CATERHAM SV 210 TUNING BY ACE PERFORMANCE

Recently ACE was approached by a couple customers with freshly built Caterham cars both powered by a Ford Duratec Engines; both of which were the Caterham SV chassis which is longer and wider than the classic body. The Ford 2.0 Litre Duratec engine was found in Ford Focus or Contour cars from 2007-2008 and is the engine that was spec’d in these particular kits. Caterham offers trim/engine upgrade packages and in the case of the SV 210 that we are talking about it added larger injectors, cams and included roller barrel throttle bodies. To round out the package Caterham supplies a proprietary map on a locked MBE computer.

WHY TUNING

This map has been developed by Caterham for these specifications but due to a number of factors this map is not always optimal. This was the case with both customers that came to ACE. The cars run decently, but because the map is not optimized for their cars specifically, there were a number of drivability issues. These issues included poor idle, part throttle hesitation, backfiring and surging. Every engine is specific and individual, and factory ECUs found in OE vehicles have flexible adaptations to ensure consistency. The aftermarket ECUs are set up to much stricter tolerances (motorsport concepts), so minor adjustments are almost always necessary. The fact that Caterham also offers different combinations of performance parts contributes to some inconsistencies regarding their pre-configured base maps.  

ACE PERFORMANCE SOLUTION

The ACE solution was to replace the locked MBE computer with an unlocked unit and develop a custom tune. The MBE unlocked ECU is a direct plug in replacement for the factory locked Caterham supplied MBE ECU. ACE works with each car individually to create a custom tune and strategy. The car is tuned by ACE both on the road and the dyno ensuring complete calibration.

The initial calibration of the ECU is done by ACE Performance with a constant monitoring of the air fuel ratio across the RPM range. This is monitored by ACE using a wideband sensor from Innovate Motorsports. After stable fueling and ignition tables are created the car is put on the dyno where it is performance tuned under load. The dyno allows for load conditions and speed that is not able to be achieved on public roads. The performance tuning on the dyno is where we will see the wheel horsepower and torque of the engine.  

The Caterham SV 210 has a spec of 210 crank horsepower. After the final performance dyno tune the Caterham ended with 187 wheel horse power and 158 foot pounds of torque. Factoring a standard drive train loss of 15% the tune has added horsepower at peak as well as throughout the entire RPM range.

After the dyno the car is road tested with the factory 02 sensor installed for “closed loop” operation. This road test is where ACE’s tuner ensures that the issues initially stated by the customer have been resolved under all driving conditions.

“Having built a Caterham SV 210 Roadsport I found myself somewhat frustrated when I couldn't get the adjustment on the Throttle Position Sensor and the Roller Barrel Intakes optimally adjusted to give me a smooth idle and reduce/eliminate backfiring on deceleration. So off to the Internet looking for a local engine tuner where I found Ace Performance in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Fortunately ACE had the necessary cable and software to connect to the MBE ECU used by Caterham (Ace is an Ariel Atom dealer, who is also proficient in many standalone engine management computers and MBE ECU's). By connecting to the ECU ACE's tuner was able to optimize the mechanical TPS setting. However, the ECU used by Caterham is locked and Caterham doesn't give out the code to unlock it, so no adjustment could be made. Upon contacting MBE it was their recommendation that we replace the ECU with their newer updated open ECU, open as in fully mappable. So replace we did, Ace installing a base map and then tweaking it to tune the engine. This was followed with a session on the dyno and some test driving for final adjustments. The result was truly rewarding. The car now idles calmly, accelerates smoothly, doesn't backfire on deceleration and has some more power than before. For anyone living with Caterham's supplied ECU I would strongly recommend this upgrade.” - Seth E.

A few days after the tuning was complete this Caterham joined ACE Performance and a couple of the Ariel Atom cars that ACE supports at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Caterham performed flawlessly and the customer had a great time with his car on track. 

A Caterham R300 SV is next in line to be tuned by ACE Performance. Stay tuned for the results and pictures as well as feedback from the owner on how this modification made his Caterham kit car drive better than his production sports cars.

Here is our ACE Tuned 300SV in Road & Track