WB - for mobile tuning?

[valdeztke]

For those that tune cars outside of their own; either for fun or for $$$ or both. What is the best way to have a travel WB? Do you weld a bung into the car and attach your personal wideband? Have the consumer purchase a wideband? Or Just use the tailpipe sniffer at the local dyno and run in the 0-5V signal?

Also - is a wide band less nessecary on a stock car with bolt ons than say an FI car?

Just looking at what would be a good solution to have a portable WB to use if in fact a year down the road I wanted to tune a few buddies cars


Thanks!

[eficalibrator]

A wideband is necessary regardless of what kind of car.

I usually turn off the front O2's (forced open loop) and use that port unless it's inaccessible or there's another port specifically there for a wideband. Tailpipe sniffers suck and I only use them as a last resort.

I had an NGK AFX setup attached to my MPVI Pro interface that was easily transferred between vehicles. I now use an ECM Lambda Pro, but that's a little beyond most hobby tuners.

[valdeztke]

Thanks Greg. I'm half way through your book right now and its MUCH more than I expected. Very well put together and great quality - both in production and data.

I've had 2 other friends of mine order a copy from Amazon just recently!

[Farsighted770]

.... Tailpipe sniffers suck and I only use them as a last resort.

bringin it back from the dead...

given no cats in the system, and it being a "true dual" setup with an x-pipe, how far off is a tail pipe setup for tuning? by that i mean, how far off A/F and how likely am i to screw something up trusting that number for an NA tune? if it matters its an innovate lm1 setup with their tailpipe clamp...

thanks for the input

[eficalibrator]

There are 3 main problems with tailpipe sniffers:

1) Heat. The UEGO needs to be warm to be accurate. Placing it at the coldest point of the exhaust system doesn't help. You are relying upon the controller's heater controls to do 100% of the heating, which is difficult for any wideband controller. At best, it's questionable on the unit you mentioned.

2) Reversion. Most of your tuning will be at idle and part throttle where there are a lot of strong pulses. These bring exhaust out and fresh air in right where the oxygen sensor is likely to read it as "lean". The 6" pipe on the sniffer you mentioned is not sufficient to prevent this and is only remotely useful at WOT.

3) Delay. Having the sensor that far from the engine causes significant mechanical delay (flight time) between the source and sensor. This isn't a big deal in steady state, but any transient work (even a WOT sweep) will exhibit some delay and must be accounted for.

Bottom line: If you inted to do a "professional" job of tuning, you should be prepared to take measurements like a professional. Otherwise, you are complacent with "tooning" instead of tuning.

[Farsighted770]

well i have a bung already welded in but the WB system i have access to is already setup with that pipe... i figure i will just throw the o2 sensor in the bung to be accurate but there are instructions for how to do it "accurately" by innovate using the sniffer, so i was curious if it was worth doing or not... guess thats a not but at least now i know

thanks for the input

[Pro Street]

I pull one of the NB 02's out and use that for the wide band.