Street Tuner

Why would you run a 50% mix for the street Bosco? E85 is street fuel (hence its sold at the bowser at servos). I know my family hack runs on E85 without mixing...

I have value files (complete transmission calibrations) for XR6T, XR6NA, 5.0 V8 SC, all your tuner needs to do for a good base that works properly is click 'File - Import All Values' and its done. And yes if tuners want to tune the ZF they - will - be attending our training. Its not an option for them, its a requirement.

Yes, I am Bruce Almighty (Short answer - no)

I think a few are jumping the gun a little on this one..... At this stage there have only been a handful of tuned ZF transmissions in Australia - ie. you can count them on two (maybe three) hands. Transmission calibration is - far - more difficult than engine calibration. There is no magic dyno number to tell you how its going or an AF trace to indicate the safety. Its not 'black box' tuning. Transmission cal, particularly with the ZF asks that the tuner understand an essentially 3D concept of clutch onset and offset style bandless automatics, and that takes some learning. As far as the tuners are concerned, the cream will certainly rise to the top on this one. The guys that have been attending the SCT Advanced Ford Training seminars over the past 18 months have got a pretty big start here, as they have already been taught, and are practicing one of the key torque manipulation strategies required in ZF tuning. While we run full classes several times a year for these SCT courses, there hasnt been much if any attendance from South Australia.....other than yours truly the 'teach' Obviously then some states will be 'onto this' quicker than others. I will be helping out those accredited ZF tuners by supplying them the base files I have been working on

Its best to 'tune' the box to avoid having it rebuilt..... The ZF slips the clutches like crazy with stock programming (programmed that way for smooth shifts on stock power/torque levels and that's no good for them!

Note: I also tested full throttle upshift with my 310rwkw (Mainline) test car today (Herrod G6E) that I am doing transmission calibration on. It will shift before the limiter WOT 1/2 with both the stock and upgraded ZF programs. Not shifting before popping the limiter is indicative of wrong Torque settings in the engine program which enables the clutches to slip before the gear can be engaged in time. This should not happen, and isnt particularly good for the transmission - it is quite fixable

To tune the ZF requires that you tune the engine as well - its part of one flash process, so unless you want your engine retuned (?) there is no point in coming to me for it, as your tuner already has your base engine tune file - unless they want to give you that to bring along for the ride....not that there is too much magic in most of it. For example an injector/cooler/exhaust/wastegate FG shouldnt be more than a couple of hours work from scratch.

I can change the shift points around anyway you want. Is this in Auto/Performance mode? If so I am already doing that (avoiding the limiter at WOT) quite well (my test car is the Herrod G6E with 310rwkw on our dyno). Hitting the limiter at full throttle you will find is a result of mis-calibration in your engine programming rather than a TCM thing..... Either that or the clutches in your ZF are fried.

I will set it up hard for 'Jetty' to drive then

Spoke to Jet, hes coming for a look/drive Thursday afternoon He has the constant question 'What can ZF chooning do for me?' - I will give him the answer, its only fair!

Jet, you got any time free Wednesday? If so I was going to invite you down to have a sample of a 'T' with a tuned ZF transmission so you can report on the differences to the other members here. Keen?

They move the map locations around in the software a fair bit, which is typical of most manufacturers whether they be Ford, Holden, or even Subaru

Each and every ZF tune will be custom, where the file has to be uploaded out of the individual vehicle for modification by a tuner. At this stage we have indentified over a dozen different base programs in the same series of vehicle.....so no generic....at this stage

Sorry Steve I missed your questions! Amongst all the background noise its easy to do....now let me go looking for them.... Ok I found it. My advice would be to have the transmission internal settings (mechanical) set back to factory, and then use the tuning software to adjust the pressures up where need be. It probably could be done backwards as you request, but I have never tried it so cant give you a definite answer.

X2 simply doesnt have the memory to support the additional size of the transmission module. X2 was designed in an era where there were no off-board transmission controllers in these cars hence being able to load the ZF file was never part of the design brief. X3 was prepared for this eventuality. The good news is that you dont - have - to tune your ZF. So you dont - have - to upgrade the X2 if you have one. ZF Tuning is an option for those that want it rather than a mandatory part of the tuning process.