Not making expected HP - Help!?

[MattSS]

TL;DR: I'm making what I think is about 40-50hp less than I think my mods should. Questions at the bottom.

I'm hoping someone with a little more experience out there will give me a hand. I've been the proud owner of an A6 2010 2SSRS since fall of 2009. After the warranty fell off I started modding with the help of a friend in my garage. All I've done is bolt-ons: ADM scoop, CAI intake, PTB, Kooks LT headers and HFC's and a Solo cat-back exhaust with a JRE tune. No baseline dyno run.

Last weekend was my first opportunity to put it on a dynojet and I was pretty disappointed with my numbers. Best of 2 pulls was 336hp and a bit more torque. (sorry, at work and don't have the sheet in front of me). From what I'm seeing online that's only slightly above stock, and in some cases right in line with the stock setup. So I'm now under the impression that something's wrong and I'd like to figure it out and fix it. Hoping someone can chime in and give me some ideas.

The CAI intake has been on the car for probably 6 years and I've never cleaned/re-oiled it. It couldn't be where that 40-50rwhp went, could it? Obviously it's past time and tops on my list of things to correct... like, tonight after work, lol.

CAI filter was slightly damaged (no holes, just deformed the nose of the cone slightly and put a few wiggles in the pleating near the cone) during an accident last fall. Repair shop must not have thought it was a big deal. Were they wrong? Should I spend the $50 and get a new filter?

With no catch can and 62k miles I'm assuming my intake manifold has accumulated some gunk over the years. Could that be causing this kind of significant power loss?

The shop that did the dyno run said the tune looked OK (lines looked kind of sawtoothed, but not terrible) but could use some fine tuning, likely because of environmental differences between IL and NJ. Likely story or sales pitch?

Any other ideas about what might be wrong? Did I maybe just get a weak engine from the factory and not know it till now? Are my expectations just wrong?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you guys can provide. I love the car regardless and have had a blast with it, but I'm obviously a little irritated with the result of $2500 worth of mods and hours spent sweating and bleeding, lol.

[deddmoneydave]

What was ambient temp and what correction factor was used? I doubt it's the filter or intake. It's likely the tune, either a very conservative timing table at WOT, or maybe you were getting some KR on the dyno and it was pulling timing during the runs. How experienced were the people telling you it looked ok?

[str8wick3d]

have you ran 87 gas in your car lately? or tried the fuse pull just in case you got bad gas somewhere? you might be stuck in low octane table.

[deddmoneydave]

Originally Posted by str8wick3d

have you ran 87 gas in your car lately? or tried the fuse pull just in case you got bad gas somewhere? you might be stuck in low octane table.

For a stock tune this would make sense. Most aftermarket tunes ditch the low octane table and just copy/paste the parameters from the high octane table into the low one.

I just reread the OP, am I understanding correctly that they didn't log the tune, they just told you it looked ok based on the dyno graph and A/F ratio? If so lol

[str8wick3d]

Originally Posted by deddmoneydave

For a stock tune this would make sense. Most aftermarket tunes ditch the low octane table and just copy/paste the parameters from the high octane table into the low one.

I just reread the OP, am I understanding correctly that they didn't log the tune, they just told you it looked ok based on the dyno graph and A/F ratio? If so lol

I think JRE would be smart enough to leave the low table in case OP did get bad gas or no 93 avail. I know that my dyno tune has erased the low table but it might be worth checking into your tune OP

[deddmoneydave]

Originally Posted by str8wick3d

I think JRE would be smart enough to leave the low table in case OP did get bad gas or no 93 avail. I know that my dyno tune has erased the low table but it might be worth checking into your tune OP

Could be, I have no experience with Jannetty, but from looking at a decent amount of logs from reputable tuners I've yet to see one build a low octane table for a mild N/A setup

[Synner]

If there's spikes they don't know how to use the smoothing factor of the dyno software and without AFR data I'd trust your original tuner over their skills at operating a dyno. Dynos are numbers, that's it. Don't race paper.

[MattSS]

Yep, only one table and that's for 93. I confirmed with Janetty when I ordered it That's all I run in it. Either shell or mobil. Their solution to the low octane problem was a separate tune for 91 that has to be flashed manually, lol.

