Hondata: A Guide to Tuning

Oct 10, 2013

jdizzle37 Discussion starter

890 posts · Joined 2006

#1 · Nov 14, 2009 (Edited)

This is an edited set of notes from Conrad H. Blickenstorfer on a K-Pro seminar that Hondata presented
back in 2004. I found this to be a very useful and informative guide to the basics of Honda ECU
functionality and the tuning methods of Hondata. Much of the information presented here was
originally for the K-Pro and RSX Type-S, but the FlashPro and Civic Si functions in a similar manner, so I
felt that posting it can still be useful to the community. It should be noted that there certain aftermarket
parts and their effects on the RSX Type-S are mentioned (Jackson Racing's supercharger, Greedy's turbo
kit, etc.) but do not necessarily yield the same results on their Civic Si counterparts. To Hondata, I
understand that the some of the information on here may not be completely accurate as the Civic Si and
the RSX Type-S, although similar, are still different. Any corrections or additional information you'd be
willing to include will be greatly appreciated.

Hondata: A Guide to Tuning

General Tuning Issues

Goals of tuning:

- The overall goal should be having educated customers: they should know what to expect from tuning
and not have unrealistic expectations

- Reliability is important: always know what is safe and what isn’t, depending on the project

- Repeatability of runs (know all the factors that affect it; synthetic gear oil, for example, takes longer to
warm up, water temp, air temp, etc.)

- Maximum power is really only “marketing power.” A complete tuning package also includes easy
starting, steady idling and good drivability.

- Road tuning is just as important as dyno tuning; the dyno only tells part of the story and real world
conditions are very different.

- Part throttle is very hard to tune (and also to sell as it takes much longer!)
- Tuning for economy/emissions. It IS possible to have BOTH power AND economy. Same for emissions.

Some points to consider:

- A road car is at WOT (Wide Open Throttle) only 0.1% of the time and part throttle 99.9% of the time.

- Part throttle tuning takes much longer (and costs a lot more), but done right makes for much better
responsiveness and fuel economy. Some of the replacement chips out there only go for WOT top power.
Some of those chips are very specialized, offer no ignition control, and generate error codes. Simply
switching those codes off is not a good thing.

- Psychology of VTEC: The VTEC “kick” really shouldn’t be there if the engine is well tuned. Then the
curve should be totally smooth. Interestingly, some people think the car with the VTEC “kick” has more
power when, in fact, it has less.

Does more peak power always mean faster?

No! Acceleration depends on the power under the dyno curve. Higher peak power can actually generate
less acceleration than a car with less peak power. Torque matters! More power between 3,000 and
6,000 is extremely important. The only time when that may be different and peak power becomes an
issue is in drag racing.

Reliability:

- How high do people rev? Some said as high as 10,500. This is hardly ever needed as power drops off
with most cams well below that. Hondata usually sets the rev limit about 500 rpm past the power peak.
That way when you shift you drop back to a good high rev point, but one with lots of power left. How
high should you rev? That depends on the strength of the rods and pistons. And valve bounce can
damage pistons.

- Don't set the rev limiter any higher than 8600 rpm on a stock engine.

- Running rich/lean? Proper rich/lean tuning is extremely important. An interesting point: the Mugen
thermostat and similar do not let engine ever warm up all the way so that tuning gets harder because
the engine keeps adding fuel.

- Ignition advance knock: If the spark is fired too soon, the piston is still coming up and the flame front
bops into the piston. That can mean broken rods, worn bearings, or blown head gaskets. Sacrificing the
last 5 or 10 hp in a highly tuned engine will greatly increase longevity.

- Knock: one problem is that knock sensor reporting to the computer is not very good and the computer
isn’t well equipped to accommodate. The knock sensor is actually a microphone; you can put
headphones on and hear the knocking and which cylinder knocks.

- Altitude: table columns 1-10 must be tuned for higher altitude operation
- Fuel pressure: Some people think higher fuel pressure is better. That is not always so. Low pressure
means cooler fuel, pump and injectors. Some pumps actually move lower volume at higher pressure.
Basically, higher fuel pressure does not appear what Hondata recommends. 50-60 psi is the max
Hondata recommends.

