T(h)or's GT86 hammer (Europe) - essential track setup

[jvincent]

Originally Posted by Tor

If you can check the name of that adapter it would be much appreciated. I don't get anywhere near those update rates.

I'm on Android so I use the bluetooth version of this, which has very good update rates.

http://www.obdlink.com/mxwf/

[ysu]

Originally Posted by jvincent

I'm on Android so I use the bluetooth version of this, which has very good update rates.

http://www.obdlink.com/mxwf/

Obdlink LX (green) is the bluetooth one. Perfect for Android linking, not so much so for Apple afaik.

[Tor]

Yes, I may do something with my head unit, or buy a cheap android tablet and mount it in front of it. If I do, I'll get the OBDLink LX. I only heard good things about it.

[Spec C Wannabe]

Originally Posted by Tor

Not driving much at the moment because of the winter weather. I'm not working on the car much either as it's so bloody cold in my garage.

I did do a bit of weight reduction, however. Replaced this:



With this:



The car is noticeably faster without that extra weight.

Interested in your DIY Tuning as your result just turned out GREAT!!

What program or application did you use for tuning your car?

How did you manage to fix the Torque Dip?

I used to tune many WRXs in the past, so don't worry as I understand all those ECU tuning basics/ knowledges and terminology. I just need your kind sharing of which parameter to tune out the torque dip on the BRZ/GT86.

Did you do anything to VVTI (Variable Valve Timing) tables? Or you just tune the A/F and Ignition timing like normal tuning.

Thanks in advance for your kind advice

[Tor]

Originally Posted by Spec C Wannabe

Interested in your DIY Tuning as your result just turned out GREAT!!

What program or application did you use for tuning your car?

How did you manage to fix the Torque Dip?

I used to tune many WRXs in the past, so don't worry as I understand all those ECU tuning basics/ knowledges and terminology. I just need your kind sharing of which parameter to tune out the torque dip on the BRZ/GT86.

Did you do anything to VVTI (Variable Valve Timing) tables? Or you just tune the A/F and Ignition timing like normal tuning.

Thanks in advance for your kind advice

Thank you. Yes, the car runs fantastic and it's now a lot of fun to put the foot down from already 3000 rpm. The Virtual Dyno curve depicted in the video is from the actual wide open throttle pull shown in the video. Bumps in the road will, of course, affect the result somewhat. I have, however, made several pulls that all show roughly the same results. I can't say (yet) how they will compare to actual real dyno graphs. I suspect they will look fairly similar, but will show a larger drop off above 7000 rpm, where I suspect the resolution of the logs is too low to provide accurate results. The torque dip is still slightly visible in the curves, but most importantly, not noticeable while driving.

As to "how" and "what":
I use a Tactrix Openport 2.0 OBD2 adapter to flash with their software EcuFlash 1.44. Editing of the tunes is done using RomRaider.

The base of the tune that I am using comes from the free OpenFlash Tablet tunes. They did actual dyno tuning of the FT86 in various configurations and made different tune available respectively. As an example for unequal length header on an otherwise stock car (same as what I have). Among a lot of things that they have tuned is the VVTI (or AVCS - active valve control system - as it's called in Subaru/FA20 terms).

These tunes have then further been refined by open source community. Most noticeably in the tunes by Wayno as you can read a lot about in this thread. These improvements add up to around 50 tables that have been changed with minor fine tuning or large adjustments. There are a lot of (further) adjustments to A/F, timing, and fuelling compared to the OpenFlash tunes.

The tune I run is one of Wayno's tunes with a fair bit more added timing, as we have high-quality fuel in my neck of the woods (100 octane RON or approx 95 US AKI).

[Spec C Wannabe]

Originally Posted by Tor

Thank you. Yes, the car runs fantastic and it's now a lot of fun to put the foot down from already 3000 rpm. The Virtual Dyno curve depicted in the video is from the actual wide open throttle pull shown in the video. Bumps in the road will, of course, affect the result somewhat. I have, however, made several pulls that all show roughly the same results. I can't say (yet) how they will compare to actual real dyno graphs. I suspect they will look fairly similar, but will show a larger drop off above 7000 rpm, where I suspect the resolution of the logs is too low to provide accurate results. The torque dip is still slightly visible in the curves, but most importantly, not noticeable while driving.

As to "how" and "what":
I use a Tactrix Openport 2.0 OBD2 adapter to flash with their software EcuFlash 1.44. Editing of the tunes is done using RomRaider.

The base of the tune that I am using comes from the free OpenFlash Tablet tunes. They did actual dyno tuning of the FT86 in various configurations and made different tune available respectively. As an example for unequal length header on an otherwise stock car (same as what I have). Among a lot of things that they have tuned is the VVTI (or AVCS - active valve control system - as it's called in Subaru/FA20 terms).

These tunes have then further been refined by open source community. Most noticeably in the tunes by Wayno as you can read a lot about in this thread. These improvements add up to around 50 tables that have been changed with minor fine tuning or large adjustments. There are a lot of (further) adjustments to A/F, timing, and fuelling compared to the OpenFlash tunes.

The tune I run is one of Wayno's tunes with a fair bit more added timing, as we have high-quality fuel in my neck of the woods (100 octane RON or approx 95 US AKI).

Hi Tor,

Thank you for your prompt and clear answer, really appreciated your help here. Thank you sir.

OK, I have used those hardware & programs back in my tuning days, though mine were much older version hehe. So, I am pretty familiar with what we are talking about. Actually, I used EcuEdit mainly for rom editing as it has quite a nicer interface and make the rom editing easier and clearer. It has "Microsoft Window" similar interface and it can show very nice 3D Graphs. IF your haven't seen it, check it out here. http://www.epifansoft.com/ecuEdit-screenshots.html. It is very easy to "visualize" the curve/graphs and do the smoothing for A/F ratio and Ignition Timing 3D tables. Bad thing is it isn't free.

