Attended EFI Training

[pajeff02]

This past weekend, I traveled to Redline Motorsports in Schenectady, New York, to attend Greg Banish's "Secrets of EFI Calibration" seminar. The program was hosted by Redline's owner, Howard Tanner. You may recognize Howard and his shop as they have been featured in several magazine articles, most recently the fuel test feature entitled "Fuelish Acts" (GMHTP Sept., 2010). Redline's shop is both well equipped and can only be described as immaculate. Before the start of class each day, I had the opportunity to speak with the Shop Foreman, Bruce Hotaling, who took the time to show me several of Redline's current builds, including their signature HTR 2010 Camaro packages and prototype 2011 HTR-850R Camaro supercar. Redline's parking lot was adorned with a variety of custom vehicles, including Howard's 750+ horsepower Corvette.










The course instructor, Greg Banish, is well known in the tuning field. He works as both an engineer and OEM calibrator and also operates his own business, "Calibrated Success", where he provides EFI training, tuning and consulting. Greg has published two books and a video that provide the essentials for anyone interested in learning more about both the science and art of EFI tuning. The course I attended is the introductory class which ran all day Saturday through early Sunday afternoon. The course includes both time in the classroom and in the shop. Greg's knowledge of EFI systems and their components is simply staggering. Quite honestly, not having a tuning background I was nervous about attending the seminar and feared that I might be in over my head. I quickly found that my fears were unwarranted. The course materials and concepts were both understandable and presented in an orderly fashion that built upon itself as the class progressed. Throughout the program, Greg encouraged us to participate and this lead to a relaxed format where the materials were freely discussed and our numerous questions answered. Interestingly, Greg would frequently answer our questions with a question or two of his own that would lead us to the correct conclusion.





At the outset, we were advised that there would be "Ah-ha" moments and this proved to be quite true as concepts were presented and assimilated. Greg's presentation style for the material greatly assisted in my understanding of his explanations of how an EFI system operates. As each new concept or EFI component was discussed, it was tied into real world examples that showed exactly how and why engines respond to calibration changes. Throughout the course, Greg provided well thought out descriptions, examples, graphs and formulas (yes, there was some math involved) and presented it all with a good dose of humor. This greatly assisted in my understanding and retention of the materials. In discussions with fellow class members, it was clear that they were getting just as much out of it as I was. One commented to me towards the end of the second day that he had learned more in a day and a half than he had in five years of tuning on his own.





The class starts with the very basics of internal combustion engine operation and builds from there. Prior to the class, I had always struggled with the use of "lambda" as the descriptor for an engine's air-fuel ratio. As we know, the most complete combustion occurs when the air-fuel ratio is 14.68:1, thereby stoichiometric. Utilizing lambda, wherein the number "1" represents stoich, it is explained that lambda simply represents "excess air ratio". Therefore, an air-fuel ratio that is greater than 1 is lean and less than 1 is rich. The beauty of lambda is that by using 1 as a descriptor of the stoich point, it can applied to any engine fuel, and mathematically represents the percentage adjustment that must be made to return an engine to stoich. By example, an engine running at lambda 0.87 is easily determine to be approximately 13% rich (1.00 - 0.87 = 0.13) and adjustments may then be easily made in the tune to bring the air-fuel ratio to where it should be. Further lessons unraveled the mysteries of an EFI system and by the end of the class I was comfortable discussing such things as MBT, spark hook testing, engine load, the operation of a MAF (and why NOT to modify it), volumetric efficiency, injector duty cycle and offset, transient fueling and a host of related topics.

Both days also involved time in Redline's dyno room putting the concepts we learned to use on their in-house Land and Sea eddy current dyno. Greg stressed the importance of a load bearing dyno to the tuning process as an engine can be held to specific loads across the operating range. This allows for the collection of both complete and accurate data that is then used to make adjustments to the tune. Greg and Howard demonstrated both a spark hook test, which is utilized to obtain optimum engine timing for peak performance, and a MAF calibration, which was required after changing out the air box on a 2010 Camaro. In addition to working with us in the dyno room, Howard made several appearances throughout the class and shared real world tuning experiences that built upon the materials which were being presented.








In his summation, Greg provided a 13 point procedure for tuning an EFI system and course attendees were issued a signed Certificate. My overall impression of the course is that it will prove invaluable to me as I further explore the capabilities of our late model cars and also work on tuning of our older cars as the lessons learned can also be applied to them. It is likely that our Trans Am will become more of a track car in the years to come and this will require tuning as engine components are upgraded. It is my sincere hope to attend Greg's advanced course when it is offered in our area. For anyone interested in learning more about the tuning process and EFI systems, I simply can not say enough about the benefits of this course.

[c5z28]

So does that mean you had fun?

