AFM swap
I am interested in utilizing the DFA to convert
from AFM to MAF sensor. My 85 Toyota Supra uses a 5V-0V (via resistors)
AFM output. The MAF sensor (Ford) is 0V-5V output. I thought to use
the DFA since it can be programmed to output +/- voltage values. The problem I
face is the opposing voltage scales and possibly needing up to 4.5V of
adjustment. If the 0-12V scale could be used with this application there
would be suitable adjustability, but, do I need a 12V reference in order to use
this circuit? I believe that the 85 AFM uses a max ~5V for supply and
reference voltage. I am desperately trying to find a way to
accomplish this swap, as numbers of other Supra owners are also looking to
perform the mod. Thank you in advance for your time and response...
Carlos Brown
United States
But why would you bother doing this swap?
Assuming it is not a vane airflow meter, just fit an airflow meter bypass around
the standard airflow meter and then use the DFA to tune the airflow meter
output. It works extremely well, costs far less and is easier to tune. See
Airflow Meter Bypass, Part 1 and
Airflow Meter Bypass, Part 2. If the standard airflow
meter is a vane design, we’d suggest simply fitting a bigger vane design and
then tuning with the DFA. At high power outputs a large vane airflow meter is
less restrictive than an equivalent cross-sectional area hot wire airflow
meter.
Um....
I was reading the article 'The Complete Guide
to Intercooling’ and I'm trying to work out whether or not it is worth getting
for my car. I currently own a Holden Commodore VY SS and frequently driving
between Sydney and Melbourne. I have a mate who says it also helps with fuel
consumption however I've found nothing to verify this.
Matthew Hayden
Australia
Intercooling is not advantageous except on
turbocharged or supercharged cars.
Fast Car Fluids 1
In regards to
the "fast fluids" article, a few points. Dot 5 fluid is not hygroscopic, as its
silicone based. i think it may be worth mentioning that it cant be mixed with
other (more common) types of fluid, and if a change is to be made, the braking
system needs to be flushed. I believe that dot 5.1 would be more applicable for
mention for most readers, and i believe actually offers a minimum boiling point
10 degree's higher. A mention that many manufacturers often exceed the standards
which they are advertising (ie, high temp dot4 can exceed the dot4 standard by a
large amount)
Blake Parry
Australia
Fast Car Fluids 2
Attn: Michael Knowling re Issue 452 Fast Car
Fluids. In the Engine Oil section you refer to the latest API standard as SJ.
That is a 2001 standard and has been superceded by SL and SM. I just did a
quick Google to find www.api.org which
has a good link to a pdf called EngineOilGuide2006.pdf. There is plenty of
debate out there questioning the back-compatability of the latest standards (ie,
that newer is not better). One of the most informative (and least
hysterical) I just found at 190slgroup.com.
Rick Dathan
Australia
Fast Car Fluids 3
Your Fluids article. Should you not put in a
disclaimer, DOT5 is Silicon and cannot be mixed with DOT 3 OR 4, perhaps you
should have said DOT5.1 or referred to a previous article that you've done on
Brake Fluids? Even for day-to-day duties, a DOT 5 fluid is preferable over DOT
3s and 4s. Brake fluid is hygroscopic, which means it absorbs moisture from the
air. Absorbed over the course of a couple of years, this moisture reduces the
fluid's boiling point and can lead to the aforementioned spongy pedal or a total
loss of brakes. Starting off with a higher-grade fluid obviously allows
lengthier use before there's a pressing need for replacement. The presence of
moisture within the brake fluid can also lead to corrosion of internal brake
system components.
Gary
Australia
Fast Car Fluids 4
Surely Michael Knowling knows that there are
different viscosity standards for engine oil and gear oil. "In general, gearbox
oils are required to be far thicker than engine oils. This is due to the extreme
pressure between the gear teeth in a gearbox - a thin oil would be squeezed out
from between the teeth of the gears, allowing abrasive metal-to-metal contact.”
From Wikipeadia- Gear oils "API viscosity ratings for gear oils are not directly
comparable with those for motor oil, and they are thinner than the figures
suggest. For example, many modern gearboxes use a 75W90 gear oil, which
is actually of equivalent viscosity to a 10W40 motor oil." Pretty basic
error.
Philip Armbruster
Australia
Fast Car Fluids was originally published in
2002 – a production oversight prevented this from being stated at the beginning
of the article. Michael Knowling has not worked for AutoSpeed for some time.
