Guide Naturally Aspirated NA Engine tuning and bolt on intake/exhaust mods for FRS BRZ 86
NA- Naturally aspirated
FI - Forced Induction ie turbo/supercharger
E85 - aprox 85% ethanol based fuel (will vary from pump to pump from about E65 to E85)
Flex fuel Tune- requires a flex fuel sensor - device to detect ethanol content of fuel and integrated with appropriate tuning software can automatically adjust tune as ethanol content changes from full petrol to full E85 -if you want true flex fuel setup your only option is Ecutek and a flex fuel kit.
CAI - Cold Air Intake.
E85 tune - tune for E85 fuel will cope with variation in ethanol content from about E60 to E90, will not cope with straight petrol, need to reflash back to petrol tune. Can be done on all flash tuning platforms (or switch maps manually if you have Ecutek) no need for flex fuel kit/sensor.
AFR - Air fuel Ratio.
02 sensor - oxygen sensor
EL - Equal length header
UEL -Un-equal length header
Canned, Off The Shelf (OTS) or Flash and Go tune - A tune done for a specific set of mods - your mods must match tune - cheaper than a custom dyno tune , on NA cars will probably yield 90% or more of possible gains
Custom Dyno tune - tune done on a dyno for your specific car with your specific mods - on NA cars not that much gain over a Canned or OTS tune if your mods matched tune. Turbo/supercharged cars benefit much more from custom tuning.
If you want more than about 35-40 wheel horsepower gain then your going to need to go Forced Induction FI either Turbo or Supercharger, just skip NA mods . With every available bolt on mod using very expensive top of the line components custom dyno tuning on E85 or high grade petrol you may be able to exceed 40hp gain but its going to be very expensive NA.
Exhaust Mods
Most exhaust mods will make your car louder
If you planning on going catless header or catless or high flow front pipe , get a quiet cat-back or keep the stock cat-back.
The cats are very good at reducing noise and rasp/resonance/drone.
If you remove second cat plan on adding a resonator in its place to reduce noise/rasp/drone.
Most of the power gain in changing exhaust components comes from a catless header, the rest of the exhaust wont gain you much at all.
Hi Flow catted headers will work but slightly less gain than catless headers, generally more expensive due cost of cat.
See further down for more specific gains for tunes and headers both EL/UEL and petrol/E85
Catback exhausts
Little power gain maybe 2 or 3 wheel hp depending on other mods , just do it for the sound- no cel code problems as your not altering the primary catalytic converter in header. If you plan on changing to catless header get a quiet catback like Invidia Q300, else car will become quite loud when coupled with catless header.
Front Pipe - Hi-Flow cat or catless (secondary cat)
Little power gain maybe 2 or 3 wheel hp depending on other mods , will generally make car louder and possibly raspy especially if catless , no cel code problems as your not altering the primary catalytic converter in header. maybe add resonator if you go catless.
Mid-Pipe
Very little restriction here on NA car, keep the resonator else you may get rasp or drone. No Cel code problems here.
Overpipe
Very little restriction here on NA car maybe 1 or 2 hp depending on other mods
Dyno numbers
All dyno's read different. To compare results they really need to come from same dyno, or at least same dyno type using same calibration.
You generally get about 15-20% loss through drive-train so a stock FRZ/BRZ/86 rated at 200hp at flywheel will generally dyno around 170hp at the wheels (WHp)
Make sure your comparing wheel horsepower or flywheel (engine) horsepower and not mixing them up.
Stock tune stock car note how rich it runs high RPM down in the 10 AFR
Will I get a CEL code
If you go to catless header you will get a CEL code P0420 (cat efficiency) it may thak a while to show up though.
Even some catted headers will still cause a cel code
You can try O2 spacers or de-foulers but they will not always work 100%
The only 100% way is to disable the code in the ECU usually done in aftermarket tunes.
The Cel code P0420 will stop the cruise control on your car from working, it wont go into limp home or low power mode.
Can be reset by removing battery connection or using obd tool to reset. It going to keep coming back until you disable it though.
Why you get CEL Code when changing header
Integrated in header is a primary catalytic converter. Their is the primary 02 sensor before this cat and a secondary 02 sensor after it. The ECU compares the reading from both and works out if the primary cat (in header) is working efficiently. If it detects abnormal readings it will set CEL Code P0420.
a tune for headers will disable Cel code code P0420 as well as optomising parameters for a header.
