*Update* Altezza (3sge) REtuned, ~120kwatw

[Titties]

Hi all,
I have a '98 altezza with exhaust and intake mods,
i have a Apexi Power FC computer on the way,
and i'm trying to find a tuner that has tuned these effectively,
probably someone with base pretuned maps for VVTi etc.
I know speedfactor in Tauranga are awesome with their hondas, but they might have done some Altezza's. The VVTi is similar to the technology thats on the K20A engines.

Can anyone recommend a tuner that has RESULTS, i'm after something concrete.
I just want a good tune from someone thats reputable and that i can trust.

Cheers, Mike

[strx7]

ring dave @ PF automotive in TGA as i know they have done a turbo'd altezza and a supercharged 1

[Titties]

Cool i'll look him up,
I'm trying to look for someone with direct NA results and experience though.
Seems like there aren't many tuners out that do NA toyota tuning.
I'm guessing that the only tricky part is the dual VVTi adjustment, and the diff between the NA tune and Turbo/supercharge numbers should be minimal.

Cheers, Mike

[Titties]

stock altezza rs200,
pod filter only

note the torque/power drop, not sure whats causing it.

[RomanV]

Ehehe, I wish there was an air/fuel ratio chart to go with it.

From personal experience, (AKA about 5-6 dyno runs with different configs) my advice is to put the stock airbox back in... I ended up with either 1 or 2kw more peak power, and a buttload more mid range and low end.

Take it back to the dyno with the stock airbox, IF yours is anything like mine (which is a slightly different engine, but from other peoples comments sounds equally susceptible to the same issues)
I'd almost garauntee that your torque hole will be gone, and wouldnt be surprised if you ended up with a small amount more power all across the range.

The problem is with the airflow meters.... When they get unexpected turbulence in the intake pipe (usually thanks to changing to a pod filter etc) The engine starts thinking that all sorts of crazy things are going on, and it wreaks havoc with your fueling, igntion timing, cam timing, etc.

Stock airbox = problem solved. I had 10KW ATW more than yours (running through a transaxle though) with a stock airbox, and a repco panel filter. hehe

[Titties]

yeah i might try a standard airbox, i wont need to redyno it, the torque loss is very noticeable. I can check it on the road.
But with the Apexi Power FC, will that eliminate the need for the standard airbox as it'll be tuned properly.
I'll actually try another pipe inbetween the AFM and the airfilter, try to sort out the "turbulence" or other probs that it might be causing.

Cheers, Mike

[RomanV]

Yeah that's the thing though... the butt dyno doesnt always tell the true story.

MY car felt slower when it picked up heaps of low end and midrange, because it felt like it had less of a 'kick' when it got to high RPMs.

But the dyno (and track times!) showed otherwise.

Yeah, once you're sorted with a powerfc, it probably wont matter about your possible intake problems, it's only when interfacing with the standard computer.

It would be better to have a NON turbulent intake tract, but you can tune around it with a powerfc.

[Titties]

Yeah that's the thing though... the butt dyno doesnt always tell the true story.

haha true that, but i dont think i'll have a problem, the fact i'm losing torque and my power output is actually dropping, it's very noticeable .

[LEV_101]

Yeah that's the thing though... the butt dyno doesnt always tell the true story.

haha true that, but i dont think i'll have a problem, the fact i'm losing torque and my power output is actually dropping, it's very noticeable .

maybe you should post this up on the altezzaclub.org.nz forums.

plenty to people would be able to help you.

but that box is a poor design for air to get into the engine.

[Crampy]

Titties, Wassup dude. That's sort of what we had figured with your filter anyway.
Do you have the stock box to try, or did you buy the Altezza like that?

When's the Power FC turning up?

[Titties]

Sup Crampy
Yeah it's how i got the car, i'm going to steal some parts off Seans car 2mrw or friday and try the standard airbox.
Extractors and Power FC should be here in about 3 weeks, depends on if there are any delays and how long it'll take to come from Japan.

I guess my major concern is when i get it tuned and this problem is still there, so i'll try to get it sorted before i put it on the dyno again.

OMG do some work Crampy!!!

Cheers, Mike

[Crampy]

Me do work, hell no!
I'm on leave until next week. That's what you get for being stuck up in Scotland for five weeks, fixing those damn planes.

Yeah good point, track down the problem first rather than trying to smooth it over with the Power FC.

Don't Altezza's come with extractors standard anyway?

[Titties]

um you'll see why the standard extractors are crap, the primaries are about 8" long then the seconardies about about meter and a half long...
i guess they would have done it for some reason, weight saving maybe? low down torque?
the HKS ones i'm getting should be good.
i was looking at the toda ones on Trademe, but there is no way i'm paying ~$1600 for some.
Just need Mace to make me up a Catch can too, they breathe and crap load of oil out the intake.

[Crampy]

While you're there, can you see if Mace can hook me up as well? I'll need one for my 4AGTE, one with dual intake pipes.

[RomanV]

um you'll see why the standard extractors are crap, the primaries are about 8" long then the seconardies about about meter and a half long...

LOL, a meter and a half?
The shorter the primaries are, the higher the RPM at which they are efficient. And vice versa. I think that the secondaries are supposed to be twice the length of the primares, and they look to be about that.

I wouldnt call them crap, I doubt that any engine which makes 100+hp per litre in standard form has a crappy exhaust manifold.

maybe you should post this up on the altezzaclub.org.nz forums.

plenty to people would be able to help you.

Bahahah, you'd think so, but not really.

but that box is a poor design for air to get into the engine.

Do you know, or are you assuming?

I've yet to see anyone make any more power by putting on a pod filter.

[Mr Revhead]

throw away the pod and clean the MAF sensor with some carb/throttle cleaner. reset ecu

altezzas are well known for not liking pods/aftermarket filters
does weird stuff to the MAF.

also check that the VVT is working right

[Titties]

once i get the extractors in from japan, i'll do a comparison side by side photo.

i haven't been able to find a really good knowledge base on these cars, does anyone have a PDF manual or anything for them? like fault codes, symptoms etc? Would really help alot.
Cause i have no idea how to check to see if the VVT-i is working as intended.

Cheers, Mike

[nz_climber]

i sent a couple of pdf's to your work email pinouts etc, so hope they help a little bit

[fivebob]

http://www.users.on.net/~fivebob/Images/GenIV/3SXE10%2520Wiring%2520Diagram.pdf
http://www.users.on.net/~fivebob/Images/GenIV//SXE10%2520ECU%2520PINOUT.pdf

and if you're getting a PowerFC then you really should get a Datalogit to tune it with. http://www.fc-datalogit.co.nz/

[Titties]

if you're getting a PowerFC then you really should get a Datalogit to tune it with. http://www.fc-datalogit.co.nz/

thanks for the links
any shops that tunes the Power FC's should have that software, otherwise it would be a nightmare to tune and would end up costing alot of money!