Perfect timing Volker, you are going to fit right in, that is great..

I am so happy both Thursday folks are going still, honestly I wouldn't mind going just to hang out again. We are waiting for the day 2 reports....

In a nutshell, this is my unscientific understanding of the science behind dyno tuning...

All commercial "canned" tunes must be safe for everyone. It should be able to accomodate a wide range of equipment, fuel and conditions.

Fuel is a mixed blessing. It cools as it runs through the engine, but it costs money and too much fuel makes a less efficient explosion, but it is safer to have a bit too much fuel, wasteful, yes, but safe. Too little fuel is bad, not enough cooling, this can destroy an engine.

A dyno allows the tuner to get the perfect mixture of fuel for the best boom, while still having enough for cooling. This is the reason you can get both more power and better MPG at the same time. Since every car, even from the factory is different, it must be done one at a time. Once the fuel ratio is perfect, you are getting the most bang for you buck, literally. The most horsepower, with the least amount of fuel.

It would be great if you did a baseline stock, a baseline Stage one, and the final, to show the difference .

Other things are tweaking pedal feel, getting timing perfect, and setting thermostat to run a bit cooler.

 

Printer is so old ? How much could a printer be

At $100-200 for an hour, and as used this Dyno set up appeard to be, why they hell haven't they purchased a new printer by now ? If they did even 200 cars last year, that's like $20K, maybe more.

Any idea of how long it has been since this Dyno was even calibrated/checked ?

 

Well he did say that they can't get a replacement easily, so there must be more to that than we know. Either way it's cool. Waiting on getting my results emailed later this week.

 

Yes. Everything is visible on the screen and you will see the results from each of the pulls. They spent quite some time explaining to me what was going on. You will be happy.

 

Computer needs a parallel port and they are not common anymore, for all I know he needed new ink, but more than likely the head was dried up. It is basically in a garage where the door is open a lot.

It didn't bother me that I didn't get a printout. I would be bummed if he never emailed me one, but I didn't even look at the numbers closely, just the graphs. The HP was like 3 inch block numbers so we all saw that, but the graph had to be looked at closely for torque. I would get a new printer and a parallel port/usb adapter, but I can't tell them how to spend their money. We all could stand at the monitor, and carefully read the peak and read the torque numbers on the side, so there was no hocus pocus going on. The graphs are ...graphic.

Since dynos all read differently, I don't know why or how you would calibrate one. The only way to compare two cars by dyno numbers is testing them on the same day, at the same place. All that really matters is the delta between before and after, and the A/F readings. Even a hot day effects the numbers, so that isn't what matters. I can say we had a very normal range of results both before and after. Stock numbers looked stock and I would say that as a gauge used for tuning, the thing was perfect. (IIRC some stock pulls were in the 160-170 range.)
I drove in at 210 HP and left at 228HP (with new injectors) and looking at my mods, that seems about right. Everyone's mods vs. numbers seemed right. Printouts will follow and we can look closer soon enough. He wrote down the pull numbers on all of our wavers so he can call them up, probably just the first and last, leaving the 5 in between out of the image.

Remember, we started at 9:30 in the morning and ended after 8PM. Jan and Shawn ate lunch at the dyno, and probably are doing the same today. It take at least an hour to tune a car and that is without any issues that come up. Most were about an hour and a half, one was longer with a MAP issue, some a bit faster.. 7 tunes was all that would could have fit, so I am not surprised he hasn't emailed anything yet. The dyno station was working all day and so was Shawn. Also tunes in Rochester were $50 more. For me I would rather have him pass on his savings to me...

 

Had a great time at Swift. Caught the crew when they got a bite to eat and joined. It worked out great, Jan took on my car right after lunch. While it is a dealer installed JCW R53 I didn't have high expectations for the base and still was shocked that it only brought 180hp. It also had a big hole around 6000.
But Jan did his magic and I left with a little over 200bp and a very smooth ride. Throttle response is much better. Very happy camper indeed.

 

Last April on a hot day at Helix using their Mustang dyno I got 208whp. This April on a nice cool day at Swift using their dyno I got 242whp. That is a huge difference. I am not complaining. I will take the 242.

