Road Tuning | Can I Tune Ignition Timing Without A Dyno? [HPA Q&A] 

Dynos are tools...... The benefits from tuning on a Dyno are usually so you can see your power band and the ability to shift your power band when advancing/retarding the ignition. Adj cam gears are easy to tune on dynos. One of the downfalls is that the Dyno is a constant variable in testing but, when you drive on the street your car could behave differently because of the load difference. I prefer street tuning because it's really going to be the data the car sees on the road with all the elevation changes. Cars should be Dyno tuned first then make changes once you drive it on the street.

I thought he was taking a bong rip for a split second

Virtual Dyno software works well. So does logs comparing 60-80mph times to see if timing makes it quicker.

I did some road tuning with my microtech ltc9 and my buddy that previously tuned my mr2 was telling me to be careful that i will see different afrs on the dyno, since microtech doesnt have closed loop tuning....Is this true?

Very interesting topic. If i have a naturally aspirated engine which is not knock limited, is it possible to get some indication about the torque by monitoring manifold vacuum while using cruise control to maintain constant speed? If engine produce more torque it should have more vacuum. Maybe i m wrong. In that case please correct me.

Thank you

Great video. I had learn to tune with and without a Dyno.

So how do you know when to add or take away timing when doing street tune?

So was the answer to buy your road tuning coarse?

Why couldn't torque be inferred from some of the PIDs in the tuning software when driving down the road? Get the weight of the vehicle. Then take velocity of the car (angular rotation of the wheel & wheel size).

Shouldn't you be able to detect the point at which you go past MBT with an oxygen sensor? As you advance the ignition past MBT the combustion event will be less efficient so providing you don't change your fueling, the difference in unburned oxygen should show up with the Lambda sensor?

3 questions.... with a stock cam, carburetor and no emissions. when setting timing at speed and UNDER LOAD, how many degrees retarded from the knock threshold should the engine timing be, to be safe to run? (when listening to the knock by ear without a listening device)..... all things being equal, does the "safe zone" (the amount in degrees the distributor is retarded away from knock threshold) change noticeably on a 4, 6, or 8cyl engine?...... on my engine, when under load, there is about 10-12 degrees between the "audible knock threshold" and where the engine power "drops suddenly" as the timing is retarded away from the knock... should the timing be set in the middle of this 15 degree range, or slightly closer to the knock, or closer to where the power suddenly drops off?... within the range, where would give the most power and where would be the safest for the engine without worry of the silent but still damaging spark knock?... which is really more of an issue with a boat engine than it is with an automotive engine...

Hi HPA, In my experience, not cars but a small cc motorcycles. Not all engines will knock if you increase the ignition timing. So it's really hard to use the knocking sensor to sync with my datalogger. We tune IGN on the street by our feels.. but of course, I am always looking for a way to get better data. Can we use data from GPS sensor like Gforce? it is it the same with torque. we just use the speed data

What are the signs of a bad dyno tune of the timing is off?

Regarding to battery in my case, nowadays because of the curfew i am not moving my car so after howmany days should I ignition my car and for how long?

what do you do if the ecu dont have knock control? i have an elite 750 so im too afraid of the timing table lol, but its going to be a very long time before i can afford a dyno tune because of covid my disposable income is non existant lol but im too scared to road tune the turbo car with no knock control, the engine is solid mounted and the interior is stripped so its a very noisey enviorment and im afraid i wont hear the knock or realize its knock im hearing if you know what i meen, minimum boost on wastegate is 16psi and shooting for 25psi as the goal for this setup when tuned properly. another thing im afraid of, is the ca18det engine has the same cam sensor as an rb25 and the cam belt deflection timing creep problem, so it needs to be super conservative anyway, and the reality is i was planning on getting a PRP trigger kit before starting/tuning the motor, but because of covid, my finances wont support that for some time, i just want to figure out a super conservative tune so i can enjoy the car a little bit, run the engine in under load properly, and work out all the bugs and issues over the next few months and hopefully next year ill be able to afford the good trigger kit and dyno time and have a smooth experence.

How we can find near optimal ignition timing on boosted engine without knock sensors?

Having trouble understanding your words and sentences. VERY GOOD info just having hard time understanding the details

If you going down the tunning world, dyno think best.