Hey all. I've received some interest from several people for another tuning session in Halifax this year. I've reached out to Marco and am waiting for a reply. Tentatively were are looking at June 22-24.

The dyno is already reserved and price is locked down at $80/hr. Time on the dyno starts as soon as you get strapped down, not when the rollers start rolling so it's important that you have a good running car with a proper setup as per Marco's specs. (Spec to follow).

Just like previous years, Marco's flight will be shared evenly among all tuning participants. Jenn and Dave have been nice enough to put Marco up at their house again for the duration of his stay so accommodations will not need to be paid for.

One thing that is going to change this year, and it will be a non-refundable deposit for participants so we can prevent people signing up and not committing once the tuning session arrives. I will keep the pre-registration open until May 31st and at that time I will be asking for a $200 non-refundable deposit. This deposit will be used for the cost of Marco's flight and any money left over will be sent back to you during the event. Just like previous years, I'm not looking to make money off of this, I just don't want to be on the hook for any portion of Marco's travel costs as I won't be participating in the session. I'm sure you can all appreciate that.

If anybody has questions or concerns please let me know. Thanks.

Right now I will use Marco's pricing from last year, if his pricing has changed, I'll make the appropriate changes.

RX8's
stock ecu N/A $400
stock ecu turbo $500
aftermarket ecu turbo $600

RX7's
N/A anything $400
twin turbo power fc (no AI) $500
Everything else turbo $600

Please read and review Marco's check list with his do's and don't so the tuning session can go as smoothly as possible.

"After tuning a handful of less then ready cars, I decided to create this little pre-tuning guide. Hopefully this will make the tuning process smoother and quicker for both the owner and I.

How do you prepare your car for tuning?

- The obvious, fresh oil change within the last 1000 km. If this is a fresh rebuild still on original oil, change it regardless of mileage.
- The dumb, car needs plates and insurance unless it’s a full race car. Also, the car needs a full tank of gas! Fill it up before you drop it off.
- Does your car have any kind of leaks (fuel, oil, coolant, exhaust)? Fix them first.
- Your spark plugs should be fairly new (less then 1000 km). Unless your car is fairly stock, you should be running 9 heat range plugs in both the leading and trailing holes for added reliability. Heavily modified RX-7’s will require colder plugs, contact me if you’re not sure what is best for you.
- Your fuel filter should have been changed within the last 2 years. If you do not know when it was changed, CHANGE IT. If you suspect bad/dirty gas caused your previous engine failure, change your fuel filter regardless of when you last changed it.

Do I have enough fuel? (Mostly Application Specific)

These are mostly from experience and your mileage may vary as every car is different even if they seem to be modified in the same way. Fuel is a critical part of the reliability of a rotary, there is no such thing as overkill, DO NOT CHEAP OUT ON IT.

Injectors:
- AVOID 850cc primaries. Your car will idle rich and drivability will suffer slightly which cannot be completely fixed by tuning. As well as decreased fuel economy.
- A stock port FD with stock sequential twins generally does not need an injector upgrade if the injectors are healthy. If you want to keep things stock and are running out of fuel, cleaning the injectors first is recommended over upgrading your injectors.
- A rich man’s non-sequential FD might need more then stock injectors at higher boost if the car is setup/optimized well for flow. (Intakes, intercooler, full exhaust, healthy twins etc.)
- A street port FD with stock twins will run out of fuel around 11 PSi with stock injectors depending on the porting.
- If you have a single turbo with a compressor inducer of 61mm or bigger, it is highly recommended you have 1600cc secondary injectors. ID1600/ID2000 are also an option to consider as they do not require resistors or a driver box (the only drawback is price)
Fuel pumps:
- Should I upgrade my 20+ year old stock fuel pump? Yes, even if the stock fuel pump should deliver enough fuel for your needs, do you really want to rely on a 20 year old pump?
- It is highly recommended if you do not have your fuel pump rewired directly to the battery with 10 gauge wire, that you do so. Make sure the relay is rated for 40 amps. (these suggestions are not overkill)
- I always used to recommend the Denso Supra TT OEM fuel pump over a Walbro as it has been proven to be more reliable time and time again over the years. Aeromotive also has a new pump out that delivers 340 lb/h and it has been proving reliable so far so I pretty much recommend this pump to everyone now. It is also quite affordable.
- If you’re aiming for 500+ rwhp, dual pumps or an external high flow pump are recommended. A single Aeromotive 340 pump has been able to achieve this on a few setups successfully."

I'll start the interest thread, please add your name if you want to take advantage of this great opportunity to utilize an experienced and reputable tuner.

So far I have these guys wanting to participate:

1. SimonFD (FD with PFC)
2. sip (Rx-4 20B with Haltec PS2000
3.
4.
5.

 

 

1. SimonFD (FD with PFC)
2. sip (Rx-4 20B with Haltec PS2000
3. DankHank (FD with PFC) (deposit received)
4.
5.

Dyno is reserved. I haven't heard from Marco in a while. I'll reach out to him and report back.

 

ill be there with sip and the 20b rx4

 

 

Quick update. The tuning session has been postponed due to a participant needing to pull out due to low compression. I'm currently looking for additional cars to join the session so please spread the word so we can make this happen.