Diesel Tuning Fundamentals

Competition is good. Last year we where dominating qualification by over a second a lap with the D26E6A+ engine. This year we have two D26E6A+ engines in the UK truck race field and lucky also a Iveco Euro6 engine that in all are a little over 0.3 seconds apart from 1e to 3e place so great for the sport. MAN still can not follow al do they tray but all I seen so far is more smoke from them and the ones that run there B engines with the CP3 pump are now really down on power. Must say 3 out of the 5 D26 engines I build are B versions as well also struggle to dial in max fuel but think for next year the budged will be there to upgrade to a CP9 fuelpump with plenty of fuel.

We also run some test on injectors and from a performance standpoint neutral but get more smoke so now we know the engine set-up that will perform clean.

Looks like for next year I have to build a Baldur DID1 CAT ECM for a C12 race engine only problem is it run on a BOSCH ECU and do not have the pin out of the ECU and workload is killing me to make a plug and play wire loom for this engine this year. C12 use to be a A division engine now able to run in B division but still fun to find out if we can up the general performance a bit with the things we know today.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWmhAisnmNY&t=26300s

Torque control mapping seems to be a hot item on petrol engines now but you just need to know we and that’s the world of car/truck engine production went to drive by wire to get more control on engine performance in relation to car stability systems like ABS traction and collision control so nothing new in the real world of a daily drive and just a hype in motor sport development for some.

This is what Torque control mapping dos on a 5300Kg race truck with 5500Nm and over 1100Hp on a stop and go. Link down below. Also credit to the driver for constant shifting up the gears keeping the RPM down @ low speed maximising the RPM range as these engines easy makes full boost and Torque from 1250Rpm onwards spinning the tyres if no Torque limit is set.

www.youtube.com/shorts/263rkSMWmDU

Great CAT engines make great power but you only be able to harvest this power by using a great Baldur CAT ECM. Credit to Danny Sammons our local dealer in the US for supporting this project.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzXgPi-X1vk]www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzXgPi-X1vk

Last week testing the new Scania Race truck #PredatorMINNA @ Most race circuit.

Happy with the engine now able to use the power potential of this last Gen Scania 13L XPI Euro6 engine with our the new developed fuel system offering more fuel and stability to the fuel delivery having to put in some afford to get back drivability as the torque response from this engine is massive and we had to calm this down a bit as track conditions not always needs a power happy engine but yes that’s luxury I think.

Are we ready? Nope still loads of things to do and one of them is getting the same reading for some sensors so we can compare data to the previous generation engine we build.

Perfect dos not exist so we keep developing.

Also tested close loop Lambda control able to run Lambda 1 on full load all the time even when fuel smoke mapping is optimised so yes happy on that part as well.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxSmAJHh7U4]www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxSmAJHh7U4

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4IYnWVTz20]www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4IYnWVTz20

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTsB7F8L5oE]www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTsB7F8L5oE

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LBOwUq_o2I]www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LBOwUq_o2I

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLLgT48aYjY]www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLLgT48aYjY

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MGyFPofH30]www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MGyFPofH30

2022 version of MVJ2 Semi Truckpuller. Load have changed saving a lot of weight with thinks like removing the original steering box going to a all hydraulic electrical steering system and load of other things as well.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StDxZNV0aU0]www.youtube.com/watch?v=StDxZNV0aU0

First test pull after all modifications done.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qspK-uOmL0]www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qspK-uOmL0

This a is DAF truck Called Daffy and it has a Cummins QSX 15L Commonrail engine it it.

Last year we get a bout 1100 to 1200Hp out of it and this year we fitted 30% bigger injectors and a bigger fuelpump as well and both parts are drop ins as well so your able to install them on a original engine without modifications.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNWl_eDltjY]www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNWl_eDltjY

As you know on most project we not going stupid on the amount of fuel injected but we aim for efficiency. We now run just under 3 Bar boost pressure and still able to gain over 30% more fuel pressure that will up the power a lot more. We had to stop testing due to that the turbo was leaking oil into the turbine housing.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtFHMBOT5ho]www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtFHMBOT5ho

Testing a Truck Race engine ready for the race circuit.

Some of the specifications.

12.4L displacement. Power output in this engine configuration 1160Hp 5300Nm @ 1350RPM onwards but with a bigger fuelpump and turbo we can easy make >1250Hp 6000Nm with same spool-up form turbo as this engine configuration manly due to more modern turbo used.

