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Author: Subject: Rolling Road Checklist
mtechmatt

posted on 12/6/12 at 07:59 AM Reply With Quote
Rolling Road Checklist

Hey chaps.

We get asked this quite a few times, so I thought I would post from our experience things that should be checked prior to heading off to the the rollers for mapping!

-FUEL, lots of it, and of the same type/octane you will run the car in normal use on

-Tyres that will not chew up! Many times grasstrackers turn up with nobblys on, only to whatch that rubber melt on the rollers, the best tyres are a set of steels from a breakers, the bigger the duameter the metter for traction too, though this is more of a clearance issuse

-Raise your suspension up! Low cars need this doing to fit most rolling roads, so bring C-Spanners if in doubt...

-COOLING SYSTEM: Needs to be GOOD, dont think taking the stat out is a bonus either, on the duratec for example, this causes now ater to flow through the front of the head=hot spots=bad! Bring coolant if needed, and if possible use a basemap to get your engine nice and hot at home and check that your fan comes in, and that there are no leaks, or thermal runway

-Exhaust: If it blows, we will get innacturate lambda readings, so make sure it is spot on!

-Spare plugs, leads. A bad basemap can soot a plug up in no time, although most places carry stocks, its always best to bring a set to make things quicker and easier on the dyno..

-Front engine cwlings/nose coines etc... Bets thing if trailering down is to strip as much bodywork away as possible, it will only cause issues if we need to gain access...

-Wiring: We love a tidy loom, but only spend 3 days taping your loom up and hiding everything AFTER YOU KNOW all of it works, and does not encointer noise, which can really only be shown on the dyno, or after mapping. Otherwise, we have to chop everything away, and that takes time!

-Oils and Fluids, yes this includes diff and gearbox oils!

-Steel type collarless wheel nuts holding on alloys (especially on fords) We have seen this lots of times as you guys are keen to get it on down here and just finish by bolting any wheel on with any nuts... they will eat through and they will cause damage to the alloys!

-Through bolt check.. We had a westfeld in for mapping that started making clutch noises... the gearbox was one bolt and 3mm f thread away from leaving the engine....

Most importantly, be honest, and tell the operator everything. When we ask 'What have you changed' you need to to tell us. We once had a car in for a retune, as it had stopped revving past 6000rpm. The guy had actually fitted an Omex revlimiter shift light, and was randomly pressin buttons on it, (then car was stored and raced sveral months later). The car stopped revving, he wasted his time and ours by not telling us he had been pressing buttons, as he literally thought 'it wouldnt of done anything' - never assume anything!!

Plan for the worst. Many rolling roads will tell you how RARE it is for a car to come in 'just for mapping'. Something will always go wrong as most of the time the Dyno is the first time the car gets a good run for its money....

If everything goes well, a typical mapping takes around 4 hours, coldstart and extras takes longer, mainly due to needing the engine to cool down over a course of a few mornings...

See you all on the rollers!

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Wheels244

posted on 12/6/12 at 08:26 AM Reply With Quote
Good common sense advice Matt.

Whereabouts are you based ?
Mines been on the rollers and has been set up, but I'll need it remapping for IVA.

It's got a DTA set up with QED TBs
, have you got the gear for these .

Cheers

Rob

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mtechmatt

posted on 12/6/12 at 08:32 AM Reply With Quote
Rob,

We are down in wiltshire, nr Bath.

I have played with DTA before but I dont have the pot boxes, however, for emissions mapping shouldnt be an issue, as we have done quite a few for different people. We have an MOT bay here as well so we can offically emmisions test it after

If you need any help give us a call on 01373 30 30 33

Cheers

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dhutch

posted on 12/6/12 at 08:36 AM Reply With Quote
Its a good list.

When you say the cooling needs to be good, how much of an issue is it. Say you have a car thats been around several years, will happily cruse at speed, has done a trackday or two, and can maintain idle when stationary. Is that in itself good enough, or do you still have issues due to it running so consistantly hard and stationary? I guess the latter depends on how good your (or anyone elses) fans are, but you can continously load a car on a RR to the level not seen anywhere else.


Daniel

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mtechmatt

posted on 12/6/12 at 08:50 AM Reply With Quote
Daniel,

If the car has managed under load on the road, then most dyno cells (I know ours does) have the ability to simulate light road conditions, and so that is usually not an issue.

The problem arises when it is a new build, and, for example, the cooling system is not routed correctly, causing air locks etc. If in doubt, over engineer it!

When mapping we will usually hold the car under steady state speed (but varying high loads) up to around the 5000rpm mark, then use power runs to tune the top end at varying throttle positions. This helps with heat management as 70+mph air flow is very hard to get unless you are literally in a wind tunnel!

One thing that is typical is heat soak, as unlike the road we arent cooling the sump/gerabox etc as per normal road conditions. The good thing is though, especially when tuning classics on carbs, is if pinking is to occur, then at least we are tuning it, in effect, on the hottest summers day ever recorded, engine bay wise...

Matt

[Edited on 12/6/12 by mtechmatt]

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Ben_Copeland

posted on 12/6/12 at 09:25 AM Reply With Quote
Last time I ran mine up to pressure it popped a hose off lol sorted now hopefully





Ben

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mtechmatt

posted on 12/6/12 at 09:55 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Ben_Copeland
Last time I ran mine up to pressure it popped a hose off lol sorted now hopefully


Thats exactly the sort of thing we find happening

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Wheels244

posted on 12/6/12 at 10:01 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by mtechmatt
Rob,

We are down in wiltshire, nr Bath.

I have played with DTA before but I dont have the pot boxes, however, for emissions mapping shouldnt be an issue, as we have done quite a few for different people. We have an MOT bay here as well so we can offically emmisions test it after

If you need any help give us a call on 01373 30 30 33

Cheers


Thanks for the offer Matt - unfortunately you're too far away from me.
I'll source the work a bit more locally

Cheers

Rob

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mtechmatt

posted on 12/6/12 at 10:14 AM Reply With Quote
No problem, best of luck with it
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