We asked Marc Kalaydjian from Advanced Motorsport to test and try the new Innovate Motorsports LM-1 air/fuel ratio recorder. Here's what he thought.
Everybody is searching for more power, and it usually takes a lot of money and sometimes a truckload of new parts to get the job done. In my experience, many people buy all sorts of things to tune a motor, but in the end it all comes down to the engine management tuning and its ability to unlock all those dollars spent on parts. Working in the tuning industry at Advanced Motorsport (www.advancedmotorsport.com), I've seen people achieve value for money, but I've also seen many disappointed people who lose power or even blow up the engine.
This is why you need to know the engine's air/fuel ratio (AFR). All engines need the proper fuel mixture to run not only well but also clean and safe. Put simply, the air/fuel ratio is the balance of air and fuel that the engine processes during its combustion stroke. When the tuning is just right, you find yourself with a setup that runs efficiently and usually lasts as well.
Engine tuning can be optimized with know-how and the correct equipment. The purpose of this article is not to provide information on how to tune you engine, but to make you aware of the importance of the fuel system and its limitations. Imagine you upgraded your turbo, for example, and the injectors are now too small to handle the greater demands. How would you figure that out? ly 0.01 lambda.
Hurry and pick up the June 2005 issue of eurotuner Magazine for the complete story, and a lot more photos