tuning? explain

[94dc2tegz]

Hey all,
Been here for a little bit but I have no bloody clue about tuning and it's starting to annoy me. Its like one of those thing that everyone kinda knows about and doesn't really talk about or when they do it's all advanced and all in their technical jargon and your just sitting there going... yaarrr....

Basically, after fitting on bolt-ons best thing u can do is a 'tune' and that fixes up the low end power cuz of ur free flowing system. Anyways, wtf is a tune and how does it compare to ur ecu slowly learning the new settings? Will a tune 'detune' itself? And do you goto special racing shops for this kind of tune or all those random 'tune up' shops can do it? I duno! If you think this is confusing and annoying these are the questions that have been flying around my head!

Also as a final note, with this hondata and all those things... what are these? I'm assuming that they are like better than 'just a tune'?

Anyone interested to sit me down and explain these to me? No need for patronization or just search cuz that just gives me a whole bunch stuff that I dont need. So yeah, be a sport will ya.

[freewilly]

well tuning is just referring to the process where you get someone to go through what you have on your stock settings and tweak them and fiddle around with them so you can obtain better air:fuel ratio/rev harder/ignition mapping...blah blah blah...
basically it redesigns your computer 2 work best with the mods you have placed on your car...it takes time and time = $$$

hope that helped...im noob 2....

[94dc2tegz]

well tuning is just referring to the process where you get someone to go through what you have on your stock settings and tweak them and fiddle around with them so you can obtain better air:fuel ratio/rev harder/ignition mapping...blah blah blah...
basically it redesigns your computer 2 work best with the mods you have placed on your car...it takes time and time = $$$

hope that helped...im noob 2....

Alright fair enough. But with ecu's learning all the time how does it stay like that and why doesnt ur ecu do this automatically?

[Sydsyd]

stock ECUs can only be tuned to a certain extent...more than that, u'll need aftermarket ECUs like Hondata etc.

[94dc2tegz]

Alright, so with i/h/e bolt-ons. Would a stock ecu tune be the best as i assume aftermarkets ones would be for cams and what not. And also be a hella lot more $$$

[aaronng]

stock ECUs can only be tuned to a certain extent...more than that, u'll need aftermarket ECUs like Hondata etc.

You can't tune a stock ECU. At the very least, you need a VAFCii

[94dc2tegz]

remember... i duno wtf all this jargon is... VAFCii???
c'mon dudes... expand a bit.

[XP02ED]

do a google search for VAFC 2

his trying to say.. You need to buy an aftermarket ECU or 3rd party piggy back ECU to be able to tune antyhing.. correct me if im wrong

[Zdster]

I think a few things need to be clarified.

When a car comes straight from the factory, it comes with an oem ecu designed for your specific car. Inside the ecu is a 'map' that controls the engines aspects, like the amount of air to fuel (air/fuel ratios). The stock 'map' also takes into consideration things like quality of fuel etc.

Two things need to be noted from this. Firstly, even though every engine is technically the same (ie a d16 or b18 etc) they are all slightly different (slight differences in boring, pistons, wear in etc etc). As such you can 'tune' a stock car (as in fiddle/alter the stock 'map' of a car and experience extra power). Its important to note that engines need to operate within certain parameters and the ecu/'map' assists with this. Tuning allows the owner to focus these parameters to meet certain goals (ie increase power or fuel consumption etc).

The second thing that is important to note, is that while a stock ecu does some 'learning' it is not a capable of being altered - a separate 'tuneable' ecu is required where the maps can be changed.

Engine/car manufacturers also add in some form of idiot proofing into their ecus. Even though some cars are specifically designed to run 98 ron fuel, the manufacturers know that someone out there will put 92 or 95 petrol in their car. If they didnt add in the idiot proofing and someone did this then their engine could potentially implode and as such they make sure the ecu and therefore the engine is flexible through the map design. Now if you know that you will never run anything but premium unleaded you can remove the safegaurding from the maps and potentially get more power.

[aaronng]

Also as a final note, with this hondata and all those things... what are these? I'm assuming that they are like better than 'just a tune'?

Anyone interested to sit me down and explain these to me? No need for patronization or just search cuz that just gives me a whole bunch stuff that I dont need. So yeah, be a sport will ya.

What the ECU does is have pre-set settings for fuel tables, ignition mapping, VTEC point (if it is a VTEC engine) and in the new engines, VTC (intake cam phasing). It's all nice and good for a stock engine, but when you do I/H/E and/or cams, these settings are not optimum for your setup anymore because you will be flowing a larger amount of air compared to stock.

A tune is altering those tables and maps to suit your engine. To achieve that, you use different equipment. You have basic interceptors like VAFCii which can only alter fuel mapping and VTEC point, more complex interceptors like a Unichip which can alter ignition timing as well. Because interceptors intercept the signal, alter it and pass it on to the ECU, the ECU can alter its own fuel trim and cause it to not be fully optimised after long periods. The tune DOES NOT go back to stock, but your tune won't be the same as it was before.

To avoid the ECU altering the fuel trim, you can get piggybacks (they take over the engine management while leaving your stock ECU to run your instruments), ECU chipping (Hondata S100, S200, S300, K100, Kpro) or a standalone (PowerFC). Some of these ECUs also allow multiple tables and maps that you can switch between as required based on engine conditions.

But..... in the end, all this hardware does NOTHING for your tune if you don't have a good tuner. Choose your tuner first, then choose your hardware based on what your tuner is familiar with.

[Zdster]

remember... i duno wtf all this jargon is... VAFCii???
c'mon dudes... expand a bit.

A VAFC is a product produced by Apexi that allows you to tune your engine.

[94dc2tegz]

THAAAAAAAAAAAAAANK YOU AARONG!
finally i have some clarity. cheers to everyone else too
I did to a google on VAFC 2 and that helped alot too.

I notice your from melb, aarong. Any tuners u care to rec? I figure driving around and looking for the biggest, most colourful and most gangster "EXHAUST PRO RACER" sign is a bad idea when choosing an tuner shop. Btw, are these the same as an exhaust shop?