Sometimes after I've been driving my car for a while and I'm under full throttle I'll get a sort of missfiring on the top end. It feels like a missfire and I can hear a little pop in the exhaust. Does detonation make you car feel like its missfiring or is it just a sound? Thanks.

 

Check your plugs.

 

yeah. My Integra used to have a complete misfire at 12psi. I put 2 step colder plugs and it fixed the problem

 

popping from the exhaust could mean a couple of things, and thats not neccesarelly detonation. One could be that your car at that rpm or boost is running lean or it could be running too rich.

Detonation is more like pinging (sp) and you can hear it even from inside of the car if yor exhaust is not to loud or your stereo is at low levels. 98ctr

 

is the pinging pretty distinct??

i'm curious as to if i've had/or am currently having this problem, but i don't run my stereo much because of the turbo so i should be able to hear it...

what common sound is it like?

 

The only good way of safely checking for detonation is a stethoscope bolted to the engine, transmitting all vibrations in the block to your ears.

 

detonation in my car always sounded like someone was throwing rocks at me.

 

popcorn pops sounds like detonation

 

So detonation doesn't make the engine miss? The only sound I can hear is out the exhaust, and when I had open downpipe it sounded pretty loud like a backfire. I guess it's just plugs gap or something, I'll check them and see what's up.

 

detonation...bbs in a can getting shaken up.