Dyno repeatability

- Water temperature should be 180-195 degrees

- Use datalogging during dyno runs

- Gearbox must be warmed up, especially when you use synthetic oil

- Keep the intake temperature as consistent as possible or else the dyno results will be distorted

- The intake manifold is aluminum and heats up when it really should be cool. The intake manifold is
NOT a heat sink and the gasket does NOT hurt. Bypassing the heating on the throttle body (really only
needed in colder climates) amounts to perhaps 20% of the lowered temperature and the Hondata intake
gasket 80%.

- Do not switch off the knock sensor nor primary O2 when tuning the Civic Si.

Tuning for torque

- Rough rule: 10% fuel change = 1 Air/Fuel point

- At peak torque engine needs most fuel and is least sensitive (to what?)

- The fuel curve is shaped very much like the torque curve

- After the torque peak, remove fuel

- Don't tune an endurance engine rich

- 2D curves must be smooth over the rpm range (lines in the graph should be parallel and have no sharp
drops and rises). Load lines should never cross each other

Tuning for max power

- Use the 2D view extensively to get it right

Stock Honda fuel maps

- They are loaded in the software and you can pull them up

- Study them: The lines are nice and smooth and parallel
Optimize starting and idling

- Cranking ignition does not use the ignition tables

- Idling control opens or closes the IAC

- For bigger injectors increase the target idle

- Advance ignition and lean via emulator

- 750-1000 rpm’s and columns 3-4 are the idle section

- Best idle around 830

Road tuning

- Dyno is different from road and different dynos load the engine differently

- Underhood airflow is different between dyno and road tuning

- WOT air/fuel seems richer on a dyno than on the road, up to a full AF point

- Don’t forget to switch back to enabling closed loop after tuning!

Knock

- The knock sensor is a tuned microphone. You can build one from a speaker amp ($30).

- The Civic Si ECU will not advance / retard on knock

- Knock sounds like a sharp ticking

- The knock counter resets every time the engine is started

Economy and emissions

- Part throttle ignition advance is optimized for economy, best not to change. Also, do NOT lean out the
part throttle and run in open loop for economy.

- Doug mentioned examples of cars that failed to pass with the stock ECU but passed without problems
with Hondata

Injectors

- Use saturated injectors (12 ohms) like the new 440 and 550’s from RC Engineering
- Stock Civic Si has 310 cc injectors

- 550 cc injectors at 50 psi fuel pressure can handle approximately 320-350 whp

- The Honda stock fuel pump is good for 250-290 whp

What does Datalogging do?

- Records a large number of sensor values from the car’s ECU and stores the data in a connected laptop
computer

- Can be used to adjust fuel to get to proper Lambda values

- Measures intake system efficiency with the MAP sensor that senses air pressure or vacuum in the
intake manifold (the ECU uses MAP input as an indication of engine load when adjusting air/fuel mixture
and spark timing)

- Shows short and long term fuel trim (computer adjusts short term according to Oxygen sensor readings
to a long term fuel trim value over a period of time, days, weeks) Watch for bad Oxygen sensors!
Resetting the ECU sets the long term fuel trim back to zero.

- Shows intake air temperature compared to outside

- Shows injector duty cycle (should be under 90%). 100% means the injectors always open and cannot
supply as much fuel as is needed.

Tuning with A/F ratio

General hints:

- Use a COLD AIR INTAKE! Something like the T1R Intake has better flow and is better than the stock
airbox, but does not perform as well as a CAI.

- Use the Hondata heatshield gasket to keep the manifold from heating up and also to help it cool down
quicker.

- Insulate/wrap your intake to keep air as cool as possible

- A CAI can provide an additional 0.3-0.7 psi more boost. Hot air costs boost pressure.

- The JRSC needs very little ignition timing retard vs. stock

- Turbo retard 18-20 degrees from 12 psi up

*Erick’s Racing 9.99 second ¼-mile Civic that has 300+ wheel hp on a 2.2 liter engine with the stock
ignition and 10,500 rpm limit.
What did Hondata find when they analyzed the ECU?

