Fellow Vantage Owners,

Finally! I appreciate the patience over the delay for the last couple of weeks but I finally managed to drop the car off at Eurocharged today for the V2 tune development. This writeup will be done in 2 parts because although the improvement is already impressive, there is STILL more power to be had but they simply ran out of time today because they were overbooked. I will be returning tomorrow morning to complete the remainder of the development for the V2 tune. For this reason, the dyno results are purely for informational purposes and will be updated again tomorrow as these results are preliminary and not fully complete yet.

Background:

Not going to rehash much of the background as much of that can be covered on my previous writeup.

Simply put, I want 4.7L+ performance out of a bone stock 4.3L Aston Vantage with nothing more than a simple ECU reflash. Last time I had the advantage of already having an RPI exhaust on the car so the tune had a bit of help, but this time there was no aftermarket component on the car at all. In fact, I even put Fuse 22 back in just to make the results as accurate as humanly possible for all bone stock 4.3L Aston Vantage out there wanting a significant improvement in power.

Preliminary Results:

HP Gain: 35.3 HP @ wheels! (at Redline)
TQ Gain: 23.3 TQ @ wheels (@ 6300rpm), 22.1 TQ (@ just 2500rpm)
RPM Increase: currently 300rpm to 7600rpm (debating on 7700rpm)
Before AFR : Bottomed out in Hades
After AFR: 11.5 on top end

Improvement over V1 so far:

HP: ~4HP peak
TQ: ~3TQ peak, but much higher gains at 2500rpm for daily driving

Dyno Method:

The Best of 5 dyno runs were done for both before and after to ensure the most accurate results (same method will be repeated tomorrow). All Runs done within roughly 30 minutes of each other for maximum accuracy. All runs performed in 4th gear as always.

Dyno Explanation:

So far the gains are already a significant improvement over V1. On my last Aston the V1 tune gained 31.4HP at the wheels, but that was with the help of the RPI exhaust. So although the gain improvement is roughly only 4 HP on paper, you have to realize that was achieved without the help of any exhaust mods whatsoever (so in reality the gains are actually more than that).

Even though this tune makes more power, its actually a more conservative tune as the Air Fuel Ratios on the top end still only max out at 11.5:1, meaning there is still more room to be had on the tune. I wanted to make sure that the tune is not too extreme for any climate. California owners will have slightly less power however, given their 91 octane limitation, but everywhere else can have the full 93 octane tune.

Unfortunately because the weather was so cold the actual sensors on the dyno were acting a bit funny (hence the spikes), but tomorrow is warming up significantly (67*F vs 43*F) and Dyno Dynamics is already working on it to solve the issue. The car will be reflashed back to stock for one clean baseline run again, and then the final version of the V2 tune will be flashed for a final gain with all the important stats on the tune. The dyno charts today are only for preliminary purposes because I promised results by the end of the day today and wanted to keep my word. I can assure you the gains tomorrow will be better as there will be more time to complete the R&D than this morning.

Performance (on road):

After driving it a good 50 miles today to get better acclimated to the tune, I can say the tune is definitely better than the V1 tune and you can certainly notice the improvement. Although the peak gain isn't much higher, the smoothness and power delivery is much improved over V1 both part & full throttle.

The 22.1 ft lbs of torque increase at 2500rpm is much more pronounced than the V1 tune. This represents an 11% increase in torque at 2500rpm allowing the car to pull WOT at very low rpms in 3rd and 4th with ease. Normally such a maneuver would have required a downshift on the stock car. This especially makes a difference in every day city driving at low rpms in higher gears. 2nd Gear feels every bit as powerful as the 4.7L throughout the powerband and is now extremely torquey. In 3rd you do begin to notice the lack of torque more at lower rpms however. Below 3500rpm its definitely still lacks in torque. 3500rpm the torque starts to ramp up and by 4000rpom it feels every bit as strong as the 4.7L all the way to redline. Needless to say, the traction control light is lighting up everywhere now much more so than before.

Assuming the same 20% Drive-train loss as my previous Aston (fair value given how much rotating mass our cars have in the drivetrain), the total crank HP gains so far at 35.3 wHP equates to 44.1 HP @ crank. Torque gains come in at 29.1 TQ @ crank, also a healthy improvement. Still not 4.7L territory on the bottom end yet, but its getting closer. On the top end, the 4.3L is now caught up to any 4.7L. At 365.3, my vantage is only 2 HP off of the 2010 4.7L Vantage Baseline dyno on Eurocharged's own website, so that proves you can get 4.7L power out of the 4.3L with just a simple reflash tune.

Summary:

Even though there is still a lot more to do tomorrow, these newest results demonstrate what is possible on a completely 100% bone stock 4.3L down to the stock Fuse 22. Tomorrow will focus primarily more on the low end to mid range torque to see just how much more improvement can be made below 4000rpm. If I could have the torque kick in a good 1000rpm sooner at 2500rpm instead of 3500rpm I would be extremely happy. Obviously this is an uphill battle as the 4.3L motor has a significantly shorter stroke than the 4.7L bigger brother, but it is not an obstacle that cannot be overcome. With the right tuning it should be able to at least match its bigger brother, even with its 0.4L deficit.

More updates to come tomorrow!!

 

Hey they were working on my car when they told me they had to send the file to Italy to get it worked out based on the software? I wonder if they were not done with yours that's why they didn't finish mine?

 

That is a possibility, I was there when they were on the phone with you. Perhaps they are waiting for tomorrow, not sure. But it should be done by tomorrow afternoon. They said they would work on the tune overnight to get ready for the dyno session tomorrow.

