ZBOYD
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- Jun 27, 2008
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As i say, I'm no expert or engineer. But the many years i've been going to rolling road events around the country it's the kind of debate we often see after a meet like this. I've picked up a little bit of knowledge through experience and chatting to much smarter people.
If you take the results somewhat with a pinch of salt for ultra accuracy, yet running cars of a similar ilk together gives you some kind of control figures to consider. Manufacturers measure and calculate power as an average usually. They also often under state actual power figures for commercial and legislative reasons.
For example take a Leon Cupra R, they produced a 210bhp(AMK) version first off, then a couple of years later introduced a 225bhp(BAM) version. On RR's I saw these cars as 210's put out 220+ as standard, and the 225's a similar figure. However they both chipped up to the same level of performance. Though there were small mechanical differences between the AMK and BAM engines, to put it bluntly it was nothing more than a commercial move to peg the car up against it's competitors at the time such as the Megane and Focus RS.
What I also forgot to mention is heat soak, some remaps can put a strain on the inlet temperatures. Especially if they are quite torquey boosty maps.
One of the things i mentioned at ProSport was the smaller fan, I think they could benefit from a larger unit or possibly a couple of extra fans for either side. They also shut the bonnet which means that heat can not escape quite as quickly as it might otherwise. Awesome for example leave the bonnet up, as do a few other places I've been too.
On the same hand I'm not knocking ProSport, they ran a great day and they didn't push the cars hard. Some RR' operators are complete animals, they will really rag the car hard before doing a run. ProSport were smooth and run the cars up though gears gently with a pause before what i presume were 4th gear runs.
I believe Superchips may of alluded to the intake temperatures in response to IGGU's comments. However in truth this isn't as much of an issue for the TFSi cars as it is for say the cars with 1.8T's.
The TFSI appears to be pretty damn efficient even when its running a bit on the toasty side. JonnyC commented on the temperature of his intake, yet still produced great figures. The ECU is able to compensate somewhat and the intercooler also appears to work very well.
Maybe with an improved intake and exhaust, IGGU's would deliver similar levels of performance. Remembering cars are always going to be far more efficient on the open road with proper air flow. However with VAGCOM this can usually be measured too.
My own car runs fairly aggressively too but lacks the improved intake and also does not yet have the S3 intercooler. This is reflected in my figures, i believe with an EVOMS and a better IC, the car will be producing much higher figures still and more efficiently.
1.8T's suffer more from heatsoak I think, especially with a sudden torque/boost induced heat buildup. Especially if they are still running with the stock side mount intercoolers. An FMIC upgrade on a 1.8T must be a serious consideration if you want to be able to see sustained good figures. They rarely give you a huge power increase (couple of bhp at most), but they do stop you losing power through heat buildup.
However what i'm trying to get across is a RR is a good guide as to what kind of power and torque output a car produces. However there are a multitude of reasons why people don't always get the figures they expect.
If IGGU's car feels quicker on the bum dyno, then i expect it is quicker than a stock S3 if it's delivering it right across the power-band. But the lack of improved intake and exhaust maybe hurting it when it's sat stationary on a RR. Just another theory to chuck in the pot.
If you take the results somewhat with a pinch of salt for ultra accuracy, yet running cars of a similar ilk together gives you some kind of control figures to consider. Manufacturers measure and calculate power as an average usually. They also often under state actual power figures for commercial and legislative reasons.
For example take a Leon Cupra R, they produced a 210bhp(AMK) version first off, then a couple of years later introduced a 225bhp(BAM) version. On RR's I saw these cars as 210's put out 220+ as standard, and the 225's a similar figure. However they both chipped up to the same level of performance. Though there were small mechanical differences between the AMK and BAM engines, to put it bluntly it was nothing more than a commercial move to peg the car up against it's competitors at the time such as the Megane and Focus RS.
What I also forgot to mention is heat soak, some remaps can put a strain on the inlet temperatures. Especially if they are quite torquey boosty maps.
One of the things i mentioned at ProSport was the smaller fan, I think they could benefit from a larger unit or possibly a couple of extra fans for either side. They also shut the bonnet which means that heat can not escape quite as quickly as it might otherwise. Awesome for example leave the bonnet up, as do a few other places I've been too.
On the same hand I'm not knocking ProSport, they ran a great day and they didn't push the cars hard. Some RR' operators are complete animals, they will really rag the car hard before doing a run. ProSport were smooth and run the cars up though gears gently with a pause before what i presume were 4th gear runs.
I believe Superchips may of alluded to the intake temperatures in response to IGGU's comments. However in truth this isn't as much of an issue for the TFSi cars as it is for say the cars with 1.8T's.
The TFSI appears to be pretty damn efficient even when its running a bit on the toasty side. JonnyC commented on the temperature of his intake, yet still produced great figures. The ECU is able to compensate somewhat and the intercooler also appears to work very well.
Maybe with an improved intake and exhaust, IGGU's would deliver similar levels of performance. Remembering cars are always going to be far more efficient on the open road with proper air flow. However with VAGCOM this can usually be measured too.
My own car runs fairly aggressively too but lacks the improved intake and also does not yet have the S3 intercooler. This is reflected in my figures, i believe with an EVOMS and a better IC, the car will be producing much higher figures still and more efficiently.
1.8T's suffer more from heatsoak I think, especially with a sudden torque/boost induced heat buildup. Especially if they are still running with the stock side mount intercoolers. An FMIC upgrade on a 1.8T must be a serious consideration if you want to be able to see sustained good figures. They rarely give you a huge power increase (couple of bhp at most), but they do stop you losing power through heat buildup.
However what i'm trying to get across is a RR is a good guide as to what kind of power and torque output a car produces. However there are a multitude of reasons why people don't always get the figures they expect.
If IGGU's car feels quicker on the bum dyno, then i expect it is quicker than a stock S3 if it's delivering it right across the power-band. But the lack of improved intake and exhaust maybe hurting it when it's sat stationary on a RR. Just another theory to chuck in the pot.