Plugs arrived and installed just fine. First time changing plugs so I'm glad! Had ordered a Brisk set gapped at .26 based on reviews but Ron messaged me right after placing the order saying they were out of stock. No big deal and had his personal recommendation of NGK Ruthenium's on the way instead. Sweet! They did show up as gapped to .25 (labelled that way at least) but after trying to understand what all that really means I decided to give them a shot anyways. Seemed to be gapped consistently compared to where the stock plugs I pulled out were at. Doing my best to avoid placebo but it starts up just as fast and seems to idle smoother? The EP Auto magnetic spark plug socket worked great with an extra 3 inch extension on the back of it. Worth mentioning since I've heard some similar accessories have had clearance issues due to the socket piece itself not being low profile enough.
So with the AdaptX tune finally flashed and OAR reading as expected for 93 octane fuel it feels great at WOT. Followed the emailed instructions and even after just 3-4 6th gear pulls at a throttle position where I was seeing greater than 10 pounds of boost OAR went right to where I expected. Pulled these off fine on the highway at around 7PM, just rolling back and forth between 65mph and 80mph to get it dialed in. Noticeably faster to my everyday passenger too which is always nice to hear!
I'm still fairly new to this level of modification but I think things are going great from what I've observed so far. No negative corrections at all, positive corrections higher than the base map at WOT that's for sure. Reading that stratified breakdown on how to read all of this data leads me to believe it doesn't hurt to actually log and view a few things side by side. Curious if and where I'll be seeing knock based on how I understand that give and take to work.
Appreciate the feedback, even if there are negative corrections, corrections are the offset to the final commanded timing curve. For example if the ecu commands 5 degrees of spark, and knock advance adds 2 degrees that's +2 or if you knock the car pulls 1-2 degrees from the commanded timing that's -2.
It's commonly practiced by a handful of tuners to run a very conservative timing curve, and then add in tons of advance at a very fast rate at wot, this is mostly in part due to the OTS maps having reduced knock retard values (50% over oem) and increased knock advance rates (lots of tuners used OTS as a starting point), so instead of 1 degree pulled on the lightest itensity knock event only half a degree of timing is pulled (0.50). Keep that in mind when you are +10 correction at wot and you could be knocking 15-20 times and because the advance is drastically sped up and the knock retard is halved, you'll never see a negative correction.
Adapt-X uses factory knock retard values and the OAR gets the base timing as close as possible to the knock threshold and then you'll see roughly 2-3 degrees at wot added in by knock advance up to 6-8 degrees. You can also pull -6 degrees as well and the engine can be perfectly safe as knock retard is doing it's job. For example, your OAR is -0.90 or higher from 93 octane and you put in 87 octane and do a pull right away. The ecu did not have ample time to adjust and learn a more positive OAR (only learns in cruising conditions) so to prevent engine damage it will reduce engine load with the pre ignition LSPI blend modifier and up to -6 degrees of knock retard to keep the engine safe.
During normal driving conditions it's normal to see -4/+4 as well. If you are consistently getting -4 or higher at wot and your octane ratio does not adjust then there could be a problem, but the calibration is extremely safe and there are 0 failures documented ever on Adapt-X. On the Focus ST Adapt-X is actually safer than OEM because it runs richer at power demand to keep the ringlands safe. Looking at a lot of the newer ecoboosts, you will see ford runs them much richer (the ecoboost mustang dips into the 10's afr wise), as ford realized the ringlands were being compromised from high heat exposure over time.
Adapt-X is a stock style tune that will give you max power and adjust to your mods as long as you keep the stock fuel system, stock wastegate, and stock turbo. There's nothing to gain moving to a custom dyno tune, the Adapt-X always ensures you're maxing out your performance based on your fuel quality and weather conditions.