RT

I have a query on the above function that the ECUTEK offers.

From the ECUTEK website:
"ECU Live Adjustments
Another extemely useful function is the ability to alter idle speeds and ignition timing live on the ECU. If the idle is a little too fast with the air con working or you have picked up some poor quality fuel and you are logging too much knock correction, then slow the idle down or add some retard across the ignition map. When the fuel has cleared, reduce the retard. 2 minutes work."


I was wondering about the effect "Live Adjustment" function of the Delta Dash on the ignition timing.
As we know, the WRX'es run a standand timing map with knock correction factor. This knock correction could be up to +12deg or -5deg (?) ignition timing.

If for example, my car runs normally with a +2deg knock correction, and 20deg base map ignition timing advance BTDC @ 1bar WOT, the overall timing will be 22deg BTDC.

If I get a bad tank of gas and want to take away 4deg of timing, my car should now run at 18deg BTDC with the above conditions.

However, since this knock correction is active and constantly seeking out the det point, won't the ECU go about advancing the knock correction timing back up to +6deg? If this is so, won't the active knock correction feature of the ECU defeat the purpose of my "Live Adjustment" of -4deg ignition timing?

Many tks. Hope Mutant Matt, Dave T-S or John Banks (anyone else?) would be able to shed some light on my mystery!

john banks

It probably will correct anything you do, but maybe give it more headroom to retard if fuel is really bad, but I've not had cause to try it on a new shape car.

mutant_matt

RT,

I don't know the answer I'm afraid and don't expect an answer out of Dave T-S - he's a technogimp (which he proved again for me yesterday whilst demonstrating to me his powers of mastery whilst attempting to "drive" DeltaDash on my laptop whilst I was driving ).

This was originally designed for the MY99-00 which did not have this advanced advance capability(tm)(). I suggest you mail Stephen Done and ask him, as he's probably the only person (other than perhaps Merv) who knows the answer.

Ta,

Matt

D Power

This not really a very useful function. You are right the ignition will search for as much ignition advance as it can get. (Remember it is not our design we have just interpreted the Subaru software)

The 01 car ignition control works in a different way to the 2000.

On the 2000 ECU the ignition ran on the mapped figures unless it "heard" det, it then retarded and learned to compensate until it no longer heard it then advanced back up the map settings.

With the 01 there is a base ignition map then and advance map. If the ECU is "happy" then it will use both maps and climb up the advance until it is not so happy (it is the best term we can come up with, "happiness ratio"!). Then it comes down the advance map and only records -ve ignition if it is detting. This is the reason why when we re-program the ECU it has lost it's learning of how much advance it can run. Therefore after our re-map the car just keeps on getting better as it learns our new mapping.

The reason the 01 cars are not smooth (before we map them) is that they run mostly on the top of this advance map. The top of which is not smooth, so at one point the car perhaps wants to run 12 degrees advanced over the base map but the advance map only has a maximum allowed figure of 9. Therefore it is retarded. Also the next column to the max 9 figure might be 15 so as the revs rise the maximum allowable advance is not smoothly mapped.

We alter the scaling of the maps (because of the increased boost) so there is greater resolution at high RPM/load and also alter the learning map so that if the engine is happy it can learn more.

RT

Cheers D Power! Are you Stephen Done which Mutant Matt referred to? Very useful info on how the MY01 runs timing. We have always suspected that the MY01-on ECU's actually go about looking for det. This more or less confirms it.

Tks.

[Edited by RT - 10/21/2002 1:45:36 PM]

StephenDone

The ignition retard will effectively subtract from the base ignition map that Dave mentioned. Learning will then be done on top of this. The effect is that the ECU cannot learn up as high as it could before. This may or may not effect the actual ignition timing used, since it depends on how much headroom the advance map allows for ignition timing to be increased.

RT

Thks Stephen.

Now know how it works. What is the max timing advance the ECU can typically learn?

Am I right to say:
If the Base timing is 20deg and I'm running 5deg "learning" advance = 25deg BTDC.
Lets assume that the max advance the "learning function" can apply is 10deg.
Now, if i want to only run 22deg BTDC overall timing, I may need to apply a correction of -8deg to the "Live Adjustment"? (= Base map of 12deg plus max of 10deg "learning" advance.)

Cheers.

RT

Anyone know if ECUTEK has re-mapping capabilities for the JDM STI7 yet?
If so, will the re-mapping be done on the base map or the advance map?
Lastly, is there a way to restrict the max ign advance so that it doesn't run so close to the det-point?

Cheers.

mutant_matt

RT,

I *think* that EcuTek will be releasing the reprogramming software to their partners sometime this month. I may be wrong and that it will just be the WRX this month but give Stephen or Dave a shout and see what they say.

Ta,

Matt