 

Base line 185hp click on the pics for video
[IMG][/IMG]

Tuned mods: 17% pulley, CAI, 380 injectors and scorpion exhaust
[IMG][/IMG]

 

Pic of the dyno chart

 

Honestly, by itself, your car is a bit of an anomaly. It seems too big of a jump at first glance, but the heat is a bit of the difference, the dyno change a bit, and the rest the new tune. If your car was run by itself it would be harder to be impressed, but with all the other cars fitting into the entire spectrum of numbers, I think they are right on the money for your car.

It isn't that surprising after looking at the accessport numbers posted elsewhere. Intro of that tool into the mini community was a big leap in what is possible with these cars. Many new doors were opened in the programing.

 

That's why the Mustang is sometimes called "The Heartbreaker".

 

Great thanks to Jan at RMW and Shaun and Scott over at Swift Motorsports. I came in with a base of 160 at the wheels (hey! MINI advertises 173hp for the 09's but that is at the crank, I quickly learned)... Left with about 205 whp / 240 lb/ft torque! That is a pretty big gain and I am very happy. I ended up seafoaming the car a afterwards which I should of done first! Jan thinks that may of added a bit of power as well. The drive home was awesome! I am much more confident now passing cars on the highway above 60mph. The amount of power added to the top end is amazing, in 6th gear going from 62-90 mph is smooth as butter and super quick now. The torque increase is felt in the full range of gears. Although the roads were wet I was spinning the tires easily from 1-2-3-4 LOL. Had lunch with Jan and some of the guys after, very nice people!

Here is a vid of the 3rd run after the RMW tune was uploaded:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-TNrRX8riU

Highly recommended.

 

"Pretty big gain..."

That is huge! I'm glad you posted since it seems to show the dyno being very accurate, but numbers, smumbers...the proof is in the pedal. Like you, I am waiting for dry daylight. The ride home was dark and unfamilar territory, and it has been wet ever since. Just you wait until you get dry clear open road. You better put on grampers. You havn't seen anything yet. Nice upgrade.

Keep in mind, this is the most bang for the buck. From here the numbers go slowly and at a steeper cost. But, addictions are like that.

 

Hahaha, very well said. I agree, I was kind of in a state of shock at the numbers, but I saw the screen myself for the baseline and after. I hope Jan follows up and emails us all our graphs. I want to take a closer look at it. Can't wait for a dry day and some open road!

Next mods will probably be a FMIC and down pipe... but gotta save some $$$ for a while.

Thanks for setting this up HRM!

 

First I want to apologize to Scott, Jeff and others scheduled after me. I learned my lesson: next time find a ODB scanner and look for pending codes before going for a tune.

No problem Jan foresaw this and brought along some MAP and O2 sensors. The folks at Swift Motorsport installed them swiftly. Although the USB ports on Jan's computer decided to act up at the same time. to Scott for finding how to reset the USB ports.

It was pouring outside so I cannot put Jan's magic in use yet. But the engine runs noticeable smoother and stronger. Jan said I should see better mileage, but I doubt it because the engine is so eager to rev-up now .

 

A good tool to have is a Scan Gauge 2, highly recommend! It'll report so much data to you, it's fantastic, along with reporting codes. I logged all the codes I found into my Notes app on my iPhone along with a description of the code from Mini2.com. This was so I could have those on file in the event something happens and I need the history of the codes. Very worth the money.

Like you, I had a MAP sensor issue as well, and was relieved Jan was carrying some with him. What an easy replacement that thing is. lol

 

Looks like eveyone had a great time at the tune session. Glad to see everyone is happy with Jan's work. Rochester was a blast. Maybe we can work this out again next year where Jan goes from one tune to another on the east coast.

HRM what numbers came off your car???

Enjoy the power guys and the smooth throttle response.

 

It was 228HP and 195ish Torque. I didn't get a good look. The right side of the graph is 30 ftlbs with 5 lines in between each, so each line is 6ftlbs, and it isn't easy to eyeball. We should all get emails with the graphs tomorrow since Shawn should have some free time. Friday he has UConn engineering coming for two days (or something like that) so I hope he finds the time tomorrow.