Given the deficiencies highlighted by readers, we will look at doing an updated
and corrected article on the same topic.
Obtaining Signals
In regards to the article on modifying the
automotive electronic handling systems (turning traction control off with
relays) is it better to intercept the factory wires right at the wheel speed
sensor or is can I grab them right as they are about to enter into the ABS
computer, I looked at the wiring diagram and there are no other connections just
weird splice thingys. Thanks
Joe
United States
Grab them at the ECU.
Farewelling Frank
I really enjoyed the articles on your EF Falcon,
Frank. Having owned a mildly modified ED Falcon for many years I too know how
enjoyable these E-series Falcons can be. Though I was shocked to read in
your wrap up of a panhard bar assisting the location of the live rear
axle. I suspect it was actually a Watts linkage in the rear along with the
SLALS up front that made the car so enjoyable. Panhard bars and struts
being the inferior solutions employed but that other Aussie large car
manufacturer.
Rob Ryder
Australia
Thanks – article corrected.
Drifting
Hey guys, big fan of your publication and
blog. Keep up the good work. Bit sad to see Frank go as well :D
The
reason I write to you this time, is a recent (relatively speaking) "news" item
that was broadcast on Today Tonight about the increase of "drifting" as the new
cool amongst hoons.
The broadcast can be seen in full here: www.youtube.com
The video in question is this one: www.youtube.com
This has lead to negative reaction from the public
and authority figures: www.news.com.au
Now usually I would ignore the rants of
sensationalists like Today Tonight and other "current affair" programs, but
being an active member of Skylines Australia, and a keen participant in legal
drift events, I was offended. The car in the video is clearly an R32 Skyline and
made out by Today Tonight to be of Australian origin ("Authorities are trying to
determine just where in the country this reckless stunt.., was carried
out").
The amusing part about all this is that the video
that the police are reviewing as evidence is from Option Video, released a while
ago in the late 1990's. It is of mountain drifters in Japan, with Japanese
registered cars and Japanese drivers. I fail to see what jurisdiction Australian
Police have over these cars or drivers. I think its an extreme waste of
resources that Superintendent Tony Rankin deems it necessary to have the
Electronic Crime Section look into the source of the YouTube video, or "narrow
it down to a couple of hundred cars" (because we all know there's only a couple
of hundred white skylines in Australia).
What irks me more than the taxpayer waste is that
we (SAU) have tried to foster a community that is as responsible as they are
passionate about their cars. Going as far as creating CAMS affiliated clubs in
most states around Australia, and organising events to improve driver control
and provide an avenue for the drivers and owners to test their skills in a legal
and safe environment. Hype peddling like this by Today Tonight only reinforces
the negative stereotype about drivers of these cars, and deteriorates the good
work done by clubs such as us and organisers of legal drift events.
I've written to Seven to try and get a response,
but largely it has fallen on deaf ears. I'm hoping that you can help us voice
our concerns.
Shan Moorthy
Australia
DIY Traction Control
can i suggest a diy project? i have been
trying to nut this one out myself. i am looking to get a vt commodore wagon and
do it up a bit, something for me and the wife. so i would like traction control
for her because she isn't used to rear wheel drive on a big car. because I am
thinking of doing it cheap i would start off with a car that doesn't have trac
control but does have abs. then make a circuit which uses the existing ABS
signals to judge when rear wheel slip is occuring (this could be fully user
adjustable) and close an additional throttle butterfly to control power (like
the old lexus system).it could use existing throttle bodies from wreckers and
use a stepper motor to control it.
just an idea to bounce
around
Stewart Murray
Australia
We looked carefully at doing this a few years
ago but decided the potential cost, installation complexity and development time
made it a project not worth pursuing.
Fusion Intercooler
Your article:
"The Fusion Intercooler, A brand new approach to road car intercooling by Julian
Edgar" in issue 238 on 2003-07-08, was very interesting. I would like to ask Mr.
Edgar if there has been any development in this kind of intercoolers. Has
anybody tested the idea in real life and what are the resuts? I found no data of
these intercoolers on the Internet although phase cahange materials (PCM) seem
to be used in heat and cold storage elsewhere.
Tom
Antikainen
Finland
We don’t know of any that have been built. A
point many miss is that the off-boost outlet temperature of the turbo or
supercharger is the vital measurement to make before embarking on such a
project.
