The Rebirth

[BigMike]

Oh well

Go to "Maui Motor Speedway" http://www.racingin.com/track/details.aspx?s=HI&Address_ID=0411

[Sirdeuce]

Dirt oval

[BigMike]

Laguna Seca for you! I'm heading to Maui!!

They don't have any paved tracks on Maui!

Sux



The long summer gave me plenty of time to think about the car. By early Sept. Mike and I had set the date for Laguna Seca to be December 13. I knew I was still busy for a bit longer with weekend work events and wanted to have time to improve the car.

The two biggest issues I had at Thunderhill was:
1. Brakes.
and
2. Front traction.

Brakes. Oh my brakes. At Thunderhill I felt like I had either too much horsepower or too much weight for the brakes. They would stop me well enough, but I was nervous to really squeeze them hard. I kept trying to accelerate for longer a duration before braking at each corner but I found myself timid or not able to trust the brakes.

Nevertheless, I did hammer them a few times and wow those Porterfield pads are NO JOKE. With the tires and brakes warmed up WOW the car can stop. But sure enough it wasn't long until I was getting a ton of modulation from the brake pedal and returning to the pits each time I could feel the brakes had warped. It wasn't until the next day driving to work that I really realized just how bad they were.

So as shown on the previous page I did indeed replace all four rotors. I had to. The car would chatter like crazy every time I slowed down from any speed. But it got me thinking about my brake setup....

Back in 1999 or 2000 when I was 19 or 20 I installed front brake components at the rear. I've always known that as a result I have a greater rear brake balance but it didn't take much pondering to understand just how out of balance they were.

Consider the following.

Stock 1987 front caliper bore diameter: 50.8 mm
Stock 1987 rear caliper bore diameter: 36.5 mm
Front to rear ratio: 1.39:1

Now consider the surface areas:
Front stock caliper: 2026.8 mm^2
Rear stock caliper: 1046.3 mm^2
This is a stock front to rear pressure ratio of 1.94:1

By running front calipers in the rear I've effectively increase my rear brake balance by 48.5% (all things equal; yes I know there is a progressive rate factory proportioning valve). This is crazy. So I started looking into a larger front brake setup.

Doing some research there are a few ways to do this, but I don't have a big budget and prefer to use easy to service/replace OEM components so I went for the ST185 Celica Turbo Alltrac single piston front brakes.

Sept 4, 2015: Front Brake Upgrade

ST185 front calipers are a single 57 mm diameter caliper, which is a surface area increase over stock 87-89 fronts of 25.9%. There is a twin piston ST165 caliper, twin piston providing a better spread of the forces across the pad and better pad wear and performance, but with each piston being 38mm, it's increase over stock is only 11.9%. Calculating the piston surface area ratio of ST165 front to AW11b fronts-installed-to-rear, it is only a 6.2% improvement over front AW11b caliper + front AW11b caliper.

For these reasons I went with the ST185 and WOW am I ever glad I did this. The car has noticeable more front brake dive and stopping power and brake response has definitely increased. Temperature readings of front and rear still show the rear rotors having a slightly higher reading, but at this time it's unknown how much of this is from the larger rear brake bias or warmer ambient air due to close proximity to the engine.

Sorry for rambling, here comes the pics!!

Side by side comparison. ST185 rotor dimension is 278 mm compared to stock AW11b which is 258 mm. This is a diameter increase of 7.8%. Torque or in this case braking force is measured by the force acting on each brake pad by the caliper times the distance from the center of the rotor (radius). And we've got two rotors and four brake pads. So any increase in rotor diameter is a nice compounded benefit!

Various thicknesses. Keep in mind that the AW11b front rotors shown are used and therefore worn from stock. I love the extra thickness, the extra meat. It's gonna take a lot more heat to warp these puppies and I'm reducing the amount of brake force to my rear rotors so it's a big win-win.

[BigMike]

Sept 4, 2015: Front Brake Upgrade (continued)

All that extra meat comes with a big downside. Ugggg. Rotational mass and unsprung weight. I know, two piece rotors could be just as light as stock such as a Wilwood setup, but again, $$. At any rate they can always be upgraded later.

Oh I forgot, I was also looking at the Lotus Elise/Exige's brake rotor size and they run 288 mm front discs. So not only is my MR2 heavier but it has 11.6% smaller front brakes? Yeah screw that! This front brake upgrade was loooooong overdue!

[BigMike]

Sept 4, 2015: Front Brake Upgrade (continued)

The keen observer might be wondering about the 5-lug pattern of the Celica rotors. But the thing that makes this job easy is that both the AW11 and the Celica use the same hub dimension. So all you have to do is center the disc using the hub/rotor ID, align one lug hole, and then mark and drill three new holes.