BTW, my car is a 2004S with 107K on the engine.

 

Thanks for the reply and thanks for getting the event going up there. Looks like we put a few smiles on MINI owners faces.

 

No need to apologize...things happen! I'm just glad you were able to get your car up and running again so quickly. Thanks to Jan for coming prepared with the common failure parts! And also a BIG thanks to Jan and the guys at Swift for all their hard work this week! I'm sure I speak for us all that it is truly appreciated!

My personal final result was 205whp, so I am pretty happy with the final result. The car feels nicer overall with a more linear power delivery. Hopefully I can get copies of my dyno runs since I don't remember all of my numbers! My only glitch was Jan keep coming up with an over boost code when near red line, so I'm gonna have to get that looked at ASAP. He thinks its my cat clogging up, so hopefully the guys at InSkip MINI will be able to figure this out and if it is the cat going bad, fix it under the 10yr/100k mile emissions warranty. It does seem a little early considering the car only has 23k on it, but Jan definitely is a master of his craft so I put a lot of faith in his diagnosis!

 

Well I had a really long day I didn't get home till after 12am....3hr drive back to Jersey I was up since 7:30am getting my cat-delete and DP/midpipe installed and then driving to Swift in CT..and now regretting all the racket! But also because my friend Steve and I were chatting it up with Jan about bicycle racing afterwards!!

I was the last run for the night...8-9 runs....and the loudest!
202.8whp / 260lb-ft of torque but Jan gave me a safer 2nd map that did about 204whp / 240lb-ft which seems to be the consensus of everyone with almost stock mods. I am a happy camper as most of the way home it was pouring till about 10 mi from my house. Then we hit a non E-Z Pass express toll-booth with dry pavement and I got to do a 20-75mph run thru the gears...car is definitely a lot smoother and pulls harder than the stage 1 alta map I've be running for a week now.

Now I just need to fix my exhaust noise and I can really enjoy the tune. It was definitely worth the drive and I got to meet a few other Mini people with serious work done to their cars. Swift Motorsports is a shop I'd definitely like to visit again - had a turbocharged new Camaro in primer grey and an evo 10 on the lift while I was there.

Thanks for organizing this!!!

 

ok folks, stupid question but someone has to ask them

Not having the sheets in hand yet I'm still wondering what values we are talking about...

I saw that my first pull was 180 hp and the final 3 were 200.x/199.5/200.1

So, are we talking whp or bhp ? ... was that the raw number or did they apply some kind of correction quotient ? on the screenshots I took I only see hp...

Also, on the R56 values that you guys either posted or already have in the signature, in some cases the hp is way higher than the ft/lb while another R56 it is the opposite...

Anybody care to enlighten me ?

 

That is to the wheels, no adjustment. While the HP was large and easy to see, Jan was looking at another screen with the A/F ratio trying to get it right for the entire RPM range. The perfect ratio gives the most power without extra heat.

So, even though the 3 pulls seemed to be the same, there likely is a bit more HP in other spots, even though the peak (Where the ratio was optimized already) stayed the same. The thing you feel for day to day street driving is torque and the lower it starts, the better. Generally the last few pulls are for leaning the high RPM range and you are past your peak already, though a small bump is pretty normal.

As the car sits and pulls it gets hotter which works against the numbers, so if there was a lot of idle time between pulls, the HP can thoretically go up, but the heat soak can negate it.

The R56 cars can run 23lbs boost easily and that is why they make all that torque, so don't be too jealous. You just can't get the boost with a stock blower to compete fairly in the torque peaks, but the blower does make smooth level power which is easier to control so there always is a compromise.

 

Not that easily. I have a very good hi-res digital boost gauge that is tapped from the BSH Direct dual boost tap (which is a very reliable source to tap into for a boost gauge.) I subscribe to the ScottAB school of MINI driving, And he says "drive it like you stole it." I can on occasion get to 23. Most of the time its around 20. I did see 22 today.

 

I hear you. I didn't mean easily, rather, without much modification.

Us blow boys get all excited when we hit 16lbs