- The stock Civic Si ECU does not run rich at high rpm

- The Civic Si stock ignition timing is not conversative

- It is VERY sensitive to the knock sensor

- Once tuned, there is more power, yet the same or better emission, and better economy.

Basics: What makes power?

- The motor is really an air pump

- Put in as much air as possible

- Add proper fuel and ignite it at the right time

- Make sure exhaust doesn’t restrict

- Simple as that!

The iVTEC system of the Civic Si is a combination of VTEC and VTC. VTEC basically creates one camshaft
profile for good low end drivability, torque and fuel economy, and a second more aggressive “wild”
camshaft profile for high end power (the “low speed” and “high speed”). VTC rotates the camshaft by a
total of 50 degrees which results in different valve opening overlaps by changing the relative timing
between the intake and exhaust valves. Both VTC and VTEC use oil pressure systems controlled by the
ECU. The combination of VTEC and VTC enhances the effectiveness of VTEC and offers great tuning
opportunities, especially smoothing the midrange and adding power there.

VTEC = Variable Valve Timing Electronic Lift Control

- VTEC is a system that changes valve lift, timing and duration; it’s like having a low rpm and a high rpm
camshaft

- A hydraulically operated rod either engages or disengages on both intake and exhaust valves in the
Civic Si

- Engaged means the car opens and closes both valves fully (with higher lift via more aggressive lobe),
allowing much better breathing (and power)

- The “VTEC Point” can be set at a certain rpm, or it can be set between two rpm points depending on
vacuum. The engagement then moves linearly between the two points.

- (Interesting factoid: overhead cams were created to eliminate rocker arms; yet Honda uses a rocker in
an overhead cam to facilitate VTEC)
VTC = Variable Timing Control (rotating cam)

- VTC is a system that continually changes intake camshaft timing by a total of 50 degrees

- Why? Because different cam angles provide different power at different revs; switching angles can
make for an optimized composite curve

- VTC enhances the effectiveness of VTEC

- What VTC varies by changing the angle is the intake valve opening overlap

- There is a VTC actuator controlled by the ECU that monitors cam position, ignition timing, throttle
position and then advances or retards cam over a 50 degree range

- There are advance and retard chambers in the actuator wheel that cause a wheel inside the cam pulley
to turn and thus turn the cam

- The idea is to have different cam settings for maximum power and/or lowest emissions; in general: the
higher the advance the better the breathing

- Cam is almost fully retarded (no overlap) at idle. This makes for a smooth idle

- Cam angle is advancing as rpm rises, thus opening intake valve sooner to allow additional overlap for
better fuel economy due to less pumping losses

- There are 5 fuel & ignition tables for low cam & 5 for high cam (0, 15, 30, 40 and 50 degrees
respectively)

- The VTC Control valve and actuator engage and disengage a lock pin

- It takes about 0.1 seconds for the cam to turn by 10 degrees

- Exhaust cam is not under computer control. There may be benefits to adjusting the exhaust cam.

FlashPro Manager software

Properly setting and manipulating the cam angles is the most important aspect of tuning the K-Series
engine. Basically, what Hondata does dyno runs with the cam angles fixed and see what cam angle
produces the highest power at each rpm range. Then they built a composite cam map where the cam is
at the angle that produces the highest power at each point of the rpm curve.

The FlashPro Manager software has datalogging built-in.Some of the handy “Parameters” settings of the
FlashPro Manager software are:

- For tuning, turn off closed loop because you want to be in open loop so that ECU doesn’t constantly
compensate

- Knock: “K. Count” is in the Sensors list and shows how often computer felt the engine knocked. Knock
is a stored value, long-term. You can go see where the knocks occur and then see if the AF ratio is okay.
If so, then check ignition advance. There can be dozens or hundreds of knock counts in a second (zoom
in to see closely).

