Jump to content
LegacyGT.com

Learning the basics of calibration via training/literature for tuning and YOU!


cryo

Recommended Posts

Hey there guys,

 

Just wanted to toss out another write up but focused on something I get asked often and figured it might help out those wanting to take the next step for information. Even though our E-Tuning services are still currently on hiatus for the time being we are still site vendors and I am still around and surf the forums when I have spare time away from the shop and dyno.

 

Most people know just enough to be dangerous when it comes to calibrating their own cars but some feel they have no options to learn more safely after reading up on the forums and tinkering with their own cars. There is a TON of information available these days and it seems more and more avenues open to learn the "black art" of calibration which is truly just math and science applied to internal combustion engines.

 

DISCLAIMER - THIS IS NOT FOR EVERYONE AND MOST PEOPLE WILL FIND IT MUCH SAFER AND EASIER TO HAVE A PROFESSIONAL WITH EXPERIENCE AND PROPER TRAINING CALIBRATE THIER CAR'S. THIS POST IS TO ALLOW PEOPLE THE SIMPLE AVENUES OF INFORMATION IF THEY WANT TO EXPAND THIER OWN KNOWLEDGE ON THE SUBJECT AND WILL NOT TEACH THEM TO TUNE WITHOUT MANY HOURS OF READING/TRAINING ETC. ITS NOT ALL ABOUT JUST HITTING THE "PLUS KEY" ON THE KEYBOARD!

 

Here is a list of very informative books available on engine calibration, theory and such that will allow most to decide if its for them. Most will realize its much more involved than you think but knowing the basics of "how and why" make it possible to know which steps to take when things don't go by the book.

 

Literature - These are GREAT assets and should be read prior to putting your engine at risk IMO

 

Author - Ben Strader - Building & Tuning High-performance Electronic Fuel Injection: Custom Engine Management Systems for Domestic and Import 4, 6, and 8-cylinder Engines. Ben Strader is also the creator and owner of EFI University which is something I will discuss later in this post

 

Author - Greg Banish - Designing and Tuning high performance fuel injection systems. He has a second book called Engine Management: Advanced Tuning

 

Author - Matt Cramer and Jerry Hoffman - Performance Fuel Injection Systems HP1557: How to Design, Build, Modify, and Tune EFI and ECU Systems. They are also currently the owners of DIYautotune known for pushing the megasquirt platform to what it has become.

 

Author - Jeff Hartman - How to Tune and Modify Engine Management Systems. This is a great book but a little harder to read through due to how its written. It does have a GREAT section of real world projects in the back that are very interesting to see how they progress and what steps they take though.

 

Author - Corky Bell - Maximum Boost: Designing, Testing and Installing Turbocharging Systems - This book goes DEEP into turbocharger theory and is not for the novice but has great information about the how and why of turbo chargers and system efficiency.

 

Author - John B Haywood - Internal Combustion Engine Fundamentals - This is a great book on theory as well.

 

*Space left open for more literature, just didn't have time to finish this section*

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I STRONGLY SUGGEST READING THE LITERATURE ABOVE PRIOR TO ATTENDING CLASSES IN PERSON OR ONLINE SO YOU CAN DEVELOPE QUESTIONS TO ASK AND TAKE MUCH MORE AWAY FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE'S. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT SINCE MOST ONLINE CLASSES AND IN PERSON CLASSES WILL DELVE DEEP INTO THESE SAME THEORIES AND ITS BEST TO GRASP WHAT YOU CAN PRIOR TO SPENDING TIME AND MONEY ON FURTHER TRAINING.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Section left open for On-Line training resources

 

There is a great amount of resources on line that can help people start to understand the theory of engine calibration. Although nothing duplicates in class training or on hand experience, some may find it useful to purchase on line courses so they can refer back to it in the future or webinars so they can interact with the teacher in real time during the broadcast.

 

1. EFI University offers on line training modules that can help people grasp basic theory all the way to very in depth discussion. I have personally taken many EFIU courses in person as well as read literature by Ben Strader and feel they are hands down the best option in the US to learn this trade from. They are a huge part of why we have become as successful as we are and we owe a LOT to him as well as Seth Francis for taking the time to educate people on why we do what we do.

 

2. HP Academy also offers great options when it comes to on line resources and have catered toward the online community rather than the in class approach due to their location in New Zealand *one of the Race capitols of the world*. They offer everything from basic "how things work" courses to on line dyno rental of their engine dyno to teach the how and why. They offer memberships for people trying to further their skills and present webinars in a fashion to where you can ask questions after a specific discussion and can be very helpful to get answers a book cannot give feedback on.

 

Both are very quality options but again, nothing can duplicate hands on learning in this authors opinion so any online resource will leave something to be desired but information at its root is always very helpful.

