Chip Tuning

Chip Tuning or Cheap Tuning? I don't think that simple plug n play device produces so much additional power and torque!

READ this FIRST (from AUTOS.com) before deciding to install one on your car...

Watch this too...

Tuning Box - the good, the bad and the ugly sides everyone should know

The 'black box', as I prefer to call it can either contain nothing more than resistors with some electronic switching circuits with flashing LED displays to impress you...

...or more complex one has microprocessors to work in tendum with the ECU.

In both cases the black boxes 'fool' the ECU to make it 'think' the engine is running cold hence increase the amount of fuel delivery into the engine. It works best on forced induction engines at the expense of fuel consumption  at low end of the power band where there is still surplus of boost pressure though. 

A more complex black box has microprocessor/controller to sustain higher boost pressure proportional to the amount of fuel being injected into the combustion chamber hence higher torque. Of course the car may accelerate quicker but can not be maitained long enough as the engine rpm is increased. Bare in mind that it is NOT the gain in maximum bhp as claimed.

Nevertheless around the middle of the power band (beyond the surge line as shown in the chart below) the amount of boost pressure is almost at its limits and slowly drops towards the higher end as the stock turbo can no longer meet the demand of the air volume flow rate.

The black box or the remap still can fool the ECU to inject more fuel but the engine will be out of breath hence no more power gain even how much the fuel is available to be burnt. Thats why there lots of carbon soot at the tail pipe! So does the fuel consumption.

Theoretically without changing to bigger turbo unit or/and increasing the engine compression ratio it is impossible to increase maximum power output by just installing a black box or remap! 

Again... that's why 175BHP and 200BHP EP6-series engines have bigger turbo unit for higher power output. Don't assume the EP6-series engine designers are stupid for not just using 'black box' circuitry or remapping the ECU to increase the maximum power. Think about it.

p/s who knows in side of your RM1800 "Tuning Box" could be just  like this ...(hint..hint!!)

Fuel Saving Device - Anybody Interested?

With the consistently rising price of fuel many will find and try anything to improve the fuel consumption of their cars. Then they come across things like run your car on water, magnetic fuel saver, fuel saving tablets/additives, and many others. Those products claim to save money and give car better performance.

As long as cars have existed, inventors and salesmen have tried to sell fuel saver devices designed to give dramatic gains in fuel economy and power. While most of these devices install easily, and most are relatively inexpensive, the vast majority of these products very rarely meet the promises of their designers. Actually they are pure gimmicks and use false science to describe how they work and many of them will actually cause more problems or even a reduction in car performance and economy.. Don't be fooled.

Some of them are:
Magnets - By attaching to your fuel system it claim to alter the structure of the fuel as it passes through the lines are absolute not true. The explanation are based on false science. Hidro-carbon molecules do not attract to magnet!

Serbo - Is actually a device installed along air intake to ‘swirl’ the air before it enters into the engine, claimed to increase engine power as much as 20%. Do you believe? The fact is Supercharging an engine is a complex modification and is not just another plug and play toy. This is another gimmick and not worth spending the money. Our EP6DT twin scroll turbo in tandem with the ECU already work perfectly under all driving conditions.

Vaporiser/Atomizer - Claims to improve burning efficiency by vaporising the fuel that enters the engine. Probably only works on carburetor engines when it is cold. Fortunately direct fuel injection on our Peugeot 308 engine already have this effect.

Water Power - "wotta powwa" as how the Japanese pronounce. Sounds like Tsu-na-mi , hee.. heee... Basically it is a device that claims to convert water into hydrogen gas and improve the power and efficiency of the engine. Theoretically possible but these devices are at most could barely power an a/cond blower or radiator/condenser cooling fan!

Octane Booster - One should be very careful when using this chemical, as they may be harmful to the engine. True, some products work, but mostly don't. Be careful . In market there are plenty of imitation products. Racing teams have their secret recipe and develop on their own and not for sale.

These devices/chemical which claim to give reduction in fuel consumption may actually even cause potential engine damage or failure.

If you really want to save fuel, just improve your driving habits, choose cost effective route to follow and pump in the right fuel. Remember that who drives where, when and how is the main contributor to fuel saving.

Happy Motoring

Does anyone need a Voltage Stabilizer?

