This is quite timely really, what with the current rules in F1 being changed to allow this gadget too. Have you noticed how many engines have been self-destructing with this on? I did a bit of digging around and found that cutting the spark to the cylinder is the most common method as its the easiest to implement. Basically ( dunno if you already know :) ) as the system detects that the rear wheels are moving a % faster than the fronts (for rear wheel drive) the system then cuts spark to cylinders therfore reducing power to the wheels until they get grip back, then it feeds the spark back in again. Simple. Effective. Slightly dangerous to the engine though. You get effects called 'Afterburn' and 'Aftershock' 'Afterburn' is when the unburnt fuel isnt ignited in the engine and is forced into the exhaust and is then combusted (remember the cats?) 'Aftershock' is the vibration caused by this burning of fuel in the exhaust. Now this may not happen very often coz we dont go racing round tracks, but it is definately worth bearing in mind that things that Nissan didnt allow for in the design of our cars is happening....Also bear in mind that TC is great for slow corners where speed is low and acceleration will be high very suddenly, its not going to help in a faster corner if the limit of the cars grip is found coz you wont be suffereing from wheel spin. As launch control you will be unbeatable though, and remeber if you start to slide - DO NOT LET OFF THE POWER!!! Keep it floored so the TC can help you - if you let go you will snap back straight away and TC wont help...I would recommend that anyone who buys this must go on a skid pan to learn how to make it work for you.

 

My 2 cents anyway. Feel free to tell my otherwise, I may have got some aspects wrong!!!

 

Keep in mind that the Racelogic TC doesn't cut the spark though..it cuts the fuel (injector), so there should be no risk of afterburn.

 

-Eric

 

FAQ Poached from Racelogic's web page. There is also stacks more info there. Judge for yourself:

 

Customer:- I have driven some modern cars with factory fitted Traction Control systems and they slow the car down quite significantly impairing performance. I am concerned that the Racelogic system might do the same ?

 

Answer:- The Racelogic system is unlike any other Traction Control system available in that it always enhances performance. Manufacturer's systems have to work in all conditions without any input from the driver, therefore you are effectively driving around with very safe snow & ice settings on your system at all times. In making the system in-cockpit adjustable, we believe the customer has enough intelligence to set the system to whatever condition prevails, therefore maximising the performance of the car.

 

Customer:- I am concerned that the system cuts fuel, and I have a highly modified turbo engine, which if it runs lean will cause instant damage. How safe is the Racelogic system on these types of engine ?

 

Answer:- The Racelogic system works on individual injectors, and is designed only to cut out one whole injection pulse. The amount of fuel is not just decreased, it is completely removed for one stroke. This means the engine either receives a 100% complete amount of fuel or none at all. If it receives none at all, the spark has no effect, the mixture will not ignite, and therefore the temperature does not go up. We have succesfully fitted the system to Formula One engines, 750 BHP Turbo Engines (in our own Supra), motorbike engines and kart engines.

 

Customer:- Doesn't cutting the fuel affect the catalytic converter, or the lambda sensor ?

 

Answer:- We have carried out many tests on dynos with various manufacturer's and on the road with thermocouple probes before and after the catalytic converter, and we could not measure a significant rise in cat temperature when Traction Control was operating. Almost all traction control situations are on full throttle, and generally the ECU does not read the lambda sensors on full throttle. If a sustained traction control event occurs on part throttle (eg. ice) then the lambda sensor will start to richen up the mixture on the firing injectors, which combined with the excess air from the unfired cylinders may cause a rise in cat temperature. It is worth being aware of this, and backing off the throttle after about 30 seconds of sustained missfire on ice or snow.

 

Customer:- I am thinking of fitting an LSD, will Traction control still be of benefit, and will it stop the LSD from working ?

