This one is going to be a trip. Tuning. Every new comer has to go through this one day when we're trying to squeeze out more power. I hope this will be a resource to getting started, trouble shooting, and learning your way around Ecuflash. I'll try to touch on points for NA & FI.

Disclaimer: I have used the method outlined below successfully to tune my car. I am an amateur and not a professional. If you use this method then you accept full responsibility for whatever damage you do to your car. If you are concerned about voided warranty and damage to your car, you are better off leaving your car without any modifications to the ECU.

I am copying this essay because I often see a lot of request from Lancer owners on how to begin tuning, what equipment is needed for accurate tuning, what approach should I take to tuning, etc….

Aside from the equipment and approach, the two most important elements to have are PASSION and TIME. If you want to learn how to tune an Evo simply to make money out of tuning, then IMO you will suck at it. Passion should come first and making money out of tuning is a distant second. If you do not enjoy tuning, then do not do it. You will end up very frustrated and maybe mess up your Evo.

The second important element to learning how to tune is TIME. You must read a lot and test a lot. The most important place to visit and read is the Ecuflash forum on Evom. This is the hub for Ecuflash tuning. I spend hours reading posts from knowledgeable people like Senate, roadspike, steven, 03Lances, touring bubble, etc…. Some of the stuff that I read is highly technical to me. I get confused, so I read and re-read and read again. Sometimes I read threads three to four times before the concepts sink in. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. The folks on that forum are very helpful. If you are polite and have done your reading prior to asking your question, then they will help you.

When you first start reading you will be confused. The learning curve is steep and the task seems daunting. There is simply too much to read. Some of the posts are top notch and some are pure crap. You will have to figure out which posts to believe in. Use the above mentioned posters’ names as your guide. But do NOT give up, persevere. You CAN do it. It is NOT hard to tune your own Lancer. It is not black magic or rocket science. Some pro-tuners want you to think it is, so you will not do it on your own. I was in your shoes once. I thought that tuning was some voodoo/rocket science affair.

If you have PASSION and TIME, then the next step is to get the best possible equipment that you can afford. So what will you need?

 

A few things to get started.

The definition for your ECU

• Thanks to Senate for being so gdlk.

Big maps. (Only if you're auto NA/FI, NA manual, or Want speed density)

• Thanks to Roadspike for being so gdlk

A laptop

• XP or Windows 7 32 bit is best. Vista and 64 can get tricky.

ecuflash/OpenECU

• Here The tuning software is known as Ecuflash. It is for free. Be aware that some recent versions of the software have bugs in them and might not work on your lap top. I am still using version 1.29a because I do not want to deal with the possible bugs in later versions. Make sure your software works with your cable.

Tactrix Cable

• 1.3u is what you need. Thats what I have and a lot of other Lancer members have. Things can get tricky with other versions. This is your chance. Make sure your cable works with the openECU software/

evoscan

• This is what you're going to use to log your car and also view check engine codes. It uses the tactrix cable to log data from your ECU port. It also allows you to integrate data from your WBO2 with the data from your ECU port. It costs $25. It is a one time fee that entitles you to later updates of the software. It is very user friendly and easy to set-up. Very helpful.

Wideband

• There are many but just go with the AEM. Reason is this is the one most easy to hook to your notebook to log your AFR readings. Do not attempt to tune your Lancer if you do not have a WBO2 meter. Do not use the narrowband O2 sensor on the Lancer to tune the car. The NBO2 was not intended for tuning purposes. It is used for emissions and it is only accurate under stoichometeric conditions and even then it is barely accurate. Tuning with a NBO2 was used back in the DSM days when WBO2 were very expensive and no one could afford them.

