*** VF620 Dyno Results/Review ***

[e92involved]

Hey guys/gals,

As many of you know my car is near completion and now have had some time to enjoy all the modification that have been done. Over the years I have been around, built, driven many cars and have a full perspective of what I look for in a car. I have come to the conclusion I prefer purpose built cars that feel like they have been built by the manufacturer that way. In years past, this was not so easy to accomplish. The aftermarket world sure has come a long way; not only in how these parts perform, but in the fit and finish compared to OEM.

When I first set out to build this car I did not have my mind set to boost it. I have owned many S/C cars; some reliable and some not. Tuning was not always so simple and having the support from the companies not always there. In this build I wanted to accomplish the following things:

1) Purpose built track car that can be driven on the street.

2) Fit and finish on a stock car with the benefits of modified car.

3) Over 500whp that is on tap with pump gas that drives like a stock car, but with the power when I need it.

After months of looking and driving different supercharger M3's I had made up my mind: VF Engineering. What impressed me the most about the company is the experience they have in adding boosted power to European cars. They have been supercharging cars for over 15 years with much success. As many of the kits have similar blowers; what I liked about VF was the plenum design. I didn't fully understand how it works until Nick, the owner of VF, showed me a cutout of the unit. The whole kit just made much sense to me, not too complicated with hoses and wires everywhere. Everything had a purpose and a place. This translated to less disruption if we decided to go back to N/A.

As for the power it is just awesome! The car just drives better, plain and simple. The power curve is smooth and linear, which I am very happy with. The main difference to someone that has been driving an N/A M3 is throttle response. Just cruising around whether you’re on the highway or public roads is simply effortless. What once required half throttle now only requires a quarter. It is very easy to speed in this car now lol . All of this is great and subtle until you lay the hammer down. This car pulls like a mother, but the crazy thing is how smooth it pulls. It makes the car much more enjoyable to drive and quite addicting. The tune is awesome. Nick really did a great job making this kit feel like a stock car until you use the power. The car starts up and idles perfect every time, very impressive. I also choose to add a Tial blow off valve which makes down shifts a bit smoother with the cool noise ppsshhhhshsh! Super fun coming to a stop light and blippig the throttle three or four times....pssshsh bing bang bong psshshh lol!!

Probably the most surprising part about this kit for me was the MPG. I have a 45 mile commute each day and when I drive this car at an 80 mph cruise I achieve 30 mpg! I couldn't believe it at first, then I tested it manually at it was dead on. Obviously, when you dig in the gas pedal it’s less but I still get an average of about 26-28mpg all the time!

All and all I am very happy with the kit. The support at VF is awesome. We were trying to get this car ready for Bimmerfest this year and Nick was at home working on my tune until 12am for me. That is awesome! Darwin and all my brothers at Sonic MS have done an awesome job building this car and putting in the work to get it done. Well now that it’s done and I have re-badged the car. It is a VF620 M3 and I am very proud of that. We will now be planning some track time for the car and hope to see some of you out there!

I have posted some dyno results we achieved this past week on the car. Hope you all enjoy!

J


Dyno Results:


Car and Modifications:

• 2012 BMW M3
• VF-620 Supercharger @ 6.95 PSI (Verified), 91.5mm Pulley
• Both CAT Delete
• Akrapovic Evolution GT4 Exhaust
• DCT
• 91 Octane

Conditions:

• Temparature: 82.29 degrees F
• Atmospheric pressure: 30.14 inHg
• Humidity: 29.0%
• Density Altitude: 1401 Ft.
• SAE Correction: 0.983
• STD Correction: 1.010
• Uncorrected: 1.000

Results:

• SAE Corrected: 515whp @ 8260 RPM, 337wtq @ 7475 RPM
• STD Corrected: 529whp, 346wtq
• Uncorrected: 525whp, 343wtq

Dyno Database:

• Dyno files are available from the links below.
• SAE Corrected
• STD Corrected
• Uncorrected

Individual Dyno Results:

The legend below has the following meaning:

• Dyno Run: Dyno run file
• Temp(F) = Temperature (Farenheit)
• RelH = Relative Humidity
• Pressure(Hg) = Barometric Pressure
• DA(ft) = Density Altitude
• Boost Avg: Boost calculated using trend line. This is the "official" boost for this dyno run.
• Boost Peak: Peak boost observed on this dyno run.
• IAT: Intake Air Temperature
• WHP(unc) = Uncorrected wheel horsepower
• WTQ(unc) = Uncorrected wheel torque
• WHP(SAEd) = SAE Corrected Horsepower using Dynojet weather station.
• WTQ(SAEd) = SAE Corrected Torque using Dynojet weather station.
• WHP(SAEk) = SAE Corrected Horsepower using Kestrel 4500 weather station.
• WTQ(SAEk) = SAE Corrected Torque using Kestrel 4500 weather station.

