Tuning Guide

[ming spec]

hi everyone

just wondering if there are any good books or websites out there that people have used that are great for learning everything about tuning. wanting to learn more the theory behind it all. i do know some basics but want to be more informed when talking to my tuner. i currently have a hks pro v, so unfortunately i cant do any tuning myself but still want to know more.

also are there any good threads on this site specific for tuning rb26.

cheers

ben

[Guilt-Toy]

unfortunatly there is no guides for dummys or "how to tune" documents. you have to pretty much work it out yourself, and don't bother asking other tuners because they seem to like to keep what they know to themself's for some reason.

so this is what you need,

aftermarket ecu thats tunable with laptop

laptop

12v to 240v inverter

wideband afr setup

and alot of balls because if you stuff up then you have a broken engine.

good luck

[bozodos]

Out of interest, did you ever break a motor or anything of the like Guilt Toy, or did you have someone more experienced to mentor you?

[Guilt-Toy]

in my history of tuning i have only had 2 motors with issues, they were both built by the same dodgy builder. One of them spun a bearing about 6 months after the tune and the other had bearing issues after being on the dyno for around 20 minutes or so due to oil issues.

I have a good friend who is a tuner, and without him there is no way i would know what i know today and he always pointed me in the right direction to learn, 90% of the time he would not give me answers but give me tips on how to find the answer because you do not learn when someone tells you all the answers.

[Roy]

Look up the Motec website and go to one of theoir training seminars for techs using their ECU. What you learn will carry over to other ECUs. LOL i love how some tuners show have done this course run around saying they are Motec tuners, implying that they once worked for Motec

[Messiah]

Excellent thread, i've been considering the same thing myself, just picked up a datalogit for my pfc so thats a start... although i didnt thinkabout the inverter for the laptop... i guess i will need a few hours of battery to do things properly.

As far as the other kit you mentioned GT are there any specific bits of kit you'd recommend. I noticed you seemed pretty happy with the gizzmo knock amp thing (cant recall its name).

Would you say one of these is a must. Also if i'm looking to consider the emmisions side of things (lets say i wanted to do an emissions friendly tune for if i get epa'd) do you have any thinoughts or suggestions on what to look at in that area.

Much like you mentioned i'm looking for guidance as opposed to outright answers. I'd much prefer to understand what i'm doing as opposed to doing it because someone told me to.

Someone mentioned the motec stuff above (courses knowledge base etc) does anyone else have any other resources they care to share.

I know that this or last months HPI magazine had some tech articles on tuning.

[TiTAN]

you will find the gizzmo Kmon is a lot more expensive than you think.

[Messiah]

yeah i know things like that arent cheap. but i prefer to spend the cash in the right place and learn to do things properly.

I figure that if i'm willing to risk my engine learning least i can do is spend some cash on some kit to help me detect bad things.

[MrStabby]

Linked from the Nistune site:

http://www.plmsdevelopments.com/files/niss...ning_basics.pdf

[Guilt-Toy]

Gizzmo K-mon costs about $1200 retail. I suggest you buy a Techedge AFR meter first, www.wb02.com.

You don't even know how to tune yet and your talking about passing emissons test? you need to learn how to crawl before you can run a marathon mate.

After you have tuned about 20 or 30 cars then you should try and work out how to get into the advanced stuff otherwise you will never get anywhere.

Good luck with it.

[Messiah]

Gizzmo K-mon costs about $1200 retail. I suggest you buy a Techedge AFR meter first, www.wb02.com.

You don't even know how to tune yet and your talking about passing emissons test? you need to learn how to crawl before you can run a marathon mate.

After you have tuned about 20 or 30 cars then you should try and work out how to get into the advanced stuff otherwise you will never get anywhere.

Good luck with it.

Yeah thats not cheap at all... and they dont have it in the colour i like... AFR it is then .

As far as basic compared to advanced tuning tasks go, i understand that tuning to a goal, be it max power or lower emissions isnt as simple as sit down plug in and away you go. But i normally find that i learn best by applying what i'm learning, can you suggest any tasks that would be good when tuning purely for the sake of learning? it seems that without a dyno tuning for power isnt sane and that basing the results on seat of your pants feeling isnt all that empirical. Would detuning for different fuels be classified as a big job eg down to a safe tune for 95 octane then back to a safe tune for 98??

What were the milestones you set yourself when it came to learning???

Edited March 25, 2009 by Messiah

[ming spec]

Linked from the Nistune site:

http://www.plmsdevelopments.com/files/niss...ning_basics.pdf

looks like a good pdf.. ill sit down tonight and have a read.

by the sounds of things if i want to learn more ill have to continue to pick the brains of my tuner.

[Guilt-Toy]

have a look at this thread, http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Ro...d+tune+power+fc

that was when i first started, i just wanted to learn how to tune my own car to save on tuning costs and it just exploded to levels that i never even thought about reaching.

[Messiah]

^^^^ Good thread.

Heh so you never did write the pfc tuning guide eh?? oh well no probs... looks the the entire thread became it.

[SECURITY]

good reading here:

http://www.pumaracing.co.uk/

http://www.sdsefi.com/techform.htm

[VB-]

how much do you know? if given a wideband right now, and you went out to start tuning, what would you do?

[SATO GTS]

Don't be afraid to ask question if the time is right cause sometimes you may find that you know something that a so called " tuner "doesnt know.

I'm with Guilt-toy aswell, nothing beat's going out and learning yourself

[govich]

http://www.pitstop.net.au/view/products/pa...uery/plu/19158/

That book is quite a decent start. IMHO you need to figure out in your head how an engine works (not just piston goes up and down) and the tuning process is implied.

[Guilt-Toy]

the first task for you mate will be to re-set your power fc. and re-tune it completly from scratch without blowing it up.

If you succeed then do mods to your car and re-tune to suit. I only suggest playing with your own car before you start tuning other cars

[Messiah]

Cheers GT, that sounds like a plan to me. I can always save the current tune to the laptop anyway if i need to go back to a known safe point.

Regarding safety margins, is the knock meter on the pfc up to scratch when it comes to tuning and can its reading be trusted?

From reading, most guides seem to say "alter timing and fuel until knock is detected and back off 3 degrees or so " or something similar. If the pfc's knock meter is rudimentary at best i'm worried that by the time i pick up that its knocking the damage is already done... even if it is below say 20.