Recommended reading for tuning a rotary

[TwistedHumour]

I imagine the best tuners use their years of experience, excellent technical knowledge and thorough testing in order to find out the best methods for tuning a rotary.

But for us mere mortals, who lack all of the above â€" where would be the best place to begin to get an understanding for how it all works?  Since getting my car I’ve gone through one hell of a learning curve, and it feels as if I’m not even scratching the surface.

What I’d like to know is what are the best resources (aside from this excellent forum :god ) for learning about and understanding the tuning process?  E.g.  Recommended books, web sites etc.

I hope this question isnt too vague.  And don’t worry â€" I’m not planning on doing it myself (and killing my car!), I just want to know more than I do now! :p

Thanks
Chris

[Ian@TunerUK]

I\'d also be interested in this, be good to fully understand what\'s what, what works and what doesn\'t!

[Rotary_Menace]

Dont think there are any indepth books about tunning rotarys but once i ve finished reading all the books i have, i will order this http://www.cartechbooks.com/vstore/showdetl.cfm?User_ID=797504&DS_ID=2&St=678&St2=52677&St3=45340&Product_ID=3012&DID=6

[kev-yorks]

There\'s not really any books what part of the tuning process are you after if you can be more specific then i may be able to point you in the right direction. If you want to know it all then prepare to chain yourself to your computer for a few months.
Kevin

[TwistedHumour]

There\'s not really any books what part of the tuning process are you after if you can be more specific then i may be able to point you in the right direction. If you want to know it all then prepare to chain yourself to your computer for a few months.
Kevin

Well, when I look at the American forums I see how many of them do their own mapping.  One day I\'d like to be able to do the same, even if it is just to a basic level!

I’d like to have a good depth of knowledge on the subject - but I\'d say a couple of years is a more likely timescale! :p

I think the best place for me to start would be to look at the AFR, ignition timing and the other parameters involved in mapping and how they are used effectively.  I know it’s all very complicated, but I need to start somewhere â€" the question is where.  

Obviously I’m going to end up going through my old physics books to remind me of the basics, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it :p

Thanks again guys
Chris

[Dominic]

Rotary Engine by Kenichi Yamamoto, published by Toyo Kogyo Co. Ltd. (Mazda) in 1969. The definitive book on the rotary. This is a highly technical book chronicling the development of the wankel by Mazda

(http://www.ch601.org/engines.htm)

Try Ausrotary.com too. I\'d be surprised if you couldn\'t find what you\'re looking for on there.

[TwistedHumour]

Thanks.

Cant seem to get on to ausrotary right now - its probably my work computer being funny again!  I\'ll give it a try later.

[Bramble]

Alice in wonderland is good.

[TwistedHumour]

Alice in wonderland is good.

If I wanted to listen to an @rse hole I\'d fart - thanks for the comment though :wave

[Bramble]

I thought you had \'twisted humour\' obviously nowhere near as twisted as mine

Alice will put you in the right frame of mind.

[TwistedHumour]

I don\'t have time to go chasing white rabbits.

Don\'t worry though, I don\'t take it personally

[Grizzly]

Getting a good tuner is what its all about. I don\'t dubt for a Minute there are people out there that Map there own cars but i have Blown three Motors doing it this way. Now i build the Thing and take it to some one that knows what there doing to get it set up, i just see it as £300 you have to spend to get good/Safe HP and not running the risk of having to rebuild your Motor when you do something wrong (and lets face it if you are learning you will make mistakes every so often)

[TwistedHumour]

Getting a good tuner is what its all about. I don\'t dubt for a Minute there are people out there that Map there own cars but i have Blown three Motors doing it this way. Now i build the Thing and take it to some one that knows what there doing to get it set up, i just see it as £300 you have to spend to get good/Safe HP and not running the risk of having to rebuild your Motor when you do something wrong (and lets face it if you are learning you will make mistakes every so often)

Couldnt agree more!  That\'s why its getting done by Pip.

I\'d just like to know what he\'s doing and why he\'s doing it.  There is no way I would even consider trying it unless I was happy and fully aware that if I mess it up, then its rebuild time.  At the moment, I\'m not - but I\'d still like to know what goes on during the mapping process.

[Hayward North]

Well me personally i do tune my own car with the help of a lot of tools and quite a few tuners/pros input.

To tune your car at all imo i think the basic tools you need is a Apexi PFC, Datalogit and a wideband to talk to them, OH and a safe map to start from.

Your mods power mods need to be as few as possible with the safe Base Mod map on the PFC then monitoring your AFR\'s and constantly making sure they are within a Desired AFR map you can then start to tweek.

The key is to do it very slowly.

The Base Mod map on a PFC will let you add intake, catback and downpip if i rember rightly, but no more than that, anymore and your risking a poped motor.

As for reading there is only 1 comprehensive tuning guide avaliable at a very resonable price, it comes with an Excel Desired AFR map and loads of tuning notes for the PFC, Its from a guy on the American forum called Chuck Westbrook, he takes paypal and belive me its so worth it, he can also calculate you a safe base map from your mods so you can start tuning yourself.

Rember you need a PCF,Datalogit and Wideband to do it.

He has calculated me a safe basemap and talked me through everything i need to know for now about tuning, as i was running 12.6AFR at 11psi, Thats a engine poping figure, now my car makes desired AFR\'s at 12psi.

I have most bolt on mods with a cat bypass, so you can see its possible.

Oh and my car is much much faster and smoother, Thanx Chuck.

If you are interested in his Tuning guide and notes just let me know and i direct you in the right direction.

[efiniste]

Another thumbs up for Chuck\'s notes here. He really is sh1t hot.