After scanning today at wide open throttle I learned I am already getting around four to five degrees of knock retard. My engine is completely stock. This seems like a lot to me considering zero is what you want. Is this normal?

I was planning on dropping pulleys but the amount of KR has got me a bit cautious. Can I try and remedy this with some colder copper plugs and a colder t-stat (I have one somewhere) and a tune, or are there bigger things at fault here?

Unfortunately, in the world of boosted modding, one can only mod so far before he has to tune. And depending on how much further you go with mods(even smaller pulleys) you would probably need to tune for every season of the year just because of temperature. Which in this case, would warrant your own tuner. I never believed in those mail order tunes unless you are able to scan your own data and send it in with the PCM.
4-5* isn't too bad. If it happened from a standstill, TCS might have retarded your timing a tad to prevent wheel slip.

What are you using to scan it with?

You may need to start looking at some mods to help with KR. Ported manifolds or headers will help. A tune will also help. Cam or rockers are a good idea. An intercooler will really help. I do have one of those for sale if your interested.

What octane fuel are you running?

I second Roy'* question.

Also, if you are going to drop the pulley size you will definitely want a tune. These cars tend to run lean from the factory and once you add in 10% ethanol the stoichiometric point gets dropped even lower making you leaner and contributing to your KR. The PCM can only make up for so much..

91 and up. I always use the highest octane available to me.

I was using an aerofocre to scan.

I just wondereing what a "normal" reading would be? What numbers should I be seeing?

My car has never been tuned so i'll have to do that soon, any upstate new yorkers know a place or somebody that can tune? Im gonna change the sparkplugs and t-stat to see if that will help too.

Dan ill send you a PM.

Normal is 0 knock retard.

Before you spend time and money on this you should check your car over for anything that might rattle/bang/crash and create false knock. Knock detectors will pick this up and interpret it as engine knock.

If I may suggest before slapping in any more parts, please do as much research as you can before adding in more power adders. And your going to need more than a simple Aeroforce scan gauge to scan. More like a laptop. Believe me, when you start throwing in the bigger power parts, you need to scan.

And yes, I have a tuner myself.

I dont really wanna add much. Just what I have with a smaller puller and a good tune to go with it?

I guess you could get away with a smaller pulley without much worry. But you should really start paying attention to LTFT'*(Long Term Fuel Trims) and scan for KR.