Looney Tuning
07-10-2009, 08:27 PM
This Evo X belongs to forum member evoX310. It is brand new with only 1000 miles on the odometer. Why is it so new? Well, the owner was the lucky winner of the Lancer Ralliart at the El-Toro South Coast Mitsu event. Then he proceeded to swap the Ralliart for the Evo. Lucky guy, I wish I was as lucky when it comes to winning things.
The car has the following limited mods on it:
Custom exhaust that is really quiet.
AEM intake
Today I was finally able to log with mod23 via Evoscan. Mod23 is a tephra patch that allows opensource users to log ALL the necessary parameters to tune an Evo X. The three most important ones that were lacking from PCMScan were: knock sum, IPW, and WGDCC. The last one is essential for fine tuning boost and using every last iota of WGDC in the dual solenoid stock set-up. I love WGDCC. It is the sin-qua-non for fine tuning ECU boost control.
This car had very good stock boost. The wastegate must have been adjusted exceptionally right. Just take a look at the stock boost chart below. I have yet to see an Evo 10 peak at 24.2 psi and hold to 16.2 psi by redline even with an AEM intake. Most of the other Evo Xs that I have tuned hold a max of 22-23 psi and then taper below 16 psi by redline.
http://www.sr20deracing.com/looneytuning/Evo/Michael/psi_b4_after.gif
Because of the exceptionally good stock boost, the boost gain from the tune at peak was limited to only 1.5 psi. However, the 25.7 psi peak boost came 500 rpm earlier than the 24.2 psi stock peak boost. Spool up was 500 rpm faster than before. Boost by redline was up 3.29 psi to 19.50 psi. Considering that the limits of the stock turbo are around 20-21 psi, this is pretty damned good. This Evo was holding more than 24 psi of boost from 3500 rpm to 5000 rpm. And all this boost was achieved w/o a pill. Yes, the dual stock boost solenoid is that good. And with the ability to log WGDCC, it only got better.
As always, the stock AFR on the Evo X was really poor, even with the AEM intake and the factory re-flash that lean out the AFR. The stock AFR dipped into the high 9:1 ratio at 4000 rpm and stayed there all the way to 5000 rpm, only to recover back into the low 10:1 ratio by redline. How sad and pathetic. Memo to Mitsu: Lean is mean bitch.
There is something magical about the Evo X and lean AFR. Once the AFR hits the mid to low 11:1 AFR and is maintained there, the car becomes a totally different beast. With every Evo X that I have tuned, you can literally feel the car wake up once the AFR is around the mid 11:1 ratio. Even the owner of the car felt it.
http://www.sr20deracing.com/looneytuning/Evo/Michael/afr_b4_after.gif
Finally, here comes the most secretive chart of them all, the timing chart; the one that is considered heresy to share with the general public. Because the AEM intake lowers the load that the MAF sensor records, the timing on this Evo was slightly higher than others. Why? Lower load cells tend to have leaner AFR numbers and higher timing numbers. So for those who think that you can run an AEM intake w/o a tune, please re-think your decision. That leaner AFR comes at the cost of higher timing. Higher timing, it is well known, triggers knock in the Evo.
Whereas, the stock tune registered 8* of timing advance at peak, the tuned timing was 3* less than stock. The tuned timing was 9* lower than the stock timing by redline. Anymore timing advance triggered knock sum of about 5 counts. Usually I am able to run 2* more timing advance this by redline, but this car would have none of it. She wanted 16* BTDC, so I gave her what she wanted.
http://www.sr20deracing.com/looneytuning/Evo/Michael/tim_b4_after.gif
So how much power did the car make? The power gain was lower than I have seen on other Evo Xs, but this is due to the exceptional stock boost that this car held on the stock tune. Nevertheless, the car registered the following gains from stock:
Max power gain: +40 hp
Max torque gain: +42 ft-lb
Peak power gain: +32 hp
Peak torque gain: +30 ft-lb
http://www.sr20deracing.com/looneytuning/Evo/Michael/dyno_b4_after.gif
The owner of the car is going to install a one piece O2 housing/downpipe on the car and a test pipe and then come back for a re-tune.