Wrong Engine Origin
I have a query about your posted story this
week on the Saab 99 Turbo. You stated that "The engine was actually one-half of
the 3.5-litre V8 used in the Triumph Stag, and was equipped with a single
Stromberg CD carburettor"
I am sure I am not the only one that will / has
pointed this out, but the Stag oringinally used a 3 Litre engine, which was
basically 2 Triumph Dolimite engines put together as I understand it. British
Leyland did have a 3.5 L V8, which was used in the Rover 3500, P6B, P5B, MGB V8,
and even Land Rovers up until the late 90's. In fact I got taken to school in a
Rover V8! This, the 3.5 Litre V8, the English bought the plans off the Yanks,
who originially designed the motor, I believe it dated back to drawing board of
the late 30's, but I couldn't be sure. It was an all Alloy unit.
The 3.5 L V8 became a very popular upgrade for
Stag owners and today you will find many many Stags with the motors fitted. They
fitted this 3500 motor to even the most revered of Australian Cars, the Leyland
P76, who swallowed the 4.4L version of the engine. People have also told me that
they were used in off shore power boat racing!
Sorry for my Rant, Keep up
posting a great online publication, as it always brightens my day when I hear
the articles. I hope the new Pug serves you well, and I am interested to see
that it has what looks like a 405 Mi16 body kit on it! We have a Mi16 in the
family, one owner from new, and its a great drive, a tad unreliable, and
ergonomically ... well, lets just say "special". Have fun with those French
electrics!Alex Bennett
Australia
We meant, one half of the 3 litre V8.
Correction made.
LPG
Hi there just read the Blog on
"normal fuel economy" and wondered if you guys would ever do a current article
on LPG? I know you have covered it in the past, but that mainly covered older
style LPG carb system. I know LPG might not get the economy of a Hybrid but the
out of pocket expense might be similar if setup correctly???? (cheaper buying
price). With current electronic Vapour injection systems and soon to be released
Liquid Injection systems you might not get the 5-6ltrs /100km, but the cheaper
cost might offset this. Is "economy" based on the litres per km or $$$ per
km???? I know a lot of people hate LPG not sure where you guys stand on the
topic, but with the grant ect it can take a fair chunk out of the setup costs.
I have in the past used LPG on v8 guzzlers as its
the only way to run them cheaply while still getting a decent performance gain.
I will prob do this again on my 355 torana with a Liquid injection system in the
next 6 months, keep you guys updated as i think you would find this
interesting.
Back to the main point, don't trucks use LPG on
deisel engines to clean up emisions and increase power??? Could this be an
option for the PUG????? interesting...... I guess the ideal car for Julian would
be a turbo deisel hybrid, hopefully someone will run with this idea!! Sorry for
going on but did you guys also hear about i think it was 5 stroke engines???? I
think Lotus was looking into it, 2 power strokes????? interesting stuff
:)
Keep up the great work still a big fan after all
these years and like the direction you are taking things.
Luke Stolfo
Australia
We’re intending to do more coverage of LPG in
the near future, including LPG on diesels.
Intercooler Spray
I was wondering if the intercooler spray
nozzles you sell work with the Ulka E5 pump, and what the flow rate would be
when used with that pump? What would happen if 2 nozzles were used with
one pump in terms of flow rate and noticeable decrease in
atomization?
Also, though atomization is improved with the high
pressure pump, is the shear act of raisng the water to such a pressure (thus
heating it somewhat) reducing its ability to cool? Any comments on
that?
Toma Kicovic
Canada
When we used the Ulka (ex coffee machine) high
pressure pump for an intercooler spray we used it with the brass Spraying
Systems nozzles. We used only one nozzle but we think two would be fine. Water
doesn’t get hot with the compression of the pump and even if it did, it’s the
evaporation of the water (ie phase change) that cools the intercooler.
Steam Power
After reading your article on steam powered
cars, I did a little more search on the subject on google. And according to this
article I've found (pesn.com)
it might well be, that there is a comeback for steam powered cars – even when
working a little bit different. More about the working principle of his engine
can be found in the inventors abstract. (www.fair-pr.com)
I think it's definitely worth a look and maybe
even good enough for a story on your alternative cars series.
Christian
Germany
Where’s the built engine driving a car with
massively improved efficiency?
Pointless Products
What happened to that article about that
electric supercharger? Also could you do an article on items such as "Power
Tornado" and other not so useful performance enhancers? That would be
great.
Trushar
New Zealand
The Twin Turbo Zet? We prefer to spend our
time on things that work.
|