A Voltage stabilizer could be just a simple black-box of many capacitors... sometimes comes with attractive and convincing digital displays or blinking/colorful led's. ... attached directly across a battery at the positive and negative terminals to regulate the flow of electricity running from a car's battery to its electrical components. Plug n Play type is also available...The Voltage Stabilizers are believed can smooth idling, increase battery life, improve combustion efficiency hence increase power/torque, decreased emissions, improve output from headlights and audio equipment, etc....

The truth is the battery itself is already like a large voltage stabilizer.
Everybody knows that the electrical system in most cars is 12 volt [24 volt system also got]. However, the charging system generates a voltage between 13.2 and 14.5 volts [based on my old school book] while the engine is running because it has to generate higher voltage than the battery's rated voltage to overcome the wiring and internal resistance of the battery. The current needed to recharge the battery would not flow at all if the charging system's output voltage is lower than or the same as the battery terminal voltage. There is also a voltage regulator at the alternator to regulate the dc voltage output.

Peugeot 405 Voltage Regulator

The alternator generate electricity and send it to the battery and other electrical loads. During low or moderate loads the excess electricity generated by the alternator charges the battery rather than increasing the voltage/current flow to the car electrical system and damaging them. When the demand of a car's electrical system exceeds the alternator output [normally at idling speeds] electricity is withdrawn from the battery to fill up the deficit.

Now, anyone still need a voltage stabilizer?

Car Tuning Myths

Induction Kit Myths
Induction kits do not always add power especially for small force induction [turbo] engines . Cold air induction kits are often good for big engine cars, however, they may be counterproductive for cars with smaller engines like 308T. This is because smaller engines get pretty hot faster and it takes more time to deliver cold air to the engine. It is also important to note that smaller engines have less power if they are fitted with air induction kit. Despite the claims made by the manufacturers of induction kits very few small engines actually see a benefit from adding them.

Standard air filter boxes are more than sufficient and if you want to improve the airflow through this then you should add a high flow panel air filter instead but the benefits will again only at the top end of the rev range. Even so, sadly you will end up spending a lot of money but see very little gain.


Suspension Myths
Lower suspension is better?. This is only partially true, car suspension needs a certain amount of travel to maintain contact with the road. Roll should be eliminated by an anti roll bar rather than just fitting lower and harder springs.

PSA had invested a lot of time, effort and money in to the suspension settings for 308. A poorly designed modification, which reduces the ride height without any other adjustments, can upset things.

The Harder the better? Again this is only partially true. If the suspension is too hard the car wheels will jump over the road surface and this will dramatically reduce tyre grip. The ride quality of the car is also severely compromised.

Remember, your 308Ts are designed for street use. Do Not modify the car as if u r going to drive 'em on race tracks. Stock 308T is capable to hit 100km/hr in 9.3sec, 1000m standing in less than 30sec, top speed more than 210km/hr .... still not enough for a 1.6liter family hatch? [click HERE for more]

Understanding Tyre Myths and Facts

MYTH: Wider tyres have a larger contact patch than narrow tyres hence better grip.
It is neither tyre width nor aspect ratio [profile] influences the size of the tyre's contact area with the road surface. The size of the contact patch is actually determined by the weight on the wheel and the tyre pressure. Wider tyres will shorten contact length hence contributes aquaplaning.

MYTH: A larger contact patch gives more grip
Larger contact patch is irrelevant to better grip. If u understand applied physics [remember Amonton's Law, F=uN ? where F is the force generated, u is the coefficient of friction, and N is the weight on the surface considered, i.e the weight on the tyre]

The actual grip that a tyre can achieve is influenced by the coefficient of friction of the rubber compound used in the tyre. The higher the coefficient, the more grip which can be generated.

So its not the tyre width but the compound used that determines the grip [put aside about suspension first - we are only discussing tyres here].

So, why not use narrow high profile tyres then?
The answer to that is heat (we are talking on grip here, not handling). The point is that, to get a contact patch of a certain size on the road, it needs a certain portion of the tyre to be flat. Now, for a narrow tyre, the contact patch will be quite long compared with a wide tyre. This introduces two problems for the tyre.

First, to get that long flat section to give the required contact patch area, the sidewall of the tyre needs to deform quite a lot. This deformation actually causes continuously bending and unbending the rubber of the sidewall as it flattens and then the tread curves again resulting in a lot of heat being generated.

