Discussion
Bobgriff said:
Guys,
Just wondering if anyone who has upgraded from the standard ECU may have a tornado chip for a 500 they would consider parting with. She runs ok but I think she has more to give!, especially in the higher range where the fuel leans out. If anyone can help please pm me, thanks.
You can buy any Tornado chip then send it back to Mr Adams with your engine spec for a nominal charge .. You have purchased and paid for the soft ware .Just wondering if anyone who has upgraded from the standard ECU may have a tornado chip for a 500 they would consider parting with. She runs ok but I think she has more to give!, especially in the higher range where the fuel leans out. If anyone can help please pm me, thanks.
As per Daz's post above you can purchase a Tornado chip and send it back to Mark for - reprogramming. Just make sure you get the decoder as well which sits between the chip and the socket. This is how Mark protects his software, the chip alone is useless.
If you are looking to get the best out of your car running 14CUX then a Rolling Road session with Mark is a good investment...
http://matthewpoxon.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/mappi...
If you are looking to get the best out of your car running 14CUX then a Rolling Road session with Mark is a good investment...
http://matthewpoxon.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/mappi...
Just for completion, I now have a tornado chip, fitted it today and went out for a quick test drive. What a difference. It's a standard map for a 5.0 but really changes the characteristics of the engine. Just need to arrange some time with Mark Adams to get the best from it as the engine is slightly modded being a taraka, really don't understand why Dom's bespoke taraka chip didn't optimize the engine performance?
Bobgriff said:
Just for completion, I now have a tornado chip, fitted it today and went out for a quick test drive. What a difference. It's a standard map for a 5.0 but really changes the characteristics of the engine. Just need to arrange some time with Mark Adams to get the best from it as the engine is slightly modded being a taraka, really don't understand why Dom's bespoke taraka chip didn't optimize the engine performance?
Just fitted a tornado chip from Mark Adams, mapped to a best guess, based on the spec of the engine and what a difference, it makes a difference all round. Even the way the engine goes down to idle is different; far more stable. Its going on the dyno for a quick check tomorrow to see if it makes any more power.Bobgriff said:
Just for completion, I now have a tornado chip, fitted it today and went out for a quick test drive. What a difference. It's a standard map for a 5.0 but really changes the characteristics of the engine. Just need to arrange some time with Mark Adams to get the best from it as the engine is slightly modded being a taraka, really don't understand why Dom's bespoke taraka chip didn't optimize the engine performance?
Because he has a box full so it`s trial and error.I know Mark has over 2000 previous maps that he has done - so most applications/cc/cam/heads/fuel types etc he has already seen and as long as he knows your basic engine spec he will generally give you a noticeable improvement over any other map.
As has already been implied here, whilst he can give you a 90% efficient profile from his library the only way to get the optimum tune is to have him map it live on a rolling road.
Here are my figures from my 1998 griff 5.2 - John Eales Motor - internally balanced - bought after the TVR bottom end let go at 140 mph on the A16 heading down towards Beauvais on the way to LM.
bear in mind a factory 500 will be 10% less - I never had this one dynoed with the standard engine.
5.2 with 500 heads,214 cam, TVR ecu, cats removed - 288 bhp @ 6000 rpm and 312 lbs/ft torque at 4600 rpm.
Same again with vernier cam timer set correctly - 308 bhp at 6200 rpm and 322 lbs/ft torque at 4500 rpm
Following fitment of tornado and RR session with Mark
315 bhp at 6100 rpm and 370!!!!! lbs/ft of torque at 4600 rpm with 300lbs from 1900 rpm.
torque equals acceleration.
Factor in the 10% improvement in fuel economy as well.
Go for it{
As has already been implied here, whilst he can give you a 90% efficient profile from his library the only way to get the optimum tune is to have him map it live on a rolling road.
Here are my figures from my 1998 griff 5.2 - John Eales Motor - internally balanced - bought after the TVR bottom end let go at 140 mph on the A16 heading down towards Beauvais on the way to LM.
bear in mind a factory 500 will be 10% less - I never had this one dynoed with the standard engine.
5.2 with 500 heads,214 cam, TVR ecu, cats removed - 288 bhp @ 6000 rpm and 312 lbs/ft torque at 4600 rpm.
Same again with vernier cam timer set correctly - 308 bhp at 6200 rpm and 322 lbs/ft torque at 4500 rpm
Following fitment of tornado and RR session with Mark
315 bhp at 6100 rpm and 370!!!!! lbs/ft of torque at 4600 rpm with 300lbs from 1900 rpm.
torque equals acceleration.
