Dyno Tuning Advantages?

[phat_allen]

Hey guys,

Just bought my stagea about 3 weeks ago. Im slowly starting to do some of the regular mods (exhaust, boost control, bov, air filter, you know the low budget stuff)

After i get all the mods done, whats the advantage to taking down my local dyno shop and getting it dyno tuned with the stock ecu running gear?

Now i know this may be a stupid question but all my tuning experiance has been on carburated commodore 6s and 8s, and this is my first car (apart from my VL) that has had an ecu lol. The method of tuning i used for them was flog the thing down the road and get the screwdriver out to change mixures until she ran sweet.

Also what would be an average price for a dyno tune?

Thanks Guys,

Phat

[wolverine]

barring setting base timing there is little tuning you can do to your car when standard. so dyno time will really only give you a power figure, tractive effort, AFR's and a print of where boost comes on (if you ask for some or all these things).

however, if you buy some sort of engine management eg. SAFC or right through to full engine management the dyno makes tuning easier as you effectively have a rolling road, no speed limits and relatively controlled environment.

cost depends on time on the dyno. that could be around $100-150/hr.

if you are on a budget looking at improving your intercooler and SAFC are probably the next steps.

leave the factory BOV as there will be nothing wrong with it. if you bought after-market...sell it/get refund.

[Duncan]

A quick run on a dyno is a great idea to make sure there are no problems. Most runs at club dyno cdays etc are only about $50 so its a cheap insurance.

they can help diagnose dying fuel pump, dirty injectors, missfire problems etc.

[pixel8r]

If you're getting (or have already fitted) a bigger exhaust and planning on raising the boost a bit, your car will probably run quite rich (they already run quite rich from the factory and with these mods the ecu will try to counter any increase in airflow etc by dumping more fuel than necessary into the mix.

Probably the best option is to get the Apexi SAFC2 - you may find them 2nd hand on this forum or off ebay for something around $250-300ish. These can be used to tune your Air/Fuel ratios on a dyno, giving you more midrange power and possibly more top end power and better fuel economy, depending on how rich its running now and also how you drive. It will allow you to run 10-11 psi easily without worrying about boost cut or running rich/lean etc.

They are very effective and well worth the money Helps to get the most from your other mods.

Fitting a 3" free flowing exhaust will likely raise your boost level a bit, and bumping it up to 10-11psi with just the stock ecu may see you running into R&R (rich and retard) problems, which is where the ecu detects "too much" airflow etc and uses a "failsafe" fuel mapping to protect your engine. You'll know if its doing this cos it just all of a sudden loses power and in some cases you may find it will cut ignition briefly during hard acceleration. I've experienced both and its unmistakeable. An SAFC will be your easiest option for getting around this.