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Old 04-03-2014, 04:45 PM   #270
jamesm
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Join Date: Mar 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Venator View Post
So this may be a silly question but when I get this kit will I need an better maf? If so where or what should I be getting?
You need a hybrid MAF/SD tune with Ecutek.

The MAF is used to estimate the mass of the air entering the engine (hence the name). It's a little piece of wire that the computer heats up, and tries to keep at a target temperature. The more power it takes to keep it at that temperature, the more air mass is moving past it. That's a pretty simple explanation of how it works. When you increase the size of the MAF housing you increase the range at which it can operate, but also reduce the velocity of the air moving through it. Once it gets too big, low-end drivability suffers. If it's too small, it maxes out too early.

The only solution without a downside associated is the MAF/SD hybrid. Let the MAF do what it's good at (metering air at low load, cruising up to about 100g/s), and then let SD take over from there. SD is much easier to tune and generally performs much better with boost and high amounts of airflow, so it's a benefit to use even if the MAF isn't maxing out. I use a SD hybrid on every FI car I tune, regardless of how high the MAF can scale.

I can't for the life of me figure why they'd make the housing so small though. It really limits your tuning options to Ecutek only unless someone comes out with a bigger housing (3"). Once that happens though, you should be able to tune it up to ~330-350whp(ish) without sacrificing drivability down low from the bigger MAF. I wouldn't go any bigger than 3", though, as that would require a major reducer into the throttle body and possibly slow things down enough to cause low-speed metering issues (not really sure, as I've never enountered a MAF bigger than 3" on an 86, but it seems logical to expect).

Last edited by jamesm; 04-03-2014 at 05:52 PM.
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