My further question:
Your car is EURO version while OpenFlash Tablet is kinda focus more for the U.S. version of GT86 as it is a US based company. So, is your ECU compatible with those of US cars? Do they have free "Off The Shelf" map for the EURO Calibration ID? Or are they all the same US and EURO ECUs? Back in my WRX days, US and UK ECU (mine) are so far different that it is almost useless to use US map as a base map!

And Did you have the guy "Wayno" help you with the tuning? Like sending ECU data logging files to him and let him edit the rom for you. Or Did you just follow his guideline and tune your ECU by yourself?

Thanks again for your kind support.

[Tor]

IF your haven't seen it, check it out here. http://www.epifansoft.com/ecuEdit-screenshots.html.

For the FT86 it's called BRZEdit. I was told not to waste money on it, as it supposedly doesn't provide any benefits if you are not dyno tuning the car. But, yes, it looks nicer than RomRaider.

So, is your ECU compatible with those of US cars? Do they have free "Off The Shelf" map for the EURO Calibration ID?

They are different, but OpenFlash has tunes for all Cal IDs. So does Wayno's tunes.

And Did you have the guy "Wayno" help you with the tuning? Like sending ECU data logging files to him and let him edit the rom for you. Or Did you just follow his guideline and tune your ECU by yourself?

Wayno has been a great help in answering a lot of all my question (so is the whole community in the tuning subforum here should I add).

I didn't get "remote tuning", as in making logs and getting a fully customized finished ROM specific to my car sent back to me. But you just have to skip back to page 8/9/10 of this thread to see I did get help with problem areas.

In general, for the whole community, my experience is that if you put in the work and educate yourself the best you can before asking questions, the more likely you are to get help. This is quite logical since everyone here is doing this in their spare time and would probably rather answer a question or help solve a problem that isn't seen frequently than answering the same questions over and over again. There is tons of info in the tuning subforum and searching provides answers to many questions. If there is a problem you can't solve yourself (after putting some time into it) or a question you can't find the answer for (after searching and reading), the community is outstanding to provide help!

The tune I run now, after switching to stg 2, is an almost "standard" Wayno tune. Except I changed the timing to resemble the most aggressive OpenFlash Tablet tune, and am in the process of adjusted it back a bit where there are excessive timing corrections. So far I am doing it on my own.

Originally Posted by Spec C Wannabe

Thank you for your prompt and clear answer, really appreciated your help here. Thank you sir.

That's what's the forum is for. Glad to help.

[Spec C Wannabe]

^^^
Thanks a lot for your kind answer and advice to DIY tuning.

Sorry if I asked too much.

[Tor]

Originally Posted by Spec C Wannabe

^^^
Thanks a lot for your kind answer and advice to DIY tuning.

Sorry if I asked too much.

Glad I if I could help. And no, I wasn't referring to your questions here. Just trying to set the expectations.

There is the option to find a suitable ready-made tune and run it with minimal adjustments which require little effort. If, however, you want something beyond that, be prepared to put a lot of time into it.

[Tor]

Made my car a bit more slippery (for extra speed).

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA_nW3CAggI"]So you think your car is clean? - YouTube[/ame]

[Tor]

I installed the Whiteline Postive Traction kit. I have had it lying around for a year but didn't install it because I knew it would take some finagling and it's a bit risky if you mess it up. For anyone interested this is a 25 mins video:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3CE29SNT4c"]Whiteline rear subframe inserts installation, Toyota GT86 (Subaru BRZ) - YouTube[/ame]


As mentioned in previous post/video, I clayed and waxed my car and wheels. Since the car was now so sparkling, I felt bad about how dirty it was underneath - specifically the wheel wells and suspension. So I went ahead and washed it all:







A bit nutty, I know...



Also since it's officially spring, I put the Yokohamas back on:



The car is now so clean and sparkling that it's actually a bit ridiculously! It's actually a bit over the top for my taste. I have to get it dirty again ASAP...

[norcalpb]

What are your impressions of those sub frame inserts? That was prob the most in depth install I've seen, I might have the confidence to do it myself now.

My only reservation is that I don't want to make the car uncomfortable with these inserts.

[nikitopo]

Originally Posted by Tor

I installed the Whiteline Postive Traction kit. I have had it lying around for a year but didn't install it because I knew it would take some finagling and it's a bit risky if you mess it up. For anyone interested this is a 25 mins video:

Another option are the STI inserts which are installed only on the front part of the rear subframe. I remember a post of a guy installing the Whiteline inserts in two steps (one day the fronts and another day the rears). The improvement after installing the fronts was noticeable, while the improvement after installing the rears was not so much. Just my two cents of getting the most of this gain with an easier installation ...

[Tor]

Originally Posted by norcalpb

What are your impressions of those sub frame inserts? That was prob the most in depth install I've seen, I might have the confidence to do it myself now.

My only reservation is that I don't want to make the car uncomfortable with these inserts.

I will report back once I've driven the car.

Originally Posted by nikitopo

Another option are the STI inserts which are installed only on the front part of the rear subframe. I remember a post of a guy installing the Whiteline inserts in two steps (one day the fronts and another day the rears). The improvement after installing the fronts was noticeable, while the improvement after installing the rears was not so much. Just my two cents of getting the most of this gain with an easier installation ...

From my experience, there will be no difference in installing only the fronts. You would have to losen up the rear as well to get the frame to realign with the new way it is seated with the insert stuffed in between.