The second relates to the length itself. There will be a greater percentage of the tyre tread in contact with the road than if the contact patch length were shorter; this reduces the amount that the tread can cool. Also, there is a greater percentage of sidewall at any given time that is actually under bending stresses, again resulting in less opportunity to cool. As a result on this increased generation of heat, and the reduced capacity for self cooling, the tyres need to be made of a harder rubber compound that is more able to resist heat. This harder compound will however, have a reduced coefficient of friction hence loosen grip.

FACT: The tyres that are wider can have a softer compound with better frictional properties. Due to the reduced bending stresses, and greater cooling opportunities, the tyre will tend to stay within a narrow temperature range quite consistently, giving greater grip, while reducing the tendency for overheating - hence better performance.

As far as tyre profile is concerned, the main benefit is one of handling - the lower sidewalls give reduced sidewall deformation under lateral loading, which results in improved steering response and a more stable contact patch.

FACT: On the issue of wheel size [the diameter, not the width], it is therefore clear that increasing the wheel/tyre diameter combination is beneficial. The reason for this is that the tyre will not have to deform so much to get the required contact patch length, and the percentage of the tyre tread in contact with the road will be less than for a smaller diameter combination.

What about tyre pressure?
Obviously, tyre pressure plays a very important part, but there are limits also. Too high tyre pressure can damage the carcass. Too low presure will generate massive heat, and have the tyre slipping on the rim.

One issue to consider is that, for wet weather driving [for cars equiped with ABS and ESP - like 308T], in contrary to normal practice, it is better to increase tyre pressure, not reduce it. The reason is that there is a relationship between tyre pressure and the speed at which there is the onset of aquaplaning. The lower the pressure on the road (pressure being a factor of weight and contact area), for a given tyre design, the more likely the car is to aquaplane.

What factors are important in terms of tyre grip?
Tyre width has no direct relation to the amount of grip generated; it is a secondary factor, and the width basically relates to cooling potential and so the tyre compound that can be used. The size of the contact patch has no bearing on the amount of grip generated at all, apart from the extreme of where the compound is getting so hot that it no longer acts as a solid.

The tyre pressure has a bearing on the heating and cooling characteristics of the tyre. Having a lower tyre profile gives improved handling through reduced sidewall stress and improved contact patch shape stability but less resistance to aquaplane.

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Nitrogen Tyre Inflation Myths

Some Myths of the Nitrogen Tire Inflation are:

1. NITROGEN RETAINS TIRE PRESSURES.
This is NOT true at all even though nitrogen leaks by diffusion through a tire at a slower rate than air. But air contains almost 80% Nitrogen! There are numerous issues (valve stem, puncture, rim seal) that can still cause major leaks. Even if Nitrogen will maintain pressure longer than tires filled with compressed air, but is not a substitute for regular pressure checks.

2. NITROGEN MAKES TIRE TO LAST LONGER AND IMPROVE FUEL ECONOMY.
NOT true. Maintaining recommended inflation will actually lead to longer tire life and increased fuel economy. So always check tyre pressure.

3. NITROGEN ARE NOT AFFECTED BY TEMPERATURE.
Since air has about 78% Nitrogen there is very little difference [i.e almost negligible] compared to 100% Nitrogen filled tyres in expansion and contraction when the tyre temperature is increased or decreased respectively.

Note: Nitrogen inflated tyres have only around 20% more Nitrogen than normal 'air' inflation. There is no benefit to such a small increace actually.

The Biggest Modern Motoring Myth!

The biggest myth of all times is Engine/Body Grounding - even for new Peugeot 308 owners are still talking about "grounding" .

Could someone please tell me how the add-on colorful grounding wire with 12mm. sq. copper strands inside can improve grounding while there are already physically connected by massive conductor through out engine, chassis and body?

The add-on grounding is simply redundant!

What the use of additional Grounding then?
Improve sparks? Not quite. Sparks carry a few milliAmps only. The high potential electrons can 'jump' across the gaps. Wire size doesn't matter. The conductance/conductivity is not an issue. In fact the HT lead insulator resistivity is MORE important than the x-section area through which the electrons flow - to prevent sparking occur other than at the spark-plug gaps.

BTW do you all aware how many amperes the current flow to the starter windings to start the engine? Now compare between the summation of all current used to run the other electrical system in the car and the current drawn from the battery during starting.