Changing any other exhaust components other than the header will not trigger a CEL code. Its only the primary cat in the header that is monitored by ECU, secondary cat in front pipe is not monitored
Stock header showing both 02 sensors
Tips for changing header
1. Always use new gaskets, if you re-use the old ones it will leak causing 02 sensors to read incorrectly
2. Run a thread tap or chaser (M18 x 1.5) through you new header 02 bungs to clean them up , 02 sensors should screw in by hand. If you force them they are easily damaged and the threads on 02 sensor easily stripped.
3. Put high temp anti-seize on header bolts and 02 sensor bung threads, DO NOT get any grease or anti-seize on sensor tips, once contaminated they are stuffed.
4. Leave the 02 sensors in the stock header until you remove it from car then remove sensors. Just disconnect the plugs an tethers on wires as per picture below.
5. Black plug to black socket, grey plug to grey socket. and remember to plug both back in.
6. Use correct torque for bolts and o2 sensors, re-torque after a heat cycle.
Stock header is is Equal length stepped design , but its not perfectly equal length
see diagram below of stock header with heat shields removed showing integrated cat
Example Borla Header Install Instructions
http://www.borla.com/17284.pdf
Heat Coating Aftermarket Headers
Some people like to heat coat or wrap their aftermarket header. This will likely reduce the under bonnet temperatures at lower speeds. At higher speeds the higher airflows will keep temps down. Coating may also increase headers resistance to corrosion from road grime/salt, but wrapping header may hold road grime/salt increasing corrosion risk. however most good aftermarket headers are made from quality stainless steel and resist corrosion well. An alternative to reduce underbonnet temps is to modify your ecu tune (or get tuner to do it) so that the radiator fans cut in at lower road speeds and lower coolant temps.
Their does not appear to be any performance gain on these cars in coating/wrapping header
Tune only on completely stock car
About 10 wheel hp
Reduced torque dip arround 4000rpm
smoother running
smoother idle
If you run E85 on completely stock car with appropriate E85 tune you can get about 20 Wheel HP gain.
Catted header (hi flow cat) without tune maybe 5 wheel hp
you might still get CEL code due cat efficiency
you can try the O2 sensor spacers or de-foulers on the second (rear) 02 sensor but they don't always fool the ecu and you might still get CEL code P0420
Catless Header without tune - 5 to 8 wheel hp
You will definitely throw a CEL code eventually
Again you can try the O2 sensor spacers or de-foulers on the second (rear) 02 sensor but they don't always fool the ecu and you might still get CEL code P0420
Catless header with tune (petrol) around 20 wheel hp
Catless header with tune (E85 fuel) around 30 wheel hp
Catted header with tune (petrol) about 15 wheel hp
Tune will take full advantage of your header
Tune will disable the P0420 cel code - no need for spacers or de-foulers
Tune will further smooth out torque dip
Smoother running, smoother idle
Header types.
Any decent well designed header will produce similar gains on an NA car
EL header is traditional sound for a 4 cylinder
UEL header is classic subaru boxer rumble , dropped cylinder beat, similar to wrx.
EL header generally produce a couple more peak horsepower
UEL header generally produce more low/mid-range power/torque but can fall a couple of hp short in top end compared to EL header.
Their is really not that much in it just stay away from cheapo, dodgy brothers, Ebay headers.
Pay the extra for a known and tested header.
Changing the rest of exhaust after a catless header does not yield much more power on NA cars.
Example below comparing catless header El and UEL with complete exhaust but no tune
You need the tune to extract the power from exhaust mods.
Here is a comparison of EL and UEL headers after a tune
http://blog.vittuned.com/just-a-coup...-vs-tomei-uel/
Modded Stock header - cat removed and collector/pipe welded in - likely close to midpriced aftermarket header , pretty cheap if your handy with a welder. like @
redlined600 see original post here
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...6&postcount=12
E85 fuel.
If you retune you car for E85 you can add about 10 wheel hp gain in addition to mods above.
Intakes CAI short RAM ect
The Stock intake is quite efficient for NA cars
Maybe add a performance drop in filter and an intake tube and mod snorkel but best to leave stock airbox and maf sensor location unchanged. Unless you have access to a tune to suit the new intake
or you can do maf-scaling and a bit of tuning yourself
Changing the entire intake ie (CAI or short RAM ect) will require the MAF (Mass air Flow) sensor to be re calibrated via a tune
Their is little power in intakes for NA cars
If you really want an intake the Grimmspeed intake is very close to the stock intake maf scaling wise and you don't really need a maf rescale with the Grimmspeed intake.
