Where we left off...
Install Thread:
SECOND! TPC Turbo in CA (install thread)
Initial Impression Thread:
-=TPC TURBO=- Yet another lengthy but thorough review
"Per Mike@
TPC, he believes the 91 octane kit is good for about 380rwhp-400rwhp, with 420rwhp+ available in the 93 octane trim. My goal is to get as much out of the 91 octane as possible before looking into alternatives."
"close to my first 4k miles, getting ready for the first oil change. So far so good, not a hiccup as my daily driver.
TPC is working on a new tune that will bring the power output beyond the current 360rwhp on 91 octane fuel. Should have the new tune in the car in the next few weeks. Will post my impressions along with updated dyno information as soon as I can."
The last couple of months...
I've had the privilege of helping Mike@
TPC fine tune their 91 octane tune. Because East Coast 91 octane is substantially better than the ones we get in California, Mike asked that I log 2k->7k rpm pulls using our CA91 fuel. I went up and down a street by my house to datalog so often over the span of a couple of weeks that cops started sitting on top of the median waiting to catch me red footed. LoL.
Few weeks ago, I got an e-mail from Casey@
TPC letting me know that the software is almost there, and Mike is flying to Southern California to finalize the software. Oh, and we've been invited to participate in an upcoming EuroTuner GP article!
Thanks to Shane@EuroAutospot for squeezing me in on short notice, a Boost Controller was installed in preparation for the new tune. While it's not required for the new tune, but a Boost Controller allows better wastegate control improving midrange torque and allows us to monitor boost. As always, the install was flawless.
Now faster than ever…
Monday rolled around and it was time. While I ventured north from San Diego to Los Angeles, a fellow enthusiast, FrankinCayman(David) ventured south from San Francisco. Our first stop was BBI Autosport where owners Betim and Joey worked their p-car magic and helped me relocate the Boost Controller from my trunk to the center console. They also installed a Boost Controller into David's car, and got the cars prepped for the event. While they had my interior apart, Betim also installed their gene 2 underdrive pulley. The one thing that really impressed me about the shop is that unlike your "run of the mill" vendors, they're not into buying other people's parts and brand it their own. Instead, they build motors, R/D specialty parts and prep race cars. It's a little far for me to drive up from San Diego, but will definitely call them up for track prep in the future. Did I mention these guys use to work for Porsche Motorsport = p
These pictures should give you an idea of the caliber of work that happens here:
221mph
Texas Mile monster
One of a couple RSRs
Saw JCay's green Cayman S up on the lift getting the special treatment
Another insane 996TT and 'Godzilla'
Widebody 996
Moments after spending some time chatting cars and catching up about the happenings on the board, Mike arrives. Having spent months working with Mike on the new tune, it was a blast to finally meet him in person. Without going into too much detail, (because I can go on and on for pages,) the new software was loaded into my car. Some pictures:
Mike getting his hands dirty
Working the magic
Ready to rock
To be completely honest, I was a little skeptical at first. I knew there were power to be gained, but I didn't expect a huge difference from where the car was already at. How much better can it get, we're already 100 horsepower over stock!! I'll be the first to admit, I was wrong.
At idle, the car behaves the same as before, like stock. But that's where the similarities end. The car is faster... everywhere. My first pull to red line I thought I must've put in the wrong boost settings. Freaked out, I immediately let off the gas before realizing that I had a Boost Controller which can tell me how much actual boost I was running... [jackass]
I decided to give it a go again. (warning: kids don't do this at home!) I picked an on-ramp to run through second gear. At 4000 rpm, I decide to nail it and do the courageous (read: stupid) thing by glacing down at the Boost Controller. Before my eyes could focus on the numbers, I pegged the rev limiter.... *foot off gas* Ok... let's try third gear. With barely enough time to peek down, the little blue display showed 0.38BAR, or 5.511 psi. So leaving the boost the same,
TPC was able to wave a magic wand and I somehow ended up with more power! Not just at 7000rpm, but from 2.5k all the way up. From BBI, we headed north to Buttonwillow Raceway.
The whole drive up I was thinking: "I hate you Peter Cummingsky and you East Coast jerks with your cool 93 octane gas and extra power!" Oh, and Peter, you're absolutely right, 360rwhp is good, but is no where close to what the kit can do! It is an absolute rocket. Without further adiu...
Baseline (81.4F) ~ 275-280rwhp
RS350 (81.0F) ~ 295-300rwhp
TPC Turbo @ 5.5psi w/ CA91 octane tune (78.1F) ~ 380-385rwhp
*note: all runs were performed on the same dyno dynamics chassis dyno, which typically runs a few % lower than what you'll see on dynojets. All three sets of dynos took place in similar conditions, tire pressure and conducted by the same technician.
We're definitely taking a hit out here on the West Coast. Not only do we have to do without 93 octane fuel, our CA91 isn't even comparable to the East Coast 91. That said, despite the inferior CA91 octane fuel, the car still gained a very respectable 100+rwhp with the
TPC ATP:2 kit running ~ 5.5psi or 0.38BAR. Way too much car for me, and 99.99% of the people out there = p
It's definitely been an exciting, yet demanding last several months putting this project together. The hours spent researching the kit, days spent removing/selling the RS350, weeks spent installing the kit followed by months of refining the software. But when it's all said and done, it's been an unforgettable and rewarding experience. The knowledge I took away from the experience makes me 10x more connected to the car, day in and day out. Would I do it all over again? in a heart beat...
Check out this thread for the
TPC car on a dynojet:
TPC Racing: 91oct Turbo Tune-398RWHP PS:Coming to Cali
EuroTuner GP
Here's Mike at Buttonwillow's Only 7's prepping David's chassis for our 'stig' to come in on the last day for the road course. I'll leave it up to Mike to decide if he wants to reveal the secret identity of our driver. = )
Due to some scheduling conflicts, I wasn't able to participate in the events taking place on the last day. It was of course a no brainer to enter the EuroTuner GP with David's much more modified Cayman. The car was absolutely awesome and I'm sure blew a lot of people away, especially those trying to chase the numbers Mike put down with David's car. I'm sure David will have more to add once he wakes up from his hibernation after driving 4 hours back home. From my conversation with him on his drive back up north, the last day was EPIC = )
For obvious reasons and to respect the hard work the guys at EuroTuner put into making the event happen, we will not be posting any details from the event, so check out the EuroTunber issue in Feb, 2010!!! After the issue publishes, we'll be happy to post videos and pictures from the event.
Special Thanks
Betim/Joey @ BBI Autosport(
www.bbiautosport.com) for their wonderful hospitality and their stellar workmanship. Looking forward to my next visit.
Shane/Linh @ EuroAutoSpot(
www.euroautospot.com) for making it happen on a time crunch with the usual attention to details
Mike/Casey/Josh/Tom @
TPC Racing(
www.tpcracing.com) for their incredible products and off the chart customer support. They really make the effort to close the 3 hour time difference and go out of their way to make sure the customers are happy. I really appreciate them going the extra (few thousand) miles. I will definitely plan to make a trip to Maryland in the near future to visit the rest of the crew.
And as always…
I welcome anyone in Southern California to come visit San Diego if you're curious what 5.5psi can do for the Cayman. Whether you plan to get the kit or not doesn't really matter to me. I'm always happy to meet a fellow enthusiast to talk cars.
That low boost I am running is getting old! I am feelin some HP envy all of a sudden.
Linear Mode