Dyno Run	Timestamp	Temp(F)	RelH	Press(Hg)	DA(ft)	Boost (Pk)	Boost (Avg)	IAT	WHP(unc)	WTQ(unc)	WHP(SAEd)	WTQ(SAEd)	WHP(SAEk)	WTQ(SAEk)
Run_001	15:32:06	75.2	55.7	29.94	1235	7.5	7.0	119.5 - 129.0	521.8	341.1	511.1	334.7	516.3	338.1
Run_002	15:34:54	76.0	56.1	29.94	1289	8.0	7.1	118.8 - 128.5	524.0	346.6	514.0	340.0	519.3	343.5
Run_003	15:36:36	75.1	55.9	29.94	1231	7.7	6.9	120.5 - 129.5	524.6	343.4	515.4	337.3	519.0	339.8
Run_004	15:38:17	75.5	55.7	29.94	1252	7.3	6.9	122.7 - 131.5	511.9	342.8	502.6	336.6	506.8	339.4
Run_005	15:38:48	74.9	54.8	29.93	1213	7.1	7.0	126.8 - 133.5	513.8	338.6	506.9	334.0	508.2	334.9

Graphs:
SAE Corrected:


HP, TQ, with IAT:


Air-Fuel-Ratio:


NOTE: AFR-Target = Dyno AFR sensors. AFR-B1, AFR-B2 are the BMW O2 sensors. There seems to be a difference between the two; a difference that is not normally seen during dyno tests. One or the other is out of calibraiton, and by the looks of it, the dyno AFR sniffer looks like it's out of calibration.

Boost Log:



STD Corrected:


Uncorrected:

[Chriskm3]

Vf has been around. They build a solid kit. I have delt with Robert and he has been very informative and helpful. Thanks rob. Again.

[IMG]

Very impressive my friend and great review. Congrats and enjoy in good health

[kchu221]

nice! enjoy the beast in good health... you built a impressice machine...

[VCMpower]

Very real. Very good. Congrats.

Originally Posted by e92involved

Hey guys/gals,

As many of you know my car is near completion and now have had some time to enjoy all the modification that have been done. Over the years I have been around, built, driven many cars and have a full perspective of what I look for in a car. I have come to the conclusion I prefer purpose built cars that feel like they have been built by the manufacturer that way. In years past, this was not so easy to accomplish. The aftermarket world sure has come a long way; not only in how these parts perform, but in the fit and finish compared to OEM.

When I first set out to build this car I did not have my mind set to boost it. I have owned many S/C cars; some reliable and some not. Tuning was not always so simple and having the support from the companies not always there. In this build I wanted to accomplish the following things:

1) Purpose built track car that can be driven on the street.

2) Fit and finish on a stock car with the benefits of modified car.

3) Over 500whp that is on tap with pump gas that drives like a stock car, but with the power when I need it.

After months of looking and driving different supercharger M3's I had made up my mind: VF Engineering. What impressed me the most about the company is the experience they have in adding boosted power to European cars. They have been supercharging cars for over 15 years with much success. As many of the kits have similar blowers; what I liked about VF was the plenum design. I didn't fully understand how it works until Nick, the owner of VF, showed me a cutout of the unit. The whole kit just made much sense to me, not too complicated with hoses and wires everywhere. Everything had a purpose and a place. This translated to less disruption if we decided to go back to N/A.

As for the power it is just awesome! The car just drives better, plain and simple. The power curve is smooth and linear, which I am very happy with. The main difference to someone that has been driving an N/A M3 is throttle response. Just cruising around whether you’re on the highway or public roads is simply effortless. What once required half throttle now only requires a quarter. It is very easy to speed in this car now lol . All of this is great and subtle until you lay the hammer down. This car pulls like a mother, but the crazy thing is how smooth it pulls. It makes the car much more enjoyable to drive and quite addicting. The tune is awesome. Nick really did a great job making this kit feel like a stock car until you use the power. The car starts up and idles perfect every time, very impressive. I also choose to add a Tial blow off valve which makes down shifts a bit smoother with the cool noise ppsshhhhshsh! Super fun coming to a stop light and blippig the throttle three or four times....pssshsh bing bang bong psshshh lol!!