What I did was I found a large socket that would just perfectly fit in the rotor ID. For me it happened to be a 39mm impact SnapOn socket. With both rotors concentric, tighten down a bolt to hold them in place, mark the pattern, and drill away. The 4-bolt piece you see here is a machined out center from my old rear non-vented rotors that I use as a wheel space. But the same would apply if you took a stock rotor and mounted it upside down.

I didn't do so well with the first rotor as one hole broke into one of the Celica's pattern, but in the end it doesn't matter. The hub is what centers the rotor and the force across the surfaces of both faces is what the torque is passing through, NOT the studs.

[BigMike]

Sept 4, 2015: Front Brake Upgrade (continued)

Here is the second attempt and this time I did a better job

[BigMike]

Sept 4, 2015: Front Brake Upgrade (continued)

The ST185 calipers line up and bolt directly to the AW11 front spindle. It could be used as-is but the pads overlap the rotor a bit. Grind the caliper bolt holes as needed to get the rotor to contact all of the pads

Done!!

[BigMike]

258mm vs 278mm Comparison!



As mentioned above this made a HUGE improvement to my brake system. I can't wait to test em out on the track!

Here is a break down of my brake system:
Booster: 1988-89 Supercharged Dual-Diaphragm type
Master Cylinder: 1989-1995.5 1" Hilux (product link from Marlin Crawler)
Front Caliper: ST185 Celica, 57 mm piston
Front Rotor: ST185 Celica 278mm diameter, sourced through Marlin Crawler
Front Pads: Porterfield R4-S Street/Autocross (product link from TwoRUs)
Rear Caliper: 1987-89 AW11b MR2 front, 50.8 mm piston
Rear Rotor: 1987-89 AW11b MR2 front, vented, 258 mm diameter, sourced through Marlin Crawler
Rear Pads: Porterfield R4-S Street/Autocross front pads (product link from TwoRUs)


There is another option here and that would be to use a SW20b rear caliper. It has a piston bore diameter of 43mm which would bring the front-to-rear brake bias ratio of only 9.3% different than stock. So if I somehow manage to warp another set of rear rotors at Laguna, then I'll be switching the SW20b rear calipers. I'll still use AW11b front rotors in the rear.

And that's it for the front brake swap!

[BigMike]

Last night I found a nice Brake Bias Calculator and looked over some numbers...

Source: http://www.tceperformanceproducts.com/bias-calculator/ (using published data I've collected online, mm converted to inches)

Stock

Front + Front

ST185 + AW11

ST185 + SW20b r

	Front	Rear	Front	Rear	Front	Rear	Front	Rear
Caliper dia:	2	1.437	2	2	2.24409	2	2.24409	1.69291
Rotor dia:	10.1575	10.3937	10.1575	10.1575	10.9449	10.1575	10.9449	10.1575
Pad height:	1.87	1.86	1.87	1.87	2.13	1.87	2.13	1.86
% FRONT BIAS	64.6%		50.0%		58.8%		66.5%
Difference:			-14.6%		-5.8%		+1.9%

So at Thunderhill I had 14.6% more rear brake bias than stock and for Laguna this increase will be cut by nearly 2/3rds. If I go with the SW20b rear caliper then I'll actually have more front balance than stock. Interesting...

In terms of just driving around out foothill/mtn roads, I've always preferred a rear brake bias. I'd rather have the rear lock up before the fronts. I hardly have any track experience but beings that one should get all her braking done before each corner, I guess all we'd care about is maximum braking performance in a straight line. Hmmmm.... just the things I think about throughout the day

Regards,
BigMike

[BigMike]

Sept 6, 2015: A return to the WebCam world

After having the ability to Datalog Air/Fuel ratio, I was messing around a lot with my cam timing using stock gears that I had slotted. The slots provided cam advance for both cams to about 10-12 degrees each. I was messing around with them so much and comparing AFR that one day Bill reminded me how he still had my old set of WebCam grind 294s laying around. At this time I wasn't exactly looking for more power but I figured Why Not? H-U-G-E T-H-A-N-K- Y-O-U T-O B-I-L-L!!!!!!! I would be lost without this amazing friend and engine/performance mentor


Removing stock GZE cams:


I then checked my cylinder head torque on the ARP studs. Spec is for 60 lb-ft and none moved save the last two at the end of the block. They took almost an eighth of a turn each to get back to 60. Glad I checked them.


Then the new cams went in. I was having such a good time that I forgot to take even ONE pic of the cams!! I did take before and after valve adjustment measurements:

Cylinder, Exhaust, Intake, in thousandths of an inch:
-- In Ex In
1a 09 11
1b 08 12
2a 08 11
2b 09 11
3a 08 10
3b 06 11
4a 06 11
4b 07 12

A few intakes are on the limit of being tight but they are intake so I wasn't so concerned.