See link below for comparision between stock intake with drop in filter/intake tube and snorkel mod.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56341
The Perrin 2.75" intake scaling is not to far off stock either, note the Perrin 3" big MAF
MUST have maf sensor re-scaling done
AEM and Takeda AFE maf scaling is considerably different compared to stock intake. fuel trims around 15%
Mishimoto intake is quite close to stock
If your MAF scaling is way off due to your aftermarket intake (or you have an air leak in intake) you can get cel codes due to lean/rich limits
If you MAF scaling is "off" by even 10%-15% it can still cause hesitation or bogging rough running and incorrect AFR.
Just because an intake requires a MAF rescale does not mean its flowing more air, the MAF sensor just samples the air flowing through through the intake.
So if the position of the MAF sensor is changed or the size of the tube the MAF sensor sits in is changed the sample will be different. It does not mean the intake is actually flowing more or less air, just means it not calibrated for that intake.
Most intakes on an NA car will only produce a couple of horsepower more than a drop in filter and a intake tube and modded snorkel.
Modded- cut off stock snorkel - you might want to expand the entrance as well - shove a soda bottle into it and heat with heat gun.
Beware not all mods will produce cumulative power gains
eg intake manufacturer claims intake add 5hp to stock car, maybe it does but its possible this is due to intake adjusting AFR due maf scaling errors . You now get a tune which adjusts afr and timing other parameters usually tune would add say 10hp. So you assume with your intake your going to get 15, often not the case.
This can also happen with exhaust mods, your initial mods may produce some gains and the exhaust is flowing better, subsequent mods will have diminished gains as the exhaust now flows sufficiently well for the pumping capacity of the engine.
Crawford power blocks seem to work quite well on stock cars as they alter volumetric efficiency, however so does tuning (adjusting intake/exhaust valve timing), and so does exhaust/intake mods . But the overall gains with all these components is often less than the gains of each individual component used by itself.
Their are so many options its very difficult to predict the outcome.
Cheapest Naturally Aspirated Power Gains
Approx Wheel Horsepower Gains over stock
Canned Tune Only petrol 10 wheel hp
Canned E85 tune on stock car aprox 20 wheel HP
Catless Header plus canned tune petrol 20 wheel hp
Catless header plus canned tune plus E85 fuel 30 wheel hp.
Dyno charts ect
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55450
Independent dyno Canned OTS tune Catless header and E85 fuel
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...&postcount=305
You can do Catless header + canned or off the shelf , flash and go tune on E85 or petrol for about $1000 if you fit header yourself.
That about $30 per hp if your on E85
After that the last 10 hp is going to cost big
To get arround 40 wheel hp gain over stock you would have to do in addition to above mods
Intake
overpipe, hiflow secondary cat or catless front pipe
cat back exhaust
Custom dyno tune on E85 fuel or high grade petrol
That going to cost you probably in excess of $2000 extra. ie about $200 per hp, time to think about Forced induction.
Tuning options (ECU flash tuning)
Ecutek
OFT -Openflash Tablet
BRZEdit
Tactrix/Ecuflash
More info on the various Tune Systems for BRZ/86/FRS see here
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106068
To get the best performance from your bolt on mods you will require a tune.
You can get "piggyback" devices for these cars but we have a flashable ECU and flashing the ECU is a much better option than "piggyback" devices. Piggybacks like Uni-chip work by adjusting the ecu sensor inputs to fool the ecu. They are very limited in their adjustments and require wiring .
Flashing the ecu allows hundreds of tables to be changed to specifically alter parameters and limits. You generally have the ability to flash the ecu back to "stock" in minutes so its virtually undetectable.
Whatever flash tuning platform you use on an NA car you will get similar results power wise with a competent tuner
You can run dedicated E85 or petrol tunes with all options, but an automated flex fuel system is also possible with Ecutek and open-source tuning like OFT, Tactrix, although ROM support may be limited on open-source.
Dedicated E85 tunes will cope with the variance in ethanol content between fuel company's, but you need to flash back the petrol tune to go back to petrol.
If you want true flex fuel (integrated flex fuel sensor) and map switching on the fly, then Ecutek can do this , but its also now possible with opensource tuning and OFT on a limited rom set
Their is a guy in Australia "Throttlehappy" tuning he is on facebook who has written his own Flex fuel code for BRZ/86 ECU he uses BRZEdit tuning platform, you will still need flex sensor kit.