While the variable cam timing is terrific for tuning, having a constantly moving cam also means that it
takes a longer time to tune all this. Doug has explained that when tuning a car and developing the
optimal calibrations, they actually do dyno’s at each angle then see what cam angle is best for maximum
power at each rpm. Doug has shown high-speed WOT dyno graphs for each cam angle. In general,
between 3000 and 6000 rpm, the larger the angle the better the power. However, between 1500 and
3000 different angles produce best power, and at high rpms also.

General procedure for from-scratch tuning of the K-Series engines

- Set ignition timing to stock

- Set VTEC high (6500-7000 rpm) to tune low speed cam

1. Set both cam angle tables all to zero degrees and dyno tune ignition and fuel tables

2. Repeat dyno tuning of ignition and fuel tables with both cam tables all set to 15, 20, 30, 40, 50
degrees

3. Analyze dyno curves, then set cam angle table at each rpm to angle with best power

4. Dyno again with new composite curve (you may want to “bracket” by a few degrees up and down to
see if optimal)

- Set VTEC low (2000-3000 rpm) to tune high speed cam, and repeat above procedure

- Set the VTEC crossover RPM

- Part throttle also needs to be tuned (part throttle = columns 7 and lower)

1. At part throttle/cruising (columns 2-7, 1500-4500 rpm) cam angle should be around 30 degrees. This
will use EGR effect to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy

2. At higher rpms in part throttle, set angle to same as full load so that cam angle won’t go down during
shifts.

3. 500-8100 rpm’s and columns 1-2 are the deceleration sections of the map and prefer lower cam
angles (cam lobe centers are separated, valve overlap is minimal and there is little contamination of
intake fuel going into the exhaust system).

Proper tuning at the VTEC point and setting the VTEC point

Getting the VTEC point right, and setting the cam angles at the cross-over right, is very important and
one of the most difficult tuning tasks. If not done right, the curve is bumpy and performance suffers. This
can happen when the low speed cam angle at the switch-over is far apart from the high speed cam
angle, so that the cam needs to rotate by a lot. This can result in a power dip for a few hundred rpm
after VTEC while the cam rotates into proper position. As for where to set the VTC point, it should be at
the intersection of the low speed and the high speed torque curve.

- Cam takes 0.1 seconds to rotate 10 degrees, so you have to start rotating the cam angle before VTEC so
that the low cam and high cam angles are not far apart at the VTEC Point

- Done right, the VTEC switch noise is greatly reduced; the difference in noise is because when VTEC
engages you’re really running a different engine

- It’s better to sacrifice a bit of power before the VTEC point to gain it back and more after VTEC

- Getting the VTEC Point right is hardest to do on turbo motors (they generally want a high VTEC point)!

For NA engine tuning:

- Cam advance should be biggest (50 degrees) right after VTEC Point and then all the way up to 6500-
7000 rpm

- After 7000 rpm, gradually take cam angle back to 25 degrees at redline.

- In general, with high backpressure you should retard the cam angles and raise the VTEC point, with low
backpressure the opposite

- Use variable VTEC window, with lower boundary at point of highest power (intersection of low-speed
and high-speed torque curves) at 90 kPa and upper boundary at 5,800 at 25kPa.

- The longer the primary and secondary runners on a header the lower the VTEC point.

- Air/fuel ratio that makes best power at WOT under full load is 13-13.5

For turbo VTEC tuning:

- If your cam angle is ever 0 at 8000 rpm, you have a major exhaust restriction which needs to be looked
at.

- Retarding the cam can mean picking up 40 horsepower at high RPM.

- Use a fixed VTEC point. Since the crossover is high, the VTEC point should be high, around 6,000.

- However, a tubular turbo manifold setup may need a VTEC point of 4000-4500 rpm.

In general, with high backpressure you should retard the cam angles and raise the VTEC point, with low
backpressure the opposite
For extreme cams, add lots of timing at low end for impressive torque gains, raise idle speed, reduce
overlap in part throttle.

Supercharged engines:

- Tuning is really similar to larger NA motor.

- Supercharged engines love overlap (high cam advance)

- High cam set to 50 degrees throughout most of rev range, then down to 40 from 7000 rpm on up

- Low cam VTC 45-50 degrees

- Cam angle actually affects boost in manifold

- Don't set the WOT closed loop higher than 90 kPa.

