[fullservice]

It seems that the higher power the tune the more smoke that is made. If smoke is unburned fuel, why is this necessary? It seems that is wasted fuel. Is it not possible (with today’s electronic controls) to put in all the fuel that is necessary to make the power and all that can be burned without putting in the excess that makes the smoke, or is it just something with diesel motors that they have to always have excess fuel to make maximum power? Just a curiosity question. I personally would prefer maximum power with very little smoke. Prefer not to call attention to myself any more than necessary, but rather have power with smoke than not have power. How about it all you custom tuners and any other knowledgeable members? Thanks in advance for any and all knowledgeable replies.

 

[FamilyRide]

Wrong forum, but more power doesn't always mean more smoke. Some people ask tuners for more smoke just because.

Check out all the smoke and power discussions on the Upgrade and Aftermarket forum.

 

[cmirabile]

When you see black smoke, you need more air. When you floor it, it starts injecting larger amounts of fuel before there is enough boost, so you see a ploom /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif of black smoke. But once the boost gets up there to compensate, the smoke goes away /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif (mostly). The thing is that if you want a complete burn, you need more air in the chamber at combustion (boost). More boost = High CP. High CP = blown headgasket/stretched bolts. So yes, you can have very little smoke, but if you want all the power, in my opinion, you need to start looking at aftermarket intake manifolds and head studs.

 

[fullservice]

Yeh, I know some want lots of smoke just because. I also understand what you said about CP. But what I meant was, if say ID's race tune makes say - 120 HP and 200 ft/lbs with a steady stream of black smoke (not saying it does, just an example) could they make the same numbers with out the smoke. Same amount of air but just enough fuel to make the power but not enough to have excess to make smoke.

 

[TxSam]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but excessive fuel actually helps to keep the burn under control and hence keep CP down and temps down. You could lean it out, but then you'd get a better burn with higher temps and higher pressure and hence the other unwanted outcomes. I would assume you could tune it with the best possible parameters, but it takes a lot of trial and error and running on the hairy edge of blow-up. So it is easier and a little safer to dump a lot of fuel and keep things somewhat ineffecient if you will. This is probably an over-simplification of the issue, but hopefully you understand what I'm saying.