1200 horsepower, 35mpg Mustang

[JQmile]

He's running a stand-alone computer in that Mustang from a company that's based over in Europe somewhere. But yes, Volker (the guy who was tuning it) mentioned that he could put a lean spot in the rpm map where he spent his time cruising so he could get better mpg. Mike's still a drag racing guy though, so fuel economy was kind of a side benefit for him. Besides, 1200hp is pretty unusable on the street. With 600-700hp in a light car, you can still spin the tires at freeway speeds.

[dcb]

how do you put a "lean spot" on a diesel?

[Vince-HX]

lean tuning @ low load cells?

[roflwaffle]

A "leaner spot" would be more accurate I guess.

Anyway, at $50,000 why not go for a DIY hybrid? Not that I'd expect this guy to, since I'm guessing it's free publicity and he doesn't do that sort of stuff, but it'd undoubtedly be cheaper in the long run and just as powerful.

[BlackDeuceCoupe]

Originally Posted by dcb

(see fancy spark plug threads)

Bwahahahaha!

OMG!!! Thank you!

That's the best laugh I've had in weeks - and nobody knows what I'm laughing at - which makes it even funnier!!!

Ouch!

STOP IT WILL YOU? My sides hurt...

[JQmile]

Digging up an old thread per recent news:

I'll let Mike tell it himself:

Friday: It rained last night and the ground and parking lot are wet. We pump 12 gallons of Hyperfuels, Inc. “Bio/Synthetic fuel” into the GT’s tank. This stuff is like magic, with tons of BTU’s and no ugly smoke. We calculate the fuel mileage and get 45.4 MPG, the new Hyperfuels BioBlend should push us over the 50 MPG mark on the return trip, we expect great things in the future using this blend. The GT starts and happily purrs down the last stretch of highway on its way to the famous Texas Mile.

We get in the gate and search for the registration tent so we can get started. They direct us to the driver’s meeting that is already underway. We get all of the instructions and get to make a drive through so we will be familiar with the course.

I make a last minute inspection of the car before I blast off on the first run. Unfortunately I smell differential grease when checking the air pressure in the right rear tire. The bearing seal is leaking, AGAIN! (see my blog from Hot Rod Drag Week) Greg and I quickly remove the wheel and take the axle out, the bearing is good but the seal is leaking like crazy. Instead of trying to replace the bearing I decide a liberal dose of ugly orange silicone will have to do.

Greg hooks up the laptop to the NX Boost Reference Nitrous Controller and checks the tune-up. He programs in a little more nitrous at the launch and a nice smooth ramp as the boost increases.

I check out my safety gear and get ready to head for staging. There is a strong tail wind blowing and the temperature is cool but I am still sweating inside this fire suit. I have never held a drag car at WOT for a whole mile, even though I have gone 199.90 MPH in a dragster before somehow it feels more dangerous to do this in my street legal DuraMax GT. The track official motions me forward and I am getting ready to test the GT and me!

Greg activates the video cameras (sort of, he gets 1 of three turned on) and I move forward toward the official starter. No burn out here, just pull up and let it rip. I hit the throttle and start banging the B&M ratchet shifter; one, twice, three times, now the lock-up converter switch, and finally the Gear Vendors Overdrive unit. The car is pulling like crazy and I see the ¼ mile marker whiz by, then the ½ mile marker disappears. This thing is flying! Then that instant sinking feeling, what happened, no power, the engine just quit!!!!!!! Now I’m just coasting as I see the ¾ mile marker streak by out of the corner of my right eye, then the finish line. I pull the chute out of instinct and wait for it to hit, it seems like forever and I can see the turnoff cones coming up fast, bam it finally blossoms and I hit the brakes. The turn off is easy but I am distracted by what has happened to the engine and the car starts to buck violently, I forgot to unlock the converter, DUH! Then it occurs to me that the Gear Vendors is still engaged as well, hit the button, QUICK! Finally I have all the buttons and switches in their proper positions and the car coasts to a smooth stop. I get out, grab the chute and stuff it in the passenger seat. Now for the moment of truth, will the GT start and run? I hit the Painless wiring starter switch and to my surprise the engine lights and idles without protest, I drop it in gear and head for the timing deck to see how fast I went, coasting the last ¼ mile. The slip is handed through the rolled down window and to my amazement it reads 175.230!

Back to me (JQmile) now:

Yup, 175.23mph in the mile coasting, and 45.4 mpg!

[tjts1]

bull ****

[Vwbeamer]

People don't understand diesels say things like this.

I have people tell me my car doesn't get 50 mpg, or my buddies duramax doesn't run 14's with just a chip and some minor mods.

First off, take everything you know about gas engines and throw it out the window.

The same engine can run lean, and get great mpg, or it can run rich, very rich and make huge amounts of torque.

A diesel does not care about AFR. It doesn't care about Octane or spark knock. They run very high compression, which helps make more HP and better gas mileage.

Diesel do not have throttling loses like gas engines, there are no throttles. They run very high compression, which helps make more HP and better gas mileage.

And finally, diesel fuel has more energy per gallon than gasoline.

Originally Posted by tjts1

bull ****

[theycallmeebryan]

Its honestly a common misconception...

The computer uses a fuel table that consists of rpm on the X axis and Pressure on the Y axis, with fuel flow amounts in each cell. There is no spark plugs with diesel, so there is no timing table.

So essentially, you can have 1 tune that is calibrated for max economy when crusing around. Once you introduce boost pressure (IE: you step on the pedal and introduce load), the computer is calibrated to pump certain amounts of fuel at whatever cell in the table the engine is operating at during that moment.

The diesel has a turbo. This means the engine can be spun from idle to redline without producing any boost pressure (if there is little to no load). Without boost pressure, this engine is making a LOT less torque and horsepower than these numbers you are seeing. This simply means the engine uses a lot less fuel cruising around than it would require when boost pressure is introduced. Thats what is great about turbo applications.

Even though it may produce 800 some hp and and 1500 some ftlb of torque, it is producing it at max load with probably over 30psi of boost pressure (probably up in the 50's actually). He isnt driving around using 800hp all the time.

This is exactly how the aftermarket computer in my Turbo Buick works, except there is also an ignition timing table to deal with. I can cruise around tuned for maximum economy, but as soon as i get on it and boost pressure builds.... well, it uses lots of fuel and makes lots of power

[MazdaMatt]

Are these 800+hp deisel tunes useful for anything more than a drag strip? ie, could a road race car be deisel-swapped and tuned for 600-800hp without nitrous/propane and survive a 3 hour race, or even a 20 minute sprint?

Any idea what the relative fuel usage is for a 600hp diesel vs a 600hp gas V8? Since there is higher compression and higher btu/gal, i'm wondering if this would be an enduro-racer's dream. Fuel up twice when the other guys are fueling 3 times means you win the race.