Calibration

Dream Automotive have partnered with RaceCal Ltd in order to be able to offer a variety of engine calibration (ECU mapping) services to our customers.

Dream Automotive selected RaceCal for their 15+ years experience in this sector, as well as their renowned reputation for specialising in Honda vehicles.

Whether you have a road based car and wanted to extract a little more power, a 500bhp+ FK build, a specialist race vehicle or anything in between; using our in-house 4WD Dyno Dynamics rolling road, we can cater for your requirements.

A variety of ECU's are supported, most notably Hondata and Syvecs, however if you have an AEM, Haltech, Link ECU or other, we can still assist in calibrating your car. General engine mapping, Closed loop gearbox control for sequential transmissions, knock control, traction control, launch control and Anti-Lag / Pops and Bangs are all catered for.

Depending on which vehicle you have, there may be multiple options to choose from, some factors  to consider are the goals of the build as well as the budget you are working too.

The below overviews the common options.

• Hondata FlashPro
• EcuTek
• Syvecs PnP

Both Dream Automotive and RaceCal pride themselves on offering an honest, realistic and reliable calibration service.

When your car arrives, firstly it will be inspected by one of our trained technicians before then being attached to the dyno. The vehicle will be strapped down safety and securely enabling the calibration to be completed with minimal risk.

Our Dyno Dynamics rolling road is a twin roller braked dyno. There are many dyno options available all of which will produce a slightly different reading (twin roller, single roller, hub, braked/inertia etc). RaceCal have a Mainline hub dyno at their HQ in North London where we can also run cars if they will be traction limited on our Dyno Dynamics system. 

First a foremost when it comes to dyno power figures, you must remember that a dyno is a tool mainly to help the engine calibration engineer, its not just there to produce a power figure. Having a braked dyno allows the completion of 'Steady State' tuning allowing the engineer to optimise the ignition timing safely whilst monitoring knock levels as well as fuel delivery control.

Power and torque figures can be manipulated in numerous ways, you can make the dyno over or under read just by how you strap the car down. Check out our blog post here to see this in more detail. Dream Automotive or RaceCal will never manipulate dyno figures, as summarised above we pride ourselves on a reliable and realistic calibration service.

Once the car is on the dyno, the calibration will start, the engines fuelling and ignition timing will be optimised bespoke to your car and setup. VTC/VTEC will also be optimised for best response and  torque. Additional requests such as 'Pops and Bangs' can also be setup on the dyno in a safe and controlled environment.

Depending on the cars specification, some cars can also be tuned remotely with Dream Automotive liaising directly with RaceCal for any calibration amendments whilst the car is on the dyno. This service is available for our customers saving you time and money, whilst also still receiving a calibration tailored to your car.

Once the calibration is completed we will supply a power and torque graph, AFR plot as well as boost plot (if applicable).

Dyno power runs and engine calibration sessions create a similar level of load on the engine that you could expect on a track day. With this in mind, the best course of action to take when preparing for the dyno is to do the same as if you were about to do a track day. Before a track day we would expect you to check fluids are topped up (oil, coolant, fuel etc) and that there are no leaks from the engine or its ancillaries. Furthermore we also recommend checking the condition of your spark plugs and if a manual transmission, a healthy clutch that is not slipping, or will start to slip if expecting a large increase in torque from your current setup. If you require advice on which spark plugs to use and what gap to run, please email sales@dream-automotive.com 

I know we have mentioned fuel level in the fluids section above, however this is a point that is so often forgotten/overlooked. To properly calibrate your engine, we will require a suitable amount of your chosen fuel to complete the job. Calibration can consume anywhere between 20 and ~70 litres depending on the car and how long the dyno session will last depending on the complexity of the setup. Therefore, we would recommend arriving to the dyno with a full tank of fuel. Dream Automotive always recommend a '99 RON' fuel for your pump fuel map, this would be either Shell V-Power or Tesco 99 (Momentum). If these fuels are not available in your geographic location, please contact us with the fuel that you will be using so we are aware. If you are running an Ethanol blend or a specific race fuel, please feel free to contact us to discuss suitable required quantities.

Please ensure your engine has no fluid leaks, not only can this be dangerous to your engine on the dyno, a large leak can also damage critical dyno equipment. Dream Automotive reserve the right to invoice customers for any cleaning or damage to calibration equipment caused by a fluid leak.

Whilst tuning on the dyno isn't going to stress the engine any more than driving at full throttle on the road/track, if your engine is using oil/smoking, pushing water out on load, low on compression or generally in poor health; completing a dyno power run or calibration session is not advised. Dream Automotive reserve the right to decline a power run or calibration session if we believe the engine is not suitably healthy. If you are unsure we can arrange a health check, including compression/leakdown test before your appointment.