Flex fuel tune (with flex fuel sensor) will not give more power than a dedicated E85 tune but its more convenient and safer in case you filled up with wrong fuel.
Intake Manifold spacers
Such as Crawford BPB or Fiebruz
Seem to work well on stock car but benefits diminish as other bolt on mods and tune added, don't seem to work all that well with E85 as they limit gains over 6000 where E85 works well.
These spacers generally shift the peak power/torque lower in the rpm range, however they often produce little or no peak power gain, especially on tuned cars and those on E85.
Probably suited to Auto-x guys wanting to get into the power band earlier in the rpm range.
Fiebruz
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...8&postcount=34
Crawford BPB testing - read summary at end
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62007
Oil Coolers
If you do a fair bit of hard driving even on the street in warmer climates you may need to look at oil coolers.
It pretty easy to get oil temps over 240F+ with spirited driving even on a stock NA car on a hot day.
oil temp vs pressure data from hard use 0W20 vs 5W30
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91820
For Warmer Climates 5W30 or 10W30 for NA cars appears to be a good choice
if your boosted definitely an oil cooler
General OILS and Oil Viscosity info
http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/
Good video here on oil temps pressures and oil viscosity\weights ect
see the oil pressure and temp data on the youtube page in comments area
[ame]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cDfFJ5s6IDg[/ame]
.
You can use the subaru OEM type as used on Forester or WRX DIT (direct injection turbo) FA/FB20 motors
Full OEM instal method
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50427
Easier cheaper install method
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73684
Cusco also do a kit
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33799
The above heat exchanger (coolant/oil) type oil cooler is ok for NA cars on street, Auto X (short duration) and low level track driving.
Advantage is they get oil up to temp quicker and maintain oil temps at a lower level for longer, however they do run out of capacity after about 10-15 minutes of hard driving.
If you a serious track warrior or boosted skip this type and get the air/oil front mounted radiator type cooler type, best to pay the extra for a thermostatically controlled one unless you live in a very warm climate
perrin,mishimoto, full blown ect make them
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31197
Lightweight Crank pulleys
If you like bling then buy some, else keep your money in your pocket.
The only thing they may do is let engine rpm increase slightly quicker on heal and toe downshifts (like a lightened flywheel). its just easier to lighten crank pulley than change to lighter flywheel. Remember your crank pulley is connected to a heavy crankshaft and flywheel which are of far greater mass than a pulley.
Once you connect the rest of the wheels, driveline and gearbox to engine ie clutch engaged the reduction in rotating mass is stuff all. ie reduction in weight of the pulley compared to rotating mass of all the driveline components.
They don't "make" extra power , flywheels and hence pulleys are energy stores
OEM manufacturers don't waste money on unnecessary components and it appears that the stock crank pulley is actually a some form of harmonic balancer/damper (its in two sections with rubber damper ring), its likely made like that for a reason. Make your own decision theirs a million threads on the subject.
Cam's , Heads , Intake manifolds valves ect.
Their is not much on the market, most likely because the cost benefit factor is low on an NA or even FI car, so the market for such products is very limited.
Heads cams ect are going to be thousands of dollars and require extensive mechanical work to be performed and likely motor removal to fit.
Have not done a lot of research but
1. Much over 8000 rpm your going to run into valve float on stock valve gear and oil starvation problems.
2. Piston to valve clearance is already quite tight so high lift cams or bigger valves going to require piston change or complete new heads.
3. You already running 12.5 compression ratio stock lifting that is going to require very good fuel likely beyond pump gas E85 probably possible.
some discussion here
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61651
Element Tuning oil starvation
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63723
Intake Manifold development
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82479
fullBlown Motorsports intake manifold
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56850
Aftermarket Cams
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91080
If your going to do a bit of Track work might be worth having a read here
Toyota motor Group (Some into in German but Google translate works wonders)
http://www.toyota-motorsport.com/motorsport/en/
http://www.toyota-motorsport.com/mot...t86-cs-v3#tab2
They are relatively stock cars Naturally aspirated, good info on suspension setup , brake cooling , note they run 10W60 engine oil with an oil cooler stock motor. In the V3 spec the R3 is more race spec with sequential gearbox ect . That weight oil likely to thick for daily stop start driving in colder climates, rearly only suited to track use, just interesting they run such a heavy oil
http://www.toyota-motorsport.com/mot...al_2014_02.pdf
See links below for more info on tuning, logging ECU flashing , E85 ect.
Hope this is useful.
If you find errors or omissions let me know and i will fix it up.