O2GO

After some study I'm finding roads sealed within the last several years are still coded as metal :-(. However, I've found a nice route for tomorrow and have identified some interesting possibilities around Raglan. The combination of the map book and Google maps with terrain on is pretty good for finding sweet drives.

Well done you! Can the suppliers adjust for that?

Now I didn't say I was a gun. I've painted one car (pretty badly) back in the days when we were dead broke and I had to do a major rust bog job on an old Honda we bought from a friend. It had spent a lot of its life parked in the salt at Wellington airport. And also a couple of tractors. Nothing approaching passable but thought in your cleaver hands you may be able to do a reasonable job :-P

mjg

Nice job John! How does it feel to drive?

Yep, wear bar is 1.6mm. The NZTA guide is 1.5mm tread all around the wheel in the the principal grooves and excludes the wear bars, so you should be good for a while (ignoring HC issues).

That service seems like good value for money to me. You can do it yourself if you have multiple sets of rims, but it's much more of a hassle. I ran my last set of Z221s using that strategy.



Anyone heading to the NZ Festival of Speed this weekend or next? I'm hoping to make it out there next weekend.

Macca

Fantastic. That's even better news!

Yes, John how is the update and when is it on the dyno again (and where are those initial traces)?

racoguy

Was good to meet you at Torque today John, hope you found Robin as good to deal with as I have over the years.
Fortunately our ECU's were the same part number making things as close as we could manage on the day.
The next step will be interesting, might be a good idea to ask Specialist Components about tuning and how that is done considering you are in NZ

Macca

Comments from Steve Wong August 2009 email exchange which might give some pointers for additional coding required John:

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your inquiry. I do have the chip for your car and DME to match as listed.

With regards with the LWF, much research and testing has gone into finding the permanent solution to this problem that has plagued owners for years.
The solution was finally solved by implementing part of the coding solution of the European RS, that came from the factory with the LWF, and also would stall without a special chip coding. The fact is with the chip I have that is modified for a standard 993 with a LWF, your car will idle no differently than if it were a European RS, with a slightly higher idle of +100 rpm, and should not stall unless you engine has other mechanical issues such as air leaks. So far it has worked well for everyone who has installed it, and was the only way they could fix their stalling even after trying all kinds of other proposed solutions of the past. If you still have any residual idle issues, taking the car to a Porsche service center with a Bosch hammer, PST2, or PIWIS tester and having a 5 minute idle adaptation performed should take care of any remaining calibration.

You are welcome to try it risk free, and if you don't find it works out for you for any reason, just return it for a full refund.

As for the power increase, I think you will find a substantial increase in the low and mid end part throttle torque and throttle response that differentiates my chip from everyone elses. The coding is very unique, and elimimates the lag and delay below 4000 rpm, with instant thrust from right off the line. Owners describe the car being more like a big V8 motor. Of course you will also realize a 16-18 gain in hp too at the upper rpms. The difference is noticable from the moment you install and drive off, and if you do a search on Rennlist, you might find some feedback from recent customers on their impressions of the performance gains.

You can install the chip now, modified for use with a LWF and realize the performance gains your engine is capable of delivering now, and whenever you are ready to install the LWF, you will already be set up to go. Let me know if you have any other questions, or if I can be of further assistance.

Regard,
Steve Wong

John McM

A busy day John, and I appreciate you being there with the spare ECU, plus of course getting to meet you. Don't be a stranger.

Robin made the whole effort pretty seamless. The screaming engine period is very short so it wasn't as stressful as I expected. I learned a bit around the process. It's particularly good to know that my AFRs are in the very safe range. Next step is to contact Specialist Concepts about the stalling issues and educate myself as to where I can go with this.

Macca

Additional notes: DME number last 5 digits of the Bosch ECU part number used for identifying base coded chip. RON specified on order (98 in my case for additional advanced timing buy 95 RON as standard I believe for some markets).

John McM

Guys, Robin was at pains to point out the limitations of the dyno with the C4 application. Long story short, I'm never going to get a beautiful "pissing contest" number for power and torque. What I will get is a base line to work from and an accurate measure of my AFR. That's good enough for me. Those turning up tomorrow for the BBQ can see the printout.

Macca

Fair enough John. Their dyno is bespoke too. At least you will get relative figures over the SW chip. The stalling issue at idle shouldnt affect the ability to run a dyno on the gear you installed today to understand what the improvements are...

racoguy

Macca, John and I compared our ecu's and they have identical numbers probably because his is ex Singapore and mine is ex Japan both 90 models.

His chip probably makes such a gain due to his less restrictive exhaust and being tuned for 98 fuel allowing more ignition timing.
Saying that it still runs a very fat AFR for a non turbo car so there's more in it if you were a gambler.

Robins dyno is capable of 1000+ wheel Kilowatts.............recently updated due to easy HP with todays turbo cars.

John McM

The kit comes with relatively few instructions e.g. It just says change out the injectors. John (Racoguy) helped me through that process. Like most things in life, do it once and you wonder why it perplexed you in the first place.

There are three major parts to the kit:

1. A new ÈCU

2. New air flow metering

3. New higher capacity injectors.

Changing the injectors was by far the most difficult part. I recognise my skill level and was methodical to compensate, but am extra cautious given I'm fitting items that have the capacity to start an engine fire e.g. non sealing fuel rails or injectors.

I finished the install, started it up and took it for a short drive. I can't drive around Kohi at 5,000 rpm so I just wanted to see how drivable it was. Idle is steady, pick up is smooth, but the old bug bear or stalling when stopping has reappeared. I need a Steve Wong solution to the LWF induced issue. I will contact the manufacturer and see what changes are likely to be needed to the map.

When I am sure my mechanical work is safe and I have a goal, i will go back to Torque and arrange a mapping exercise. Based on the AFR today I have a lot to work with and I now have a programmable ÈCU to work with. I count it as a win that it started first time. Tomorrow my focus moves to 2012 technology, at least for the day. All going well Pete and I will be in a pair of Caymans dancing through K gorge.

Macca

Its good to keep plenty of meat in the AFR to handle head temps at track and fuel quality variances.

Hopefully SC can provide you a new map to upload to the ECU. Something to bump the idle up may be a rudimentary solution to start with.

Good luck with the R purchase tomorrow :-)

Macca

Festival of Speed tomorrow - yay! Those attending lets catch up over the day.

racoguy

Agree, more so important for an aircooled engine.

pcarplayer

Well done spannerman!

Have had a chance to look at the software yet?

edit: just read the comments above. Answered my questions nicely