need some periodic cruising with fully warmed engine to cook off contaminants.

Idling for very long scares me as excess gas can wash oil from cylinder walls. Especially in air/oil cooled engines. I vote for brief idle followed by low rev driving until operating temp is reached.

The owners manual that was in our 1987 930 noted "at least once each drive to rev the engine high enough to open the waste gate valve to clear out all moisture"! That was good enough for us.

Ok, so some think it's a good thing and others don't.

I always let my car warm up a few minutes prior to driving off. If I don't do this it will sputter and pop like crazy. According to Leno, he takes his E-type up to 60 in second gear and lets off abruptly. That's how I understood it anyway.

A similiar and much less sophisticated procedure invloved just revving the shit out of a cold or stumbling engine on our High School beaters. In Bakersfield, we referred to this as an "Okie Tuneup"

starting it up and letting it idle is really bad for the plugs.

So, once your car is warm, go wind it up and blow the new carbon off the plugs that you just placed there from idle.

That means 2nd gear, right up the red line.
Rich

Doesn't everyone with a 914 drive it that way?

It does need to be up to operating temp to prevent putting some pretty high pressure on the system with thick oil before you blast those carbon deposits with some good hard runnin'....

OK, I'm not above showing my ignorance here. What EXACTLY is an "Italian tune up"?

with a warm engine, put it in 2nd, blast up to the red-line, take your foot off the gas pedal letting the engine do the braking until just before it starts to chug and nail it again. Do it a couple of times and it'll blow the carbon off.

I do it. can't give any scientific data as to how much it actually does but it sure is fun!

Of course it goes without saying; set the engine up right to begin with - if your building heavy carbon on your plugs adjust your mixture.

. . . . then go blast up and down the street a few times. The best thing in general is to drive the damn thing. Use all the revs, get it on the highway, rip through some back roads. Your engine will thank you.

You're thinkin' right....up to temp, then blast....unless you hate your motor & want a new one.