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Car Tuning - Advice for Modified performance Cars
This car tuning guide is intended to assist you in deciding which mods to do and gives a realistic opinion of what the car will end up like and gives a common sense guide on the pitfalls to avoid and common mistakes. Track cars are rebuilt each time they are raced and they are set up for optimum conditions on the flat surface of the track.
We have to tune our cars to work for a whole year without a service. We run over potholes and speed bumps and contend with a variety of weather conditions and loads. With this in mind we need to target practical tuning mods that will cope with everyday driving and maintain reliability but also help you to get the maximum enjoyment from your car.
Tuning the cars engine for better MPG means reducing power.
"Tuning for Stingy people"
Tuning for economy. With the rising price of fuel one question Torquecars frequently gets asked is how can a car be tuned for maximum economy. Short of getting the family to push the car everywhere there is a little that can be done to improve fuel economy. First off you need to see if your car is operating within normal parameters. So get your makers stats out and work out if you are getting the right fuel consumption to start with. (Your driving habits and use of air conditioning may also be partly to blame so take the diving boot of the right foot and affix a helium balloon.)
Tuning Regular checks
Tyre pressures should also be checked as a 15psi drop in just one tyre can rob you of 2-4 mpg at slow urban speeds!!! This gets even worse if all 4 tyres are under inflated. Are all of the sensors (temp, airflow, Lambda, idle speed etc) working correctly? Less obvious but important none the less is to check the hoses in the engine bay for air loss - a vacuum loss can cause high idling and other combustion issues. You also need to ensure that the air filter is clean and in good condition. Roof racks and open windows (at speeds over 30 mph) will take another 5 mpg or so from your economy again depending on driving style and speeds.
Tuning tips
Now moving on to the tuning tips. When making a car more powerful you lose fuel economy because you are burning more fuel and pulling more air into the engine so the reverse is also true - less power means more economy but you need to maintain the most efficient engine.
Things we do to make our cars faster can also be used (and sometimes reversed) to get better economy. The overall aim should be to improve the efficiency of the engine whereas in performance tuning we generally increase the engines capacity to burn fuel as well as making it more efficient. As each engine is different there is not a one size fits all approach.
Generally speaking getting the head gas flowed and improving the combustion cycle of the engine will make the car more economical as it is running more efficiently. Paying careful attention to the area around the intake valves especially can improve economy by maximising the air flow into the engine and allowing better fuel/air mixing as it enters the cylinder.
A lighter flywheelwill also further reduce the rotational mass of the engine and free up some economy. It is worth noting that on long motorway journeys and hills some have reported lower fuel economy with a lighter flywheel.
Tuning diesels for maximum power and torque
"Doctored Diesels"
From a diesel perspective, anything that isn't turbocharged is a waste of time from a tuning point of view. Similarly, anything that isn't using electronically managed direct injection is a pointless tuning proposal so we are somewhat limited to modern Turbo Diesels.
Get rid of those two ointment bound flies and things get more interesting. A 2001 plated Peugeot 406 2.2HDi has been re-mapped from factory spec 136bhp (it's pretty good in that tune with 235lbft to play with!) to a whopping 192bhp@4150rpm and 329lbft (yes, that's right, we have NOT confused Nm with lbft) delivered from 2250rpm. This endows the car with mid-range thump that wouldn't disgrace a Boxster or Audi TT with the silly engine option. NO stopwatch necessary, this is a genuinely rapid car now, it both feels quick and achieves the numbers to be quick.
Diesels have come of age - near Boxter mid range grunt and twice the MPG.
All the anti-diesel folks will bang on about 0-60. Well, HDIfun has never put a stopwatch on it in anger but says "you can do it in well under 8 seconds without going over 3500rpm! In gear acceleration is a bit of a giggle too - 50 to 70 in FOURTH in about 2.5 seconds!! 70 to 90 in fifth in under 6!!! Flat out, who cares, the factory spec is said to be good for 129mph."
Components of a fuel system
- Fuel pump - This is the essential and sucks the fuel from the tank piping it to the injectors.
- Regulator valve - This adjusts the amount of pressure in the fuel system and directly relates to the throttle (accelerator) position. More throttle requires more fuel.
- Injectors - these squirt the fuel as a fine mist allowing it to mix with the intake air charge.
- Intake manifold - This is where the fuel mixes with the air before entering the cylinders. (Although manufacturers are now perfecting direct injection where fuel is sprayed directly into the cylinders.
- Return pipes - Excess fuel is returned to the tank. This process is carefully controlled and ensures that irregular pressure fluctuations do not happen.
Uprating the turbo in your car
The more power you want from a turbo the greater the amount of heat and the bigger the stress on the internal components. A petrol engines turbo can reach temperatures up to 1100 degrees and speeds of 100,000 to 150,000 rpm with some modern small turbos reaching almost double that. A failed oil seal or worn bearing will be a kiss of death to a turbo and this is the biggest risk to a turbo at full throttle and high revs
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