Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2004 11:02:18 -0800
Reply-To: syncrolist@BOSTIG.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Bostig Engineering <syncrolist@BOSTIG.COM>
Subject: LMMU was: mass air flow sensor adapted to a vanagon
In-Reply-To: <41A8437C.3020307@mchsi.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
Hi all,
I figure I should chime in quickly and give a synopsis of what we're about
to release. It is a comlpete intake/air meter replacement kit, not just a
mass air convertor box(as someone pointed out is commercially available).
It plumbs into the stock snorkel, and replaces the stock airbox/meter. It
is completely plug and play (two harnesses, and snaps into the stock
airbox retainer locations) and can be installed and working in a few
minutes. It is also specifically designed for the 2.1, and comes with the
correct base fuel curve translation. The base unit allows control of the
curve via a three button panel and display, and for those with tired
engines, or indeed with exhaust or other upgrades, the unit will allow you
to adjust the effective base fuel curve and allow the VW ecu to trim
correctly if it's been bumped out of range. The learning unit will take
the signal from a wideband 02, and through a suggested "learning mode" set
of driving conditions we provide, can set itself up in about 30-45
minutes(after which you return the wideband to us). This has the advantage
of allowing an extremely accurate base tune, specific to the owners
vehicle etc, without requiring the owner to spend time learning how to
tune.
Converting to mass air isn't rocket science, as someone else points out,
but to really do it correctly takes quite a bit of care, and attention to
detail. For example to isolate the meter electrically so it reads
accurately and consistently down to system voltages below 11 for use on
older vehicles with weak electrical systems, and to program electronic
throttle tip-in detection to help compensate for the almost instantaneous
jump to lean on rapid throttle openings, making it fully plug and play
with the existing system (no need to cut/splice anything). Everything down
to choosing a good meter that can help avoid incorrect readings due to
intake pulse exaggerations(the bosch meter someone mentioned would not
have been a good candidate for example), that is also durable, available,
correctly sized and reasonably priced etc.
The exciting thing about the kit is it's performance. We're all eagerly
awaiting our trip to the dyno, as by the seat-of-the-pants-O'meter, it is
doing quite well. After having seen the potential gains to be had by
flowing the stock intake (the ford meter flows better than 250% of the
vanagon meter), and seeing the need to be able to tune in many cases, and
indeed after having watched the attempts to "tune" via spring pressure in
the stock meter... and after having seen air meters not perform due to
dirty contacts, and afer having read about folks with massive power loss
at altitude (the mass air conversion kit should fix this problem, please
contact me if you live at altitude and would like to be a beta tester) we
figured it was time to offer something.
In any case, we're putting together all of our information now, and will
have results and data for all to see as soon as we can! In the meantime,
we'd love to find some additional Boston area beta testers to help us in
the final stages of developement. As Bob pointed out, the equivalent
pressure drop of the stock VW intake at 5200 RPM vs. our setup is
equivalent to about 1 PSI, which if you understand engines, is quite
substantial. I'd hate to promise more power, more torque, tunability,
reliability, and fuel economy all in the same product, but I'm afraid I
might have to soon. But as I said, we'll let the numbers speak for
themselves. Feel free to email me off list with any questions or if you
are interested. I don't believe that we are going to "pre-sell" anything,
as I hate the practice, but beta testers will get priority on the first
production units naturally. We believe the kit will be called the LMMU
(Luftmassenmesser Umrüstsatz).
Thanks for reading and keep 'em rolling,
Jim Akiba
Bostig Engineering
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