The car has the following limited mods on it:
Custom exhaust that is really quiet.
AEM intake
Today I was finally able to log with mod23 via Evoscan. Mod23 is a tephra patch that allows opensource users to log ALL the necessary parameters to tune an Evo X. The three most important ones that were lacking from PCMScan were: knock sum, IPW, and WGDCC. The last one is essential for fine tuning boost and using every last iota of WGDC in the dual solenoid stock set-up. I love WGDCC. It is the sin-qua-non for fine tuning ECU boost control.
This car had very good stock boost. The wastegate must have been adjusted exceptionally right. Just take a look at the stock boost chart below. I have yet to see an Evo 10 peak at 24.2 psi and hold to 16.2 psi by redline even with an AEM intake. Most of the other Evo Xs that I have tuned hold a max of 22-23 psi and then taper below 16 psi by redline.
http://www.sr20deracing.com/looneytuning/Evo/Michael/psi_b4_after.gif
Because of the exceptionally good stock boost, the boost gain from the tune at peak was limited to only 1.5 psi. However, the 25.7 psi peak boost came 500 rpm earlier than the 24.2 psi stock peak boost. Spool up was 500 rpm faster than before. Boost by redline was up 3.29 psi to 19.50 psi. Considering that the limits of the stock turbo are around 20-21 psi, this is pretty damned good. This Evo was holding more than 24 psi of boost from 3500 rpm to 5000 rpm. And all this boost was achieved w/o a pill. Yes, the dual stock boost solenoid is that good. And with the ability to log WGDCC, it only got better.
As always, the stock AFR on the Evo X was really poor, even with the AEM intake and the factory re-flash that lean out the AFR. The stock AFR dipped into the high 9:1 ratio at 4000 rpm and stayed there all the way to 5000 rpm, only to recover back into the low 10:1 ratio by redline. How sad and pathetic. Memo to Mitsu: Lean is mean bitch.
There is something magical about the Evo X and lean AFR. Once the AFR hits the mid to low 11:1 AFR and is maintained there, the car becomes a totally different beast. With every Evo X that I have tuned, you can literally feel the car wake up once the AFR is around the mid 11:1 ratio. Even the owner of the car felt it.
http://www.sr20deracing.com/looneytuning/Evo/Michael/afr_b4_after.gif
Finally, here comes the most secretive chart of them all, the timing chart; the one that is considered heresy to share with the general public. Because the AEM intake lowers the load that the MAF sensor records, the timing on this Evo was slightly higher than others. Why? Lower load cells tend to have leaner AFR numbers and higher timing numbers. So for those who think that you can run an AEM intake w/o a tune, please re-think your decision. That leaner AFR comes at the cost of higher timing. Higher timing, it is well known, triggers knock in the Evo.
Whereas, the stock tune registered 8* of timing advance at peak, the tuned timing was 3* less than stock. The tuned timing was 9* lower than the stock timing by redline. Anymore timing advance triggered knock sum of about 5 counts. Usually I am able to run 2* more timing advance this by redline, but this car would have none of it. She wanted 16* BTDC, so I gave her what she wanted.
http://www.sr20deracing.com/looneytuning/Evo/Michael/tim_b4_after.gif
So how much power did the car make? The power gain was lower than I have seen on other Evo Xs, but this is due to the exceptional stock boost that this car held on the stock tune. Nevertheless, the car registered the following gains from stock:
Max power gain: +40 hp
Max torque gain: +42 ft-lb
Peak power gain: +32 hp
Peak torque gain: +30 ft-lb
http://www.sr20deracing.com/looneytuning/Evo/Michael/dyno_b4_after.gif
The owner of the car is going to install a one piece O2 housing/downpipe on the car and a test pipe and then come back for a re-tune.