Factor in the 10% improvement in fuel economy as well.
Go for it{
SILICONEKID343HP said:
Bobgriff said:
Just for completion, I now have a tornado chip, fitted it today and went out for a quick test drive. What a difference. It's a standard map for a 5.0 but really changes the characteristics of the engine. Just need to arrange some time with Mark Adams to get the best from it as the engine is slightly modded being a taraka, really don't understand why Dom's bespoke taraka chip didn't optimize the engine performance?
Because he has a box full so it`s trial and error.
I must've been lucky, my Taraka with Dom's 'trial and error' chip made 321 bhp and 355 ft/lb at Surrey Rolling Road.
swanny71 said:
Really Daz?
I must've been lucky, my Taraka with Dom's 'trial and error' chip made 321 bhp and 355 ft/lb at Surrey Rolling Road.
Glad yours works well Swanny, mine doesn't, must have got the duff one from the box !I must've been lucky, my Taraka with Dom's 'trial and error' chip made 321 bhp and 355 ft/lb at Surrey Rolling Road.
Can't express what a difference a generic 5l tornado chip has made. I took it to Dom last year and put it on his RR only to be told that it was as good as it was going to get without a bespoke mapped chip.
I'm really looking forward to Mark refining it; would be more than happy with similar figures to yours
Bobgriff said:
Glad yours works well Swanny, mine doesn't, must have got the duff one from the box !
Can't express what a difference a generic 5l tornado chip has made. I took it to Dom last year and put it on his RR only to be told that it was as good as it was going to get without a bespoke mapped chip.
I'm really looking forward to Mark refining it; would be more than happy with similar figures to yours
Hope all goes well mate, let us know how you get on.Can't express what a difference a generic 5l tornado chip has made. I took it to Dom last year and put it on his RR only to be told that it was as good as it was going to get without a bespoke mapped chip.
I'm really looking forward to Mark refining it; would be more than happy with similar figures to yours
swanny71 said:
Really Daz?
I must've been lucky, my Taraka with Dom's 'trial and error' chip made 321 bhp and 355 ft/lb at Surrey Rolling Road.
They don`t map the 14cux ,they probably tried a dozen chips before they got one close enough .I must've been lucky, my Taraka with Dom's 'trial and error' chip made 321 bhp and 355 ft/lb at Surrey Rolling Road.
What is the Taraka ? Is it a full build or just a bit of fettling .
A few words to the wise on costs.
Mark Adams tuned my chip, and it's excellent. But the peculiarity of the way he works makes the mapping quite expensive.
He uses an independent RR in Shrewsbury, who charge £95 plus VAT for the first hour and £75 plus VAT thereafter, from the moment you check in to the moment you leave, including the time getting your car set up on the RR and waiting for Mark to arrive. The RR guy does the spanner work, Mark works his laptop etc.
Mark charges £60 (i think plus VAT) per hour, and is there for slightly less time. They do a proper job, but don't exactly rush, there are interruptions for tea and phone calls, and you end up paying for every minute your car is in the place.
IIRC I was there for four hours, at a cost of over £600. Mark charged three hours and was excellent value due to his encyclopaedic knowledge, the RR i felt could have charged a bit less.
Post-rationalising it,I have a great car that works, but I feel it didn't need to cost that much. However, I will say that Mark spent a lot of time on the phone with me for free, and I got all his expertise, so on balance I got a fair result. If you are less relaxed about wasted time than me you might get a cheaper job from the RR, especially if you remember that any idle chat is costing you over £2.50 a minute.
Mark Adams tuned my chip, and it's excellent. But the peculiarity of the way he works makes the mapping quite expensive.
He uses an independent RR in Shrewsbury, who charge £95 plus VAT for the first hour and £75 plus VAT thereafter, from the moment you check in to the moment you leave, including the time getting your car set up on the RR and waiting for Mark to arrive. The RR guy does the spanner work, Mark works his laptop etc.
Mark charges £60 (i think plus VAT) per hour, and is there for slightly less time. They do a proper job, but don't exactly rush, there are interruptions for tea and phone calls, and you end up paying for every minute your car is in the place.
IIRC I was there for four hours, at a cost of over £600. Mark charged three hours and was excellent value due to his encyclopaedic knowledge, the RR i felt could have charged a bit less.
