Emissions Tuning Fundamentals: Road Conditions
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Road Conditions
02.52
| 00:00 | Another engine factor we need to consider if we're testing on the road is the actual road conditions and we'll start with perhaps the most obvious that increases emissions, going up a hill. |
| 00:09 | Making an engine work extra hard to climb a steep hill increases engine load, potentially requires downshifting which also increases engine speed and may require additional fuel enrichment. |
| 00:20 | Going downhill may improve emissions by reducing engine load. |
| 00:24 | Reducing load required can allow the engine to access super high vacuum areas of the calibration so be sure not to forget them in your tuning process. |
| 00:33 | These areas can be traditionally tricky to reach on a dyno too so often these will need to be calibrated on the road. |
| 00:40 | Much like test driving in both directions can help understand the impact of a head or tail wind, going up and down a hill can also be informative. |
| 00:49 | If your work is mostly on a dyno, variable load dynos can be used to simulate up and downhill driving to various degrees depending on the dyno's capability. |
| 00:58 | If you're using a dyno without load control, placing the transmission in higher or lower gears is an option to simulate load changes. |
| 01:06 | Beyond the slope of the road, the surface being driven on also matters. |
| 01:10 | The type of pavement or texturing shouldn't have a big impact but water, snow, sand or debris can significantly impact the engine output required to operate at a given vehicle speed. |
| 01:23 | The tyres are working to displace water and help maintain grip which requires additional energy from the engine. |
| 01:29 | If the road has snow on it, the resistance to vehicle motion can be even greater. |
| 01:34 | Again any opportunity to reduce unwanted variables such as these should be taken. |
| 01:39 | If you can avoid testing in rain, snow or harsh wind and stick to clean, dry pavement, you increase confidence that your results are based on calibration or vehicle changes rather than simply weather or road condition changes that are out of your control. |
| 01:54 | If you live in an area with an extended rainy or snowy season, it doesn't mean that you have to stop for weeks or months at a time. |
| 02:02 | Do your best to back to back test changes in conditions that are as similar as possible and ideally not extreme. |
| 02:09 | Less than perfect conditions do not make progress impossible. |
| 02:12 | To sum up, the big road factors to keep in mind are grade or slope and whether the road is clear and dry. |
| 02:18 | Testing on sunny, dry days isn't always possible so just be sure to note test conditions and keep them as consistent as possible when testing back to back calibration or component changes. |
| 02:30 | Load bearing dynos allow precise addition and subtraction of load to simulate road grades. |
| 02:36 | Dynos without load control aren't ideal for real world simulation but shifting into high gear to simulate an uphill slope is one workaround. |
| 02:43 | Next we'll talk about one of the biggest variables of all, driving behaviour. |
