PERFORMANCE TUNING ANYONE?

[lotusman]

Is anyone tuning these cars? This is my first EV car, and I've tuned every ice car I've had.

Maybe there are torque limiters or other software changes that can make the car peppy?

Just curious.....I assume there isn't enough of a market for a tuner to hack the ecu software to make it worthwhile, but I thought I;d ask..

[jmueller065]

First of all:
The car is pretty peppy all by itself; something about 100% torque available at any RPM.

Second of all: because of the SSN issues I wouldn't want to put ANY custom code into any module in this car until that is 100% fixed!

[az erik]

First of all:
The car is pretty peppy all by itself; something about 100% torque available at any RPM.

Second of all: because of the SSN issues I wouldn't want to put ANY custom code into any module in this car until that is 100% fixed!

100% of less than 150ft/lbs of torque is actually not much when you're used to tuning ICE cars. My truck was a little over 1100 ft/tq and a touch under 650hp, the step down to the FFE was to say, a bit of a change.

On your second point I agree 110%%.

I'll put it into another electric perspective. R/C cars. You get a R/C car with a motor and speed control and it's set up for a battery. Sometimes 2 batteries. You decide to up the voltage by messing with something in the ESC. Your RC runs like a bat out of hell for 4 minutes and then bursts into flames. You are safe, but your car is toast. Now the FFE isn't much different. The motor was matched for the battery and most other things in the car were as well with a little head room. But from the sounds of the SSN it's VERY little head room. Realize you don't have any real monitoring of the motor or battery. And if either is pushed too hard for too long smoke is sure to follow. There isn't pinging or a wideband that will save you or at least let you know you've gone too far. Litterally IF these or any electric car (Tesla Roadster for example) are to be tweaked expect to hear about several of them going up in smoke first. Most every ICE tuner I ever worked with toasted several motors in their life before figuring it out. Also keep in mind ANY electrical/fire is grounds for total loss on a car.

[lotusman]

[quote="jmueller065"]First of all:
"The car is pretty peppy all by itself; something about 100% torque available at any RPM."

I wouldn't consider it peppy, I guess its relative to what you're used to. V10 audi S6, highly tuned lotus v8 twin turbo, tuned mark 6 vw gti, these are the FFEs stable mates.

I appreciate the challenges and difficulties, I didn't know if there were torque limiters in place at lower speeds (for example to control wheel spin, I am putting stickier tires on, so have more traction to work with).

[WattsUp]

First of all:
"The car is pretty peppy all by itself; something about 100% torque available at any RPM."

I wouldn't consider it peppy, I guess its relative to what you're used to. V10 audi S6, highly tuned lotus v8 twin turbo, tuned mark 6 vw gti, these are the FFEs stable mates.

Granted, the FFE is not a sports car, but compared to "most" other normal cars (as opposed to your euro-garage), it's pretty peppy, and torqey. It's fun to "bump" my passenger's heads on their headrest while already doing 45 mph, or rocket up a hill like an amusement ride. They usually say, "whoa.. my car doesn't do that".

[jmueller065]

I guess its relative to what you're used to. V10 audi S6, highly tuned lotus v8 twin turbo, tuned mark 6 vw gti, these are the FFEs stable mates.

I also have a V-10 in my stable of vehicles. It isn't as fast as the S6, nor even as fast as the FFE. At over 8000lbs it isn't going to be; I've even customized it with a custom calibration to get more mpg and hp out of it (dropped the 0-60 time down by a full second!). As such it does a darn fine job pulling our camper around (with the two combined we are something like 15k lbs+ going down the road sipping fuel at a leisurely rate of 8mpg)!
(yeah its an F-350)

[unplugged]

Maybe there are torque limiters or other software changes that can make the car peppy?

I would like to see the software mapping of the initial rollout changed. It has been discussed that there is an artificial and limited feel of the initial acceleration from stop. When you floor it from a light, the full torque doesn't come on until about 20 yards.

The real problem is that, like you mentioned, with such limited sales (less than 2500) of the FFE, I don't know if anyone will bother mapping the module to change the FFE characteristics.

[davideos]

When you floor it from a light, the full torque doesn't come on until about 20 yards.

I think I've noticed this as well. I think the reason could be an issue of traction. Although I too would like some more power at the starting line, it may become too easy for the front tires to spin....as it is, my front tires definitely wear faster than the rear.

[WattsUp]

When you floor it from a light, the full torque doesn't come on until about 20 yards.

I think I've noticed this as well. I think the reason could be an issue of traction. Although I too would like some more power at the starting line, it may become too easy for the front tires to spin....as it is, my front tires definitely wear faster than the rear.

Yes, flooring it from stopped is limited to be a bit "soft". I get the impression this is purposely done to prevent the thing from spinning the wheels.

But, what I find... if you tap the accelerator to start rolling just a bit, and then depress it further a split second later, you should find more torque than otherwise. At least this is my impression. I think this pattern somewhat defeats the built-in limiting. You have to get a feel for it.

Someone else also suggested that L may have a slightly stronger "torque curve" (with emphasis on slightly). If it does, it is very hard to tell. Personally, I'm not sure... but I'm not yet totally convinced it doesn't.

[jmueller065]

The car is supposed to have both traction control and ABS.

My guess is that the extremely hard tires cause the traction control to back way off. I wonder if it would be a bit more zippy with more sticky tires.