NewLoveI30

I will be moving back to Colorado in a few months and was wondering what I should do to tune my car for high altitude. Elevation is at 5-6k feet!!! When I took my car up last summer to visit some friends is was a LOT slower. Here at sea level my car will pull 0-60 in about 7 seconds, when up in Denver it jumped to about 11 seconds!!! Four f*cking seconds!!!

My timing method is pretty consistent so I dont think it is that. Even if I were a full second off that is still unacceptable. My 2.3L 155hp SAAB used to make about a 10 second 0-60 at that altitude. So Im sure that tuned correctly my 227hp I30 should be faster than my 13 year old SAAB.

Anyway, Im looking for tips as to what i should do to gat my car tuned for the lack of oxygen. The only thing I have come up with is unpluging the battery overnight to reset the ECU.

Anybody know what is involved in altitude tuning that they would do at the dealer or another shop?

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

Was the SAAB turbo'd?

You'll need to lean out your AFR using a dyno wideband 02 and an AFC like the Apexi S-AFC.

NA is going to suck azz at that elevation no matter what you do. If I lived that high, I'd only buy a turbocharged vehicle.

spirilis

iTrader: (2)

SC the sum'b*tch

Galo

In 1997 I was moving back to Puerto Rico so I drove from Oregon to Lake Charles, Louisiana with my 4.3 liter S-10 Blazer towing my 1997 Maxima SE 5-speed on a tow dolly. Part of this trip was on I70 going up Loveland Pass and at one point, reaching the summit, I was floored in second gear doing 30mph.

From my weaving and darting, I distinctly remember there are two kinds of trucks:
- the normally aspirated ones were trundling up the hill at 10 mph and I was blowing by them
- the turbocharged trucks were doing 50 mph and they were blowing by me.

so much for the visible benefits of forced induction at high altitudes...

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

Say that again?

Ben

Here is a list of everything I learned when I lived in Boulder:
1. Turbo good.

I passed on an rsx-s for a gti there because the gti was MUCH faster, especially in the hills. I loved blowing past big america cars. Nothing like the look on a mustang Gt owners face when you blast past him.
If you are going to live @ > 5000 ft, boost is a must.

NewLoveI30

The SAAB had 155hp... It was/is not turbocharged (Aero-225hp)

You would think the car would be able to adjust its self. After all what are the MAF and O2 sensors doing? I know the car will be slower up there, but the point I was making is that its got to be faster than the N/A 2.3 SAAB.

Well Ive ordered my Cattman y, and maybe I should look at getting my PR CAI a bit sooner... to help offset the losses. I love Colorado, but it sure is hard on the cars.

Wurf

"You would think the car would be able to adjust its self. After all what are the MAF and O2 sensors doing?"

The ECU is reading those sensors and adjusting the engine according to the conditions. At those elevations, the air is simply thinner, and contains a LOT less oxygen. Less oxygen must be mixed with less fuel, and consequently makes less power.

Turbo or forced induction will shove more air in the cylinders and make a huge difference, but even so, a turbo or blown car will be slower at 5K feet than it will be at sea level for the same reasons a naturally aspirated car will. You could run probalby more boost at higher elevations and make up for it if you had a turbo or blown setup.

Just be glad you don't have a carburator on it.

NewLoveI30

I understand how altitude (less dense air) affects the performance, but can you explaine why my 2000 I30 with 227hp&217lb/ft is substantialy slower than my 1991 SAAB (close in weight) with 155hp&160lb/ft at the same altitude?

There is certain tuning you have to do when you change elevation drasticly and the ECU prolly needs time to adjust. I just want to know what I can do to tune my car for the altitude so I dont have to pay someone else to do it.

Thanks anyway though