This is a follow-up article on the August 2009 article where we looked at the effect of optimizing the fueling on a G450X, fitted with a LeoVince X3 slip-on. This time we take a G450X with a full Ackrapovic system (this means header pipe and canister), add a PowerCommander V, and give it to our expert tuner to optimize the fueling of the bike. Finally we compare these results to those of the bike with the LeoVince X3 slip-on of our earlier test.
As with our previous article, the goal was not to get more power out of the bike, but to see how we could optimize the fueling. Once the G450X is switched into “Sport mode”, it is a hungry beast… and and fuel consumption becomes a problem under many race conditions…
For our test we got to use the EnduroWorld long term G450X, sponsored by Donford BMW. Besides the full Akrapovic system, the bike is stock, including the air filter. Of course the bike is set to “Sport mode”. It should be noted that with the optimized fueling map, the bike should ONLY be used in “Sport mode”, as this firstly runs the bike in open-loop (the Lambda sensor is disabled), but more importantly, the bike already runs very lean in “Normal mode”, and if the ECU is switched to Normal mode, while the PowerCommander is still trying to lean out the mixture even more, it WILL result in engine damage… it is only a matter of time!
As was the case with the HEX G450X (August 2009 article), we can see that the EnduroWorld (EW) bike is running rather rich in Sport mode. Below the AFR is shown for the bike in Sport mode, with stock fueling (blue graph) and once the PCV is tuned to deliver an AFR of around 13.1 (red graph).
We can also see that the fueling optimization led to an increase in Power (4.6hp) and Torque (2.4Nm).
Looking at the values of the map within the PowerCommander software, we can see a reduction in fuel of up to 30% in some cells… Of course you should not kid yourself and expect that much of an overall improvement in fuel consumption, but my gut feel is that you would be looking at a good 10% improvement withing the usable range !
Once we compare the Power and Torque graphs of the respective optimized fueling maps of the EnduroWorld bike (Red) to those of the HEX bike (Blue), we immediately notes 2 things:
Similarly we can compare the two bikes without the PowerCommander (both in Sport mode of course!). Below are the Power and Torque graphs of both the EnduroWorld and HEX G450X bikes, before and after the optimized PCV mapping.
From this we see that the EW bike has better performance than the HEX one before the mapping is optimized! This is due to the difference in FULL AKRO system vs. the LeoVince slip-on only on the HEX bike, and of course the fact that BMW Motorrad suggests the Full Akro for this bike, when in Sport mode..
But, once all is said and done, after the PowerCommander is added and the mapping is done, they are very much alike! And eventually, it comes down to comparing the price of the Full Akro to that of the LeoVince Slip-on… and deciding whether the differences are important to you!
The PCV map that was used in this experiment can be downloaded from our G450X tech page.
As always, any feedback and comments are welcome… in the meantime… enjoy the ride!
