Had some fun with a set of BETA VTT Stage 2 turbos on Wednesday night and here are the numbers. The tune is running 21psi peak down low, 20psi at 6k rpm, 19psi at 6200rpm, 18psi at 6500rpm, 16.6psi at redline. Timing is in the range of 10.5 to 11.5deg peak without any hint of timing corrections all the way through.

This was on  pump 94 octane from Petro Canada (formerly Sunoco) running the Aquamist HFS-4 setup with two 1mm nozzles and 100% meth. According to short term trims the DME is pulling out 25% through trims with two 1mm nozzles so we could probably dial it in a bit better by dropping one of the two 1mm nozzles to a 0.9 or a .8mm instead.

Numbers look really nice and the most this car has ever made on pump and meth so far with this much timing and boost. Boost wise there isn’t any more to be had up top but we expect there’s possibly another 2-3 degrees left in there on race gas.

Design wise these turbos should be close to what the next Stage 2 Batch 2 setups end up looking like from Vargas Turbo Technologies. The actual Stage 2 Batch 2 dyno numbers will be published with our tuning once they’re ready and installed for testing on the the new VTT shop test car.

Wanted to share what I think is another key milestone in N54 tuning. Yesterday we managed to use Cobb to control an external Tial wastegate entirely, without piggyback involvement and make some good numbers. Boost control had to be redone from the typical way its done for internally wastegated vacuum operated turbos such as OEMs and any stock frame hybrids.

We stopped at these numbers as the HPFP pressure literally nosedived near redline to 600psi from 2000+psi targeted so we’ll be looking at the usual fuel capacity boosters and a couple things that I haven’t heard of being tried yet.

This was at 18-18.5psi peak. Timing is around 8-10.5deg, our Petro Canada (Sunoco) pump 94 octane. No idea at the moment how much more power is left on our pump gas but I bet quite a bit more as this was literally just getting started LOL

Exhaust manifold is very similar to FFTEC’s with the runners going up and merging down the middle to a T4 flange. GTX35R 1.06AR turbine housing, Tial wastegate with a 10lb spring. Exhaust is a single 3.5″ all the way back with the wastegate plumbed into the exhaust. This kit was a one off for a local car that has seen tons of 1/4 mile racing in the past and had one of the first RBs ever made. He drove the car on the street after, no issues, raced what looked like a 600 bike I think, stayed door to door…

The size of the exhaust housing is obviously making this a top end beast vs. a DD street car but stepping down to a smaller exhaust housing is never rocket science or brain surgery Click here to enlarge

We’re SUPER happy having completed this with boost control that is so spot on. 10psi (to overcome the wg spring before any duty cycle is needed on top of it to reach higher boost) is reached at 4200rpm in 4th gear on a non-load bearing Dynojet.

Car is a 2008 BMW 335i E90. More to follow, stay tuned! :)

We recently received a call from an east coast shop owner who does some of the cleanest work I have ever seen. He runs a full race shop and has a 2008 135i with only 5000 miles on it. All 5000 miles are track miles as the car has never been registered as a car to run on the street. He is running RB turbos and full supporting bolt ons and tracks the car on 93 octane. We have decided to join him and support his tuning needs for the upcoming track seasons. After hitting the dyno today we have dialed the car in a bit more and focused on a tune for long / high heat and intense track sessions. 3+ hours on a road course tends to take its toll on a car and without the proper tuning and cooling it could cause problems. Between the tune we put together and the custom built parts on the car – this is going to be a very fun partnership.

Without the specific components, additional cooling modifications, and custom built race parts that he fabricated in his shop – this car would not run as well as it does. The car put out impressive numbers on the dyno today. It made about 443whp and 432wtq and never touched over 18.09 psi (set to hit and hold about 17.5psi but flirted with 18.09 for about 150rpms lol). We have a few more revisions to get everything dialed in perfectly. This was a third gear pull on the dyno as we ran out of time to start doing some 4th gear tuning. We will probably keep the car well under 18psi even at high load.

On to the impressive pictures!

Super excited about our recent tuning outcome with one of our local tuning customers. Joe’s 2012 BMW 335is with the DCT (Double Clutch) transmission is simply put, a stock turbo beast. The transmission is built with upgraded clutch packs from SSP Performance. We did our best to fully customize the Pro Tune on this N54 to take full advantage of the provided octane and methanol/water injection.

