An Analysis of a Power Commander Map

[nicocorea]

Folks. I received my power commander last night and had a wonderful time installing it--really, it was a breeze. I fired the bike up and revved it a few times. Maybe it's just my imagination, but it sounded better somehow. Next I plugged my laptop (with the power commander software running) into the power commander unit and fired the bike up. I saw a wealth of data on my laptop screen that I only dreamed of before! I've already rearranged my wish list to put the power commander display up at the very top!

So far I've only had a chance to ride to work, and that's only a mile and I don't get out of third gear. But at lunch I'm going for a nice ride on HWY 66 where I can really open it up.

My power commander came pre-loaded with a map that's specifically designed for a completely stock VZ800 with debaffled pipes. Believe it or not, there's such a map out there.

A "map" is just a table of numbers that you load into the power commander, which it uses to decide, given engine speed and throttle position, how much fuel to add or subtract from the stock mixture.

But a bunch of numbers in a table is hard to make sense of until you make a picture of it. So I made one. That picture is below. (I simply took the preloaded map from my power commander and graphed it).

The X-axis indicates how much you're twisting the throttle. 0 is no twist, 100 is full throttle. The Y-axis is engine speed in RPM. At any RPM and throttle position combination, the colors indicate how much fuel the power commander adds or subtracts to/from the stock air-fuel mixture. Green shades represent an increase in amount of fuel over the stock amount, and blue shades represent a decrease in the amount of fuel.

For example, at 1500 RPM with 50% throttle, the power commander is reducing the amount of fuel in the mixture entering the cylinders by 15 to 20 percent from the stock mixture. But at 4500 RPM with 50% throttle, it is increasing the amount of fuel in the mixture entering the cylinders by 15 to 20 percent from the stock mixture.

Suppose you're acellerating at full throttle. Between 1000 and 3000 RPM, the power commander is leaning the mixture substantially, by about 15-25 percent. Between 3000 and 5000 RPM it is enriching it slightly, between 0 and 10%. And once you approach redline, it leans it between 5 and 15%.

But we don't accellerate at full throttle often. I'd say we spend the vast majority of the time with the throttle between 5 and 25% open with engine speeds between 2500 and 4000 RPM. In this area of the graph, you see that the mixture is almost always being enriched a moderate amount (10-15%), but sometimes over 20%.

It's interesting that in the typical use region, the mixture mostly being enriched. But at the edges of the envelope, substantial leaning is required to get the most out of our powerplants. I suppose that's why some of the cheaper fuel processors only have the capability to enrich the mixture--that's simply what's called for in the most typical riding situations...

Anyway, I figured some of you might be interested in this. I find such things completely fascinating.

[intimid8er]

Very nice!

Good job!

Can you put the data into a line graph?

[geoffsimpson]

Holy Crap nico...that's a purdy fancy thing whut you got thar.

Do you have any issues with hard starting now? I installed mine on monday, and loaded up my map (stock intake, vance and hines straight shots) and i run fine, smoother for sure, but no apperance of any noticeable power increase and some hard starting when warm.

[intimid8er]

Geoff. I went from just thinking about pressing the start button, and it would fire up, to a tad bit of difficulty after the install of the commander.

However, it wasn't much of an issue. I found it the times it got worse coincided with some weather issues.

[nicocorea]

Originally Posted by geoffsimpson

Holy Crap nico...that's a purdy fancy thing whut you got thar.

Do you have any issues with hard starting now? I installed mine on monday, and loaded up my map (stock intake, vance and hines straight shots) and i run fine, smoother for sure, but no apperance of any noticeable power increase and some hard starting when warm.

I've only started it three times since the install and only had a chance to ride it about a mile--and not above 30 mph. It started fine each time. Later today I'm going for a real ride and I'll let you know if I notice more power...

[nicocorea]

Originally Posted by intimid8er

Very nice!

Good job!

Can you put the data into a line graph?

I'm not sure that would work--I need a graph that can handle three quantitative variables--line graphs are normally for either graphing one quantitative or for graphing one quantitative and one qualitative variable.

Maybe I'm just not picturing what you mean...

[intimid8er]

Originally Posted by nicocorea

I'm not sure that would work--I need a graph that can handle three quantitative variables--line graphs are normally for either graphing one quantitative or for graphing one quantitative and one qualitative variable.

Maybe I'm just not picturing what you mean...

Eh...I'm just seeing a lot of green and blue blobs on the chart. I guess something with a little more harder definition.

NOT that I'm complaining or anything. You've done an awesome job. I was just wondering if it didn't take much to change the format of your graph.

[geoffsimpson]

Originally Posted by intimid8er

Geoff. I went from just thinking about pressing the start button, and it would fire up, to a tad bit of difficulty after the install of the commander.

