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Archive for the ‘Tuning Tech’ Category
Interested in Running Alcohol or Water Injection? Read Here…
Water injection, also known as anti-detonant injection, is a method for cooling the combustion chambers of engines by adding water to the cylinder or incoming fuel-air mixture, allowing for greater compression ratios and largely eliminating the problem of engine knocking (detonation). This effectively increases the octane rating of the fuel, meaning that performance gains can be obtained when used in conjunction with a supercharger or turbocharger, altered spark ignition timing, and other modifications.
When tuning the Turbo Porsche vehicles such as the 996 and 997, there is a limit of what boost you can run on the stock engine. Boost pressure is definitely what can turbo the power up, but if you are using pump gas, detonation can occur. When asked if you need to retune the car if running a water/meth injection kit, the answer is no. Since Softronic tunes off the factory knock and oxygen sensors, they are controlling timing and at any sight of detonation, timing is pulled back. Water/Meth injection is simply a replacement for running race gas. It allows you to run higher boost pressures on pump fuel without detonating. Another good feature of water/meth kits is for those users running 91 octane, you can get the more aggressive 93 octane map which has more timing to give you more power. If you decide to run one of these kits, make sure it has a good fail safe system and do not use chemicals that can be corrosive to injectors and engine internal parts.
996TT Down on Power and Only Reading .4-.5Bar???
So you might be googling this and wondering why your ABS/PSM light is on and your Porsche 996 Turbo is only making .4 or .5bar. Don’t blame the tune, don’t yell at your dealer. This is a common problem for the Porsche 996TT cars with higher mileage or aftermarket intakes. What happens is the MAF sensor goes bad putting the car into limp mode. The MAF is located on the left side of the engine bay just behind the intake box on the intake tube. It requires a special T6 tool from Porsche to remove the bolts. This part can be replaced from anywhere around $200-$400 depending on the supplier. MAF can go bad for a number of reasons. Usually what will cause a bad MAF is unlaminar airflow.
The factory intake has a waffle looking screen that goes betwen the MAF and the intake box filter. This keeps the airflow that goes past the MAF laminar or “straight”. Turbulence can cause that very sensitive MAF sensor to fail. Another cause of the MAF failure is over oiling your aftermarket filter or touching the sensor and getting “dirt” on it. Make sure to only handle the sensor by the top plug and never grab the sensor part.
The 996TT MAF controls many applications in the car, when tuned properly, these can handle up to 800 horsepower at the crank. Remember to always run a diagnostic check on your car to see what codes may come up.
New Softronic/Durametric Version 6.0 Released
Softronic and Durametric are pleased to anounce a new diagnostic standard for Porsche that is second to none .
We have release 997, Boxster (987), Cayman into the beta, other models will be added over the next 6-8 weeks
100% new code, Durametric 6.0 shares no code with Durametric 5
Added coverage for many new control modules. We now cover every module possible in the 9×7 cars.
Automatic vehicle recognition, on 9×7 cars software will automatically detect vehicle type and the modules that are installed in the car
New short test allows scanning all modules for faults and see all faults on one screen
Quick erase allows faults to be cleared from all modules in one operation
Support for non-critical faults, in some cases a module may have fault codes that do not require action these faults will be indicated with a yellow icon
Support for activations in most modules
Support for actual values in most modules
Support for 2009 DFI cars Siemens SDI3 ECU
Support for PDK transmissions
System / Short tests on engine modules
Freeze frame information on engine modules
Coding on many modules (professional version only), some examples of things that can be coded are:
Added or removing control modules from the car, for example disabling TPM, or PASM
Recoding of airbag to allow racing seats to be installed and not trigger an airbag light
Activating day time running lights
Adjusting the behavior of each key
and many more…
997 Convertible top calibration
Brake bleeding
Improved installation process
Automatic software updates
Improved work log
Command console (professional version only) provides direct communication with the control module for advanced users
Workshop information, Professional version can add the shop information to appear on customer printouts
and many other new features
Since this is the first release of a major long term project, there will be many revisions and bug fixes over the next few weeks.
This release is only compatible with our second generation diagnostic interfaces. If you have purchased your kit after February 2008 then it is a second generation kit.
The cable with a box in the middle of the wire are first generation cables.
Cables with the electronics in the connector can be either first or second generation
If the cable has the light on the side that reads “Durametric” or “Softronic” then it is a second generation interface
If the light is on the side that says “Enthusiast” or “Professional” then it is a first generation interface
Customers with first generation interfaces can upgrade to the second generation interface for $150 USD. These customers may contact Durametric or Softronic as required.
Both Durametric 6.0 and Durametric 5 can be installed at the same time on the same computer.
To run Durametric 6.0, you will need to:
1.Install the stand-alone interface drivers.
2.Install Durametric 6.0.
Recommended Parts for a 996 Turbo and Turbo S, Why?
The ECU flash on a Porsche 996 Turbo is without a doubt the best bang for the buck. However without certain modifications, you will not realize the full potential of the vehicle. On both the Porsche 996 Turbo and Turbo S, it is important to first change out the stock diverter valves. The factory Bosch valves are a diaphram design which the internal rubber piece can tear under high boost pressure. Also these stock valves tend to lose boost pressure on flashed cars. Aftermarket diverter valves use a piston and spring design. The spring is stiffer then the OEM pressure to ensure that with the higher boost readings of a flashed car, you will not lose boost pressure.
Both cars feature restrictive exhaust systems. You can run the stock exhaust but may not realize the full power gains unless you have an aftermarket system. The stock exhaust is like a bottleneck for the turbos. Turbos perform best with no backpressure or restriction, however your car would be incredibly loud. On a stock 996 Turbo, you will go from about .6-.7bar to 1.0bar of boost. On a Turbo S X50, you will go from .8-.9bar to 1.1bar of boost. However with a stock exhaust, this can rob you of about .1bar of boost which can equate to alot of power at the wheels. The free flowing design of an aftermarket exhaust will help your turbos breathe better and get you the full power gain of your Softronic ECU flash. For those that are afraid of emissions or check engine lights from high flow cats, Softronic has taken this into account. On all cars, Softronic raises the O2 limits so they are not triggered by the additional heat passing by the O2 sensors. Most aftermarket exhausts are 100cell so not an issue. However when it comes to emissions time, we generally recommend flashing back to the stock map.
The final recommendation is to have a good clean air filter on your car. The stock airbox works great for cars up to 700hp. So we recommend just swapping out the stock paper filter for a good K&N. This K&N has been tested on numerous cars to add about 5-6hp and last much longer then a paper system.
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