[JMonteil]

I recently flashed my car back to stock, selling my Cobb to go MHD and I have to say; I really do enjoy the stock power. Yes, its slower and tame, but the power delivery is so smooth, and feels as if it pulls forever. I also love the predictability when hitting twistys and pushing her hard.

Anyone else really enjoy the stock performance of the n54?

[jwebb335xi]

Originally Posted by JMonteil

I recently flashed my car back to stock, selling my Cobb to go MHD and I have to say; I really do enjoy the stock power. Yes, its slower and tame, but the power delivery is so smooth, and feels as if it pulls forever. I also love the predictability when hitting twistys and pushing her hard.

Anyone else really enjoy the stock performance of the n54?

I ran stock for a month or so earlier this year. It's really smooth and letting it wind up is fun. While I'm "tuned" it's rare that I can hit more than 5k rpms, so I sort of miss the sound of anything else. But, there's a reason why I keep the tune running; more power is more fun!

[JMonteil]

Agreed, cant argue with ~400 wheel. Its a blast to tear it open, and occasionally make new Mustang GTs and STIs look stupid. Maybe its just the tune I was running, but I absolutely hated how the car just completely ran out of breath past 5k. Hoping front mount and MHD is a little better in that aspect.

[SeanCon]

Just sold my Cobb AP installing MHD this Wednesday. I feel like by getting used to the stock tune again I'm giving MHD a "clean slate". I'm excited to see the difference from stock as opposed to Cobb. Wouldn't say I'm typically enjoying stock though...

[mojobmw_e90]

Nop, feels like shit stock. So much lag, takes forever to get going

[BaaQaf]

It all good till you start getting walked by another car.....hehehe, and when you need that torque its not there.

"Smooth" keeps being brought up. You can have a smooth like ice tune with almost 500 wtq on your back on pump gas. If you dont have smooth in your tune then well thats an issue. If your all about only sticking with OTS maps then that the nature of the game.

Just the thought of going back to stock is disturbing

- BQ

[JMonteil]

Interesting that stock is super laggy for you. Its butter for me. Way slower obviously, but no lag.

Yeah, I'm finished with OTS tunes, big reason I'm going MHD. Can't wait for my pro-tune.

[JMonteil]

Originally Posted by SeanCon

Just sold my Cobb AP installing MHD this Wednesday. I feel like by getting used to the stock tune again I'm giving MHD a "clean slate". I'm excited to see the difference from stock as opposed to Cobb. Wouldn't say I'm typically enjoying stock though...

I like that idea, makes me feel good about putting some time in between.

[BaaQaf]

Stock will be considered laggy compared to coming from something like this



- BQ

[jwebb335xi]

Originally Posted by JMonteil

Agreed, cant argue with ~400 wheel. Its a blast to tear it open, and occasionally make new Mustang GTs and STIs look stupid. Maybe its just the tune I was running, but I absolutely hated how the car just completely ran out of breath past 5k. Hoping front mount and MHD is a little better in that aspect.

perhaps ypu need more air? DPs, inlets, outlets... or, nee turbos?

[JMonteil]

Originally Posted by jwebb335xi

perhaps ypu need more air? DPs, inlets, outlets... or, nee turbos?

Perhaps. It seems it's per the norm for stage 1. Im sure if I had DPs and inlets it would be much better up top. I havent gotten there yet though. As much as I'd like to, I cant drop all my money on my car

Tell me. Would inlets on a car with only a tune, and FMIC, make a huge difference? I've done a bit of research on them, but not much. Any downsides?

[JMonteil]

Originally Posted by BaaQaf

Stock will be considered laggy compared to coming from something like this



- BQ

BQ - What do your mods look like? That boost curve looks money.

[BaaQaf]

Originally Posted by JMonteil

BQ - What do your mods look like? That boost curve looks money.

The mods on that car are:

Stock (E89 Z4) Airbox with K&N drop in filter
Wagner EVO2 Competition FMIC
FTP charge pipe
AR design 3" catted downpipes

Thats it

[Rory]

Originally Posted by JMonteil

I recently flashed my car back to stock, selling my Cobb to go MHD and I have to say; I really do enjoy the stock power. Yes, its slower and tame, but the power delivery is so smooth, and feels as if it pulls forever. I also love the predictability when hitting twistys and pushing her hard.

Anyone else really enjoy the stock performance of the n54?

Yes I get what you mean, on a country road you can push harder than with the car mapped , it's much smoother and easier to modulate the power.

I'm running stock just now and it doesn't feel weak with the latest software version.

[Rory]

Originally Posted by mojobmw_e90

Nop, feels like shit stock. So much lag, takes forever to get going

Mine was like that with the stock software from 2009 that was on my car. When I moved my backup bin out of the mhd folder to force mhd to install the latest stock software , it was a much better stock file. Not laggy, responsive , lots of torque for around town.