Than we have the FIA European engine spec with a 63mm inlet restrictor 1120Hp 5300Nm or 1120Hp 6000Nm more low end power as max power is limited by inlet restrictor size,

Fuelpump on this engine is a CP3 hi flow limiting Nm but with a adaptor plate we can fit a lager CP9 fuelpump and have the fuel to make 6000Nm. With the engine development we went for a modular design so we can always upgrade or even downgrade the engine in performance by changing parts.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLCExy31BIA]www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLCExy31BIA

Data tells the story. This is from a B engine so no waste gate and limited on torque as the fuelpump is on the max. We also build A+ engines with a bigger pump and smaller turbine side or better say low inertia turbo with an external wastegate and this spools a lot faster and with a good driver that makes max torque @ about 150 Rpm faster so from about 1400Rpm for a B engine and A+ engine makes max torque @ about 1250Rpm and able to make 6000Nm as the B engine can do only 5300Nm max. @ low end you can gain some power this way with an A+ engine but as you can see in the power curve it’s almost flat so this 63mm inlet restrictor dos it job well. Also note that getting 6000Nm of pulling power on the tarmac is close to impossible as only the multiple champions of truck racing can handle this as for intense traction control by accelerator peddle and from 60kmh only last gear is used and that’s almost the whole race track as you can power slide even a B engine @ 120kmh no problem but this just makes things slower so when we have to assist an new comer to truck racing most effort goes in to power management from the driver. We sometimes take 30% of the torque deliver from the engine just to make a point that the driver is slower having max engine power as track time indicates this.

As for RPM there is no point going over 2500RPM as we can only run 160kmh and that a hard speed limit but the engine has the speed governor set @ 3000Rpm.

As for next year the FIA organisation also looks for low lambda reading to prevent smoke. I do not think it will work the way they plan to take the lambda reading as it unfair for us using last generation engines that are able to make more low end power @ lower lambda numbers with no smoke @ all but as you can understand running on low RPM gives less exhaust gas volume @ that point and the rule is lambda 0.96 for 0,5 second is a penalty. So all development we have done goes to waste as the downside from a last generation engine is it runs more efficient not making a load of exhaust gas volume so these engines run a smaller turbine side with a wastegate and more low end EMP to get the job done. More EMP also makes more EGR working in the engine mainly due to the effect of turbo surge when off power and breaking going from off power to on power @ low RPM you get a low lambda reading for some time as exhaust gas speed is relative low @ low RPM. Looks when no combustion takes place exhaust gas gets trapped in the system somehow as well. we will run our test and come up with a solution for this.

Lambda reading

Torque reading

Power reading

I get some question about lambda in relation to EGT. The best project we have for this to come to a conclusion is the modern Euro6 Volvo D16 common rail motor based on the 750Hp truck engine. On this fuel set-up we have plenty of fuel and we are able to smoke and run the engine from lambda 1 to over or lower than 0.88 lambda. The outcome is that these modern engines make the best power around lambda 1 and this will get the EGT up as well. The lower we go on lambda power and EGT drops as well and so dos EMP and boost pressure.

Now here is the thing if you build an engine that dos not work close to perfect all of they above can be different so take that in mind. A other very important thing is fuel injection pressure. Last year we had big problems on a race engine with fuel contamination throwing the whole fuel system off balance. No smoke no power loads of boost pressure but bit down on fuel pressure. Trick is for making big clean power is that fuel in on time getting that massive thermal spike going in the combustion chamber. If the fuel injection is extended to far due to bad constructed injector with slow injector closing time due to bad nozzle to valve balance or to low fuel pressure your combustion is more dedicated to the exhaust system shooting up EGT making good boost but less power. We use all steel pistons in all race semi truck race engines. Correct me if I’m wrong but I do not think a alloy piston will last long running full power @ around lambda 1 as things in the combustion chamber will get very hot and also last year we had a prototype steel pistons fail due to cracks and eventually on of the piston blowing a hole in the piston dome due to this. Modern diesel engines well build lean toward petrol engines if it comes to lambda numbers.

Below some pictures for the FIA 63mm air inlet restrictor plate. If you get this 63mm inlet restrictor hole working well your looking @ about 1100Hp power output so a bit of engineering needed on these parts.

What a sound.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CYeHHt_hnuL/?utm_medium=share_sheet&fbclid=IwAR3YrIElq-p1f_usiuT_qbReqQyjxl7FoBGM34m8Wroi7958DTMcveEyRmw

Still holding 9e place after half the Dakar Rally so I’m happy. Tomorrow the team has a rest day, well one day to do all maintenance needed on the truck.