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Wrong Tips on Fuel Saving

Everybody wants to save fuel, but there're lots and lots of incorrect advices I found on local and international motorcar forums on how to do it. Some of 'em make no difference, and some even worse! Don't know from where they got those 'advices' - I'm sure not from their own experiment/experience. Some of the 'advices' defy the laws of physics [and thermodynamics].

The following are a bunch of wrong advices on tips for fuel saving.

1. Fill-up fuel tank in the morning
I have read/heard 1001 times that it's best to fill car fuel tank in the early morning while the fuel is cold by making assumption that fuel are more dense at lower temperatures, so a liter of cooler fuel actually has more hydrocarbon molecules than a liter of warmer gasoline.

The fact is: The fuel stored underground has a very large heat sink which temperature is almost constant throughout the day. By touching the fuel pump nozzle while filling up the fuel tank one will 'feel' the temperature - it is warmer than the ambient temperature, in the morning and cooler at midday/afternoon. You don't need a thermometer to measure it.



2. Change air filter often
Maintaining cars is important, but a clean air filter isn't going to save any fuel significantly. Modern engines have computer sensors that automatically adjust the fuel-air mixture as an increasingly clogged air filter chokes off the engine's air supply. Of course engine power will decrease slightly as the air filter becomes clogged, but an increase in fuel consumption will be negligible. It takes cost less than the new air filter. Here I'm talking on fuel saving - not performance ya.

As far as fuel saving is concerned, installing after market maintenance-free air-filters will do more harm than good [in a long run] to modern engines. Think a second, if it is good enough why not car producers install 'em in the first place? If u r talking on performance alone, just tune the car without the air filter!

3. Use premium or higher octane fuel
A lot of drivers think because their owners' manual recommends premium, they'll get better fuel economy and performance with it. In reality , they may be paying more money for nothing.

Most modern na cars have Programmed Fuel Injection System, for which premium is "recommended" - but not "required" - won't suffer with RON95 or lower octane rating fuel. Modern engine technology comes to the rescue again. When sensors detect regular instead of premium fuel, the system automatically adjusts spark plug [and valve] timing. The result is a slight reduction in peak horsepower - but we never notice.

Always check owner's manual before putting anything into your car. And if the car runs badly on RON95, by all means, go back to RON97, or Wee-Power or what_ever.

4. Pump up tires
Of course under-inflated tires are bad for handling and can even cause a crash. Improper tire inflation also causes tires to wear out faster and to heat up more, which could trigger a dangerous high-speed blow-out. Under inflated tires also reduce fuel economy.

So proper inflation is important.
But never over-inflate tires. They'll get slightly better fuel economy because there will be less tread touching the road, reducing friction. But that means less grip for braking and turning. The added risk of a crash isn't worth the extra km a liter gained.

5. Reduce or do not use aircond.
True, air-conditioning makes extra work for the engine, increasing fuel use. But car air conditioners are much more efficient today than they used to be. Using the aircond will drop fuel economy by about 2 to 3% - to figure out the saving by turning aircond off is gaining around 10km [under RM2] when one drive fom KL to KB but one will pay more on cold drinks!

Meanwhile, driving at higher speeds with the windows down greatly increases aerodynamic drag. As speed increases, drag becomes more of an issue, making air-cond use the more efficient choice at high speeds.

6. Install fuel saving gadget and/or use fuel booster
Before even thinking of a device that's supposed to make car more fuel-efficient ask yourself:

Don't you think oil and car companies aren't doing everything they can to beat their competitors?

Car/engine producers are already spending billions of Ringgit if not Dollars to increase fuel efficiency/mileage. If a car producer could make its cars go significantly farther on a liter simply by putting a device into the fuel line, don't think for a second it wouldn't be doing that. Its car sales also would go like goreng pisang panas.

Similarly, if there really was an additive that made fuel burn up more slowly, it would have been bought by major oil companies already and wouldn't be sold through direct selling over the Internet/SMS one bottle at a time. If Brand A fuel company could add something to its fuel that made cars go farther on a liter of fuel, cars would be lining up at the company's pumps and drive right past rivals' fuel stations to come back to Brand A for more. Brand A stations could even charge more for their gas and still can sell. Click HERE for additional informations.

Borrowing a phrase from a friend's blog...
"kalau nak menurut biar berakal, kalau mengikut biar berilmu..."

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