Here’s the review from the customer. Thanks Joe, enjoy the beast, see you at the track buddy ;)

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Hey guys,

Just wanted to share my story about my DCT build and my WR Dyno. This is not intended to start a tuning war or to make anyone look stupid *cough*cough* 135 pages of garbage.

For starters I drive a 2012 335is with a DCT transmission, I began the build like every other enthusiast out there would, with a tune (JB4 to be exact). It later became FBO + meth + Protune with an upgraded clutch pack.

As I mentioned the car originally ran the JB4 G5 iso + BMS flash. I will never put down the BMS name as I believe that they deliver a sound product and top notch customer service, but it just wasn’t what I needed. The trans started encountering clutch slippage late last year while using any meth additive over 45 or being on map 7. The car gets beaten regularly and hits the strip at least once a month during the summer. It started off with some slippage during WOT shifts and later into not even being able to hold any power in the RPM range and sending the trans into a limp mode.

Since I’m located up in Canada and don’t drive much during the winter months, I called up Kris@ssp to discuss a possible clutch disc replacement. I was skeptical at first since theres a huge thread on how it doesn’t work, but I took the leap of faith anyways and pulled the trigger on the new SSP 16 plate clutch pack.Boy i’m I happy now for not listening to sticky. Kris hooked me up with a local DCT master technician who fly’s all over the world to upgrade GTR and Lambo clutches steve@SJL. In other words I was in great hands and I cannot thank Kris and Steve enough for the countless hours spent making my baby run how it should.

There was a short trial and error period but as of Saturday May 4th, my car was finally done. The technician advised me to go the flash route as the BMW TCU gets all its values directly from the ECU and tricking it with a piggy was affecting various systems/sensors (mostly load related) within the TCU. Earlier this month I got a hold of PTF, who are local to me and told them what I was trying to do. I then purchased the pro tune + the HFS4 and WOW what a difference it is to drive.

The car just goes, its hands down exactly what I wanted from this project when I started. PTF are amazing! I did both a road tune and a dyno tune and I can honestly say if your looking to bring your car to the next level I believe PTF is the way to go. It feels incredibly smooth and when needed it pulls like a freight train. The car currently runs 3 maps; one is a DD that is customized for 94+meth with conservative boost and timing. The next map is more aggressive running 94 + 100% meth and last but not least a map made strictly for race gas + meth.

Going back towards the DCT build, I would consider myself to be a complete noobie regarding the DCT trans. I know about line pressure and the discs itself but after that its like solving a rubix cube. So for more information on regarding the upgrade, I ask you to please email Kris@SSP.

I believe anyone trying to push big power with a DCT should give SSP a call and order these clutches. I’ve put on 1600 hard miles on them and not a single blip yet, the shifts are a tad firmer but still very comfortable for DD. I’m planning on getting a turbo upgrade by mid summer and well defiantly keep all of you posted. I intend to push the trans has hard as possible!!

The numbers below speak for themselves, consistent power pull after pull. We tried to hit 500tq but we didn’t want to put to much stress on the turbos. Since I cannot dig up my baseline, I wanted to let you guys know that a FBO g5iso + bms flash on 75 additive went on after me and put down 425/485 nemo .

I’ll be hitting the track later this month with PTF , watch out buraQ. Just waiting for my AD08s to come in, I truly believe this car can go deep into the 11s with its setup now.

Video’s…time slips and 60-120 runs will be posted later this month, just incase some of you don’t believe it works.

Do yourself a favour and contact PTF to get a fully customized map, I promise you wont regret it.

Much thanks PTF, SSP, SJL, columbusautomotive and all the boys part of JBC!!!

Mod List

COBB PROTUNE by PTF
STOCK SNAILS
AR Downpipes
AMS FMIC
AFE DCI
BMS OCC
Vibrant Resonators
HFS4
FORGE DVs
ER CP
NGK 9552

Sharing the next set of our tuning results from our trip down to Vargas Turbocharger Technologies in California. Here’s Tony Vargas’ (owner of VTT) online posting/review of the tuning session and results.

We’re happy with the outcome to say the least :) Plenty of fuel left to keep pushing on the power front. Next up will be pure MS109 (race gas) tuning followed by E85.

