Diesel: Addition of BlueSpark Pro + Boost Control
 

I was going to wait until I got it dialed in, but I decided I might as well get this thread out there.

In addition to all the practical reasons I wanted a diesel, another was that turbo cars are easy to tune. I decided even before putting down any money on the car that I was going with a box rather than an ECU tune. I recognize that you can do more with an ECU flash, but there is more risk, it's more expensive, and it can be annoying as you have to go to someone else to get it redone if the dealer reflashes the ECU or you just want to disable it for some reason.

Before the car was even built I started looking into options and had identified one that was I planning to go with. Before I was ready to pull the trigger though, Greg identified the BlueSpark which I hadn't found, was over 50% cheaper, and offered better tuning options (including that it works on boost as well as the fuel rail). So Greg got to it first and I decided to follow in his foot steps.

I ordered it late last week and it was delivered a week later which isn't too bad for crossing the Atlantic and dealing with customs.

The unit:
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ine=1365200377
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ine=1365200377

As Greg previously noted, the installation was exceedingly simple and I spent far more time deciding how to route the cables and where to store the unit itself.

Taking the engine cover off was simply pulling up on it at the front and back corners. It's attached by some rubber grommets that pop over 4 posts with ball ends. As Greg pointed out when I asked him, one of the grommets came off in the process, but I was lucky it stayed stuck on the post rather than falling down inside. Definitely something to watch out for. Here is a pic of the engine with the cover off. The red circle is around the fuel rail plug which is exactly where the directions say it is for the newer engine. The green circle is the boost sensor which was a bit more difficult to find as they don't include an actual picture of the new engine and the part number they list appears to be an older P/N.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ine=1365200377
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ine=1365200377
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ine=1365200377

Unit plugged in and routed. I stuck it in the empty cavity over the front left suspension where it seems to sit pretty good without any tie downs. Once I get it dialed in I'll probably tie it down though.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ine=1365200566
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ine=1365200377

As shown above the default setting for mine was 6. I took it out for a spin and honestly can't say I noticed anything. I dropped it to 1 and 2, but also did not notice anything significant. My last test for now was at 9 and that is where all the torque seems to be. Greg reported some "flat spots" on the highest torque setting, but if 9 is it I didn't notice that during my short test. What I did notice, however, on that setting is that it clearly sounds more like a diesel during the middle of the RPM range.

Here is their graph for the maps, but unfortunately it doesn't mean anything to me since they don't include a 0 line so you can see how it all compares to the factory setting.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ine=1365200377

That's it for now until I can get it dialed in some more.

Dyno Results

Hey, glad you decided to post this. Hope you find the correct setting that makes it worthwhile. They should make a sticky. It would be nice to feel it make a difference had get that grin going.

Keeping an eye on this...

Well...how does it feel?

I don't drive much, but I did take it out today for a few errands. It was a bunch of short trips though so still not much data.

Its still on map 9 and it still sounds like more of a diesel clatter is going on. It also seemed to have more of the classic turbo charger noise going on.

It seems like (non-sport) it stayed in a lower gear for longer than usual. I took part of a road I'm familiar with that is 35. Normally it will get into 6th pretty quick when I get up to speed, but today it was hanging out in 5th until just before I need to start slowing down. Since there is no direct interaction with the transmission and the RPMs seemed normal.

At one point while cruising at 55 in needed to pass someone and there was a noticeable bit of time between me giving it gas and it deciding that I meant it. I don't know if that was because of the tune or just that the transmission hasn't adapted to my more sedate driving style of late. Once it decided to move, however, I think I confused/startled the Mini that seemed to take my passing as an insult (4 lane highway and he was going below the speed limit in the left lane).

Apparently their guy that answers emails has been out sick which is why I haven't heard back from them yet.

My main issue was a lack of understanding what the graph is trying to tell me and how it relates to the factory setting. Apparently I'm not alone as he said that was a common question (fix your documentation maybe?).

The key point of missing information is that the Y axis is the percentage gain over the stock config which explains why there is no line for Map 0.

The other piece of useful information is that the sooner the line rises, the more low end torque is available and the longer tail provides more HP. So based on that Map 8 would be the best low end setting (which as I understand it would also be the best MPG too), 4 would provide the most HP gain, and 6 (the default) is probably the best middle of the road. Of course that's all by the numbers. I suspect I'll settle on either 8 or 6.

Now that I understand it better I can hopefully get a better feel for it, but it does help explain what I've experienced so far (1,2 = meh. 6 = I think something's going on, but not sure. 9 = holy crap that was a kick).

Another useful bit I got from talking to them is that you can change the map setting while the unit is on, it just has no effect until it power cycles (I found that it would stay on for a minute or so after the engine was turned off).