 

Answer:- Our system is designed to allow a small amount of wheelspin because that is the fastest way to accelerate. The same is true for ABS, it allows a small amount of wheel slip to get the most braking force. Therefore it works after the LSD has come into play, and not before. The Traction Control system will not increase mechanical grip, only LSD's and tyres will do this. What it does it to maximise the grip you already have. Therefore the ideal combination would be an LSD and Traction Control, because once both wheels are spinning, the LSD is of no further use, and the Traction Control comes into play. In acceleration times, an LSD will give about the same improvement as Traction Control, but will make the car more 'nervous' as when both wheels spin, the loss in grip is double that of when one tyre loses grip.

 

Customer:- I was wondering if you have ever fitted traction control to a 4WD Nissan Skyline GTR R-33 V-Spec, driving recently in the wet I really think it would be handy. The problem I was thinking about with doing this is how your wheel speed sensors would work with those in the Skyline already, because I gather the Skyline relies on the wheels speed sensors to split torque to the front wheels, so say if you had your traction control fitted and had it on full (wet road) setting and accelerated round a corner would the traction cut in before the power went to the front or would both systems work in harmony?

 

Answer:- We have fitted our Traction Control system to 4WD R33's. It does interface with the same sensors as the ABS and torque split control, but his is not a problem, they all work without interfering with each other. The R33 is a little tail happy in wet conditions (especially ones we have modified to 350-600BHP!) and the TC system will tame them. We have fitted the adjustable system in the past so they can be dialled in to work in conjunction with the intelligent four wheel drive setup. The problem with the torque split system is it will only allow a certain percentage of the torque to be transferred to the front wheels. This means you can get into a situation where the rear wheels still have too much torque going through them, and it needs backing off. The ideal is to have the TC switch in just after the torque has been swapped to the front wheels, thereby letting the 4wd system work, but preventing any oversteer.

 

 

 

Fascinating reading, best person to ask about this would be Mr. Hairsy I think. Dave, you've had this fitted to your car haven't you? Or was it Craig? Not sure but feedback from someone who has this fitted would be nice.

 

Is this TC only worth doing on a modified motor to sort of tame the power curve or is it something you can benefit from on an unmodded TT also?

 

Tim

;-)

 

 

This is from the tech side of Race Logics web site on TC....

 

Spark cut

Cutting the spark to an engine will stop any chances of a weak mixture occurring, but it carries it's own potential problems due to a large quantity of unburned fuel travelling through the cylinder and out of the exhaust. This petrol can remove some of the oil lining the inside of the cylinder, and pass it thorough the exhaust, again this only becomes a problem if the fuel to one particular cylinder is cut for an extended time. The best way to overcome this is to rotate the order in which the cylinders are cut.

 

The unburned fuel in the exhaust will have a catastrophic affect if there is a catalytic converter in the exhaust, as it will try to convert the unburned fuel to harmless elements, effectively burning the mixture. This causes the catalytic converter to heat up very rapidly, reaching temperatures in excess of 1000°C, and possibly melting down completely. Thus prolonged spark cut is not recommended for catalytic equipped cars.

 

 

 

Andy,

 

can you post on this thread what the prices are, with and without the discounts, and the discount amounts for each number of people ?

 

;)

 

Yep, I have this fitted (as do Jez and Steve E amongst others I believe).

 

It will benefit anyone even with stock power, particularly in the wet.

 

As for wear, I haven't suffered any drivetrain problems myself but for those with manuals, it will quickly pick up any deficiency in your clutch - probably a similar effect to something like a 50 bhp power increase.

 

A year or so ago there was a very long thread on twinturbo.net about the pluses and minuses of fuel cut rather than spark cut. Overall view was that the fuel cut was better - with spark cut you get the fuel in there which does cool the chamber down BUT it also does a great job of cleaning oil from inside the chamber and potentially increasing wear.

 

At the end of the day, Racelogic claim to be OE suppliers for some pretty big names and I felt safe - experience over the last year or so has been nothing short of brilliant - apart from the brakes, this added the most pleasure to driving the Z. And that includes all the power upgrades.

 

Dave