[Chris@VargasTurboTech]

There is a certain pleasure in driving a car with less power... don't get me wrong, I daily drove mine at just under 600 whp for 20k miles and I love power but with 3-400 whp you can thrash on it some without being in triple digits in a couple seconds.

[JMonteil]

Originally Posted by Chris@VargasTurboTech

There is a certain pleasure in driving a car with less power... don't get me wrong, I daily drove mine at just under 600 whp for 20k miles and I love power but with 3-400 whp you can thrash on it some without being in triple digits in a couple seconds.

Yeah, my point exactly. Coming from VW GTI's I can appreciate the power to weight ratio and drive it like a go-kart haha. I also read somewhere that it was recommended if you were going to track your car that the stock tune is best. I thought that was interesting, but also dependent on driver skill/experience.

[Chris@VargasTurboTech]

Yeah, I think that's good advice for the average guy who has no clue how to really drive the car. It's not necessary at all; throttle modulation makes all things possible, but helps the ham-fisted stay in the same zipcode as they ought to be (at least, at first). Still... I suppose you could have fun WOT on straights, hard on the brakes, around the corners like a grandma, then back to WOT.

[Sumptuous Hummus]

Originally Posted by JMonteil

Interesting that stock is super laggy for you. Its butter for me. Way slower obviously, but no lag.

Yeah, I'm finished with OTS tunes, big reason I'm going MHD. Can't wait for my pro-tune.

All your engines will have different amounts of lag. It also depends a lot on how the driver applies the throttle in low RPM. Rolling onto the throttle VS. Just mashing it will yield better turbo response.

[jwebb335xi]

Originally Posted by Sumptuous Hummus

All your engines will have different amounts of lag. It also depends a lot on how the driver applies the throttle in low RPM. Rolling onto the throttle VS. Just mashing it will yield better turbo response.

Good point! Some folks prefer a linear throttle for that reason. FWIW, I have a custom MHD based tune with linear throttle and when I'm accelerating from a stop I can easily hold the pedal in such away that RPMs sit at about 2500 or so. From there, my turbos are ready to send me into another zip code WITHOUT lag or jerky response. However, if they're not spooled and I mash the gas suddenly, it's not particularly smooth.

The same would be true on stock tune, but the margins are different because i've currently got roughly 100 extra ponies.. hence, when I'm a knucklehead with the throttle, the car responds MORE abruptly than it would stock. I think this is why experienced drivers ask students to remain stock until they learn to be judicious with the pedal on the right.

I haven't tracked in a while and would NOT run the same tune I use on the street; I'd have it dialed back some so that I would minimize my ability to do something sillly-like driving off the track backward!!

[Sumptuous Hummus]

Originally Posted by jwebb335xi

Good point! Some folks prefer a linear throttle for that reason. FWIW, I have a custom MHD based tune with linear throttle and when I'm accelerating from a stop I can easily hold the pedal in such away that RPMs sit at about 2500 or so. From there, my turbos are ready to send me into another zip code WITHOUT lag or jerky response. However, if they're not spooled and I mash the gas suddenly, it's not particularly smooth.

The same would be true on stock tune, but the margins are different because i've currently got roughly 100 extra ponies.. hence, when I'm a knucklehead with the throttle, the car responds MORE abruptly than it would stock. I think this is why experienced drivers ask students to remain stock until they learn to be judicious with the pedal on the right.

I haven't tracked in a while and would NOT run the same tune I use on the street; I'd have it dialed back some so that I would minimize my ability to do something sillly-like driving off the track backward!!

Exactly! It doesn't make sense when people stsrt adding downpipes, ECU tunes right from day one without learning how the engine behaves in stock form first. This is how you make the most out of your vehicle. Everything must be done in baby steps.

Driving my friends 335i, the engine falls flat on its face with lag when you try to mash it at 2000rpm whereas in my NA engine, you get instant response and you can be quite aggressive with your throttle input. It's two very different experiences that people going from NA to turbo need to understand.

MHD is great stuff by the way!

[JMonteil]

Originally Posted by Sumptuous Hummus

Exactly! It doesn't make sense when people stsrt adding downpipes, ECU tunes right from day one without learning how the engine behaves in stock form first. This is how you make the most out of your vehicle. Everything must be done in baby steps.

Driving my friends 335i, the engine falls flat on its face with lag when you try to mash it at 2000rpm whereas in my NA engine, you get instant response and you can be quite aggressive with your throttle input. It's two very different experiences that people going from NA to turbo need to understand.

MHD is great stuff by the way!

yeah, it's alllll about footwork.

I rode a lot of two-stroke dirt bikes in my life, and when you have a very powerful turbo car, it's very similar to a fast two-stroke hitting powerband. It can be somewhat unpredictable, and little scary if you don't know what you're doing. 4 stroke, similar to NA where there's just gobs of power anywhere in the rev range.

I would love to do some track days in my car, but I don't know if I feel comfortable beating her up so bad. Mainly paying to maintain afterwards. Looking at a spec e30 325is to really have some fun. Brings it back to my original point of less power still being a blast in certain cases