Results from Reno tuning weekend
 

I made another trip to Reno this weekend to tune some cars at elevation. Cody was kind enough to let me stay at his place again and suggested that I post some results on SECCS.

So here it is...

06 WRX, FP TD05-18g, STI TMIC, Walbro, K&N Typhoon, ScoobySport DP, Borla Hush, MBC, AP V2
This car had some fueling inconsistency that led me to believe there is a variable leak. As a result, a/f was tuned very conservatively until the customer fixes the leak and we can re-tune. The car made as much as 265whp and 300ft-lbs during tuning with appropriate AFR's. Here is the road dyno plot:

http://www.eqtuning.com/dynos/reno/mikew06wrx91.png

This is another 06 WRX with VF34, Blitz FMIC, Perrin short ram intake, walbro, Blitz UP, DP, and headers.
This car had some issues with the FMIC couplers popping off and tearing the first day. Then the customer fixed the issues and came back on Sunday to finish up the tune. The car ran very well but I'm personally not a fan of a FMIC with this size turbo. While the plot doesn't show much additional lag, there is definitely a significant hit in overall response with the FMIC/header combo.

Here is the plot:
http://www.eqtuning.com/dynos/reno/justinm06wrx91.png

Now on to some bit turbo STI's ;).
This is an 06 STI with an SR56 turbo, PE850cc injectors, walbro, APS FMIC with a Perrin blow-through MAF pipe adapted to fit, Catless TBE, EL headers and Hallman MBC. After getting a nice stable idle, we spent about 3 hours tuning this car on 91 Octane. Its running a peak of 21psi tapering off to about 17psi by redline. The car was set up well and pulled hard, but I believe the wastegate actuator needs to be adjusted to help spoolup and to allow the turbo to hold more boost to redline. This is a very large turbo but it would not go over 21psi no matter what and there was an unusual amount of lag between gears. This generally suggests that the IWG is remaining slightly open at all times. Next time the customer will fix the wastegate tensioning and we'll see what this beast can do on some race gas ;)

http://www.eqtuning.com/dynos/reno/noe06sti91.png

-- Ed

This is an 05 STI that I personally had a big hand in setting up. At the moment this car has an FP Green 8cm turbo, Deatschwerks 850cc injectors (soon to be released), walbro, APS TMIC, APS inlet pipe, APS 70mm CAI, Hallman MBC, Perrin EL headers, Catless TBE, Tial 44mm EWG, AP V2.

The idea with this car was to size the turbo to make great power on race gas even at elevation while retaining as much response as possible. This car was a blast to tune and drive. The combination of the Deatschwerks injectors and APS CAI allowed me to get a completely stable stock-like idle at 750 RPM with absolutely no lumpiness or RPM hunting. This is very rare for 850cc injectors and a big MAF intake. Overall the car tuned easily and just kept making power. In fact we didn't see a single knock event during the entire race gas tune but decided to leave it as is for now because the power delivery was just amazing and the car was extremely consistent and very fast.

Please note that this car was tuned fairly late at night, so ambient temps were a bit cooler (70-75F).
Here is the 91 Octane map at 20psi peak:
http://www.eqtuning.com/dynos/reno/jm05sti91.png

And here is the C16 map at 25psi peak:
http://www.eqtuning.com/dynos/reno/jm05sti116.png

While the torque peak is relatively late in the RPM range, it really doesn't portray how responsive this setup is. With the TMIC and this turbo, throttle response above 4k RPM is excellent and with the STI's gearing, its very easy to keep the car in the nice meaty, responsive power band. There is very little lag actual throttle lag and absolutely no lag when shifting hard between gears. On 91 Octane the car pulls very well and is extremely fun to drive. The C16 map starts getting a bit scary. Rowing through the gears, the car kicks hard in 1st gear, lights up second gear with a quick shift and then chirps 3rd gear. 1st-4th are over before you know it and 5th just nails your into the seat. This is truly one of the most fun cars I've driven (in terms of power) and I'm very impressed that we could get this type of performance at 4000ft. above sea level.

