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Old 03-08-2014, 09:42 PM   #1
pbp1
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Default EFI, Alpha-N vs Speed Density fueling Strategies

I’m sure this is going to bring out some strong opinions but I have been involved in some conversations lately about the Pros and Cons of Alpha-N vs Speed Density fuel tuning strategies. This prompted me to start a discussion about why I am a fan of Speed Density over Alpha-N.

For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about, with modern EFI systems, there are two main strategies for fueling an engine, Alpha-N and Speed Density.

In Alpha-N mode, the system uses Throttle Position to measure the load on the engine. It then uses the throttle position and RPM to identify a cell in a 3D table that fuels the engine at that specific Load and RPM. In Alpha-N, the tuner puts a value in this cell that represents the amount of time they want to turn the injector on (pulsewidth) or Fuel in pounds per hour. The FAST XFI can use either Pulsewidth or Pounds of fuel per hour. In this mode, the tuner is basically using the system like electronically controlled mechanical injection. This is under utilizing the potential of modern EFI systems because it cannot make accurate corrections to engine fueling to compensate for changes in atmospheric conditions. Alpha-N is a direct way to tune an engine for a given set of conditions but if the conditions change, guess what, you have to re-calibrate or re-tune your fuel tables. The XFI offers Barometric pressure and air temperature correction tables that are capable of trimming the fueling when these conditions change but this requires the tuner to manually setup these tables, and throws another unknown variable into the tune vs Speed Density which automatically and accurately changes fueling to compensate for atmospheric changes.

Speed Density fueling strategy uses atmospheric pressure (measured by the MAP or Manifold Absolute Pressure sensor) and air temperature to calculate the density of a given volume of air in your engine at a specific set of atmospheric conditions. The ECU uses the same standard constant laws of physics about the relationship of the density of air to the Pressure and Temperature as your weather stations and all Dynos use. Once the ECU has calculated the density of the air, it just needs to know the volume and your desired Air/Fuel ratio to calculate how much fuel to put into the engine. The displacement of the engine is a constant so the VE or Volumetric Efficiency is the variable that you use to properly calibrate or “tune” your system. The VE is a measure of how well the cylinders are being filled compared to their potential volume. Once you have found the VE value that causes the engine to run at your desired or target Air/Fuel ratio with no O2 or other corrections, then you have discovered the accurate VE for your engine at that particular load and speed (in that particular cell in the VE table). The VE of the engine does not change unless mechanical parts are changed. Your engine will flow the same VOLUME of air in Denver as it does in Gainesville, the air is just more dense in Gainesville therefore it needs more fuel to get to the same Air/Fuel ratio. Once your VE table is properly calibrated, you have an accurate Air Flow table for your engine. The benefit to the racer is that once you have properly calibrated your VE table, you will not have to re-tune or re-calibrate your fuel table from track to track anymore. The ECU will do this for you. Just so you know this is not some un-proven theory, with his permission, I want to provide a real world example of a successful race program that relies on True Speed Density. Jeff Dona runs his SS LT1 Firebird in Speed Density, Open loop and he has run his car in 1.015 to 1.095 correction without changing anything in his tuneup and the actual Air/Fuel ratio never strayed more than 2% from the target Air/Fuel ratio. This allows a racer to focus on other aspects of his race program without worrying about his or her tuneup every time the engine goes from the dyno to the track or from track to track.

Some EFI manufacturers offer a hybrid Speed Density mode that allows the tuner to enter fuel in pounds per hour instead of Volumetric efficiency. The problem with that is that you lose the benefit of TRUE Speed Density as you have overridden the ECUs potential to accurately compensate for changes in atmospheric conditions. The tuner can set up some compensation tables but why guess at the needed changes in fueling when TRUE Speed Density uses known laws of physics to compensate accurately.

The engine does not know or care how the ECU decides how much fuel to inject into it. It is possible to have two tunes for an engine, one in Alpha-N and one in Speed Density and they both inject the exact same amount of fuel at all loads and RPMs, the only difference is, when the air gets better or worse, the Alpha-N tune will still provide the same amount of fuel while the Speed Density tune will compensate properly. I am not talking about the engine running richer or leaner, I am talking about the fact that as the air gets worse, it takes less fuel to get to the same Air/Fuel ratio!

I am not trying to put down anyone who uses Alpha-N fueling strategy as I know people who do so successfully. If you do use Alpha-N and are happy with your program, stick with it. I just wanted to provide some facts and information on how Speed Density uses modern EFI to its full potential.

I welcome comments and questions.
David Page
Fuel Air Spark Technology
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