For the last year or so I've been considering adding more modifications to the Big Dog, that's the name I gave to my LandCruiser four wheel drive.
It's an incredibly capable vehicle already, on and off road, and I could leave it alone and be happy, but I have decided to modify it a little more, and be happier...but the modifications aren't just about happiness, there's performance benefits also. Okay, in all fairness, greater performance brings happiness so...yeah, it's probably all about happiness.
Big dog
The vehicle I call Big Dog is a twin turbo 4.5L V8 diesel 4x4 and it currently puts out just over 200kW of power and 655Nm of torque which drives through a 6-speed electronic control transmission with sequential shift. That may mean nothing to you but, essentially, on of off the road it equates to a lot of power at one's command.
The problem is that manufacturers down-tune vehicles to meet emissions requirements, make them "smoother" to drive and more user friendly. That takes the performance away and, whilst it works for most people, I like my vehicles to be a little more on the edgy side, more tailored to my needs, and that's where performance modifications come into play. I've decided to have my vehicle tuned to bring out it's best and to tailor it to my exact needs.
What gets tuned
All vehicles these days have what's called an engine control unit (ECU) and if it has control of the fuel system it's called an electronic engine management system or (EEMS). These things basically control everything that happens in the engine, transmission and the car generally. The ECU receives information in live-time from all the sensors and tells them what to do and when.
My LandCruiser has multiple microprocessors on board and so many actuators and sensors that one probably couldn't easily count them. They're all required though and it's this system, the whole thing combined, that is tuned when the ECU/EEMS is re-mapped as it is usually referred to. I'm also having the transmission tuned at the same time and combined it'll make for a much-improved vehicle.
There are so many things that come under the tuners' scrutiny such as lag, gear control, timing of ignition, launch control, rev-limiter, fuel pressure regulator, variable-cam timing, wastegate control, air/fuel ratio, idle speed and so on...Many sensors are also tuned: Throttle position sensor, airflow, crankshaft position, coolant temperature, knock sensor, manifold absolute pressure etcetera and, in adjusting settings and parameters the performance of the engine and transmission is improved because of it.
It's a very technical and complicated process and needs to be done by someone who knows exactly what they're doing and fortunately I know the best engine tuner in the State, and that's who's doing my car.
He uses a dynamometer (Dyno) which the vehicle is driven up onto, a system of rollers that allows the vehicle to be "driven" at speed and to work through the rev range and gears without actually moving. With computers connected and the right software providing the data, the vehicle is tuned, honed and made sharper, to bring out the hidden performance from all of these components combined. As I said above, I'm having the transmission tuned also which will make the cog-swapping more efficient and snappy and to transfer the power to drive more effectively.
Some of the benefits
- More power and torque - my tuner is expecting about a twenty percent increase.
- Better fuel economy - Less throttle is required to maintain cruising speeds and the power comes in more efficiently (less throttle) right across the rev range. The tuner has achieved twenty percent better fuel economy on other vehicles the same as mine so we expect the same.
- Overall performance - Steering, braking and driving on various terrains, which is important for an off-road vehicle, will be improved. Mine has a kinetic dynamic suspension system (KDSS) which uses electrically modulated hydraulics to adjust and sometimes disable the anti-roll bars which causes the vehicle to be more stable and effective when off-roading. This all happens in real time as one is driving and all of these systems will benefit from tuning.
- The tuning can be created around the user's specific needs. Again, this is good for me as I am often off the blacktop which my off-road vehicles. We have spoken at length about what I'm looking for and have settled on a path forward.
Considerations
I have looked into tuning before, on this vehicle and others, but never felt comfortable with having it done.
That was before I moved away from dealership-servicing and to my current mechanic whom I trust implicitly though; he was referred by a mate I shoot with who works in training within the automotive industry, and he completely trysts my tune-guy, Graham. If it wasn't him doing it I'd probably not get it done as using a reputable tuner to do the re-mapping is critical as there's a lot to lose, and massive cost to getting this process wrong.
I've been considering installing a performance exhaust system also, which would mean there would be no choice but to tune the vehicle but I decided it's superfluous to my needs; adding another $2,500AUD to the cost was one of the reasons I decided against it and, after discussions with the tuner, it was deemed unnecessary anyway as I'll get what I need from the re-mapping.
Speaking of cost...The re-map and tuning doesn't come cheap. For non-existing customers it's a total of $2,100AUD ($1,450 and $650 for the engine and transmission respectively.) I'm paying $1,500AUD all up though for both and that seemed like a good deal considering what'll come out the other side from a performance and fuel efficiency perspective.
The Big Dog is booked in for the last week of October for his re-map and tune and I'm pretty excited to feel the difference on the road and off. Of course, I'll get all the performance charts and graphs, the pre and post tuning data, and that'll be interesting to analyse; The proof will be in the driving though, and I'm really keen to see how it goes. I'll do a post once I've driven the vehicle and share some of the data as I think it might be interesting to compare the before and after.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
Any images in this post are my own