Ambient was 65 and humidity was 70% with rain on the way. CF says SAE Smoothing 5. I'm too much of a novice to know what that means though, lol.

You got me right when I said they didn't log the tune. They were just looking at the graph. It was a local Dyno shootout event so they weren't really looking into specifics at the time. They are pretty much the only speed shop in town and I don't have a lot of evidence to say how experienced they are. Of the 25 reviews they have on their Facebook page 22 are 5*, one 4*, one 3* and one 1* for banging up a spoiler. Make of that what you will, ROFL.

So after the wreck last fall Is it possible the repair shop flashed me back to the stock tune/tables? I haven't noticed AFM kick in and it runs just fine. I would have thought I'd have AFM, a check engine light, and be running rough if they had.

Sorry if I'm asking foolish questions. This is the first car I've done anything to. My background is in electronics, not combustion. I'm learning slowly. 😁. Thanks for the feedback! I really do appreciate it!

[MattSS]

Originally Posted by Synner

If there's spikes they don't know how to use the smoothing factor of the dyno software and without AFR data I'd trust your original tuner over their skills at operating a dyno. Dynos are numbers, that's it. Don't race paper.

Oh, I know. I'm not a crazy street racer and haven't had the opportunity to put the car on a track,. I'm enjoying the hell out of driving and learning my way around an engine. Spirited driving once in a while is about all I get up to and I don't walk around with a big hard on based on numbers. I just saw the numbers didn't match what I expected and am now concerned that something might need fixing/tweaking. Eventually I intend to have GPI put a custom cam in and tune it right, but it may still be a few years before I'm ready for that.

Now here's what's probably a really dumb question... do they normally blow a fan on the intake to simulate airflow in motion when they do a pull? I honestly didn't watch the setup and had my eye on the car and the monitor. If that *is* a thing and it was aimed at the stock intake location then they did it wrong(because i didn't tell them)... scoop relocates the intake air from the upper grille to the lower grille.

[deddmoneydave]

Originally Posted by MattSS

Yep, only one table and that's for 93. I confirmed with Janetty when I ordered it That's all I run in it. Either shell or mobil. Their solution to the low octane problem was a separate tune for 91 that has to be flashed manually, lol.

Ambient was 65 and humidity was 70% with rain on the way. CF says SAE Smoothing 5. I'm too much of a novice to know what that means though, lol.

You got me right when I said they didn't log the tune. They were just looking at the graph. It was a local Dyno shootout event so they weren't really looking into specifics at the time. They are pretty much the only speed shop in town and I don't have a lot of evidence to say how experienced they are. Of the 25 reviews they have on their Facebook page 22 are 5*, one 4*, one 3* and one 1* for banging up a spoiler. Make of that what you will, ROFL.

So after the wreck last fall Is it possible the repair shop flashed me back to the stock tune/tables? I haven't noticed AFM kick in and it runs just fine. I would have thought I'd have AFM, a check engine light, and be running rough if they had.

Sorry if I'm asking foolish questions. This is the first car I've done anything to. My background is in electronics, not combustion. I'm learning slowly. ��. Thanks for the feedback! I really do appreciate it!

I don't think they flashed you back to stock, you'd be getting a cel with those mods. SAE and STD are 2 typical correction factors used to standardize numbers to one set of atmospheric conditions. SAE reads lower because it corrects to less favorable (less dense and hotter) air conditions than does STD. Converted to STD you made about 350 to the wheels. Smoothing of 5 is fine and if anything prevents little spikes from displaying, potentially costing you another few digital hp. Doesn't matter where they aimed the fan that's just to keep temps down and air flowing across the radiator.

Bottom line is if you're concerned about it, have someone reputable and experienced log the tune and see whats going on

[Synner]

The fan is for cooling not intake air. Not needed for a single dyno day pull.

[MattSS]

Awesome. Thanks for all the info and advice! I didn't realize there were so many factors in dyno numbers. It all makes a lot more sense now. And for the shootout they wouldn't have been too worried about having everything perfectly set as long as everyone was tested the same. I'm guessing I'd have a better experience if I went in and had them do it legit in the shop.

Thanks again!

Matt

[rontammy0]

Those are almost stock pre tune numbers. Add a few hp in for your bolt ons. I think somehow the tune is bad.

[SSEssence]

Either that or the dyno is way off calibration?