However, it wasn't much of an issue. I found it the times it got worse coincided with some weather issues.

Same here Tim...now she needs a touch of throttle when it's warm out or after a run, which isn't even really an inconvenience, but it's a sign that something ain't right.

As for power...i think i need to try another couple different maps. I'm running map M322-006, but i do have aftermarket baffles, so I'm thinking that maybe i should switch to M322-002 Vance & Hines Straightshots with A162R baffles and Stock or aftermarket air filter

I don't have a trusted shop anywhere near me....so I'm gonna have to fudge this mofo mah damn self

[nicocorea]

No matter what map you're using, the power commander makes no adjustment to the fuel/air ratio unless the throttle is more than 0% open (i.e., you're twisting the throttle) and the RPM is above idle speed. In other words, it's hard to imagine how the power commander could decrease how easily the bike starts--it's not making any adjustments during engine start.

[boooya]

No matter what map you're using, the power commander makes no adjustment to the fuel/air ratio unless the throttle is more than 0% open (i.e., you're twisting the throttle) and the RPM is above idle speed. In other words, it's hard to imagine how the power commander could decrease how easily the bike starts--it's not making any adjustments during engine start.

Because during strart up your bike is not a 0%. It opens up the throttle and feed more fuel making it run richer and at a higher idle till it warms up.

[diamond_jim]

Great work Nic. That's awesome. Post that kind of stuff all day long if you want. Even those of us with other processors can benefit from it by seeing that kind of data.

[nicocorea]

Originally Posted by boooya

Because during strart up your bike is not a 0%. It opens up the throttle and feed more fuel making it run richer and at a higher idle till it warms up.

Technically you're right, during AFI (automatic fast idle) the throttle is open--but the power commander doesn't know that. It only knows the position of the throttle based on operator input--if you're not twisting the grip, the power commander thinks the throttle is at 0%. I know this because I started my bike cold with the power commander attached to my laptop. The throttle position was indicated at 0% for the duration of the AFI sequence. The only time the throttle position indicated anything greater than zero was when I twisted the throttle. And according to my map, no adjustments are made to the mixture when the throttle is at 0. In fact, the power commander software does not even let you change the mixture adjustment when the throttle is at zero or below 750 RPM (notice that the row and column corresponding to zero % throttle and 500 rpm in the map below are grayed out).

[Mario]

Good job nic I just drilled my pipes all the way through, straight pipes, is there a map for that I plan on purchasing the PC and just wanted to know.

[nicocorea]

I don't know--if you order from fuelmoto (which I highly recommend, by the way--best price I could find ($259+shipping) and excellent service) they'll ask you what your set-up is. I told them that I had stock pipes with the baffles removed and they claimed to have a map for that--it's the map you see above. If they don't have one specifically for hollow stock pipes, just describe it to them. They seem VERY knowledgeable about PCs and they'd probably set you up with the map for a set-up most similar to yours. In any case, you'll get a list of "trusted" shops that you could take your bike to to have them make a custom map optimized for your bike--it'll cost you, but that's the ideal way to program your PC.

[Clint]

Fantastic! I've added it to the M50 sticky thread.

[mogunn34]

Just took my bike in today for first check-up and pipes-n-powercomm.They are going to dyno it before and after the add-on's With some fine tuning for the powercommander. I am really looking forward to feeling the difference. Thanks nico for the info..

[adricon]

I have the powercommander with the tornado intake and no baffles where do I find a map for that?

[Mario]

Thanks nic will do

[nicocorea]

Originally Posted by adricon

I have the powercommander with the tornado intake and no baffles where do I find a map for that?

Unless you can find someone with a bike just like yours that already had a map made, you'll have to take your bike to one of power commander's "trusted" shops. After you pay them a lot of money, they'll put your bike on a dyno and create a custom map for your bike.

The next best option is to go to the power commander website and choose the map that's closest to your bike's configuration...

[digitalbroccoli]

Nic's right on the 0 percent throttle thing. I've run my a ton of times with the lappie plugged in before starting it, just to see if the PC measured anything at startup, but it doesn't. THe power commander doesn't do anything under 750 rpm's.

The thing I'd really like to call attention to is how often the map removes fuel from the a/f ratio. (mine's the same...ton's of places where fuel is pulled out, diff map, but diff mods too)

For those of you torn between a cobra or one of the other processors that doesn't allow you to pull fuel, thre's a nice visual representation on why it's worth it to spend a couple more bucks, and get a fully functional death star...er...fuel processor.

And if anyone's looking for a fuel map for hypercharger/cruzers feel free to shoot me an email or PM and I'll get a copy to you. (there's probably 15 or 20 of us running that map now, between here and the folks on C50's)