[supercoopers]

I just wanted to share my experiences of dealing with Dave (Lucky Dave on MINI2) a few weeks ago and his company, Autotech - an auto electricians company dealing with anything from full ICE to wiring jobs like mine .

Firstly, I left London and headed up 'Norf' to Worcester having set out later than I had hoped following an overly long meeting. By the time I arrived it was already 4pm, quite a lot later than my anticipated ETA of 1-2pm!

Needless to say, I was a little frazzled by the drive and the work of that morning, but as soon as I arrived at Dave's premises in what I think must be one of the most beautiful parts of Worcestershire ( ) Dave's lovely wife showered me with refreshments, sausage sandwiches and the offer of a hedgehog (you'll have to visit to discover what that is )

Dave set to task with what was a very large assignment and something that I wouldn't want to be confronted with at 4pm on a Friday

Here is a list of what I had done:

1) Install of GTT De-Cat pipe with Bosch wideband O2 sensor
2) Install of Apexi SAFC Neo
3) Install of Defi Concept Heads-up display (HUD) and Boost gauge
4) Install of AEM wideband O2 sensor

Now, that lot above was a lot of wiring and was a complex job, but Dave rose to the challenge and got it all done before 12am
Thanks must also go to his friend Adrian (?) for helping out, even though he had worked all day in a BMW workshop!

After two weeks, the quality of the install has been slowly sinking in and I am happier now more than ever! Everything works as it should and the attention to detail is high (which I am a stickler for). Thanks Dave

Now, on to the gauges themselves. This may prove of interest for people thinking of doing the same (which I recommend those with highly tuned engines do).

The sensors I'm running are:

1) Exhaust Gas Temp (EGT) - DEFI
2) Fuel Pressure - DEFI
3) Boost - DEFI
4) Wideband o2 (standalone)

Now, anyone that knows anything about gauges knows that DEFI make probably the best gauges on the market in terms of accuracy and reliability. They are the Toyota of the gauge world

The heads-up display sits in the middle of the screen, is bright green and looks like the one in the new BMW M6 I went in recently (but the rev colours change in that car). Basically, it's very clear and not that distracting surprisingly, but other drivers *may* look at you a bit funny when they pass your window at night, lol

I'm not sure if DEFI makes the HUD any more, but if they don't, there's their conventional range of gauges which again, are of amazing quality and look very trick.

I have a new Nokia N95 to record some video in the next week or so. Just gota get some time to get out of London and somewhere quiet where I can get some footage of the gauges and car in action. Maybe on the 29th Sept if I can make it to Castle Combe...

As for the AEM wideband, I went with this company because I got a good deal on an outgoing line (I don't think that they make the UEGO gauge any more) but Innovatemotorsport also make a great wideband, which Graham from GRS is running I believe. Looked trick when I saw it

I can't stress how much of a godsend the wideband is! Now I can see exactly what it going on with my engine and AFRs, which are in the 12s at the moment, soon to be richened up some when I get my Apexi dialed in.

Interestingly, I have found that in identical ambient temps (18.5deg C) that Tesco 99 fuel causes the EGTs to be roughly 20 deg C hotter under the same kind of load when compared with Shell V Power. The far feels more 'sprightly' on the Tesco stuff, but the temps are lower with the Shell fuel...hmmm. maybe there is a point where knowing too much is worse than knowing nothing at all, lol

So, in summary, Dave at Autotech is the nutts when it comes to in-car wiring, the DEFI gauges are probably the best gauges this side of NASA instruments and the wideband 02 is essential if you have a highly tuned engine that want to take care of; it eliminates the guesswork of whether your car is running rich or lean or both etc.

Cheers,

Henry

p.s. pics WILL follow, just give me another week or so

[Bhozar]

Interesting stuff Henry. I am after some gauges in the future and this is just the sort of useful info I look for. Thanks.

[Paul Webster]

Nice write up, what you've had installed is a credit to you, its the only way to go in our opinion as the Apexi does make life simple espically on the dyno, is the wideband rpm related as well?

If you need to put it on the rollers to fine tune the Apexi let us know, we'll just point you in the right area and let you do the adjustments (best way) we'll be able to see what the timing is doing as well.

[roland2003]

Hi Henry,Your findings in a rise in EGT with the Tesco99 v Shell do not suprise me. Ive always said Tesco has potential for more power but is a little harder on the engine (Worse fuel comsumpsion too)
The rise in EGT is due to the Ethenol which is 'oxygen releasing ' , it runs marginally leaner (AF Ratio) in open loop too. .....Use Tesco 99 and richen it up a bit ...thats the best route.

Best Regards Roland GTT

[Cooooooperslad]

Great review. I will probably ask Dave to hook up my boost guage when I get it.

[Richard Crofts]

He and his lady are the bomb...Your not the only one to have been offered a hedgehog either!!

As he is virtually a neighbour I'm fairly biased though

He has done some extremely nice work on MINIs and other cars ... and is always around for a friendly chat about my dream electrics I want for the S.

His own demo car makes me drool everytime I see it .... and thats just the insides, the GTT stuff is an added bonus

[Lucky Dave]

Thanks for the kind words, having the workshop on the side your house does help when working till midnight!!

It was nice to have such an interested customer who was keen to take part!