And finally here are some nice shots of her all back together!





The Mighty 4A-GZE



This is now my second time installing grind 294 cams into a 4A-GZE!

Bonus pic: Approaching 310k miles! :cool:

[BigMike]

Sept 7, 2015: Finally, proper tuning.

The very next day was a milestone day for my car because this happened:









Muchhhh more to come!

[BigMike]

It's been a while so here comes some much needed updates!!

First, how about some teaser pics of what's to come?

[BigMike]

And how about some of this?









<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/paSMGZEnQv4&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/paSMGZEnQv4&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1</a>

[BigMike]

Greddy e-Manage Blue

Ok guys, let me tell you something, the e-Manage IS THE REAL DEAL.

With the USDM GZE, we can add fuel, add ignition timing, and remove ignition timing. We can modify the AFM voltage (however it's not recommended as this will also alter timing), and we can enter flow rates for oversized injectors and the e-Manage Blue (EMB) will automatically calculate the % difference for an adjusted AFM output signal (so the ECU sees the proper AFM signal as if we had stock injectors, yet we can add fuel on top since we've got larger injectors). This is everything needed to get the GZE running great on high boost and provides many tools for a great dyno tune.

A LOT has happened with my learning and progression of the EMB since September 7 so this is difficult to even start these next replies.

So I'm going to break this up into sections so I can organize all the progress with this major step in my car's development.

1. Configuring the e-Manage
2. Get the software up and running
3. Adding Fuel Injector control to the e-Manage
4. Adding Ignition Timing control to the e-Manage
5. Adding one accessory to the e-Manage
6. Datalogging from the e-Manage
and finally,
7. How I have been tuning my Supercharged MR2 with the e-Manage

[BigMike]

1. Configuring the e-Manage

The instructions that comes with the e-Manage left a lot to be desired. Some diagrams are very hard to read, others have missing data all together. One thing to note straightaway is that I am using the e-Manage Blue, which is an obsolete version now superseded by the e-Manage Ultimate. I don't have any experience with the Ultimate, but here are differences between the two from what I've gathered from research:

Advantages of the e-Manage Ultimate:

e-Manage Ultimate	e-Manage Blue (what I've got)
Fully control injectors, both scaling and pulsewidth	Can only add fuel
Two step RPM launch control	No launch control
Can replace AFM with a single MAP sensor	Cannot work without factory airflow meter
Full ignition timing control via aftermarket crank sensors	Can retard timing on most, but only advance timing on some
Multiple inputs for optional devices (AFR, MAP, EGR, Knock)	Only one input for one optional device
Data logging without laptop	Requires constant cable connection to datalog, and can only datalog for about five minutes at a time
Supported, free updates, tons of community help	No longer supported, hard to find help
Can be purchased new	You'll most likely find it used with an unknown prior configuration
Modern software with good export capability	Software was last updated in 2006. Only exports to a proprietary Greddy format (more on this later)
Uses a standard USB cable	Does not use a standard USB cable (more on this below)

Advantages of the e-Manage Blue:

e-Manage Blue	e-Manage Ultimate
Costs less	Costs more
Compatible with the Greddy Profec E01! (Example video)	Not compatible

What they both can do:

e-Manage Ultimate	e-Manage Blue
Extend Rev limit	Can do this with additional external control module
Adjust AFM voltage	Adjust AFM voltage

I got my e-Manage Blue from Bill, and I LOVE IT. The best thing is that on the US 4A-GZE, the Blue can both retard AND advance ignition timing! Apparently this isn't the case for most engines so we are fortunate to have full ignition timing control.


Prelude:
Before I go ANY further, I must tell you that you will want to be able to connect a Laptop/computer to your e-Manage the moment you get it installed. The reason is because as the Blue unit is discontinued, it's highly unlikely you'll find a unit with out any modifications pre-programmed to it. What if it is set for 50% more airflow at an idle? It might not even start up despite being wired correctly. And now I must share with you a very annoying feature of the eM Blue: The "USB" port is NOT a Universal Serial Bus. It is a SERIAL port using a USB connection!!!! What's worse is that Greddy is using some old or proprietary protocol in an attempt to control the market on laptop integration. Greddy will have you buy their "official" "Support Tool" which includes their "special" cable (see first pic of reply #445 above -- mine came with the cable missing). BUT, there are ways around this which I will share now.