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Section left open for On-Site training resoruces

 

EFI University - This is the BEST OPTION HANDS DOWN when it comes to learning the theory behind engine calibration. They offer courses across the country with their qualified trainers and can be the entry the ability to calibrate your own vehicle or a career in the industry. This class will not teach you how to calibrate a stock ecu in a Subaru or make your evo make 1000HP when you get done but it will allow you to understand the reason WHY these things are possible and what the end goal is when calibrating an engine properly. This class does not focus on one ECU/brand of vehicle/turbocharged,supercharged or NA engine but explains what is going to make ANY engine run properly and the way to find out what the engine wants. There are plenty of things that are discussed on forums that are NOT correct when it comes to how engines respond to changes and these classes expel those myths and make sense of the BLACK ART of Tuning which is all just basic science at its root.

 

Honestly there are a couple other Trade schools that delve into EFI calibration but I have not found any that I feel are worthy of comparing in this article. Obviously there will be others that feel otherwise but I would rather not promote other schools I have not had experience with and there is a norm in the industry and most have recommended EFIU as the go to source.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Instructional DVD's to learn at home

 

EFI University - Variable Valve timing Video: This video is a great example of what variable valve timing can do for an engine when it comes to theory, execution and understanding exactly whats going on. In thier own admission its a little dry but gets the point across.

 

EFI University - Diesel training video: This video focuses on Diesel calibration and is VERY interesting to learn the differences when it comes to port injection gasoline engines vs common rail HPFP diesel injection. A good watch for those interested and is somewhat similar to new direct injection gasoline engines but obviously the similarities are basics.

 

Calibrated Success - Greg Banish has three DVD's available for purchase and goes into great depth when it comes to them. One video is genera GM beginnersl EFI knowledge and the other two focus on advanced GM and Ford vehicles. They are very informative as well.

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

This document will be finished as time allows but I wanted to provide the literature portion for those who have asked via PM. I always like to try and help when people want to expand themselves into the art of calibration that I have dedicated my life to and strive for knowledge. Call it paying it forward if you will.

o

 

Thanks for the space and hope people enjoy this document.

 

Dave

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

Providing unmatched customer service and a Premium level of Dyno/E-tuning to the Community

 

cryotuneperformance@yahoo.com

facebook.com/cryotuneperformance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would like to add 2 books to the list

Four-Stroke Performance Tuning: Fourth edition

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0857331256/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=

 

And

Forced Induction Performance Tuning A Practical Guide to Supercharging and Turbocharging

https://www.amazon.com/Induction-Performance-Practical-Supercharging-Turbocharging/dp/1859606911/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I couldn't imagine reading a book like maximum boost in PDF on a screen but to each thier own lol. I have all the books I mentioned and more in my personal library, some signed by the authors and have re-read them many times over the years. It's amazing how you pick up new information each time since your experience level changes. I'm still as much if not more of a sponge now for info as I was when I purchased my first book over 15 years ago.

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

Providing unmatched customer service and a Premium level of Dyno/E-tuning to the Community

 

cryotuneperformance@yahoo.com

facebook.com/cryotuneperformance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I couldn't imagine reading a book like maximum boost in PDF on a screen but to each thier own lol. I have all the books I mentioned and more in my personal library, some signed by the authors and have re-read them many times over the years. It's amazing how you pick up new information each time since your experience level changes. I'm still as much if not more of a sponge now for info as I was when I purchased my first book over 15 years ago.

 

I read Milliken's Race Car Vehicle Dynamics, Puhn's How to Make Your Car Handle, and a handful of other books in PDF form. Tablets and Ereaders make it super easy and are nicer on the eyes than a computer screen.

 

Need to pick up a copy of Maximum Boost, I've only gotten to skim it briefly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

bump for an update to online and on-site training options.

 

I really hope these details are beneficial to those who are looking for this information. Please chime in and comment if you are finding this information useful as that's the point to this post.

 

Thanks

 

Dave

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

Providing unmatched customer service and a Premium level of Dyno/E-tuning to the Community

 

cryotuneperformance@yahoo.com

facebook.com/cryotuneperformance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Bump for an update to DVD at home learning

 

Instructional DVD's to learn at home

 

EFI University - Variable Valve timing Video: This video is a great example of what variable valve timing can do for an engine when it comes to theory, execution and understanding exactly whats going on. In thier own admission its a little dry but gets the point across.

 

EFI University - Diesel training video: This video focuses on Diesel calibration and is VERY interesting to learn the differences when it comes to port injection gasoline engines vs common rail HPFP diesel injection. A good watch for those interested and is somewhat similar to new direct injection gasoline engines but obviously the similarities are basics.

 

Calibrated Success - Greg Banish has three DVD's available for purchase and goes into great depth when it comes to them. One video is genera GM beginnersl EFI knowledge and the other two focus on advanced GM and Ford vehicles. They are very informative as well.

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

Providing unmatched customer service and a Premium level of Dyno/E-tuning to the Community

 

cryotuneperformance@yahoo.com

facebook.com/cryotuneperformance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I never mind people tossing more info into one of my threads, especially someone with such history in the Subaru specific platform as you NSFW. I have always respected what you have done for the Subaru community and still appreciate the knowledge you openly share with others....your the man!

 

Dave

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

Providing unmatched customer service and a Premium level of Dyno/E-tuning to the Community

 

cryotuneperformance@yahoo.com

facebook.com/cryotuneperformance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use