1. So now that you have all the equipment and tools, what do you do next? First, you must install the WBO2 properly on your Lancer. DO NOT install the WBO2 sensor behind the Catalytic Converter. That will give you erroneous AFR readings. The best position to place the sensor is in the down pipe 2 inches before the flange in the three o’clock position on the passenger side. Do not place the sensor in any position below three o’clock. You do not want condensation to form on the sensor and destroy the sensor.
2. Second, you have to go out and log data from your Lancer. You must log, log, and log some more. Log in 3rd gear. Do WOT runs from 2500 rpm all the way to 7500 rpm. Only log the essential data with Evoscan. Logging all the data from your ECU will slow your logger down. The essentials include: AFR, timing, load, TPS, RPM, Knock, coolant temp, IAT, injector pulse width, and injector duty cycle. You must study and understand what the data means.
3. Third, download the rom image from your ECU using the tactrix cable and Ecuflash. Save the image to your lap top. Then make a back up copy. Then another to your flash drive. You will miss it when its gone and cant get it back.

 

To start grasping ECUFlash and gettin gfamiliar with what youre working with a lot of us found these vidoes useful. They cover a lot of the basic things and more. Apparantley there are 16 of them. Grab some popcorn and get to it.

 

What values should you be looking at. Check out these values. Like a afr, timing latency.

Timing

AFR

• AFR refers to how many parts of air are mixed with how many parts of fuel. So an 11:1 AFR means that 11 parts of air are being mixed with 1 part of fuel to create the air/fuel mixture. When your Evo is at idle or when your Evo is at cruising speeds your AFR is around 14.5-14.7:1. This is known as stoichometric or stoich for short. It has been found that the 14.7:1 mixture produces the least amount of emissions. And since cars spend 90% of their time at idle/cruise then that is the number that the manufacturers use to reduce the emissions on their car. It is worth noting that the 14.7:1 AFR does not produce the best gas mileage. The best gas mileage is produced are 15.2:1 AFR.
  
  What AFR produces the best power for gasoline? Gasoline gives the best power when it burns at an AFR of 12.5:1. This is regardless of whether the car is normally aspirated, turbocharged, or supercharged. Some modern turbocharged engines with direct fuel injection can run that lean during WOT operation. The turbocharged Ecotec in the Solstice GXP is such an engine. That engine can boost up to 18 psi, yet it runs at 14:1 AFR at 3500 rpm and tapers down the AFR to 12.5:1 by redline.
  
  So can I run my Lancer at 12.5:1 AFR? NO you cannot and should not. Lancers do not have direct fuel injection, and the combustion chamber is not designed to handle such a lean AFR.
  
  So why tune the AFR last? Heres your reason.
  
  Increasing the boost will also impact your AFR. Why? The higher the boost the higher the load cell that the car will hit in the fuel map. Mitsubishi designed the fuel map to become richer the higher the load cells. So when you up the boost you will hit those higher load cells and the car will run richer. If you tuned your AFR before your boost, then you will have to do it again after you increase the boost. Why do things twice?
  
  Below is a stock Lancer fuel map. You will note that the numbers in the load cells decrease as the load cell increase, i.e., the car becomes richer. It is very important to note that the numbers in the load cells of the fuel map are NOT actual AFR numbers that you will log with a WBO2. Under no condition should you enter the AFR that you logged with your wideband into the fuel map. They are just numbers. The higher the number, the leaner the AFR, and the lower the number the richer the AFR.

Knock

• When tuning your Lancer it is advisable to tune timing, fuel, and boost w/o triggering more than 1-2 occasional counts of knock, three at the most. We know for a fact that 3 knock counts pull 1* of timing. There have also been occasions when 1 knock count pulls 1* of timing. People usually tune for 1 to 2 occasional and sporadic counts of knock, three at most. Anything above that is unacceptable. Here is a take on knock: 1. All cars knock on occasion. If you logged your Lancer and it that knocked the first log and then gave me three knock free WOT runs. Generally speaking, the first WOT log that you do tends to be knock prone. You have to do at least three back-to-back logs to make sure that knock is consistent. I do not worry about an occasional log that has knock it. If the knock is transient and does not repeat, I usually ignore it. 2. Knock is a problem when it is consistent and repetitive, i.e., it happens every log and at the same point in the rpm range. That is the kind of knock to worry about and work hard to eliminate.

 

 

As you can see timing is a lot different.

 

This thing can throw fits when it wants to and can be difficult to find out what's going on. Here are some common problems and how to fix.

 

Sticky! :-)

 

thanks for sharing