Dyno of difference between strong/weak adaptation?

[jml]

Just curious to see if anyone has been able to document a power improvement/loss due to different ECU adaptations. My E46 (and now the E90), after a track weekend, feels much stronger around town, even in the 100 degree heat. The magnitude is a lot like the difference between the summer and winter temps - pretty dramatic. I've used the dynolicious iphone app on the E90, which with questionable accuracy, shows a 20Hp improvement in the mid range, and 10HP at the top end.

With that difference, I question the improvements tuners claim with various go-fast parts (especially on the E90 where people are peeing all over themselves over 10HP).

[lucid]

Interesting question. I was thinking about the exact same thing. I just am not sure if it is my perception though. I've been thinking that getting a rush on the track, and driving at WOT and close to redline for a long time might alter my perception of the car afterwards. Regardless, the car indeed "seems" to respond differently after a track weekend. It would be interesting to test this somehow.

[dcstep]

I know that it cost money, but not a ton, so maybe someone should do a before and after dyno run on a really dynamometer. 20 hp is HUGE and would only trust it on a "real" dyno.

I don't think there's anything there. I did a dyno run with a 70/30 mix of 91/100-octane. I then put in a 50/50 blend, ran an autocross (which is only a few minutes at full throttle), but the car did indeed "feel stronger" the next day. The very next day I went to the dyno and I'd lost 1 or 2-hp as compared to the 70/30 mix. I don't know what it is, but I think that the feeling of added power is psychological.

Dave

[jml]

Originally Posted by dcstep

I know that it cost money, but not a ton, so maybe someone should do a before and after dyno run on a really dynamometer. 20 hp is HUGE and would only trust it on a "real" dyno.

I don't think there's anything there. I did a dyno run with a 70/30 mix of 91/100-octane. I then put in a 50/50 blend, ran an autocross (which is only a few minutes at full throttle), but the car did indeed "feel stronger" the next day. The very next day I went to the dyno and I'd lost 1 or 2-hp as compared to the 70/30 mix. I don't know what it is, but I think that the feeling of added power is psychological.

Dave

How many miles at the autocross at full throttle do you think? I've heard it takes 50-100 miles for the engine to shift adaptation. At the track I go to the car spends probably 300 miles at WOT at speeds between 80 and 140 80% of the time over two days.

Sean from Discovery Automotive told me to reset adaptation on the race tune for my E46 at the track to get the most power out of it. I wish I knew more about how the ECU adaptation worked to understand what is really going on.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by jml

How many miles at the autocross at full throttle do you think? I've heard it takes 50-100 miles for the engine to shift adaptation. At the track I go to the car spends probably 300 miles at WOT at speeds between 80 and 140 80% of the time over two days.

Sean from Discovery Automotive told me to reset adaptation on the race tune for my E46 at the track to get the most power out of it. I wish I knew more about how the ECU adaptation worked to understand what is really going on.

I'm just telling you that my car "felt" stronger after only about 8-minutes at mostly full throttle. It actually measured weaker by a couple of hp.

Go ahead, put your car on a real dyno and post the runs for us to see. It'd be interesting to compare it to your iPhone read outs to validate that gizmo.

Dave