The vast majority of enthusiasts often times jump ahead of themselves by omitting the basic fundamentals of building a torque curve which is the key to tuning the engine combination prior to making ECU alterations. "Dyno Tuners” specialize in using a dyno monitor as a guide, to continually omit any presentation of theory prior to analysis. By infinitely searching, copying and guessing what is the best combination by using another individual’s copied “set-up”, this practice has led to advertisements of dyno tuners and performance shops listing Tuning software that they are familiar with, falsely gaining credibility that they are experience “tuners”. They profit from editing ECU’s (engine control units) while calling it tuning.
Misleading “Stock” Dyno Charts
When the average enthusiast thinks about performance, they think aftermarket is better. This is the scale from no performance to best performance according to the mainstream performance industry:
Mainstream Performance Labels (worst to best):
1. stock 2. stock long-block with aftermarket bolt-ons 3. after market long-block internals with aftermarket bolt-ons Enthusiasts want performance. Tuners who have a dyno offer performance “tuning”. How many enthusiasts would think to actually pay a dyno tuner to test a truly stock engine? Probably 0%. However, this is the true approach to starting from 0. Practically every enthusiast and tuner question “How much power can I make with just bolt-ons?” So what happens is that before any dyno tuning session occurs, the stock intake, header or exhaust is changed. This is where you commonly hear, “stock with just intake, header and exhaust.
There are countless dyno charts that are labeled as “stock B18C” or “stock K20A”, when they are really not stock. It is almost guaranteed that every “stock” engine has an aftermarket i/h/e. When you do this, you have changed the length and/or diameter of the intake tube, header tubes and exhaust tubing. The altered dimensions from the true form of “stock” will yield an altered and shifted torque curve. This defeats the purpose of dyno testing and is far from being considered as tuning. But how would you know this if you did not test the engine in it’s truly stock form? Enthusiasts and tuners ignore the theory behind the altered curve, by automatically jumping into a dyno test with an aftermarket i/h/e. A simple before and after comparison of your air/fuel ratios and manually plotting a fuel curve will display a great deal. This is in addition to testing at the drag strip to obtain a solid, real world bench mark. Having your own wideband O2 sensor module in your vehicle would have been the ideal tool, instead of going to the dyno after the i/h/e change.ECU Tuning Misinterpreted As Torque Curve Tuning
Dyno tuners lead enthusiasts to believe that the ECU tunes the engine combination and replacing OEM parts with aftermarket parts is a customary practice. It is obvious that parts are being bolted on, for the sake of thinking you are adding performance and tuners lack the attention to the details and dimensions that make up your engine combo. As much as this myth is practiced through dyno tuners and internet forums, the engine combination dictates how the ECU will be configured which is the true method in maximizing an engine’s potential. If you were to observe only you’re air fuel ratio after changing only one part on your engine, you would see how the fuel curve is altered compared to the factory combo. This is a result of where the actual Tuning of the engine combination began.
Enthusiast’s False Observations
When a dyno chart is posted on an internet forum, the characteristic and derivation of the curve is ignored, and the analysis is limited to observations of part flow rates. If the peak horsepower number looks good to the viewers, they assume the flow rates and “breathing” of the engine are sufficient. If the one number is low or loses appeal, only brand names and ECU alterations are recommended in an effort to increase the peak horsepower level. Even worse, others will recommend a “better tuner”. If you base an engine combo off of flow-based parts, the dimensions regarding the bolt-ons are theoretically not matching a specific rpm range, therefore lowering average horsepower and torque output. This is masked by a high-rpm horsepower engine that requires low torque output to achieve high peak horsepower figures. Flow-based “set-ups” also require excessive engine speeds (over-revving) and peak horsepower levels to match the results of a tuned-imension combination with less peak hp. If you believe in flow-based parts, then you will rely on a dyno monitor to answer to your timing adjustments due to the blindly shaping the curve. This practice leads to mistakenly thinking that the ECU is responsible for the biggest gains of the engine’s power potential.