With regard to the wide band, I can agree the innovate system is very good and is the chosen kit for my mini. Wide band realy is a must for any tuned car.

Hope you can make Castle Combe it would be good to see your mini in action.

[GRSmotorsport]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lucky Dave (original)

Thanks for the kind words, having the workshop on the side your house does help when working till midnight!!

It was nice to have such an interested customer who was keen to take part!

With regard to the wide band, I can agree the innovate system is very good and is the chosen kit for my mini. Wide band realy is a must for any tuned car.

Hope you can make Castle Combe it would be good to see your mini in action.

Those gauges did look nice I must say

I've got an innovate AFR gauge and totaly agree with you Dave, these types of gauges are a must for tuned mini's

[Bluecoopers]

Hi Henry, Was nice to meet you too.
Great write up and agree with all.
I think you were gobsmacked at how quick i got that shied out you needed for the chargecooler conversion.
Yes be good to see you at castle combe.
Ade

[supercoopers]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bluecoopers (original)

Hi Henry, Was nice to meet you too.
Great write up and agree with all.
I think you were gobsmacked at how quick i got that shied out you needed for the chargecooler conversion.
Yes be good to see you at castle combe.
Ade

Hey Ade!

Yeah, 10 mins flat was pretty impressive, especially so late in the day I can't even make a cup of tea in that time

Ok, I'm trying my darndest to be at Castle Combe on the 29th, but I won't be going on track *quite* yet until I get some decent seats etc. Plus I'd want to change to race pads, oil before and after and getting some decent track tyres etc if I were to do it properly, and the small matter of insurance! Last track day I did was 2 years ago at Bedford as well

At least we can talk MINIs all day and take some nice piccies, right?!

Cheers,

Henry

[supercoopers]

Quote: Originally Posted by 1320autos (original)

Nice write up, what you've had installed is a credit to you, its the only way to go in our opinion as the Apexi does make life simple espically on the dyno, is the wideband rpm related as well?

If you need to put it on the rollers to fine tune the Apexi let us know, we'll just point you in the right area and let you do the adjustments (best way) we'll be able to see what the timing is doing as well.

Paul,

Thanks for your suggestion, but I'm going to tune the Apexi on the road (and private airfield for higher load/rpm stuff) - my car is purely for fast road use, so it makes sense to tune it under those conditions, but thanks anyway

As far as I understand it, the Neo does tune RPM dependently, but only for 16 points across the entire rev range - it then 'estimates' the best values inbetween for the rest of the rev range (interpolation).

Cheers,

Henry

[supercoopers]

Quote: Originally Posted by roland2003 (original)

Hi Henry,Your findings in a rise in EGT with the Tesco99 v Shell do not suprise me. Ive always said Tesco has potential for more power but is a little harder on the engine (Worse fuel comsumpsion too)
The rise in EGT is due to the Ethenol which is 'oxygen releasing ' , it runs marginally leaner (AF Ratio) in open loop too. .....Use Tesco 99 and richen it up a bit ...thats the best route.

Best Regards Roland GTT

Very true I have to say, the car does like the Tesco stuff more, it's like a proper race fuel! Finding the stuff in London though is another matter...

Cheers,

Henry

[Paul Webster]

Quote: Originally Posted by supercoopers (original)

Paul,

Thanks for your suggestion, but I'm going to tune the Apexi on the road (and private airfield for higher load/rpm stuff) - my car is purely for fast road use, so it makes sense to tune it under those conditions, but thanks anyway

As far as I understand it, the Neo does tune RPM dependently, but only for 16 points across the entire rev range - it then 'estimates' the best values inbetween for the rest of the rev range (interpolation).

Cheers,

Henry

Definitely the best way and more fun,ours is just a lot quicker way of doing it but not as much fun though obviously you can see the trq numbers go up or down as you put fuel in or take it out, unfortunately you wont see that youself unless you've had your butt tuned

Did you make provisions for the egt sensor in each cylinder??

[Loui]

Sounds like a good setup Henry would be interested to see it

[Lucky Dave]

PS no real hedgehogs were harmed in the fitting of your equipment

[supercoopers]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lucky Dave (original)

PS no real hedgehogs were harmed in the fitting of your equipment

[supercoopers]

Quote: Originally Posted by 1320autos (original)

Definitely the best way and more fun,ours is just a lot quicker way of doing it but not as much fun though obviously you can see the trq numbers go up or down as you put fuel in or take it out, unfortunately you wont see that youself unless you've had your butt tuned

Did you make provisions for the egt sensor in each cylinder??

Just going through the post and picked up on your question Paul.

In answer, ideally it would have been good to have an EGT probe in the exhaust manifold at each head port, exit but there was the concern of cost and feasibility (managing all those sensors!). As a compromise, I had the probe installed at the outlet of cylinder one, because this generally gets the hottest and is therefore probably the most important to monitor

Cheers,

Henry

[Paul Webster]

You're right there just ask the person who come and bought a used piston off me last week.

[Cooooooperslad]

Quote: Originally Posted by 1320autos (original)

You're right there just ask the person who come and bought a used piston off me last week.

Tell us more Paul!

[Loui]

Quote: Originally Posted by 1320autos (original)

You're right there just ask the person who come and bought a used piston off me last week.

Was that the guy while is was down there, you would have thought he would have replaced them all at least with the engine in bits tbh