I too took exception to the lack of specifics about each map setting. When discussing it with BlueSpark, I was promised an engine-specific set of curves illustrating each map. So far they don't seem to have gotten past the colored graph you describe. That one seems to be some kind of hybrid representation of torque + horsepower across the rev band. I prodded them again last week, but now understand why they've not yet responded. In the absence of meaningful data from BlueSpark, I used the original chart to extrapolate my own engine-specific numbers. See attachment.

Lacking similar graphs from BlueSpark for the various mapping selections, the best I could do myself was a numerical chart of the respective peaks. All chart values assume power control (blue adjuster) is fully clockwise (100%). I also followed the instructions to back the power adjuster off slightly, but it's got a very narrow adjustment range. I tried to guess, and hope mine has been backed off to about 95% or so.

//greg//

Based on the information I got this morning I switched to Map 8 this afternoon and we did a late night run to see the cherry trees down town.

On the way down I pulled 36.1 MPG which is 1 MPG better than my previous best, but I managed to average 36.3 for the full 80 mile round trip which typically averages about 32ish. Without the tune, re-engaging the cruise control had a sedate approach to getting back up to speed if I was within 10 of the target speed. Now its much more rapid and you can feel the torque building.

The downside, however, is that when we got home there were a couple of faint whiffs of burning oil and the fan continued to run for about 3 minutes after shutting it off. Neither has happened previously and its only 74 out so we aren't talking about excessive heat or anything. Both the coolant and oil temps were reading normal though. There was also still more diesel noise to the engine like I noticed on Map 9, but less turbo noises.

I wonder if my blue Power setting could explain why I haven't noticed the additional diesel clatter or oil smell that you mentioned(?). Engine fan rarely runs after shutdown either - except on the hottest of days - and not at all yet this spring.

I tried Maps 9 and 8, and found them inconsistent once I had my right foot firmly planted on the floor. I'm now using Map 7 to take advantage of the highest torque/hp combo that gets the best fuel economy. Flatter response than 8 and 9 as well. Horsepower is actually of the least import to me, as it doesn't peak until well after torque has already fallen off. This Porsche graph illustrates the factory default torque and HP curves of our US-spec engine. You can clearly see the 1000 rpm gap where torque falls off rapidly from 2750 while horsepower eventually peaks at 3750. Pretty sure that explains some of the Map 8 lags I experienced full throttle.
http://files2.porsche.com/filestore....1-203e859ae8fe
Lacking similar graphs from BlueSpark for the various mapping selections, the best I could do myself was a numerical chart of the respective peaks. It's now been edited into my previous post. All chart values assume power control (blue adjuster) is fully clockwise (100%). I also followed the instructions to back the power adjuster off slightly, but it's got a very narrow adjustment range. I tried to guess, and hope mine has been backed off to about 95% or so.

//greg//

Thanks Greg. My adjustment came set about 2/3s (as seen in the second pic) and I haven't messed with it at all yet.

I sent them a note about the clatter and fan issues, but I'll admit I'm a bit paranoid after the low oil thread (oil level is still where it was 4500 miles ago).

Comparing your colored graph to my home grown chart, I noticed that the orange line seems to indicate Map 6 as producing the flattest hybrid curve. Interesting. I'll be road testing that one down the line as well.

//greg//

Good stuff. Thanks for posting guys. I'm interested in this mod too so I'll be watching the thread.

Made my 16mi commute today with mixed results.

The pattern is mostly stop and a little go for about the first 2 miles. Then it gets to a steady 25-40 for about 5 miles and 40-60 for another 2 miles both can be interrupted by a few lights. Then 5 that is a good solid 65-70 cruising followed by the last bit that ranges between 30-50 depending on the traffic and how you hit the lights. Before the tune I would get 28-31mpg each way on a normal day. Most of the trip has varied light hills (so it's not a endless flat Florida road ;)).

This morning going in most of the 40-60 5 mile stretch was stop and go due to some road construction. Without the tune I expect I would have ended up with a 22-24 average, but it just ticked over to 28mpg as I pulled into the office parking lot. So that was definitely a pleasant finding. Another interesting bit is that this thing doesn't want to stand still. On a flat surface I just need to take my foot off the brake and it will get itself up to 10mph (previously 5 was about the best it would do, god I love low end torque! :cool: )

This evening, however, the commute was more inline with the better than average where I would have expected to hit 30 and be pushing 31 without the tune. With the tune I parked it at home with 30.8 as the average. So not bad, but not the great changes I saw last night and this morning.

The good news though is that the fan wasn't running by the time I opened the door to get out (and the air temp was about 5 degrees higher this morning and 15 this evening than last night) and no oil smell either.

Thanks for the continued reviews gnat. Please keep them coming as I am strongly considering this.

I highly recommend it.

I'm still on 8 as its been working great for me so far. I've got about 250ish left on this tank of gas, so I'll finish that out before making a change. Unless I just get nuts I'll actually pull about 700 miles out of this tank vs the 550 or so I'd been doing!

This week I'm going to go back to my old commute pattern which I get significantly worse MPG on to see how that might have changed.