Performance Tuning Myths

[sholtby]

Interesting to read about those tunning myths. I agree that the standard airbox with a high flow airfilter drawing cold air from outside the engine bay is the best option.
I dont agree so much with your first comments about coping with 300+ horse power. I think this kind of talk is to convince people to have your ecu upgrade done. A more honest answer would be that the more horsepower you screw out your engine the shorter life it will have on average. From reading a lot of posts the usual person looking for an ecu upgrade tends to look for the one that gives the highest power gain and the Rica one claims to be about the highest although several people on this site have found a dyno session has shown it to be much less but still happy with the extra performance.
The Rica chip is also extremely expensive the US guys are paying about $300-400 but the Rica upgrade is what about £500.
I used to write my own chips for my last car and it isnt that difficult to do. Ignition timing is advanced by monitoring the knock sensor at various load vs rpm values and fueling is achieved by interogating the ecu as to how much it has varied the initial fuel values due to the lambda sensor output.
I'm interested how the tunning companies dissasemble the data on the flash chip. It must be either due to receiving information from Bosch or some other means. The other thing that worries me is if they have fully dissasembled the code on the chip so that all protective settings/values will still work. ie they have just found where to increase the boost and removed the overboost protection for if say the wastegate failed.

Simon

[Ross9]

Wasn't sure on the Volvo engines. Obviously if they can flow enough air a panel filter in the box is the way to go performance wise.

The idea is to increase airflow, for instance on my own car the standard Airbox was cack, and couldnt even provide enough air to the turbo for 0.9 BAR (0.7 standard), changing to the cone made a noticable difference., Then box it in and run a channel up from under the car, or a feed to the box. Plus if your that way inclined you get all the noise associated with running a cone on a turbo car :)

This cone and box Combo is at least 3 times the size of the OE airbox set up on my own car, and uses a cone designed for a Cosworth, rated for up to 350BHP (which on a Cossie is getting on for 1.8 BAR) I'd be surprised if the standard intake on mine was even good enough to ensure enough airflow for the standard 197BHP, it was the same size as the one on my 1.4 litre 103 BHP prior car.

I was responding as if it was a general performance tuning myth, not a volvo specific one, eben though it is a volvo forum obviously.

No intent to have a dig or question your practices.

Ross

Simon,

The list of myths is from our own experience, and has nothing to do with selling ECU upgrades. Who cares about which ECU upgrade you have. The myths posted are still myths!!!

A more honest answer is that harsh driving style, lack of maintenance, and bad mods kill cars. The 300 bhp limit really is a complete myth. I am interested to know who told you this, or what experience you have had to back this claim up. If 300 bhp fly wheel bhp is a myth, how come there are people out there with custom tuned T5 cars running 280-300 bhp at the wheels? And how come these cars are still going? Some even have this power with an auto!!! Obviously these are extreme case of people wanting big power. Bear in mind that the figures RICA quote are for Europe only, and it does state that 98 RON fuel is a must for this power. Any less and you simply won't get this power. This kind of talk that 300 bhp is too much is clearly a story invented by tuning companies who have been incapable of tuning correctly.

In the ECU upgrades, none of the safety features are messed with. You can actually see this working on the dyno when a tuned car is running on low grade fuel. Overboost protection is not removed either. Again you can see this, for example in a 1995 T5, by simulating a failed actuator on a car with an upgraded ECU, and the result is that the ECU will shut down the engine to protect it as it overboosts beyond the new preset limit. It also has several "limp-home" modes that still remain fully functioning in the upgraded ECU. So things like protection for wastegate failure are still there.

So I really fail to see the point in your arguments! Maybe you are right in that a $300-400 ECU Upgrade will fail to achive good power gains safely because it is removing such safety features.

I don't intend to participate in this kind of discussion any further. The myths were genuinely posted as an "ECU Independent" informative post. I am disappointed that you have missed the point entirely!

Adam.

[noiseboy]

I'm not going to bother getting drawn into a discussion over some of the technical points raised here, but couldn't help noticing......

Was this not just a blatant advertising attempt by Volvotuning?

I notice that Adam has never posted in here much before - seeming to have prefered the T5UK board until it's demise.... Seems to me like a very interesting piece of timing to suddenly be all helpful to VOC members?

Or am I just an old cynic? ;)

Phil :)

(Very succesfully running a 1 bar cosworth actuator with no AMAL valve - having been beautifully "Old School" tuned by Power Engineering....)

Phil,

Very true! Not cynical at all. Having said that, the VOC board is new to us an I will gladly remove any advertising, if other Volvo tuning companies do so too, not mentioning any names! ;)

I would like to add that we would like to actively help the VOC community. Yes, of course we have commercial interest, afterall which business doesn't. However, we are true Volvo enthusiast too and would also like to share with VOC our experience, expertise, ideas, and at the same time offer a quality performance tuning service.

I am aware that the likes of yourselves and many others are big fans of old school tuning. I have nothing against that. But Volvo is moving on, and so is the tuning game. By keeping up with the latest technologies and keeping in close contact with Volvo, we are able to offer help and services to the new generation of Volvo owners too. Many old school tuning techniques simply don't work on the newer cars, and as a Volvo enthusiast I personally feel that it is important for VOC members to be aware of this.

Adam.

[Dan F]

Hi.

Can I just say that my C70 goes better on BP Ultimate than it *ever* did on Optimax. The power doesn't tail off with BP fuel as it did with the Shell fuel. It is a top fuel and I recommend it.

Also something to note, I got my keys reprogrammed at the dealers the other day (Faulty antenna ring in the barrel) and it did NOT over write my engine settings.
So unless the dealer deliberately either does a COMPLETE ECU download, or just re-writes the engine data, then you should be OK. Different parts can be updated without affecting the whole it would seem.

Cheers,
Dan.

Dan,

Fantastic! It's always useful to know of good alternatives to Optimax, especially since not everyone has a local Shell station near them.

Adam.

[Dan F]

Hi Phil.

Just a couple of points in the interests of fairness:

Isn't this:

http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/dc/dcboa..._id=4324&page=

and this:

http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/dc/dcboa..._id=4323&page=

'Blatant' advertising by Kalmar Union?

As I am sure you are aware we live (supposedly) in a free market and as such competition is to be welcomed. :)

Surely anyone should be able to offer advice on this forum? but I didn't notice any more of a direct advert in Adams post than you ever do in Dons posts. In fact if you read it, Adam just posted tuning Myths without mentioning his own product once!! Obviously he points you to their website, but the choice is yours, not theirs.
:)
Cheers,
Dan.

And at the end of the day any body reading this board should be able to make their own mind up as to whether they want to click a link be it advertising or not.

Personally I see nothing wrong with a web link included in any signature.

Mike

[pault5]

hello,
i would also like to add i have purchased both from kalmar union and volvotuning, it was my choice! the net' is a truly wonderful thing.
paul.