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Tony Vargas review and comments:

Hey guys, so after some tuning this weekend we came up with some numbers we are happy with for now. Honestly, we flat ran out of time or this would have been over 700 WHP easily. We are maybe 1-1.5 degrees of timing away on this fuel, and with straight 109 or E85 we will be well over it. One of the first things I would like to point out is, the HPFP can now be said is 100% solid and backed up with numbers. With NO meth the cars fuel system providing ALL the fuel, we made 673WHP and 564WTQ with fuel trims staying negative, the car was pulling fuel out. Ok, so on to the details of the numbers. For fuel we were on basically 98 octane (see octane calculator pic) we were running out of time and the pump we brought to empty the tank failed miserably so we dumped 5 gallons of MS 109 into half tank about 8 gallons of 91. It makes it about 98 octane, with this we cranked up the boost and slowly started adding in timing, then once we got over 675 threw some meth into the fun. That gave us the numbers you see here. We also did back to back runs with no map changes, and no camera shut off so you can see the no meth then meth difference. The car never once set a CEL, never once limped, never once really did anything. I need to throw out a HUGE thank you to PTF and COBB for all the help this weekend. Its a good start but we will keep pushing and see what we get. Thanks everyone for the continued interest.

Just to be clear, EVERY run was done in 4th gear, NO 5th gear pulls, also EGT’s NEVER got over 1600F well well within a nice safe zone.. AND I forgot to thank the most important person Dave, my brother the owner of the car. Without him putting up with riding a street bike through the winter and having his wife yell at him for 6 months we would have never made this kit. So thanks for being patient dude!

We get this question quite often about the effect on dyno numbers with winter tires, namely:

Does the soft compound, thick tread blocks, and high number of deep sipes used in a snow/ice tire affect how much torque/power a roller chassis dyno would measure?

The answer is, Yes.  Here’s a great writeup, courtesy of Airboy Tuning, that was done on another platform but still very relevant showing why, if you’re after PEAK dyno numbers, you shouldn’t dyno on winter tires.

Now, dyno tuning can still be done on any kind of a tire (as long as its not slipping on the rollers) as tuners are after deltas (before/after gains) but for PEAK number measurements stay away from winter tires ;)

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Winter tires lower the power output as measured by the dyno.  The key being power being measured by the dyno.  The engine, in both cases, is generating the same power.

The tires used in this comparison are from the opposite ends of the spectrum; one is designed for ice and snow while the other is for Tarmac.  From the pictures below, one could imagine the difference in tread deformation when the tire is stressed.  In relation to the test results, I would expect winter tires that uses shorter blocks and fewer sipes to experience less loss than the WS-70 and All-Season tires will likely have more loss than the RE-01R.

The Tires:

Some information test setup:

• Chassis dyno used in the test is a Dyno Dynamics 450DS AWD unit.
• Vehicle used is a 2006 Subaru WRX with catted Turbo Back Exhaust (TBE)
• Tires used are Bridgestone Blizzak WS-70 (New, 215/45/17) and RE-01R (~50%, 225/45/17)
• Tires are mounted on stock 06 WRX 17″ alloys inflated to 45psi

Brief description of test sequence:

• Wheels with RE-01R tires are installed onto test vehicle and loaded onto dyno
• Engine is warmed up and car is driven on the rollers to warm up tires and drive train components
• Engine RPM to achieve 40mph (dyno roller speed) in 3rd gear is recorded
• 3rd gear pulls are done starting from ~2000rpm up to >6000rpm
• Car is unloaded from dyno and wheels with Blizzak WS-70 tires are installed
• Car is reloaded onto dyno, repeating the warm up procedure above
• Engine RPM to achieve 40mph (dyno roller speed) in 3rd gear is recorded
• 3rd gear pulls are repeated

Results:
Power and Torque

Boost and AFR

It should be mentioned that after the test, I did not find any deposits of black rubber powder on the dyno, which would indicate tire slippage.  What I did notice in the data is that the “road speed” for the Blizzak WS-70, as determined by the dyno rollers, is lower than one would expect based on the “RPM at 40MPH” measurements made with light loading on the tires.

The dashed lines in the graph below indicates the theoretical Road Speed vs engine RPM.  For the RE-01R, there is a slight deviation near peak boost/torque.  For The WS-70, the recorded road speed deviates from the theoretical value right at the beginning of the pull and the difference is significant.  The deviation diminishes as RPM approach 6500, where boost and torque is much lower than the peak values near 3000RPM.

March 28th, 2010 update

Tested another car with snow tires, this time it is the Aurora W403.  The picture below shows the tread pattern (tire tested did not have studs).  It has fewer sipes and the tire compound feels harder.

The difference in dyno output is not as much as the WS-70 used in the earlier test, even though this car has a larger turbo and is generating more power at the high rpm range.