hey guys, im finishing up my turbo build here in the next few weeks, and im not sure if i should wait until spring to tune or not due to the weather. im from Indiana and it will most likely be < 35 degrees until march. Will the tune be affected due to warm weather if i were to tune soon? i would imagine the AFR would be affected and i might run rich in the warm weather, but im not sure. any input appreciated. i searched, but could not find any real information. thanks.

 

Air density from the cold may cause some spikes and cause you to lean out, in which case you'll make it extra rich now to counter it. Once the weather gets warm you may have to readjust.

If your facilities are climate controlled you're ok. but otherwise, just wait till spring.

 

I would actually tune for optimum now in this weather. It will probably run a little richer than optimum come Springtime, but it will be safe.

I usually tune a little richer than optimum during warm weather in anticipation of cold weather leanouts. Better to tune for optimum in the cold weather than to tune rich in warm weather and estimate how much it will lean out when cold.

 

Whelp, there you have it, folks... One that says wait (if you don't have proper facilities that are climate controlled), the other says tune now.. Both with sound arguments. Now its up to the OP.. *drum roll......*

 

Tune it.

Software has correction tables for a reason. It will be fine.

 

The Shodan knows his stuff. I would take his advise over the other 2. Also what is a boosted car going to do for you in the winter time? Just wait till it starts to warm up. I let my car sit all winter last year when it was finished and went in march to get tuned.

 

The shodan builds turbos... He doesnt tune cars son. What he brings up are valid and true points, but getting the car tuned in the colder climate wont be risky as you wouldnt be going any leaner getting warmer ambient.... Even if you tuned on a warmer day and beat the car on a cold day... between the negligible differences and the correction tables, it would be FINE. Absolutely.



TUNE
THE
CAR

 

alright guys thanks for the info. i will call and find out today if they do have CC'd facilities, but if they dont, ill probably just tune it anyways. reason for tuning now is i just want to be done with the car (its a long time coming), and i have a set of crower turbo cams that i want to install after its tuned on the turbo with the stock head to do a comparison. would like to have everything done and tuned before spring. thanks again.

 

If you install cams you have to get a retune anyways. Same if you would change your intake manifold. That's a pointless waste of money but if your pockets are that deep then go for it. Pay $400 for a tune then swap out cams and have to pay again. Might not be a full $400 since they tuned it the first time but just doesn't seem sensible to me. Also listen to the shodan. end of story!

 

Why not talk to the person that you are going to have tune it and see what they say?

 

Just to give you an idea of the afr change in my case I had the car tuned in low 40 deg F weather with a afr's steady in the 11.5-11.9 range. In the summer on the hottest days (90-100 deg F) my afrs are low 11's and i have seen a 10.9 on my wideband. I have been told by reputable tuners that you dont see big power drops untile your deep into the 10's afr range. Most high end stock turbo cars are tuned in the 9's and 10's afr under wide open throttle.

 

If you adjust the intake air temp table properly it should not change much. if indeed you are a little more rich come summer its very easy to fix with iat table adjustments. or if you really want to add a pound of boost =P

 

Doesn't matter when you tune most of the time when the temp changes you may need a touch up on the tune. Good thing is if your tuner has a heated shop you could still hit the higher temps, then they can take it outside and street tune for the cooler temps and be done with it.

 

This is exactly what I experience. And I typically tune for 11.8-12.0 when it is cold, knowing it will result in 11.5 on hot days. This is acceptable to me.

If you tune to 11.8-12.0 on really hot days you can see 12.5+ on really cold days. That is outside my acceptable range on a turbo Honda.

 

Experience should taught you that even if you spend a lot of time on the IAT correction tables you will STILL run a little leaner when cold, and richer when hot. It's just that the stock IAT in stock location does not accurately reflect the outside ambient. Even on a really cold day the manifold will heat soak. When you go WOT the IAT will not change fast enough to reflect the cold outside air coming in and then you run a little leaner.

 

HOnda IAT sensors read SLOOOOOW

 

Interesting info here....

 

and you dont think ive learned how to compensate for this nice that you think you know me.