Surfing the sand dunes.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQAY3fLUCNk

Trucks in Dakar had always been my unfulfilled dream, to compete that is. My admiration does to anyone involved.

Re. privateers not having an experienced engineer to monitor engine data, have you/they considered doing remote monitoring? In my regular life, I maintain a lot of satellite communication equipment. As a backup for access in a worst case scenario, it being full communication blackout, we utilize an L-band turn key solution, provided by Inmarsat (made by Thrane), under the name of Fleet Broadband 250. It offers voice and data, to basically any remote location in between 70deg North and 70deg South. I'm not privy to costs involved, but for a racing team it may be well affordable. Transceiver of the FBB250 is a small-ish cylindrical object, perhaps 20cm in diameter and same amount in height. Unit is made for marine environment, so it's tolerant to rocking and rolling. I think it would survive the harshness of driving through the desert.

Sounds like a plug, but it ain't, I promise. :) I don't sell the gear nor subscription, nor am I paid by Inmarsat. I just see an opportunity to share my experience, and if that helps any team competing in Dakar, I'm happy.

The point is, you could have live access to engine data, perhaps with a second or two delay, and you could support the team from your home. There are also more compact solutions, aka handheld, like Iridium (I think used to be built by a Nokia), but I'm not sure of their data capabilities. Iridium was used in the original Dakar Rally by some teams, so proven it's worth. Albeit, for voice.

Great write btw, thanks for sharing

The Dakar 2022 Pre prologue is done for Team Dakar Speed. I see it as the last general test for what is yet to come. Hard driving through a pile of dust to make up for some places and we succeeded from 23rd to 12th place to start the rally tomorrow.

Lets talk about engine management. Not only the engine management system but as a total project.

Lets start with the ECU or ECM or just how you want to call the engine controller.

We use aftermarket ECU and there are loads manufacturers out there saying we provide the best platform. There is no best platform as we keep improving things all year in a ongoing process. It’s just a mind set that dos it all like Kaizen for example and this is what I use for processing things.

Well let’s look what is needed to gets things working for me on ECU systems. 50% is dialling in fuel for different fuel types from normal pump diesel to HVO or GTL that have a different viscosity and cetane number and this is a job that needs to be done normally begin of the year after changes by the race organisation on what fuel can be used only. The rest of the 50% are changes that involve control strategy writing new code to change the behaviour on rail pressure reading or response or torque build-up. So in all you end up with a simple 35x 2D tables and 57x 3D tables to get the job done and I customise the logic between them on how strong the power comes on. May sound strange but a less good drivers is more demanding on that parts than a multiple champion that is able to control traction and able to multi task.

Now for the fuel system. Performance by efficiency. I know I keep saying this. For an example there is this man in France that dos some lower ranking race teams and he is able to get 14% less fuel injected on the same fuelpump configuration. In fact in total he is 26% down on torque but that’s due to the different fuelpump drive we use running more pump RPM. So where dos this 14% more fuel come from?? Difference is injector set-up. We chance the valves of the injectors giving less internal leak and more accurate opening and closing of the injectors. If you bay a 100% over stock injector you know most are crappy injectors as only the nozzle hole size and maybe the needle lift is changed and you run out of fuel volume from the pump very easy and chance is if they spend some more effort on these bigger injectors you will make more clean power with a smaller injector still using the stock pump having better fuel economy.

I also know getting the correct valves made is close to impossible so on these parts we are lucky that the diesel industry is able to help us out on R&D volume rate things. Not really low cost but we are out there to be the best.

For next year ongoing build of D26A6 race engines and yes we have the order in to build one more massive power house D26E6A+ engine able to run over 6000Nm of toque. Big fuelpump and loads of modifications needed to support this fuel system. On engines like this we have to work as a combined team between companies to get these special parts.

Also to some this may sound strange is what you do and don’t do on modifications. Changes that we make on engines parts like cylinder head are very small but have a large impact on performance.

I think still the most epic looking Scania powered International Rally Truck.

Upgrades to the engine this year. Not a lot. Inconel exhaust system and a bigger downpipe and silencer to reduce backpressure. Last year exhaust system was a compromise with the team as for having no space to fit these parts and result is lower boost pressure as the ECU reads exhaust manifold pressure and reduces boost pressure as a result.

https://www.facebook.com/martinmacikjr/videos/1339707366483717/