Probably the most surprising part about this kit for me was the MPG. I have a 45 mile commute each day and when I drive this car at an 80 mph cruise I achieve 30 mpg! I couldn't believe it at first, then I tested it manually at it was dead on. Obviously, when you dig in the gas pedal it’s less but I still get an average of about 26-28mpg all the time!

All and all I am very happy with the kit. The support at VF is awesome. We were trying to get this car ready for Bimmerfest this year and Nick was at home working on my tune until 12am for me. That is awesome! Darwin and all my brothers at Sonic MS have done an awesome job building this car and putting in the work to get it done. Well now that it’s done and I have re-badged the car. It is a VF620 M3 and I am very proud of that. We will now be planning some track time for the car and hope to see some of you out there!

I have posted some dyno results we achieved this past week on the car. Hope you all enjoy!

J


Dyno Results:


Car and Modifications:

• 2012 BMW M3
• VF-620 Supercharger @ 6.95 PSI (Verified), 91.5mm Pulley
• Both CAT Delete
• Akrapovic Evolution GT4 Exhaust
• DCT
• 91 Octane

Conditions:

• Temparature: 82.29 degrees F
• Atmospheric pressure: 30.14 inHg
• Humidity: 29.0%
• Density Altitude: 1401 Ft.
• SAE Correction: 0.983
• STD Correction: 1.010
• Uncorrected: 1.000

Results:

• SAE Corrected: 515whp @ 8260 RPM, 337wtq @ 7475 RPM
• STD Corrected: 529whp, 346wtq
• Uncorrected: 525whp, 343wtq

Dyno Database:

• Dyno files are available from the links below.
• SAE Corrected
• STD Corrected
• Uncorrected

Individual Dyno Results:

The legend below has the following meaning:

• Dyno Run: Dyno run file
• Temp(F) = Temperature (Farenheit)
• RelH = Relative Humidity
• Pressure(Hg) = Barometric Pressure
• DA(ft) = Density Altitude
• Boost Avg: Boost calculated using trend line. This is the "official" boost for this dyno run.
• Boost Peak: Peak boost observed on this dyno run.
• IAT: Intake Air Temperature
• WHP(unc) = Uncorrected wheel horsepower
• WTQ(unc) = Uncorrected wheel torque
• WHP(SAEd) = SAE Corrected Horsepower using Dynojet weather station.
• WTQ(SAEd) = SAE Corrected Torque using Dynojet weather station.
• WHP(SAEk) = SAE Corrected Horsepower using Kestrel 4500 weather station.
• WTQ(SAEk) = SAE Corrected Torque using Kestrel 4500 weather station.

Graphs:
SAE Corrected:


HP, TQ, with IAT:


Air-Fuel-Ratio:


NOTE: AFR-Target = Dyno AFR sensors. AFR-B1, AFR-B2 are the BMW O2 sensors. There seems to be a difference between the two; a difference that is not normally seen during dyno tests. One or the other is out of calibraiton, and by the looks of it, the dyno AFR sniffer looks like it's out of calibration.

Boost Log:



STD Corrected:


Uncorrected:

[=[monkey]=]

post some video/sound of the bov!!!

[flipm3]

Nice collection of data that shares a lot of information!

Thanks for the review! I have been following your build for such a long time and it's great to hear you posting more about your driving experience with it!

Enjoy the power and please let us know how the Ohlins are holding up

[Cal@Sonic MS]

Awesome. Now where's the videos from that Limestand shoot?

[THE-FN-MAN]

These kits seem pretty solid. They always have great numbers. Is joe's the only VF car to put down over 600 at the tires though? I know he had much higher octane but that was the only difference correct? Or did he have a smaller pulley as well. (Stupid phone doesn't want to load older threads so I can't check lol)

[benzy89]

Originally Posted by THE-FN-MAN

These kits seem pretty solid. They always have great numbers. Is joe's the only VF car to put down over 600 at the tires though? I know he had much higher octane but that was the only difference correct? Or did he have a smaller pulley as well. (Stupid phone doesn't want to load older threads so I can't check lol)

Joe@Trinity? He's probably not the only, but you need to remember he was rocking a VF620, RPi Catless X-Pipe & a 91/109 octane blend (this gave him the last 20 WHP to bump him over 600 WHP, not an upgraded pulley).

The VF650 (different pulley/tune & requires 93 octane) with a Completely Catless Exhaust can probably put down 590/600 WHP easily.

[THE-FN-MAN]

Originally Posted by benzy89

Joe@Trinity? He's probably not the only, but you need to remember he was rocking a VF620, RPi Catless X-Pipe & a 91/109 octane blend (this gave him the last 20 WHP to bump him over 600 WHP, not an upgraded pulley).