Tuner’s False Observations
Whether a tuner observes the horsepower curve or claims to be a better tuner by analyzing the torque curve during a tuning session, the end result is still the same, given the setup was based off of flow based parts. What are claimed to be two different philosophies still yield a torque and horsepower curve that share the same characteristic. There is a miscommunication between the enthusiast and the tuner as to when the actual tuning took place. The enthusiast is led to believe that their Internet copied setup is the best combo for their engine and the dyno tuner proceeds to mislead the enthusiast into thinking that ecu tuning will "extract the most potential from their engine". The dyno tuners guessing game is brilliantly masked by using a dyno monitor to give them the answer as to when the customer built setup stops making power. They are reluctant to question the derivations of a customer built torque curve prior to altering the ecu and this practice only proves that the physical significance of the parts being combined are of no relevance to the tuner or enthusiast. Since they accept the hindered prebuilt torque curve that drives in for a dyno session, all these copied “set-ups” are requiring more timing than the stock ecu.
Losing Concept From Too Many Performance Sources
In reality, the enthusiast attempts to tune their own vehicle . By relying on various sources of performance parts, fabrication, modification and ecu specialists who only focus on one section of the engine, the end result is a combination of components and a power-band that lacks concept. The parts being combined are claimed to be the best individually and each specialist fails to give the answer as to what is the best combination of components to compliment their specialty. This applies to ecu editors (a.k.a tuners), head porters, part manufacturers and fabricators.
Poor Base Builds & Stages Of Performance
If you cannot display a theoretical power curve or show explanation of a curve’s derivations, how can you claim what is the best base all motor build? In reality, second guessing your part selections is an accepted practice for enthusiasts, which is commonly debated on internet forums. The guessing game is stemmed by mistakenly scaling and rating performance, based on flow bench numbers and brand names. Not knowing how to begin is where dyno tuners come into play and their dyno is used to make every arbitrary “set-up” look better. At this point, tuners and shops can only offer stages of performance, which are certainly out of anybody’s budget and limiting you from reaching your ideal goal. The engine does not know the difference between “stock” and fully-built”, so there is no reason for stages of performance. You didn’t know Honda’s motto? “Performance First”.
Endless Searching At The Enthusiast’s Expense
The biggest problem with the dyno tuning and other specialty businesses is that the ECU editor (a.k.a tuner), head porter and part fabricator is taking credit for something they did not build as a whole. Secondly, the customer’s final ECU map or specialized component will be used as a base for next similar, copied setup. Yes, tuners post their dyno charts for people to copy from, but they are still using a dyno monitor to cover up the guessing game for the next set up. When enthusiasts pay a dyno tuner to tune their vehicle, the actually tuning began with the “set-up”, and the tuner is either reluctant to give you their best tuned combination or they just do not know how to find it. Their efforts are geared towards redesigning the engine and perceiving performance only through aftermarket parts, rather than recommending a customer to start from 0.
Who Should Be Charged For a Retune?
It's a common practice for an enthusiast to second guess their part selections. For the sake of guessing, tuners will continually charge you for a retune based on guessing as to what is the best combo for your engine. Don't be fooled by dyno tuners that claim they pay attention to detail. The only detail they are looking for is to copy your possibly most potent combo that they did not build. And while you are tempted into seeing your dyno graph, they sucker you in by claiming that you are receiving a complete tune. Their primary focus is towards the ecu itself and their magic and software features that come with it. At the same time, they completely ignore the real details as to how your torque curve is derived. Of course you are being charged so they can desperately view your graph by using their dyno!
Is The Dyno Required To Tune The Ignition Timing Curve?
NO. Enthusiasts and tuners believe that the dyno is needed to tune the ignition timing curve. Not true. Relying on the dyno is an indication that the tuner is ignoring the theory that creates the torque curve in regards to the engine’s details and dimensions. If this is ignored, then they certainly will not have the ability to find the ideal timing curve without the dyno monitor answering to their timing adjustments. Keep in mind that a vehicle dyno is just a simulation of the street. What is considered to be the “best tune”on the dyno will never match the results of taking the critical steps to discover the ideal torque curve and it's configured ignition timing curve through Real-Time Tuning on the street and track. Learn more about Real-Time Tuning / E-Tuning here.
