Quote:
Originally Posted by Gojeep
Sounds like this could be useful in my Willys with the 5.7. I take it you can tell them what has been done and they will setup a custom tune for it?
|
If you want something similar with your Hemi, your simplest solution is to get a proven plug and play ECU programmer like a Diablo Sport or Hypertech or similar. They are low cost with 'some' results.
You won't get night and day difference like tuning/remapping a CRD will unfortunately.
There is a big difference between petrol and modern common rail deisel tuning.
Petrols for the most part don't have much to improve on from the factory without hardware upgrades, as they burn fairly clean (compared to diesels) and can be built to meet certain emission standards quite easily (ie no overengineering or over speccing an engine required).
Modern CRD's are built stronger and to a higher specification so that they can withstand all the emission hardware (DPF's, EGR's, etc etc) that gets bolted on to them and the tuning required to make them burn cleaner and last longer. Furthermore a modern diesel has to idle and drive smoothly (not like Mack truck), have decent amounts of torque and fuel economy (otherwise why get one?), and these days also produce good amounts of HP (meaning ability to rev higher). Aside from the emission stuff already mentioned, in order to meet these objectives CRD's are equipped with big injectors (very high flow rates, much higher tech than a petrol injector), very high pressure fuel system (25,000+ psi fuel pressures), strong engine components (forged crank and rods etc to withstand 17:1+ compression ratios with forced induction), and, the jewel in the crown, a variable geometry turbo (20psi+ boost levels with the ability to adjust turbo response at low and high rpms to achieve max boost and flat torque curves). Essentially there is so much more tech in a CRD engine and have a decent amount of headroom to turn the wick up so to speak as there are so many variables to play with. The more emissions stuff is deleted, the more responsive and better fuel economy is gained. Then if the tuner wants to play with the variable vanes in the turbo and injector pulse, the gains in torque and fuel economy can be massive.
What the OP and I (and GDE, ECU West, Infinitech, Malone, and every other "remap" tuner out there) have done is load (some of them do create their own tunes) a tune that uses up the headroom left in the stock motor by the factory. It is all still within the factory's safe modes though as no engine protection (limp modes) are triggered etc (although these can be adjusted too). For example, the engine will never flow more fuel than the injectors or fuel system can supply, never boost more than the turbo can, and the tune uses the factory sensors to ensure the A/R ratios are correct etc.
Petrol engines just aren't built this way. Their fuel stystems are not fare from max duty cycles already, etc. Great thing about petrol engines though is that they are simpler and cheaper to maintain and fix.
If hardware changes are made to either a petrol or CRD, then a true custom tune is most beneficial.
For you, I would get a proper custom tune on your Hemi. Yours will run on the stock ECU fine, but becasue you have changed to SRT8 exhuasts and prob some other hardware changes, even a off ther shelf PnP unit might not get the most out of it. But, at the end of the day, you cannot beat a proper aftermarket standalone ECU (wired in alongside your factory ECU so as to retain normal factory operations for everything else) like a Haltech (who have a PnP harness for the Hemi, so minimal wiring), Motec, Emtron, etc and a good tuner running your vehicle on a dyno, spending half to full day tuning everything (A/F ratio, ignition timing, throttle maps, cam timing, turbo vanes, full throttle, partial throttle, etc, etc) but this level of tuning becomes more and more effective the more mods your engine has...
