Thats why many people get out of nitro real quick without giving it a chance. I even had a friend who thought that this is like a regular car, dump some gas and lets go.

Start the car;

Drive it slowly up and down on the street to warm it up.

Warming up is never done with the vehicle on idle. Then after a minute or so hit it full throttle a few passes letting go of the gas.

If when accelerating the car feels very slow to reach maximum speed, then its too rich.

If you accelerate and it wont reach full speed, like if something is missing which in fact it is, then open the needle just a tid bit. Another way to know is the engine is getting hot very quick (it needs more gasoline). If it does not reach maximum speed, but feels cold then it has too much fuel.

Ok, then lets go and do a few more WOT passes and bring it back, wait about 3 or 4 seconds and then pinch the line... if it stalls real quick like right away then it is too lean. Another way to tell when is too lean is after a long opass at WOT the car emits a high pitch sound like it is hanging in there accelerated and then after 2 or 3 seconds it comes back down.

If you are not sure about the lean or rich; then just do one of the two, close the needle or open the needle for about one to two full turns and depending if you see progress or not then you know you are going the right direction.


It seems you dont have a temp gun, or try the spit test on the crown or just simply touch it.


The main key is to touch the crown and try to see how temperature fluctuates. Temperatures that spike dramatically are signs of a lean mixture. An engine that is warm to the touch even after many WOT passes means it is only at 50% power or too rich.

Pay attention to the sounds, intermittent sounds after WOT means lean, inconsistent idling and a high and low pitch means lean. All of this may seem confusing; you will see be very patient once you get it dialed its going to be a piece of cake and the tuner of the park for everybody else. During all this learning process dont let the engine cook; very hot temperatures on a barely broken in engine is a recipe for disaster.