Well that's it for now. This is the 3rd tuning trip I've made to Reno and I'm constantly learning new things about tuning at altitude. Its really takes a different approach to optimize performance and safety in the thinner air and there is just no way to get these types of results from a tune performed at sea level. On the flip side, I always inform such customers that I would like to at least datalog and examine the tune at sea level before they drive aggressively on it down here.

Any and all comments are welcome and Ill try to answer any questions. So far I've been coming up to Reno every 1-2 months and I'll be happy to make more trips if there is interest.

Thanks
-- Ed

I may be interested in getting my car tuned, possibly getting a map for race gas and a 91 map.

Ed, you still don't have access to Ecutek software, correct?

Correct, as of about 2 years ago, I don't offer Ecutek tuning.

Thanks
-- Ed

Wait, you were up here tuning and didn't hit up RFR? $110 gets you 4 hours of track time, and I was the only car out there on Sunday datalogging my Hydra and swapping 20 minute sessions with a group of 3 bikes.

That's about 8 times cheaper than the dyno, plus you get to drive around the track, and none of that pesky illegal speeding (no I'm not trying to rehash that old argument, just pointing out how cheap the track actually is).

Ed, next time you're up, you might want to check www.reno-fernleyraceway.com for their schedule and ask them for a group discount at a test-n-tune day if you bring 5 or 10 folks out for tuning laps.

I wasn't aware of a deal like that so its definitely something to think about. I'd be happy to do tuning on a track if the customer is willing to pay for it. The only issue I see is being out there for 20 minutes at a time would not make for a very efficient use of tuning time and would add complexity to the already somewhat hectic day. So far none of my customers have expressed the desire to tune on a track, but if someone does I'd be happy to explore that option. It would certainly be nice to have the comfort of a closed track, although we're always very careful about the roads and areas we use for road tuning and thankfully that hasn't been an issue to date.

Thanks
-- Ed

Correction: you were tuning at 5K+ ft, not 4K. :)

The sessions are 20 minutes long assuming there are multiple groups there. When I was at the track Sunday morning, I could go out whenever I wanted since I was literally the only one there for TnT. When the bikes showed up around noon, we split into 20 minute sessions.

I would guess if you told the track you've got 5 people or something, you could work out a tuning schedule where you get a block of time for each car.

Plus! You're at the track!!!!!!!111oneone1uno1! :banana:

What are the rules on days like that?

IBnospinningoffthetrack :lol:

The rules are really lax... in fact, I'm not sure what sort of safety folks are on-hand, but the driving school is there operating in the infield of the track. However, there are no flaggers... so, you're right: don't go off. I don't push it at all at a TnT except for pulls down the front straight. But, it's still safer than the street since you're not out in the middle of the desert alone or anything.

That would definitely be nice. I assume it would be $110/car?

$110 is their current price for a "half-day" of test-n-tune for one car. That's four hours of track time if no bikes show up that need their own run-group. I think a full day is like $175 or something... their prices should be on their website, but they're not always super quick at keep it up-to-date.

It's likely that if the track isn't busy, you can schedule with them for a better price, and ensure you have time blocked out in a way that's beneficial to tuning.

I wonder if I can arrange something considering I'll only have one car out at a time. I doubt most customers will want to tack on $110 to the tune price. If its more like $30-50 it would be much more realistic.

-- Ed

the kid(Justin) who had the fmic blowing off issues came over tonight to B.S. about his car and I was wondering, are the hp/tq numbers crank or to the wheels?

Wheels (comparable to most Mustang Dynos). But don't forget how elevation effects power. You can't really compare the numbers to those generated at sea level...at least not at a 1:1 ratio. I only make 205whp or something like that up here (stage 2)...no idea what I make at sea level...maybe 220.

Just a little update... the FP Green car that did 387whp on C16 went to the track and consistently trapped 120-121mph in 80F weather! I was even shocked at that trap speed considering the elevation!

On another note, I'm starting to plan my next trip to Reno. Is there any interest from this group?

-- Ed

What track?

Reno-Fernley

That IS fast! RFR's 1/4 is uphill, so I've been told.

Im interested, hopefully should have a little cash in the bank