Tales from the Dyno - what is "tuning?"
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From: 2003 Evo VIII - Silver
Tales from the Dyno - what is "tuning?"
Today, at Pruven I was able to watch someone else tuning for a change, in this case a MOTEC tuner tuning a 20,000 stand alone system on a very expensive 1989 Aston Martin Le Mans Race Car AMR1. This sucker has no turbo but puts down high 600 whp dyno numbers on a all motor Calloway engineered Aston Martn V8 which was the loudest car I have ever heard
Just by the sound of the engine - (NO DATA LOG needed)
The tuner could hear with this ear it was "no right"
Further diagnosis - (spraying cans of break cleaner on the individual header pipes found a cold [dead] cylinder)
Compression test was done and a leak down test which showed the engine was still healthy
It was either spark or an injector
Final diagnosis was someone had put TOO cold a plug in gapped TOO tight
Dyno session aborted without touching a key on a lap top due to lack of new spark plugs
Lessons I learned :::
1 - Tuning well means being familair with how the particular engine is SUPPOSED to RUN and SOUND / FEEL and knowing when its NOT running well (experience)
2 - Being a good tuner means doing the R & D to find out how much power a particular car should be making in a given state of tune.
3 - Being a good tuiner means being able to quickly and accurately diagnose and repair engine troubles and differentiate HARDWEAR from SOFTWEAR issues
4 - Being a good tuner means being consistantly uncompromising in your work ethic and standard of excelence. Cutting corners is not allowed.
It was a great lesson to watch 7 master mechanics and tuners working on this car sorting out the problems and realizing that even on such a very ultra expensive race car the same basic principles apply as on any motor.
Just by the sound of the engine - (NO DATA LOG needed)
The tuner could hear with this ear it was "no right"
Further diagnosis - (spraying cans of break cleaner on the individual header pipes found a cold [dead] cylinder)
Compression test was done and a leak down test which showed the engine was still healthy
It was either spark or an injector
Final diagnosis was someone had put TOO cold a plug in gapped TOO tight
Dyno session aborted without touching a key on a lap top due to lack of new spark plugs
Lessons I learned :::
1 - Tuning well means being familair with how the particular engine is SUPPOSED to RUN and SOUND / FEEL and knowing when its NOT running well (experience)
2 - Being a good tuner means doing the R & D to find out how much power a particular car should be making in a given state of tune.
3 - Being a good tuiner means being able to quickly and accurately diagnose and repair engine troubles and differentiate HARDWEAR from SOFTWEAR issues
4 - Being a good tuner means being consistantly uncompromising in your work ethic and standard of excelence. Cutting corners is not allowed.
It was a great lesson to watch 7 master mechanics and tuners working on this car sorting out the problems and realizing that even on such a very ultra expensive race car the same basic principles apply as on any motor.
Last edited by DynoFlash; Jun 3, 2006 at 12:09 AM.
Originally Posted by DynoFlash
Today, at Pruven I was able to watch someone else tuning for a change, in this case a MOTEC tuner tuning a 20,000 stand alone system on a very expensive 1989 Aston Martin Le Mans Race Car AMR1. This sucker has no turbo but puts down high 600 whp dyno numbers on a all motor Calloway engineered Aston Martn V8 which was the loudest car I have ever heard
Just by the sound of the engine - (NO DATA LOG needed)
The tuner could hear with this ear it was "no right"
Further diagnosis - (spraying cans of break cleaner on the individual header pipes found a cold [dead] cylinder)
Compression test was done and a leak down test which showed the engine was still healthy
It was either spark or an injector
Final diagnosis was someone had put TOO cold a plug in gapped TOO tight
Dyno session aborted without touching a key on a lap top due to lack of new spark plugs
Lessons I learned :::
1 - Tuning well means being familair with how the particular engine is SUPPOSED to RUN and SOUND / FEEL and knowing when its NOT running well (experience)
2 - Being a good tuner means doing the R & D to find out how much power a particular car should be making in a given state of tune.
3 - Being a good tuiner means being able to quickly and accurately diagnose and repair engine troubles and differentiate HARDWEAR from SOFTWEAR issues
4 - Being a good tuner means being consistantly uncompromising in your work ethic and standard of excelence. Cutting corners is not allowed.
It was a great lesson to watch 7 mechanics and tuners working on this car sortying out the problems and realizing that even on such a very ultra expensive race car the same basic principles apply as on any motor.
Just by the sound of the engine - (NO DATA LOG needed)
The tuner could hear with this ear it was "no right"
Further diagnosis - (spraying cans of break cleaner on the individual header pipes found a cold [dead] cylinder)
Compression test was done and a leak down test which showed the engine was still healthy
It was either spark or an injector
Final diagnosis was someone had put TOO cold a plug in gapped TOO tight
Dyno session aborted without touching a key on a lap top due to lack of new spark plugs
Lessons I learned :::
1 - Tuning well means being familair with how the particular engine is SUPPOSED to RUN and SOUND / FEEL and knowing when its NOT running well (experience)
2 - Being a good tuner means doing the R & D to find out how much power a particular car should be making in a given state of tune.
3 - Being a good tuiner means being able to quickly and accurately diagnose and repair engine troubles and differentiate HARDWEAR from SOFTWEAR issues
4 - Being a good tuner means being consistantly uncompromising in your work ethic and standard of excelence. Cutting corners is not allowed.
It was a great lesson to watch 7 mechanics and tuners working on this car sortying out the problems and realizing that even on such a very ultra expensive race car the same basic principles apply as on any motor.
Its amazing at times what people can Hear, feal, or see at times. Al you do a great Job, Keep it up.
Originally Posted by DynoFlash
3 - Being a good tuiner means being able to quickly and accurately diagnose and repair engine troubles and differentiate HARDWEAR from SOFTWEAR issues
hehe im j/messin' w/ya Al
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i,ve had al tune my 03 3x and he tuned my(and every other ones) BR350 IX and never a hiccup out of them.He tuned my 03 3x because of upgrades not because there was any problems with the tune. My BR is the absolute best running car i,ve ever owned, and i,ve owned over 25 cars in my life so far and many were high performance cars. mostely american muscle but a couple imports too. His tunes are amazing,love him or hate him (LOL) he knows how to make an EVO run silky smooth powereful and safe! keep it up brother!,Danny