[Hi-Po]

Awesome Jeff. I should have taken you up on your offer . Sounds like a great learning experience that I wish I could have taken part in also. Glad you enjoyed it.

[pajeff02]

So does that mean you had fun?

Absolutely! I enjoyed it a lot -- was sorry to see it end.

[Cutlass]

That sounds pretty damn sweet. Now I wanna attend his class!

[Wesman]

Very nice.

Looks like a good time and a lot of useful information. I would love to attend a class like that!!

Looks like they had a bunch of nice cars there too!!

[pajeff02]

We actually had attendees from California, Virginia, Florida and New Hampshire that I can recall. I posted up in Eastern Members a while back trying to get a few site members together for the class.

[0rion]

did he cover diesel stuff at all? I'd like to learn how to tune diesels but they're a lot different than gas burners. Probably not in theory but in mechanics.

[pajeff02]

did he cover diesel stuff at all? I'd like to learn how to tune diesels but they're a lot different than gas burners. Probably not in theory but in mechanics.

No, nothing diesel specific was discussed.

[wheeliE-maxx]

So.. When can I ship you my gmc computer

[shady milkman]

awesome. how much for his class? isnt he the one that offers the learn at home efi tuning for like 500 bucks ?

[pajeff02]

So.. When can I ship you my gmc computer

Depends... how bad would you like it screwed up?

awesome. how much for his class? isnt he the one that offers the learn at home efi tuning for like 500 bucks ?

The course was $550.00 and included breakfast munchies and lunch both days. Worth every penny imo.

[shady milkman]

Depends... how bad would you like it screwed up?





The course was $550.00 and included breakfast munchies and lunch both days. Worth every penny imo.

damn! not that bad..but you know he makes banks for those seminars and his learn at home package too.

[pajeff02]

damn! not that bad..but you know he makes banks for those seminars and his learn at home package too.

Not sure what you mean. I have both of Banish's books and the DVD if that is what you are referring to. All good stuff, but it is just not the same as what you get out of the class.

[shady milkman]

Not sure what you mean. I have both of Banish's books and the DVD if that is what you are referring to. All good stuff, but it is just not the same as what you get out of the class.

The Tuning School Tuning the Right Way Manual and CD - i see for sale at hp tuners ..i thought it was his package ...none the less i am jealous ..i will have to attended someday

[eficalibrator]

Thanks for the writeup, Jeff. Howard's shop always makes for a great class location. He also seems to have something cool around for a test subject. I'm glad you enjoyed the class. More importantly, what are your thoughts now that you've had some time to put the lessons to use in the car on your own? Have you applied some of the methods shown in the class and seen the results? The follow-through is just as important as taking the class itself.

Just to be clear, I am NOT associated with The Tuning School. I've been doing this longer and have my own unique materials for each class, book, and DVD that's based on two solid foundations: 1) Science 2) Lots of Experience. My classes show how when those two agree, a lot of the mystery of tuning starts to make sense.

Greg Banish
Calibrated Success, Inc.

[shady milkman]

Just to be clear, I am NOT associated with The Tuning School. I've been doing this longer and have my own unique materials for each class, book, and DVD that's based on two solid foundations: 1) Science 2) Lots of Experience. My classes show how when those two agree, a lot of the mystery of tuning starts to make sense.

Greg Banish
Calibrated Success, Inc.

ahh ok that makes sense

[pajeff02]

Thanks for the writeup, Jeff. Howard's shop always makes for a great class location. He also seems to have something cool around for a test subject. I'm glad you enjoyed the class. More importantly, what are your thoughts now that you've had some time to put the lessons to use in the car on your own? Have you applied some of the methods shown in the class and seen the results? The follow-through is just as important as taking the class itself.

Just to be clear, I am NOT associated with The Tuning School. I've been doing this longer and have my own unique materials for each class, book, and DVD that's based on two solid foundations: 1) Science 2) Lots of Experience. My classes show how when those two agree, a lot of the mystery of tuning starts to make sense.

Greg Banish
Calibrated Success, Inc.

I am hoping to this week -- the wife has kept me busy lately and I haven't had much time to play with the car. First step is to set up my wideband on the interface and then start getting some logs so I can see what is going on. The whole course was like turning on a light for me. Really looking forward to the advanced class. Thanks again for everything Greg!

[LS3torque]

Was this class keyed toward a specific tuning outfit like HP Tuners or EFI Live or was it theory and tuning principals?

[pajeff02]

Was this class keyed toward a specific tuning outfit like HP Tuners or EFI Live or was it theory and tuning principals?

Theory, principles and real world examples that would apply to any tuning platform, with some small differences noted. Most of the actual in class references were to HP Tuners and EFI Live.