As many of you know, I plan on flying to Kentucky to buy Jeremy's NC Miata next week. However, last night it occurred to me, since we don't know exactly what tune is on the car, I don't know if it's tuned for 91 or 93...............93 isn't available in Oklahoma. And I obviously don't want to beat on a car setup for 93, with 91 in the tank.
I suspect the car has a custom tune using an EcuTek license, and not OFT.
It doesn't look like Tactrix sells their OBD2 cable anymore, what's going to be the best way to figure out what tune is on the car?
_
Dork
3/11/20 11:15 a.m.
If it has an ecutek tune then you can select different maps using the cruise control buttons. Those different maps have setting for octane rating.
what year car? If '06-'08 look for a raised rev limit. If '09 or higher plug in an obd2 dongle and watch the timing. Should be advanced. I think factory is 20°, but don't quote me on that.
In reply to _ :
2006. yes on the raised rev limit.
What does one look for with the CC button pushing?
_
Dork
3/11/20 12:11 p.m.
I'm searching for it right now on miata.nut. But they don't have a functioning search right now. Someone asked about it a few weeks ago.
I found this so far: https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=520107
and this vid. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ttMWCmEeKL0
It's possible to add different maps via the cruise control button pushing. But it's not necessarily implemented by all tuners. It would really be best to find out who the heck tuned this car. There are only a handful of folks who can do it. Hit them up with the VIN and see if they can confirm or deny.
The knock sensor should keep you safe, but I wouldn't go WOT near torque peak until you know for sure.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
We are trying to figure it out. If I can get a Tactrix cable, I should be able to copy the tune in the ROM and be able to figure it out. I know for example with OFT tunes on the BRZ, the only difference between 91 and 93 tunes was a few more degrees of advance above 4500-5000 rpm.
And exactly, relying on the knock sensor is a bad idea. If you're IAM is constantly below 1.00, the computer is falling into the "knock, pull timing, add it back, knock, pull timing, add it back."
I did send a friend request to Mike "Junior" Johnson who originally setup the car to see if he has any info.
_ said:
I'm searching for it right now on miata.nut. But they don't have a functioning search right now. Someone asked about it a few weeks ago.
I found this so far: https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=520107
and this vid. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ttMWCmEeKL0
That just tells you numerically, 1, 2, 3, 4........of the tunes you have loaded. It doesn't provide details. One could be E85. With a turbo car, one could be low boost, one could be high boost, etc.
In reply to z31maniac :
Yep. And then you check the timing via the OBD dingle. Timing will tell you a lot about what you can get away with.
Just spoke with Delicious Tuning, they no longer allow rentals of their tuning cables.
Going to check with some of the other EcuTek tuners to see if renting a cable is an option. I don't want to mess with the tune on the car unless necessary, but if it's tuned for 93, I'll need to pay to have it retuned to 91 for safety.
I was going to suggest to bring it to the dealer and have it reflashed, but you'd have to start from scratch and pay again if you want a tune.
It's even cheaper when you just buy toluene by the gallon at the paint store :)
Spoke with Xero Limit, formerly Moto-East, he said they did tune Mike's car years ago, but of course he can't be certain of what tune is still on the car.
Said he will rent me the cable for $50, and if it's still his tune and it needs to be adjusted for 91, he'd do it for $100.
Obviously I'd like to know before I pick the car up, but I don't want to burden Jeremy anymore with having to pull the tune send it for review, etc. I can make it back to OKC on 91, just can't go thrashing it with 7k shifts and all that stuff.
Cool! I'd say there is about a 100% chance it's the same tune. The guy who owned it between Mike and myself did nothing more involved than adjusting shocks and air pressure. He was stunned I did the brakes when I bought it.
BTW, the car comes with a whole pile of aftermarket suspension bushings.
In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :
Excellent! For some reason I had a feeling Mike @MotoEast probably did the tune before I contacted him.
Now the agonizing wait til next Thursday afternoon when I can start the journey back to OKC!
Don't worry about 7000 rpm, it's more likely to be a problem at torque peak on a naturally aspirated car.
Keith Tanner said:
Don't worry about 7000 rpm, it's more likely to be a problem at torque peak on a naturally aspirated car.
50% throttle through 4500, then hammer it! lol
I'll just make sure I have some octane booster on the way home as FBC mentioned. I don't want to be constantly worrying about dropping a few gears and getting on it on the way back. Depending on how I feel once I get on the road, I may try to make it back to OKC in one shot. But I don't know if I'll be able to do ~850 miles starting at 2 in the afternoon after getting up at 3:30 am and having two flights.
In reply to z31maniac :
Have fun dude, be safe, and send nudes! I... I mean.... Miata pics.
_ said:
In reply to z31maniac :
Have fun dude, be safe, and send nudes! I... I mean.... Miata pics.
I'm going to do a little fiddling around with uploading pics from mobile between now and then, but was planning on doing a fly-and-drive "live update thread" as much as I can on the way there and back. My dad was originally going to accompany me, but isn't able to now. So I'll be solo on the way back like I was my last two fly-and-drives.
I'm kind of curious to see how busy/empty the airports are going to be in another week.
In reply to z31maniac :
You you end up needing an emergency roadside part LMK. I have a 2009. It's a second car. I can rob parts and send faster than Mazda.
In reply to _ :
Thanks for the offer! I'm not too worried about it.
Spoke with Mike on Facebook this morning. He confirmed it is definitely tuned for 93.
And Mike from Zero Limit is sending me a tuning cable next week, so hopefully as soon as I have it back, it won't take long to get the tune updated for 91.
Pretty awesome what the internet/social media/forums allow us to accomplish these days. Less than 24 hours ago, we didn't know who tuned it or what the specific tune was. Now I've found the tuner, spoken with the previous owner, and have things in place to have the tune fixed quickly as soon as I have the car home.
Not sure how ECUTEK works with Miatas, but will you need the dongle as well?
captainawesome said:
Not sure how ECUTEK works with Miatas, but will you need the dongle as well?
Good call, just sent him another email to confirm.
