User-Tunable ACD Controller for 05-06 EVO? Anyone Interested?
 

Hi guys,
We've been toying around with the idea of bringing a product to market. So far, it's been a little pet project we've been working on for fun. We never thought of bringing it to market until now.

What we have is a device that allows you to dynamically change the locking characterstics of the 05 and 06 ACD system. This, in turn, changes the handling balance of the car in to, out of, and through a corner. Those who have driven both the 03-04 and 05-06 cars back-to-back know how differently they handle. Especially under trail-braking where the newer cars are harder to get loose during turn entry. This is because the ACD system has been designed to ensure maximum stabiilty while diving into a corner. Unfortunately, maximum stability doesn't always mean maximum performance. A lot of people try to get around this by installing things like rear sway bars, radical alignment, etc,. But the issue can be solved through modifying the ACD logic.

So what we have developed is a user-programmable device that allows you to drastically change the way the ACD performs. Do you want the car to be looser during turn entry, more neutral during steady-state cornering or actually over-steer a bit during the transition to turn exit? Well, that's what we can theoretically make it do. More so, we can change the ACD dynamics as a function of vehicle speed. This is especially cool since we can use it to adjust for unavoidable handling balance changes that occur as speed changes (due to aerodynamic/lift forces). Essentially, this system (if properly tuned) can allow the car to achieve the best of both worlds. Moreso, it allows the user to dial-in the kind of balance he/she wants out of the car. It will even hold two maps that you can toggle between on-the-fly (just like an XEDE). It will even be user programmable using XMAP (XEDE tuning software).

So the question is, should we take the effort to bring this to market? In other words, how many people would be interested in such a device? Price could be in the $800-900 range assuming there is enough demand and sufficient sales quanitities.

So rock the vote and let us know! Comments/Feedback is also appreciated :)

cool

Interested! {thumbup}

I'm surprised you even need to ask! Evo owners love to fiddle with their cars (engine management, adjustable coilovers,etc), one more thing to mess around with would be a no brainer. I'd buy it just because I"d like to mess around with something totally new.

Ok.. poll is now up. Vote!!!

PS. Could one of the mods move this thread to the Engine/Drivetrain forum? I'm guessing that would be a more appropriate forum for this poll. If not, feel free to leave it here.

if someone says no to this idea....they should be committed to a mental institution and have their head examined.

Would current Xede owners get any kind of a price break? Or is this system completely "outside of the box."

It's a completely different system so no thought of discounts to XEDE owners as of now. But we're looking into ways of possibly integrating the two units for some added benefit in the future. Anything is possible but nothing for sure yet.

whoever voted NO id like to find out why you voted no...out of curiousity

I think it would be a good idea. This weekend while auto-xing I was getting crappy results and I felt I was pushing the car as I normally would, then I realized I had the car in Gravel mode, switched it into tarmac and instantly dropped 3 seconds from my time.

I never realized that it would make that much of a difference.

How easy to tune would this acd box be for an average guy to use? What would be required to tune it?

YES

Tuners in Japan have been changing the ACD and AYC settings for awhile.

Just another thing that took forever for the US to get that Japan already had.

Dumb comment removed. NM

Now this would be useful {thumbup}

Just like any other driver aid the manufacturer has to choose the sensible compromise when programing a feature such as ACD. Unfortunately they have to consider the lowest common denominator when deciding how much rope to give us as far as vehicle nimbleness is concerned. You have to look no further than the too often "I totaled my EVO" threads (a certain "yellow school bus" jumps to mind as an excellent example).

That means for the responsible, track savvy, adult (Ron you getting this!?!) EVO owner can benefit from a more aggressive ACD programming. For all the reasons David mentioned, instead of spending big bucks on a rear bar and toe out in the rear (which all have inherent compromises) you can program the ACD to give you a much more nimble car at lower speeds (< say 70ish) and a stable car above it (and how stable is your choice). Usually when you get rid of the entry understeer you make the car more spin prone in transitions for example, you could program the ACD around it so you can literally have the best of both worlds. It's probably exactly what the :mitsu: engineers had in mind...until the lawyers got a hold of it!

David tell Shiv that I'd love to do the testing for the system and I think we could get some real gains out of it. It would also work for the drag racers on EVOm because we could lock the diff for them right on launch and throughout the run which would be worth some significant time (like they welded the center diff or put a spool in the car). I'm also sure that the track day crowd would love it as well as the SM autocrossers and the cheating stock class guys :lol:

Bring it on, my only problem is that I have an 03' :crap:

im thinking of all those that vote "yes", only about 20% will actually buy....i hope your taking that into account.:)

btw-if you did this for the neon, I would pay double your asking price:lol:

I would be in for this as long as price is reasonable