Post-rationalising it,I have a great car that works, but I feel it didn't need to cost that much. However, I will say that Mark spent a lot of time on the phone with me for free, and I got all his expertise, so on balance I got a fair result. If you are less relaxed about wasted time than me you might get a cheaper job from the RR, especially if you remember that any idle chat is costing you over £2.50 a minute.
Edited by QBee on Sunday 6th October 00:31
QBee said:
SILICONEKID343HP said:
They don`t map the 14cux ,they probably tried a dozen chips before they got one close enough .
What is the Taraka ? Is it a full build or just a bit of fettling .
Daz, read TVPower's website - it gives full details on the Taraka upgrade.What is the Taraka ? Is it a full build or just a bit of fettling .
And I suspect (though I don't know for sure) that the chip included with the Taraka upgrade contains a map by someone like Mark Adams to suite the engines characteristics.
Either way, it drives better than my old Griff(long list of upgrades + MA mapped) and yet makes more power.
Would probably benefit from a tweak or two now it has ACT manifolds and sports cats. A session with MA or Emerald/MS/Canems in the new year......
Edited by swanny71 on Sunday 6th October 07:23
Regarding Mark's charges - totally fair, particularly given his knowledge.
I was chatting to him the other day and he said that the guy in shrewsbury was a hard-arse over the rolling road and wouldn't budge on price and of course Mark has no control over that.
He uses another guy in Cheltenham who is much more relaxed about it all and of course Austec in Crawley will usually do a fixed charge based on their experiences of how long it takes - Mark has done hundreds there as he used to live in Aldershot.
I was chatting to him the other day and he said that the guy in shrewsbury was a hard-arse over the rolling road and wouldn't budge on price and of course Mark has no control over that.
He uses another guy in Cheltenham who is much more relaxed about it all and of course Austec in Crawley will usually do a fixed charge based on their experiences of how long it takes - Mark has done hundreds there as he used to live in Aldershot.
vjj said:
Regarding Mark's charges - totally fair, particularly given his knowledge.
I was chatting to him the other day and he said that the guy in shrewsbury was a hard-arse over the rolling road and wouldn't budge on price and of course Mark has no control over that.
He uses another guy in Cheltenham who is much more relaxed about it all and of course Austec in Crawley will usually do a fixed charge based on their experiences of how long it takes - Mark has done hundreds there as he used to live in Aldershot.
Totally agree with that. Mark warned me about the hourly rates when I booked. From previous RR visits I expected about two hours, so mentally allowed £300-£400. I was chatting to him the other day and he said that the guy in shrewsbury was a hard-arse over the rolling road and wouldn't budge on price and of course Mark has no control over that.
He uses another guy in Cheltenham who is much more relaxed about it all and of course Austec in Crawley will usually do a fixed charge based on their experiences of how long it takes - Mark has done hundreds there as he used to live in Aldershot.
I arrived at about 12.45 for a 1 pm appointment, Mark hadn't arrived, so after about a 25 minute wait the RR guy said " might as well get your car on the rollers". Having travelled for two hours to get there and then stood around fr the best part of half an hour, I said "fine" and the clock started. He took his time getting it on and strapped down, various interruptions from his workforce, then we waited for Mark for about 20 minutes or so. Mark came into the workshop at around 2.00, had a chat with his mates, got his equipment out, and they made a start.
I had fuelling issues, they had to reset the TPS and a few other things, and so it proceeded. Phone calls happened, tea breaks, chats about other cars, the afternoon dragged on in a slow but friendly fashion, and at about 4.30 the car was ready for road test. Went out on the road test, all fine, Back to the workshop, another chat, paid Mark, who knocked off about half an hour for wasted time, then paid the RR, who charged the entire time I was there from the moment I arrived to the moment I was standing there paying.
Yes, Mark is brilliant and so knowledgable, and his rate is fantastic value, but because it isn't his own RR you end up paying a very high overall rate for the job given the RR's ability to charge and the number of interruptions to proceedings, which they totally disregard when charging.
I've had my car mapped by MA after my engine rebuild a few years ago, ... done a load of chatting with Mark over the phone, due to subsequient upgrades... got a package in the post for about £150.. with afew other bits in.....
only problem is, my upgarde from MA require me to play about in the ECU, as well as install reworked tornado chip, and fitting new connections to AFM..... I'm very nervous, even though instructions look clear....
only problem is, my upgarde from MA require me to play about in the ECU, as well as install reworked tornado chip, and fitting new connections to AFM..... I'm very nervous, even though instructions look clear....
Gassing Station | Griffith | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff