faulty microtuner?
Thread Starter
|
Member
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
faulty microtuner?
Hey,
I have had the microtuner for a few months now, but i have been and am questioning the performance improvement from this item. I am doing this based solely on quarter mile slips. so here they are.
Stock w/ Dual flowmasters:
60': 2.33
1/8: 10.119
1/8 mph: 69.86
1/4: 15.757
1/4 mph: 87.68
Dual flowmaster, elec. fans and microtuner:
60': 2.38
1/8: 10.037
1/8 mph: 70.53
1/4: 15.629
1/4 mph: 87.52
so whats the deal? I am starting to wonder if the microtuner or even elec. fans gave me any improvements. Maybe the weather had something to do with it, but i was not paying attention to that. Could the microtuner be faulty? or is there something else i should look at? Thanks.
I have had the microtuner for a few months now, but i have been and am questioning the performance improvement from this item. I am doing this based solely on quarter mile slips. so here they are.
Stock w/ Dual flowmasters:
60': 2.33
1/8: 10.119
1/8 mph: 69.86
1/4: 15.757
1/4 mph: 87.68
Dual flowmaster, elec. fans and microtuner:
60': 2.38
1/8: 10.037
1/8 mph: 70.53
1/4: 15.629
1/4 mph: 87.52
so whats the deal? I am starting to wonder if the microtuner or even elec. fans gave me any improvements. Maybe the weather had something to do with it, but i was not paying attention to that. Could the microtuner be faulty? or is there something else i should look at? Thanks.
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 445
Likes: 1
From: Shelby Twp., MI,USA
weather could have a huge impact on performance. you could make a run with the stock program and then on the same day put the performance program in and make a run. this would give you a better idea.
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi fasteddie,
You are making the single most common mistake (and the worst mistake) anyone can make when trying to evaluate performance modifications: trying to compare times run on different days - that does not work, as you can see from your results.
Temperature, humidity & baro pressure have a big impact on engine power & thus the performance of any vehicle, but even more so in a computer controlled vehicle - engine timing is tied to things like engine coolant temperature, inlet air temperature, in some automatic transmission fluid temperature, and so on. The difference in the performance of my Lightning between say, a 70-75 degree day and a 90-95 degree day is about a half-second!
Any time temperature goes up, you will get less timing and that reduce power - and that is in *addition* to the fact that hotter air is less dense, and contains fewer molecules of oxygen.
The best way to evaluate performance modifications is to do your runs on the *same* day, preferably with a 3 run format done within 90 minutes, with a 30 minute cooldown period in between each run - even that is not perfect, but it's about as good as you can reasonably do. There are those who argue this can be avoided by using "corrected" times, but I'm not one of them.
To answer your question, the Micro Tuner did it's job, if it failed you would know about it, as it would *tell* you there was a problem right on it's LCD screen. That didn't happen - you used it and when complete, you probably saw on the LCD screen when it said to disconnect the unit - that means it's done and has successfully uploaded the performance program.
The bottom line is, it is a physical *impossibility* for your mods not to have added power - I'd say you have dropped your ET's by somewhere between 5-7 tenths of a second pretty easily with the combination of the Micro Tuner & the electric fans.
Your Flowmaster exhaust is hurting you, as it causes a loss of low-end torque - this will show up in 60' times as well as in the 1/4 mile times - so at some point, if you want to maximize your performance, you could do with a better exhaust setup. And doing "true duals" is the best way to reduce torque below 3000 rpm in these 1997-2003 models, that really hurts performance. The best performance is generally had with Magnaflow's 15609 exhaust system, or with their newer SIDO 15749 - no loss of low-end torque, and better HP gains at full-throttle. This is just FYI for you, if you're happy with your Flowmaster setup, that's all that really matters.
I hoe this quick info helps a bit, & best of luck with your truck!
You are making the single most common mistake (and the worst mistake) anyone can make when trying to evaluate performance modifications: trying to compare times run on different days - that does not work, as you can see from your results.
Temperature, humidity & baro pressure have a big impact on engine power & thus the performance of any vehicle, but even more so in a computer controlled vehicle - engine timing is tied to things like engine coolant temperature, inlet air temperature, in some automatic transmission fluid temperature, and so on. The difference in the performance of my Lightning between say, a 70-75 degree day and a 90-95 degree day is about a half-second!
Any time temperature goes up, you will get less timing and that reduce power - and that is in *addition* to the fact that hotter air is less dense, and contains fewer molecules of oxygen.
The best way to evaluate performance modifications is to do your runs on the *same* day, preferably with a 3 run format done within 90 minutes, with a 30 minute cooldown period in between each run - even that is not perfect, but it's about as good as you can reasonably do. There are those who argue this can be avoided by using "corrected" times, but I'm not one of them.
To answer your question, the Micro Tuner did it's job, if it failed you would know about it, as it would *tell* you there was a problem right on it's LCD screen. That didn't happen - you used it and when complete, you probably saw on the LCD screen when it said to disconnect the unit - that means it's done and has successfully uploaded the performance program.
The bottom line is, it is a physical *impossibility* for your mods not to have added power - I'd say you have dropped your ET's by somewhere between 5-7 tenths of a second pretty easily with the combination of the Micro Tuner & the electric fans.
Your Flowmaster exhaust is hurting you, as it causes a loss of low-end torque - this will show up in 60' times as well as in the 1/4 mile times - so at some point, if you want to maximize your performance, you could do with a better exhaust setup. And doing "true duals" is the best way to reduce torque below 3000 rpm in these 1997-2003 models, that really hurts performance. The best performance is generally had with Magnaflow's 15609 exhaust system, or with their newer SIDO 15749 - no loss of low-end torque, and better HP gains at full-throttle. This is just FYI for you, if you're happy with your Flowmaster setup, that's all that really matters.
I hoe this quick info helps a bit, & best of luck with your truck!
Thread Starter
|
Member
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
hey thanks for replying, i will try to do the testing with and without the microtuner program. Or maybe i will just do some rough testing maybe from 0-60mph or something. Yeah, i gotta ditch the flowmasters, thinking in the future of getting high flow cats, x pipe and dual magnaflows. thanks for replying.
Thread Starter
|
Member
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
i am not so sure about the conditions making that much of a difference because i know for sure that the temps. were pretty close to each other on these two runs since the runs were made at night and in hawaii, the temps are usually the same throughout the year, around mid 70's at night. However, the humidity could have differed, but i doubt it could have affected it that much. what do you think?
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,856
Likes: 0
From: New Orleans
Humidity makes a HUGE difference. Ony my truck with the same mods and within 10 pounds of my run the week before, I ran .2 faster because of the humidty being 80% rather than 90+