The VF650 (different pulley/tune & requires 93 octane) with a Completely Catless Exhaust can probably put down 590/600 WHP easily.

Yea Joe@trinty (great guy). He has the same set up as this except he had higher octane like a said. I'm assuming when the original post said he had both cats deleted that that is similar to x-pipe delete. Just was curios what all the differences were obviously I know comparing dynos from different cars on different days leaves a bunch of variables on the table but was just seeing if the octane boost is what got his car in the 600 club

[pbonsalb]

Originally Posted by e92involved

Probably the most surprising part about this kit for me was the MPG. I have a 45 mile commute each day and when I drive this car at an 80 mph cruise I achieve 30 mpg! I couldn't believe it at first, then I tested it manually at it was dead on. Obviously, when you dig in the gas pedal it’s less but I still get an average of about 26-28mpg all the time!

That would probably be world record for mpg on an E90M3. On some cars, onboard computers are no longer accurate when larger injectors are fitted. I know you say you also did a manual calculation of the fuel, but I would do another test or two since these numbers are so far outside of what anyone else has ever reported.

[erm324]

Originally Posted by benzy89

Joe@Trinity? He's probably not the only, but you need to remember he was rocking a VF620, RPi Catless X-Pipe & a 91/109 octane blend (this gave him the last 20 WHP to bump him over 600 WHP, not an upgraded pulley).

The VF650 (different pulley/tune & requires 93 octane) with a Completely Catless Exhaust can probably put down 590/600 WHP easily.

The main difference between Joe@Trinity's car and this one is simply the gas. So your telling me the 80whp+ difference is due to race gas

If you think that 600whp is easily achievable on these cars with a simply bolt on VF kit and 93 octane then you are mistaken. Who knows, maybe it's possible on the EAS dyno and using "STD" correction factors (from what I've seen their dyno reads abnormally high in comparison to others, and I'm not sure why this "STD" trend has caught along to inflate the numbers when its "SAE" that's the most important imho) - but on a realistic dyno using SAE a bolt on VF kit on 93 is not even breaking into the 580whp+ range. I've seen E9X M3's from essentially every kit but Gintani/Gpower both on the dyno and at the track and I can tell you that 600whp in not an easy number to break on a REALISTIC dyno (nor are breaking 10's or trapping over 130mph - the stars need to align); and to do so your going to need at least 8.5psi, meth, lightweight wheels, full catless, race gas, and COLD weather [how is it that all of the E9X record holding M3's at the east coast are barely grazing into the 580whp range and maybe clipping 600 wheel, with meth racegas 18lb wheels and great 50 degree weather; but a lowly 620 kit with simply racegas is putting down over 600whp easily in 85 degree weather in California (meanwhile this VF car got absolutely walked by a bolt on E85 GTR and the very same M3's holding E9X platform records that are dynoing 20whp less are pulling 2-3 cars on bolt on E85 GTR's easily? - Just goes to show something about the dyno being used.] I've learned not to pay attention to this influx of dyno posting on this forum (especially with the debate between blowers and the new AA lineup) because they can be very misleading due to the ease of manipulation and variance (correction factors, weather, etc...) between them - timeslips are a much better indication of what the motor is putting down.

[pbonsalb]

I agree that the trend to post dynos in uncorrected, std and sae is silly. You don't see this in other forums where people actually work on their own cars. Just post in SAE. STD is about 3% higher. Not sure what the AA Mustang dyno results are.

I like to know my own uncorrected result since that is what I am actually making that day, but for comparison purposes on the internet, I pay attention only to SAE.

[benzy89]

Originally Posted by erm324

The main difference between Joe@Trinity's car and this one is simply the gas. So your telling me the 80whp+ difference is due to race gas \

Here's the info from the thread (http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=757888) and it adds up:

• VF620 Baseline with Stock Exhaust - 532 WHP / 353 WTQ
• VF620 + RPi X-Pipe - 580 WHP / 379 WTQ (X-Pipe Delta of 48 WHP / 26 WTQ)
• VF620, RPi X-Pipe & 5 Gallons of 109 - 601 WHP / 391 WTQ (Race Gas Blend Delta of 21 WHP / 12 WTQ)

So IMO the numbers add up, but if you're going to be suspect of anything it's the near 50 WHP the RPi X-Pipe yielded. The Akra Exhaust on this car certainly is the highest quality piece available, but there are other exhaust systems that eliminate the cats completely & offer greater gains.