For starters, you could just buy any ordinary serial cable, such as this $3 one on Amazon, cut one end off and soder on a USB male cable end from some old USB cable you have laying around......and then connect that to your 1990s laptop. But, at this point, I really hope you are not using a 1990s laptop or any other laptop that has a serial port! So unless you are reading this via your Windows 98 SE operating system, you could try making one yourself using a RS232 to TTL converter following the directions of this nice website. This is the cheapest (modern) option but I chose to get a premade USB to fake-USB cable from eBay, and this is what I did for $50: http://www.ebay.com/itm/291690440248 If for any reason you cannot find it on eBay or the link is dead, then here is the guy who makes them, http://www.ebay.com/usr/talon1luv, send him a message if you can't find it in his listings.



I highly recommend you get this cable right away because here is what happened to me: I was like 'No Big Deal' I'll just pick up a serial-to-USB conversion cable from Radio $hack (it was $39!!), installed the e-Manage, then realized there is some fancy protocol that prevents most all modern serial-to-USB cables from working, and returned the pile of crap cable. I then drove around for about two weeks with the e-Manage disconnected while researching what to do before I actually got a cable that worked!!

So I had the e-Manage installed yet I couldn't use it. Don't let this happen to you! Yes, there are some rotary dials on the front panel to alter AFM voltages at a few set RPM points, but....trust me, if you are not datalogging (much, much more on this later!) then I wouldn't even bother using an e-Manage. Seriously.

So without anymore sidetracking, let's get on with the install for the USDM (1988-1989 airflow meter and distributor 8.0:1 compression) 4A-GZE:

Installing:
Installing was pretty straight-forward. I have uploaded the Installation Manual to my server here:
http://bigmike.marlincrawler.com/files/1987_MR2/electrical/e-manage/e-manage-blue-installation-manual.pdf (PDF, 2.36MB)

Here we go! Let's do this in 3 Easy Steps

Step 1:

First open the PDF to pages 15 & 16. Unscrew the e-Manage and pull out the circuit board. Set the jumpers to the following:

JP1 1-2
JP2 1-2
JP3 1-2
JP4 empty
JP5 empty
JP6 empty
JP7 1-2



If you don't want to lose the jumpers at 4, 5, and 6 you can just hang them on one post off to the side so that they aren't touching any other post, like this:




Step 2:

Next rotate the board around to the end with the blue dials and flip to page 14. Configure the dials as follows (via info from page 27):

1: Position "2"
2: Position "4"
3: Position "A"
4: Not used, so point it straight up.
5: Not used, so point it straight up.



Then put the circuit board back inside the housing.


Step 3:

Next go to page 9. The top diagram is what our USDM 4A-GZE will use since we have a "flap type" air flow meter.



It is painfully easy. You only need to splice one wire, the AFM signal wire, and then connect power, ground, and RPM. The only thing to be careful with here is with the Airflow splice: The Green wire goes to the ECU, and the White wire goes to the Engine. Don't get that backwards!

Now, something VERY important here is that Greddy leftout the wiring for the Throttle! It is a Gray wire and will be needed if you want to base any adjustments by Throttle Percent, which does make sense as our positive-displacement boost is linear with throttle position.....but more on this later.

Flip to page 27 for our ECU pin layout, T-5, and you can see Th is listed for Throttle, which I'd recommend connecting. Colored for reference:



and here is a pin-out for reference just in case it's needed:



So that's it, 4 connections and 1 splice and you're up and running! Turn your key to the on position and you should get a blinking orange light at the e-Manage. At this point, as mentioned above, it would be great to connect the e-Manage to your computer before firing up your engine for the first time. So go ahead and plug your special designed-for-the-e-Manage-serial-to-USB cable to your computer now and launch the following software:

http://bigmike.marlincrawler.com/files/1987_MR2/electrical/e-manage/e-manage-blue-software.zip (5.53MB)

I've included the final update to the e-Manage Blue Software which will take the software from v1.40 up to v1.49, the final Greddy 2006 update which is required in order to run a MAP sensor without having to use some rainbow table to manually convert between AFM and MAP voltages (run "e-manage149 - update.exe" after installing the program).

If needed, here is the older PL2303 v3.3.2.105 Prolific cable driver that is old enough to work with the e-Manage Blue. This driver works with the cable via the eBay link above:

http://bigmike.marlincrawler.com/files/1987_MR2/electrical/e-manage/e-manage-usb-cable-prolific-PL2303-v3.3.2.105.zip (2.15 MB)

I've also included install instructions in the Prolific archive file (see step 1 below).

2. Get the software up and running

1. Get the Greddy Software installed and configured to use the same Com port as your cable, then close the program (see my install notes in the file '! Install - PL2303 v3.3.2.105 Old and compatible.txt').
2. Turn your ignition to the ON position to power up the e-Manage.
3. Plug the cable into your laptop, and finally
4. Launch the Greddy Software (again)

Okay now we'll move on to the actual software. Plenty more to come hopefully soon. I need to get out to my car to get various software screen shots to explain the next steps!

Regards,
BigMike