- The higher the RPM, the higher the boost. (Greddy turbo actually got less boost at higher RPM)

- In the fuel tables, boost curves should be very flat and smooth

- However, more boost does not necessarily mean more power

- Ideal A/F ratio at WOT under full throttle is lower than NA, 11.5-12.5

- Use variable VTEC window like on stock engine but with two exceptions: you can set the lower
boundary lower, down to 3,000, but set both the lower and higher point to occur at full engine load
pressure. That way there won’t be a linear line. Under load it goes into VTEC, under part load it goes out
of VTEC once revs fall below the upper boundary.

Nitrous:

Doug said the use of nitrous was much safer with the FlashPro. He recommended a dry system. Wet
nitrous system are not a very happy match with Civic Si because at redline, the Civic Si cuts off fuel
whereas nitrous continues, instantly leaning things to catastrophic levels. Nitrous works quite well with
boosted engines. They get higher boost (by about 0.5 psi) and the supercharger acts as a nitrous mixer.
Hondata tried a JRSC with 7 PSI and N2O. The nitrous dry system added boost but they found the belt
slipping at high RPM (Doug runs DC twin canister exhaust and 7psi on his car). Ignition should be
retarded, the system needs larger injectors, and nitrous should be shot off before redline. With turbo
engines, nitrous can reduce turbo lag by spooling up the turbine more quickly.

Tuning for intakes:

For tuning purposes it is important to know the resonance point (the rpm where the intake makes that
extra sound as if you were blowing on a bottle) of a CAI. For example, the AEM CAI on an RSX-S has a
resonance point of 5200, the short ram AEM V2’s is at about 5900. Longer pipes have lower resonance
points. There is a torque peak (and often a lean spot because an untuned motor doesn’t get enough
fuel) at the resonance point. You can tune for different intakes. Doug has mentioned that pressurized
intakes can really make a difference. Build a box around it to force air into it.

Intake manifolds:

Doug has shown some dyno runs of stock Type-S versus the Integra Type R intake manifold which has
slightly fatter runners, and so should do better. However, the horsepower difference is primarily at the
high end where the Type R peaks at higher rpm.

Fuel cooling and such:

Theoretical contemplation on injector positioning: They should be at the top of the runner. This would
be bad for emissions but good for power. Doug has spoken of the power benefits of cooling fuel. 20
degree Celsius difference means 1% more power.

A variety of tuning pitfalls:

- Valve spring pressure too high is bad news as there isn’t enough lubrication.

- Cams can be installed incorrectly.

- TPS and MAP sensor can be reversed.

- The MAP was not relocated in a supercharger installation. (It must be AFTER the compressor.

- The supercharger belt can be slipping

Effects of various mods:

A stock K20A2 engine makes between 160 and 175 wheel hp. That is quite a big difference in a modern
precision engine and it could be because of different sensitivity in knock sensor. Doug went on to show
dyno sheets of a variety of mods they added to a stock motor.

A Hondata reflash added almost 20 hp on top (the primary benefit is the mid range power), an AEM CAI
another 10 to about 190. A Greddy catback exhaust added a bit and ITR cams another 15 hp.
Raceheaders from Comptech added an impressive 15 up to almost 230. A ITR manifold boosted the
high-end a bit and placed peak power more into the 8000s. Titanium exhaust and pulleys added a few
hp but not much. Finally they installed a ported big valve head with Toda cams, for a result of almost
250 all-motor whp. Hytech exhaust, 12:1 pistons, cams and intake raised that figure up to 270.
Another project (Hasport/Jackson Racing Civic Type R) replaced the K20A2 bottom with a K24 CRV
bottom. This brought 40 pounds extra torque, but power dropped off quicker at the high end. Initial
peak power was 210 whp. They added an 8psi JRSC and got torque of over 230 foot-pounds and over
290 whp.

K-Series Bang-for the buck list of mods (least to most expensive):

- Intake Gasket

- CAI

- ECU Reflash

- Header/Exhaust

- FlashPro and tuning

- Cams

- Nitrous and boost

- K24 bottom end swap