[pbonsalb]

But if you read post #1, you will see that a VFE 620 with a catless x-pipe makes only 515 rwhp SAE, not 580 rwhp. Then read post #13 and tell us whether your 580 rwhp quote is uncorrected, or corrected to SAE or corrected to STD so it can have some meaning. If not, you might be leading us to believe that Joe@Trinity's dyno is over 10% more optimistic than e92involved's dyno or vice versa.

[e92involved]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

That would probably be world record for mpg on an E90M3. On some cars, onboard computers are no longer accurate when larger injectors are fitted. I know you say you also did a manual calculation of the fuel, but I would do another test or two since these numbers are so far outside of what anyone else has ever reported.

I thought the same thing but I need the manual calculation a number of times now, I do get that mileage. I have a couple other friends that have similar kits the get mid 20s as well, so I guess it is not completley uncommon.

[e92involved]

Originally Posted by erm324

The main difference between Joe@Trinity's car and this one is simply the gas. So your telling me the 80whp+ difference is due to race gas

If you think that 600whp is easily achievable on these cars with a simply bolt on VF kit and 93 octane then you are mistaken. Who knows, maybe it's possible on the EAS dyno and using "STD" correction factors (from what I've seen their dyno reads abnormally high in comparison to others, and I'm not sure why this "STD" trend has caught along to inflate the numbers when its "SAE" that's the most important imho) - but on a realistic dyno using SAE a bolt on VF kit on 93 is not even breaking into the 580whp+ range. I've seen E9X M3's from essentially every kit but Gintani/Gpower both on the dyno and at the track and I can tell you that 600whp in not an easy number to break on a REALISTIC dyno (nor are breaking 10's or trapping over 130mph - the stars need to align); and to do so your going to need at least 8.5psi, meth, lightweight wheels, full catless, race gas, and COLD weather [how is it that all of the E9X record holding M3's at the east coast are barely grazing into the 580whp range and maybe clipping 600 wheel, with meth racegas 18lb wheels and great 50 degree weather; but a lowly 620 kit with simply racegas is putting down over 600whp easily in 85 degree weather in California (meanwhile this VF car got absolutely walked by a bolt on E85 GTR and the very same M3's holding E9X platform records that are dynoing 20whp less are pulling 2-3 cars on bolt on E85 GTR's easily? - Just goes to show something about the dyno being used.] I've learned not to pay attention to this influx of dyno posting on this forum (especially with the debate between blowers and the new AA lineup) because they can be very misleading due to the ease of manipulation and variance (correction factors, weather, etc...) between them - timeslips are a much better indication of what the motor is putting down.

Yeah I agree. Alot of these numbers can not be compared to eachother. Its like comparing apples to oranges. These bolt on kits with no motor builds can't really break 600rwph; its just unrealistic. I could maybe hit 550ish on a good day with 93+ fuel and the VF650 pulley, but not much more. These cars are very well balanced with that type of power for the track. We aren't really setup to mess with even a well tuned GTR with down pipes and I don;t car my car looks cooler IMO . With that being said I am very happy with my car and enjoy the power!

[e92involved]

Originally Posted by benzy89

Here's the info from the thread (http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=757888) and it adds up:

• VF620 Baseline with Stock Exhaust - 532 WHP / 353 WTQ
• VF620 + RPi X-Pipe - 580 WHP / 379 WTQ (X-Pipe Delta of 48 WHP / 26 WTQ)
• VF620, RPi X-Pipe & 5 Gallons of 109 - 601 WHP / 391 WTQ (Race Gas Blend Delta of 21 WHP / 12 WTQ)

So IMO the numbers add up, but if you're going to be suspect of anything it's the near 50 WHP the RPi X-Pipe yielded. The Akra Exhaust on this car certainly is the highest quality piece available, but there are other exhaust systems that eliminate the cats completely & offer greater gains.

I don't know what to say about this! Awesome! Maybe this car is just really fucking cool lol. Nice numbers!

[m33]

I'm sorry but those numbers are far from impressive with 7+psi of boost ... i put down 594 SAE with 93oct and at 7.5psi ( weather conditions were 50F 8% humidity ) ....
it's all in the tune ...

[e92involved]

Originally Posted by m33

I'm sorry but those numbers are far from impressive with 7+psi of boost ... i put down 594 SAE with 93oct and at 7.5psi ( weather conditions were 50F 8% humidity ) ....
it's all in the tune ...

Wow thanks for the comment man. I'm sure conditions have nothing to do with the results. So does that mean that you have a better tune?

[bigjae1976]

Why did the power fall off on the last 2 runs? Heatsoak? If track usage is in your future then that will be a problem.

In the summer, stock cars have heat problems if driven hard. Can't imagine it being any better bolting a s/c'er on it.