Quote:
Originally Posted by Relegate
I had the opportunity to compare lap times on Monday at NJMP Thunderbolt with my car (FBO with Wagner Catted DP, no muffler, lots of mods) on stock map and MHD 2+ 93 octane (running 95 octane). The difference in power should be 50-60WHP and a bunch of torque, but the delta might surprise you...
I found an average of .5 sec a lap between the 2. There were only 5 cars on track so most laps were empty.
At first I was surprised but in reality here is my take:
On the track I am rarely below 4500 rpm. As we know, the power drops off of the N55 pretty abruptly at 5500rpm, and from there to redline its very little difference in power between stock and tuned. My trap speed according to my GPS lap timer was about 3 mph difference on the front straight and some corners I exited better with stock power. (No LSD, all nannies off).
I am guilty as anyone of saying "add power for better lap times" and while this is true, as mentioned, it's not the holy grail one would think. Weather, tires, track grip play a bigger role in lap times than a few HP. If the N55 made power at 6500 rpm I bet that delta would be 1-2 seconds as I could hold gears longer instead of tractoring the next taller gear. (1:34.2 vs 1:34.7) Anyhow, just wanted to share my experiences and see what others have seen on track.
At NYST I ran stock power and was within .2 of my best time there (JB4 Map 5) with slightly better alignment and stiffer springs (9k/12k). 1:40.01 vs 1:40.3. Lightning best time is a 1:15.9 Stock map.
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You may have commented on this and I apologize if you have, but what rpm are you shifting at? We see a massive increase in trap speeds (109-112 for example) shifting manually at 5600-5800 rather than letting the DCT shift itself near 7000. Even with the 6 speed manual I highly doubt you'd be much further out of the highest part of the torque curve on a gear change when tuned.
It goes against what most are taught but there are quite a few cars out there that are much quicker short shifted. Should keep temps down a bit on track too.
If you were exiting corners faster with stock power maybe the diff is becoming an issue, or you are faster on entry? Tune certainly shouldn't be a detriment unless it is harder to get the power down which is certainly possible.