A New Class!

We are trying out a new class for 2014 – a 3 day class centered around Nissan vehicles using the Nismotronic product.  The class will feature two days of classroom instruction and one day of hands-on dyno instruction.  The class will be held at J-K Tuning in Carlisle, PA May 23-25, 2014.

Cost

SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY RATE for the class will be $250.   You can pay with any of the methods that we accept on the website (Paypal, Credit Card) in advance or pay cash/money order at the door.  If you’re going to pay at the door, we ask that you purchase the class item from our website and select “Check or Money order” at checkout so we can keep an accurate headcount and reserve your spot.  All of the products that are used for the class will be available for purchase at/after the event at a discount for attendees. You can register for the event here.

Class Overview

Dave Blundell (Moates tech support, NEMU hardware engineer, independent tuner) will be the instructor.   Craig Moates (founder and chief engineer at Moates),  John Kerr (lead Nismotronic developer, tuner) and Dave Dunn (TunerCode developer) will be on hand to assist.

Registration will be limited to 15 people in order to keep the class manageable and give everyone a chance to get involved and ask questions.  There will be a mixture of classroom instruction, live in-car demonstration of logging techniques with street driving and dyno tuning and techniques.  Forced induction and naturally aspirated modifications and tuning will be covered.  We expect lots of discussion and have built time for this into the class schedule.

The class will begin with a day of examining engines and engine management concepts and vocabulary in general.  It will continue with an in-depth look at specifics of the 89-93 S13 and B13 Nissan 4 cylinder vehicles which are the target of the Nismotronic product. (i.e. SR20DET and KA24 powered 240SX, SR20DE powered sentras)  The operation of a stock Nissan ECU will be explored in detail as a foundation for understanding the operation of the system.  Both MAF and speed density tuning with Nismotronic will be covered along with differences between tuning Nismotronic and tuning “pure” factory ECUs.

The class will conclude with a hands-on look at tuning of (at least) two example cars, one high-horsepower blow-through-MAF car and one speed density conversion.  Tips, techniques and approaches for using the system to achieve results will be demonstrated on the dyno.

Schedule of Events

Day 1 (TBA) will focus on general theory of how engines work, how electronic engine management works and general approaches to calibration of engine management systems.  Chances are, if you’ve been tuning cars for five years you probably already know a lot of this stuff but it probably wouldn’t hurt you to sit through it again.  If you’re new to engine management, expect your brain to hurt.  The goal of day one is to help you understand how the many pieces of engines, electronics and sensors that you will be dealing with fit together – the big picture.  Most of this day will NOT deal with Nissan specific terms and methods.  At the end of the day, you should have a strong understanding of spark ignition internal combustion engines, how and why engines make power, be able to name and explain the function of sensors likely to be found on a fuel injected engine and understand the conditions needed for achieving specific goals such as fuel economy, power or keeping and engine in one piece.  If you’ve previously worked with other systems of engine management, you might look at what you already know in a new light.  We would really like you to attend this, even if you think you don’t need to.  If you really want to skip it, contact us before hand.

Day 2 (TBA) will begin by focusing on “pure” Nissan engine management.  This is the foundation on which Nismotronic is built.  After lunch break, we will have a Nismotronic install fest to ensure everyone is up and running with the latest version of the software and drivers.  We will continue with a talk-through of the changes in Nismotronic compared to a “pure” Nissan ECU and then continue with a “walk-through” of a previous tune done with the software in order to demonstrate the use of logging and tuning.

Day 3 (TBA) will focus on hands-on usage of Nismotronic.  We will be demonstrating non-trivial tunes with Nismotronic for both MAF and speed-density vehicles.  Datalogging, tuning and incorporating dyno feedback will be a part of the day’s work.  Students will be encouraged to try their hand at making runs, observing data and making targeted changes in order to achieve a result.

Plan on 8-10 hours of being focused per day.  We’ll typically run on a 9ish-6ish kind of day depending on how things go.  (Local time is Eastern Standard Time – EST)

There will be lunch, snacks and drinks provided.  At previous classes, we had an optional group dinner afterwards that worked out well.  Some of the best discussion ended up coming up over dinner, so we’ll probably try to do that again.

We’ll try to have a good chunk of the curriculum up here on the support site prior to the class for you to review and prepare.

Travel Information

Carlisle, PA is home to many car events.  There are numerous Hotels in the area.  We will update this page with some suggestions.

Other Class Opportunities

Check out the support site for other opportunities to take a class on using Moates products.