Smarty UDC Initial Impressions

Alright, so I just uploaded my latest UDC to the truck and did some more tweaking to the WG. I have the WG rod as short as it will go now, and it takes about 40 psi to get the rod to slip over the WG, and I can see the slightest movement of the WG at about 34-35 psi. Since I have the WG solenoid plugged in and the boost set to 35 in UDC there should be no air going to the WG pot until 35 psi, so on this next drive I will see what my boost hits.

Something else I noticed in UDC is that OEM boost limit is 25, however 04.5-07's easily hit 32 peak and settle at 28-32. Makes me wonder why??
 
So went for about a 35 mile drive yesterday. The tweaks I made reduced the hot haze during acceleration and improved EGT's while cruising.

Boost is peaking at 29 still, so that must be to where it wants to run. I'll keep the boost at 35 in UDC and the WG where it is, and really it won't ever be used unless I add more fuel. But that's fine too. DP is better than 1:1 up thru about 2500, then creeps up to 40 psi drive max. Which is fine as I live between 1800-2300 most the time, and even pulling grades I rarely go over 2300. With sustained higher EGT's DP also gets better, even at 70% load at 2500 it's about .9:1.

WOT EGT's were great too! Up thru 3K in 5th I hit just over 1150°, and up thru 2700 in 6th just under 1150°.
 
Have you towed with those settings.. I would think you'll see some more boost then. Yes?

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Any word on data logging? Have not seen anything concrete mentioned yet. No data and your still in the dark with this.
 
I haven't touched the 70% and up settings since towing, last time I saw about 32 psi WOT in 5th to check things out. The turbine is more efficient when towing, so I will probably still peak a little higher when towing.

I haven't heard a thing on data logging. It would be nice, thou I am not sure it's needed at the power level I am running. I am no where near maxing things out, but it is always nice to know it's doing what you want.
 
I had an unexpected chance to dyno today. Last time I dyno'd was in 08 with the JR on SW3, stock turbo, and stock cam.

The new graph is much smoother! This is smoothing on zero. The below numbers are uncorrected, the corrected numbers are 414/850. I am impressed how flat the torque curve is, and how consistent the numbers were on runs 2 and 3. Run #1 was PoD on 70, I was curious how it effected WOT power, and it's pretty obvious. Run #2 was PoD on 85, which is were I run normally and my gauges told me it was the same power as PoD99, which I was able to verify. The throttle and power are smoother on PoD85 when towing, and the smoke is also down a little (not that it really smokes anyhow).

My previous dyno was 387/712 (437/808), so I am down a few hp but up quite a bit of torque. For how I use the truck this is just fine, and I won't be looking for that lost hp.

My timing is pretty tame, peak about 20°. I am sure that I could get more power from timing, but I do plenty of towing with the truck and want to be on the safe side.

Smoothing 0, Uncorrected
UNCORRSM0.jpg


Smoothing 2, Corrected
CORRSM2.jpg
 
So it's been a while since I really gave any update, other than the dyno graph. Truth is that I didn't adjust my tuning for 2 months. I was very happy with it. It met all of my goals for how I was using it. Last week I did some towing and realized I needed to tweak the settings in the 35-55% load area. I was towing across Idaho at 2K rpms, OD, at 18K GCW (11' tall TT) into a 20-30 mph headwind on a 90° day. I realize that sustained operation in that load range gave me slightly higher EGT's than expected. I know a few degrees comes from the manifold blankets, but I was at 1000-1150° the whole time, and may have cooled off to 900° on the few shallow down-grades. I didn't have my laptop with me, but took some mental notes. On the return trip the temp was about 15° cooler, and I didn't have a head wind and the load was lower, and the temps where where I expected them to be. I know I am not going to be able to move that weight at those speeds at 900-1000° with a headwind, but wanted to make a small tweak.

I went back to my timing tables and thought I could add a little and see what happened. I had ran more timing previously and it hazed a little too much, but this time I tried even more. Still very mild. I haven't hooked up the trailer yet, but in the 30-50% load my EGT's are down a little, boost is similar, and the haze is similar to the more retarded setting. I get some haze in the "passing" region because the EGT's are low and the turbine isn't as efficient. When towing there is zero haze at those loads because there is more heat to be retained in the turbine.

