Rickerman Tuning Ecutek stage 1 flex fuel tune results

[coxxoc]

The stage 1 flex fuel custom tune results are in! Rickerman Tuning transformed the car. The car picked up +109 horsepower and +154 ft-lbs of torque with E58 and +50 hp and +46 ft-lbs of torque with WA 92. Those of you who want to hear a resonated equal length midpipe + stock competition everything else should listen to the video.

Mods:
- Ecutek with flex fuel sensor tuned by Rickerman Tuning
- NGK 97506 spark plugs at .018"
- Injen intakes
- Active Autowerke resonated equal length midpipe

Power values are stock competition pack map (blue), custom flex fuel tune with 92 octane e10 (maroon), and custom flex fuel tune with e58 (red). Same car, same dyno.



Why use a custom tune and not OTS maps?
I wanted a safe, stock fuel system flex fuel (no reflashing, not just e85) e-tune. Ecutek was the only platform with working flex fuel support at the time. I didn't want a torque monster down low or to see tons of timing corrections or a car that looks out of fuel, and I didn't want to deal with stuff like my intakes not matching the OTS choice. I've always been happier with a calibration that matches my car specifically rather than with a one size fits many tune. Both have value depending on what the customer is after. Price was wash when I researched current (May 2021) S55 stock turbo flex fuel stage 1 custom tune options regardless of Ecutek or BM3 (MHD+ still in development). It is $1500-$2000 between licenses, sensor kits, and the tune itself.

You can research Rickerman and will find over a decade of reliable tune reviews with a variety of mild to wild Evos and now F8x. Chet has an F80 himself. After looking at the data logs, the tune isn't as aggressive as other custom tunes and in some ways less aggressive than Stage 1 OTS BM3 maps but still makes good power. I'm happy with what I got and feel like it is what I asked for.


Did you have to use a dyno?
No, I just wanted to measure the differences between stock and tuned. Everyone likes to cite how strong butt dynos feel, but I'm an engineer. We want both the quantitative AND qualitative data. The car was data logged on the road, and revisions were made with those logs. I log using my phone from the ECU Connect app and bluetooth to OBD dong and email logs to the tuner from there. Only normal around town driving was needed for the basemap and 2nd-4th 2k-redline pulls were needed for WOT adjustments. I went to the dyno to get a baseline and 92 octane final runs before introducing e85. After revisions for various ethanol blend levels were done, a final set of dyno runs were done with e58 in the tank.

The dyno runs were all same car, same dyno. I'd flash the map then do back to back runs until the car stops making more power. This dyno (Carb Connection, Kirkland, WA) reads a little lower for baseline than some others in the area. Look at the gains between baseline, 92 and E58 to tell the story.


Why e58 and not "full e"/e85?
E58 happened to be in the tank when dyno'd. The car ran well up to 68% ethanol on the stock fuel system during the tuning process. When filled up to 72% ethanol, the HPFP started to crash when going for full power above that. Tunes using straight e85 have to be dialed back and won't make more power unless running the stock fuel system well outside of designed parameters. E68 will probably make a little more in the midrange, but you can see stock turbos fall off up top. EU5 M5 injectors are the next logical step for this build if I want more power. Larger turbos will be needed to make significantly more power up top.


Crank hub?
Yes. An RK Autowerks crank hub was installed before introducing e85 as a preventative measure. I didn't consider is a "power" mod thus not listed. Do what you are comfortable with. I didn't want to worry about it spinning.


What is "custom" about the tune?
The tune started from the car's stock F80 competition package ROM as the base map. Ecutek allows the tuner to remap factory tables and add new logic with RaceROM features like custom maps as well as the basics like burbles, cold start, per gear torque reduction and other settings you see in platforms marketing OTS maps. This tune has flex fuel logic with an ethanol content sensor added over CAN bus. It has been tuned to run on Washington 92 octane or E85 and any ratio of those two mixed together.

There was too much torque in 2nd gear that would result in tirespin instead of acceleration at low RPM and WOT. Adjustments were made to account for my preference to hook up vs burn out. Alternatively, I could get better tires than 285 PS4S.


How does the power compare to other tunes?
It is hard to find a good comparison for a custom stage 1 flex fuel tune. Most of the data available for flex fuel is for stage 2. This tune isn't the winner or loser in any one category but the are good gains and it drives great. Data logs rarely show timing corrections which tells you the tune is giving up a little power for safety (my wallet says thanks) on S55s. I can't drive with the torque curve you see in the BM3 tunes without losing traction, so I'm not left desiring more torque at 3-3.5K RPM range. The power curve is fun to drive. I've included some example results of some tunes I've seen mentioned on bimmerpost for comparison.

Rickerman Ecutek WA 92 Stage 1 flex fuel; coxxoc F80 CP Bimmerpost; Dynojet
Baseline 394 hp 364 ft-lbs
Gas 444 hp, 410 ft-lbs = +50hp wheel, +46 ft-lbs
E58 503 hp, 518 ft-lbs = +109 hp wheel, +154 ft-lbs over baseline and +59 hp and +108 ft-lbs over gas

BM3 93 stage 1; Kies F80 Youtube; Dynapack
Baseline 416 hp, 433 ft-lbs
Stage 1 461 hp, 531 ft-lbs = +45 hp wheel, +98 ft-lbs

BM3 93 stage 2 multi-map flex fuel; E92inSG F80 Bimmerpost; Mustang
Baseline unknown
Gas 386 hp, 587 ft-lbs
E53 420 hp, 631 ft-lbs = +34 hp and +44 ft-lbs over gas

Bend Calibration Ecutek 91ACN Stage 2 flex fuel; commanderwiggin F87 Comp Bimmerpost; Dynojet
Baseline 404 hp, 441 ft-lbs
Gas unknown
E68 575 hp, 570 ft-lbs = +171 hp, 129 ft-lbs over baseline


End result?
The car is a major improvement over stock and is fun to drive. The flex fuel functionality is seamless, and I don't have to think about what is going in the tank or need to reflash. These are impressive machines that can see big gains from only software remaps. We are lucky owners. Happy modding!

[mike@x-ph.com]

Glad you are happy with the tune