Tuning and tuning mistakes
Tuning your car for performance is a delicate art and you need to perform one step at a time. You should exercise a fair amount of restraint by not jumping steps.
The first point you ought to check is the Engine. You should data-log the air/fuel ratio when the engine is running okay in stock trim. It is important for your ECU’s memory to be having the right data logged in. The right data is the one that reflects the real state of the car and this makes life easy for you as far as tuning your car is concerned. In any case, one thing you can be pretty sure is that it would be virtually impossible to tune your car with an improper data in the ECU’s memory. Therefore please ensure that the ECU has the right data logged in.
Starting with a plain engine is always better. Generally it is preferred to first tackle the intake, and then the exhaust, before doing any other modifications.
You should build on the performance by deciding at the outset:- What you want to achieve in the medium and long term from your car
- What all you will require to achieve it
- How you should plan and execute by avoiding mistakes generally people make while taking up tuning
- How to arrive at an optimum balance between your desires and what can realistically be achieved in your car.
Once you have decided, what your aim is, for medium or long term then you should try to pursue an integrated approach so that you need to make just one intervention on the engine. The distinct advantage an integrated approach offers is that, you know your total requirement of parts and components at one go. This allows you to plan for compatibility of all parts that you plan to replace at any point of time. No doubt, this sort of compatibility of the parts with one another ensures the whole system to work in unison. The lesson to learn is not to source your parts on piece meal basis from an assortment of vendors. You need to go in for integrated packages that are available in the market. This is the best way to avoid getting into the trouble of landing up with incompatible parts leading to dismal failure in performance terms. A common mistake observed is to end up with a wrong combination of piston, cams, and heads.
The next point in the recommendation for tuning is to look at your car as a whole when you think of tuning it for performance. Do not be obsessed with trying to jack up power without paying attention to the other parameters that also need to be looked into and be able to be enhanced, whenever you attempt to enhance power.
Whenever you intend to increase the power you will have to check and examine whether the other vital parts like brakes, suspension, and tires can provide support for the proposed power enhancement. All these systems will have to guarantee good handling and driving safety.
Now that you have paid heed to the above, One vital point that you should remember is to stick to your decision of integrated approach and integrated package. At no time abort or deviate from these half way due to a sudden change of mind. Start only when you have thought of all pros and cons. Once you start off take thing to their logical conclusion as planned. Changing track halfway could spell disaster both for your car and your wallet.
Then you come to the question of deciding how much you should spend. While tuning for performance enhancement cannot be a zero cost proposition, at the same time, you ought to definitely have an idea of what cost is the right one. Typical cost data can be collected from various tuners to examine the trend. If you go in for a complete treatment for the engine, brakes and suspension, typical amounts could range from a minimum of $500 to more than $4000. For instance to give you a fair idea of costs, entry-level packages on Mitsubishi Evo, which is made good for about a 335hp at stock boost can go up to $2400.
On the case of dyno time, the cost will depend much on the type of dyno. You could find that the cost ranges anything from $90 to $125 for several pulls. Similarly an indicative price for Tuning on the road with an air/fuel meter can be around $100/hour.
The cost of activities such as reprogramming of your car's ECU would be depend on the type of computer and the time it demands to be set right. In any case computer reprogramming is a time consuming activity. A stand-alone unit takes about eight hours of programming time, which can run as high as $250 to $350 per hour. By comparison, a piggyback module would require only an hour or two. In fact you can very well opt for the latter not only because it is simple but it is cost effective too.- You could benefit a lot by following some general power tuning tips:For the best results do your modifications in this order: Tyres, Air Filter, Exhaust, Brakes Cams, Sport Computer/ Re-chip NoS Kit, Adding / Up rating a Turbo Head Gas Flowed and Ported Bottom end Engine Work.
- Best modification is the one that allows you to enjoy driving your car the most, both on the daily regular run drive to work as well as during track days.
- Fuel being regulated by a pressurize valve at the engine end, more fuel would generally mean more power but you also need more air too. Your car should be tuned for an appropriate fuel air ratio. This can be achieved by incorporating a High-pressure fuel regulator. But it is equally important that High pressure fuel regulators should be fitted by a specialist who can tune the engine to give the best fuel to air mix for your driving style.
- High-octane fuel burns more efficiently as compared to a lower octane fuel. This change to high octane can actually cause detonation effectively if your car has a high performance engine. While in Japan their cars typically use 100 Ron fuel, in the UK 98RON is available with brands Shell Optimax/ Bp Ultimate. Additives can help increase the octane of the fuel.
- A Look up of exhaust pipe gives a fair indication of the engine condition:
- Black oily soot – bad, the engine is probably burning oil and running too rich adjust oil grade used and check the injectors/carburetor settings. Herein Below are some typical examples of what you may find and what it means:
- Grayish or white soot – very clean burning engine - although the mixture could be a little too lean (a long journey can really benefit an engine if you have a good fuel and will produce a grey soot in the exhaust.)
- Dark grey to black dusty soot – fairly normal and what most car owners should aim for. Removing the spark plugs will also tell you a lot about the condition of the engine including weather the plugs are too cold/hot or there is an ignition problem and the plugs can look very different from cylinder to cylinder (so check them all) – consult a workshop manual for details of diagnosing an engines condition from the plugs.
The vital question of “how do you make a car go faster?” has to be qualified by “Aside from pushing the accelerator pedal harder” because by pushing the accelerator pedal anyone can do it.
The internal combustion engine works, on the principle of suck, bang, blow. Air is drawn in to the engine (this is the suck stage) then this air is mixed with Fuel and compressed followed by a bright sparking made on this fuel air mixture. A Bang is what results and all the compressed energy is released which forces the air out of the engine along the exhaust. This is the Blow stage.
Do not burn your wallet without rhyme or reason on a car and end up in making it a fuel-o-loc or fuel-gulping monster. Do run through these simple suggestions and follow them to take assistance on for deciding which modifications to make. Going through this guide will not only tell you about the modifications you can do but also give you a realistic opinion of how much performance enhancement can be achieved as a result of the modifications.
DISCLAIMER: The contents of this article are not necessarily the official views of, nor endorsed by, the owner of HondaClub(com). 
10-25-2006, 08:19 PM
Tuning and tuning mistakes
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