The Disadvantage of Dyno-based eTuning
While other eTuners with a limited or large dyno database rely on their dyno tuned map to tune your engine combination, they skip the proper method and are still transferring their false tuning theory towards your eTune. This means that the final map of the set-up that was tested on their dyno, was found by using the dyno monitor to answer to timing and fuel adjustments for that particular engine combo. Being that the dyno is just a simulation of the street, the best and ideal timing curve will not be found via their eTune, while relying on their dyno tuned program.
Are the Stock Timing Maps Conservative?
NO. Tuners will tell you that the stock ecu timing maps are conservative. This is not true. If the torque curve is built by properly “timing the air” through the components’ dimensions, the engine combo will not require more timing than the stock ecu. The most potent tuned-length Honda OEM engine combination with a stock ecu will outperform any aftermarket combination that requires more ignition timing found through the dyno tuning practice. What tuners and enthusiasts do not realize is that the flowbased parts that are arbitrarily thrown together are actually decreasing average horsepower, torque and overall dynamic compression, making the stock ECU inadvertently more conservative. The most potent area of Honda's curve is sacrificed while lifting the curve past the stock power curve's peak. So this makes it easier to make 200whp at 8500 rpm with the aftermarket parts compared to making 200whp at 7500 rpm with Honda parts. If you use the formula HP= (TQ x RPM) / 5252 you will see the difference in torque output needed between making 200whp at 7500 and 200whp at 8500 rpms. The 200whp combo with Honda OEM parts will clearly be the winner due to producing the most average horsepower and torque output within an emphasized region. This is in addition to possessing a horsepower curve characteristic that greatly increases engine performance over any flow based aftermarket setup. So when you thought you needed aftermarket performance parts to achieve 200whp with your B18C, you don’t. It can be done with Honda OEM parts, but why is your dyno tuner not telling you that?
Disappointing Results
If discovering the best Honda OEM combo was a pursued goal from enthusiast's the first day of desiring greater performance over Honda's mass produced stock combo, disappointments would decrease significantly. Mistakenly, enthusiasts and tuners continue to automatically believe that aftermarket surpasses stock Honda parts. This is the main reason why there are TONS of internet threads created such as “Dyno tuned, what should I change?”, “Do you think this is good power?”, or “Track results! – What’s wrong with my Set-Up?” Ironically, while dyno tuners are using the dyno screen as a handi cap, they are pushing more ignition timing than stock to compensate for an improperly tuned torque curve. Tuners’ main focus is relying on ECU adjustments to tune the torque curve, as a result of accepting flow-based “set-ups”. So this has led enthusiasts to believe that the biggest gains are coming from tuning the ecu.
Who Is Doing The Tuning?
So when you, the enthusiast are making decisions as to what will be your next “performance upgrades”, don’t think that you need a “tuner” to make alterations to your ECU to extract the full potential of your engine. The act of building the engine combination is essentially the true art behind tuning the horsepower curve, which is derived from the torque curve. Once you change ANY dimension from the stock engine combination, the actually tuning is being performed by YOU!
Are you a Bench Racer?
This article pertains to Dyno Tuning and dyno-based eTuning for Honda, GM (Chevy), Mopar (Hemi), Ford, Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Subaru and Mitsubishi Dyno Tuners in NJ (New Jersey), PA (Pennsylvania), NY (New York), the Tri-State area, East Coast, CA (California), West Coast and internationally (and any other universe). Being dyno tuned or eTuned from a dyno base is not only a street simulation, but a tuner's handicap to copy set ups and falsely tune ignition timing while masking a fake image of knowledge for bench racers. The Import and Domestic performance world is contaminated with fake performance products and unnecessary software features as a result of misinterpreted building and tuning theories. Believing that the original manufacturer is only good enough to be replaced by its aftermarket counterpart will only put mass production and Motor Sports into a deeper hole through time. Spread the word and help your fellow enthusiast. Any questions?
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Englishtown, New Jersey USA