 

Update:

Been driving the car hard and the engine really seems to be adapting well to the new tune. The sucker is revving all the way out to 7700rpm now and is absolutely sublime at that RPM. The sound from 7400-7700 is something else completely. It's amazing what 400rpm difference makes. Now it feels like it revs to the moon where as before redline always came way too soon.

Power is starting to finally peak and plateau at 7700. I won't push it any higher on stock cats and headers (no point really). But for stage 2 I will up it to 7800rpm. The car has been run hard and I have been nailing redline consistently to test durability and the motor is taking it like its nothing. These short stroke 4.3L can take a lot more Rpm than we give them credit for.

The dyno issue has been sorted out and just needs to have a faulty connector replaced (will take a few weeks). In the mean time, Jerry said he will be going back through all 7000lines of code to see where he can make even more improvements. It's hard to do this in 1 afternoon so he will be putting in a lot more time to make this tune absolutely perfect so there will not be a need for a V3 down the line. Once the coding is perfect and tested to the extreme, the final tune will be complete and ready for Stage 2 and Stage 3.

The power above 4000rpm is pretty astonishing and the adaptation on this ECU is pretty phenomenal. Can't wait to see what happens next!

 

That is phenomenal to see!!! Very interested in the final tune and pricing options. Also, are you anticipating the tune running lean if you increase the air flow in and out of the engine, I am completely stock at the moment, however, cats and exhaust to come soon! Also, any ballpark figure on timeframe to bring this tune(s) to market for human consumption?
Thanks for being a pioneer! Anxious for further news!
Art

 

Hey Art,

Pricing is on their website, same price as V1, and it's worth every single penny. Every possible setup will have its own tune. Cats will have its own map file (once I get cats they will retune and everyone will have access to that tune). Then at some point later this year or early next year when I finally purchase headers, I will have Eurocharged do a stage 3 tune tune. Eurocharged did mention they had an aston make 19 wheel hp with just headers alone. Those are some seriously healthy numbers.

Even as is though, it's actually more rich than v1 on the top end so I am not expecting lean being an issue. Remember, I am running roughly 11.5. Lean conditions do not start until 14+ So that is a ton of safety room. Either way, you should always retune for major changes like cats or headers. Minor stuff does not require a retune (like air filters or etc)

I am guessing two weeks tops before it's ready for the public. Testing the hell out of the tune and zero issues whatsoever. No CEL or any other warnings. It's equal if not better drive ability & reliability than stock.

I won't be planning on going higher than 7800, although the motor can probably take it, it's not really worth it, would rather keep long term engine longevity in tact. With cats and headers 7800 is perfect redline. Right now there's no point because the airflow is maxing out due to the super restrictive cats.

New baseline and final dyno will be done shortly. Will also do a final dyno with and without fuse 22 just for kicks.

 

Dont worry about rotating mass for the dyno adjustments , figuring back to flywheel. thats not where the losses are. its in the gear box and rolling friction. rolling friction with inertia, is about 20hp at 150mph down to about 10hp at 80mph. its not constant, thats why folks in the know, dont really value any "conversion" to flywheel hp , unless you are just talkinig peak..... and if you are..... just use 15% loss and you will be very close.

Inertia is really factored out with a dyno anyway (an inertial dyno, like a dynojet 248e), because the accleration rates are so very slow relitively speakiing. in otherwords, the weight of wheels, clutch, flywheel, tires , etc, if not accelerated at a very fast rate, dont have much of an effect. 7 seconds for a dyno run is an eternety in this department and thats what most dynos run durations are like.

so, the net net of your tests is that a pure flash is worth over 25hp??? I think i need this mod!! not getting into dangerous fuel air mixtures?? or timing?

good work! impressive.

 

Dynos done on a Dyno dynamics loading dyno. They read the lowest of all dynos but they are the most accurate which is why I like it.

The best way to figure out dyno loss is go by crank numbers then backwards calculate. For front engine rear wheel drive the drivetrain loss is typically 18-20%. Either way the gain is significant whether you use 18,19,20%.

Pure flash net over 40 crank hp, no aggressive timing, air fuel ratios are extremely conservative for a tune. Timing advances are not too aggressive. There is more in the tune too.

Moral of the story is 4.7HP is easy, 4.7TQ is more difficult, however with more tuning and logging they should be able to unlock more power.

 

I am excited to see such great potential with the engine. Clearly there is alot that can be gained with other types of performance enhancements ie, intake manifold, throttle body, valve sizes etc as this develops. Keep the updates coming, I am glued!!!

 

Wow great stuff. I am ready for mine !

 

I installed it on my car and was late so I have not had a chance to get the car out yet. Now it's snowing and there is no telling when I will be able to try the new tune out.. Very excited and anxious to see how the new tune has changed the car!! I will let you know soon.....

 

On all my visits to the dynos (more than 30 with the Vantage in four years, on 4 differents dynos) the loss is still 15% to 16% between the wheel and the power to the motor.

 

I drive a lot in the mountains, and one thing that has always pissed-me-off about the Aston is that when I select a lower gear to keep from riding the brakes all the way down the mountain, the ECU feeds extra fuel into the engine so I get very poor engine braking. I wish Eurocharged could do something to correct that as well. The Aston is the only car I've had that doesn't get full engine braking when downshifting.

 

Get them to adjust the dashpot decay and/or preposition and you can adjust engine braking 'feel'

 

The reason the aston does not have a lot of engine braking is due to all the rotating mass. There's nothing you can do to really fix that. Higher compression would help but obviously cost prohibitive in our case. Only way to improve engine braking is lightweight rotating assemblies, specifically lightweight flywheel, etc etc.