I also got to looking at my cruise section of the timing table. I think there was a little room to improve on mpgs. This morning driving to work I did some testing with the lie-o-meter. I have been using 1600 rpms as the start of my "cruise/economy" region. I set the cruise at 1400 rpms on a flat road and reset the lie-o-meter, it instantly read ±38 mpgs, and settled in the 34 range. I then accelerated to 1600 rpms and did the same thing. It instantly read ±29 mpg and settled at ±28. I realize it's not 100% accurate, but 10 mpg difference for 3-4 mph? I thought maybe I had too much timing in the cruise region and was working against myself. I retarded the timing a bit and went back out. This time the 1400 reading was ±37 and the 1600 was ±36. So I think I am on the right track. The timing is still advanced for economy, but not so much that I am working against myself.

I have my first empty highway run for about 110 miles this afternoon, so time will tell.

I am coming out of towing season, so I won't really know if I like this new 35-55% region for a while, but that's tuning for you.

I also spent last week driving around Yellowstone. The elevation is 6400-8800. I was there last year and had to be very careful not to make a LOT of smoke on the standard Smarty Jr SW3 tune. This year there was hardly any, even if I got on it (kids like to hear the turbo whistle) the smoke was no where near as think and cleared very quick. The only difference from last year to this year is the UDC and a GDP Air Boss/Grid Delete. I would guess most of the smoke, or lack thereof, is the tuning. I did get 18.9 mpg driving around Yellowstone for the week, at about 9000 lbs. I got about 18.0 last year.
 
Another update...

I did that 110 mile run at 70-80 and got 19.2, so I think backing the timing off a little really helped. I have since bumped it back a tiny tiny bit and the load went down, so I am happy.

I have still been messing with that 30-50% load area, trying to find a good timing for spool, but also one I can hold sustained when towing and not have too hot of EGT's. I won't hook the trailer up again for a few months but I am pretty happy with how it works now. EGT's are down a little and no increase in spool time.

I have also decided to upgrade to a Smarty Sr. I don't want/need any more power than I am making now, but I really don't like the OEM rail pressure map. I think it should be smoother, and not have peaks and valleys in the middle of it. A smoother rail pressure map means smoother timing, less rapid FCA changes, pressure changes, etc. Since I built my own timing calculator I have already got a tune ready to plug into UDC when the Sr shows up. It keeps the same duration, and relative timing that I have now, but a very different rail pressure map. I am curious how it will effect everything.
 
First impression very smooth like a caddy but my push you back in the seat is gone. Only got 16 mpg at 65-70 in town just knocked it down bad! So what do i change and how do you know what and when to change it? Hey AH64D would you share your tune so I can see what it's like? I do alot of towing also and sounds like your tuning for what I need also!
 
The push back in the seat could be in the torque management.

Have you done anything but copy it?

My tune is for a Jr, and will not work the same.
 
I copied the SSR10 file only changed my timing and rail to match it. Everything else is still the same. TQ management is on 1 but not sure how that crosses over to UDC.
 
TQ1 is stock, so don't copy it of adjust it and you will be the same.

What settings did you have on your SSR before.
 
I'm thinking that I will not need to spend $1000 on EFI and a custom tune, after tuning and test driving with UDC..

Very nice job to the Smarty Team for there efforts..

I Used Revo 9 sample to get started and smoothed all of the tables out the best I could and with the help of John in a few spots I have quit the DD... Very smooth with endless power and I can say zero, yes zero smoke or haze until you mash it and then its very little dark grey smoke which cleans up quick.. You just can't put in writing how different the motor runs now..

I'm sure I can get it more efficient after making a timing calculator but for a starting tune its the shiznit..

Thanks Marco and John J.
 
Why is it the stock timing is like the grand canyon and the modified timing is a gentle up hill climb? Is there a reason why they did the timing like that besides for smog?
 
That is the highway cruising load/timing area for efficiency.. it drops off when the load increases for towing to reduce piston heat soak..
 
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Emissions, Emissions, Emissions...

As timing retards the cylinder pressure lowers, which reduces NOx production. This is also the reason the fuel economy is lower and the EGT's are higher. The cylinder temp is lower, but the EGT's are high. So as you advance timing the EGT's drop, but the cylinder temps/pressures increase. So 1450° on stock timing is safe, 1450° on modified timing can melt something much easier.

The OEM low load high timing is too much for my truck, it's super noisy.
 
So the valley is for emissions? So, it could be eliminated/worked/merged into the numbers to its left and right correct?
 
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