What are your measured gains on CX7 tunes? Dyno, 1/4 Mile, etc?

[Tremek]

Hi guys, I'm a former Mazdaspeed 3 owner that may be rejoining the fold if we end up with a CX7 for my wife.

We're at altitude and while the CX7 is nice, it's a little gutless in stock form... Doesn't help that she's coming from a Cayenne Turbo either! I have been searching on the forums and reading about VersaTune etc. and now have a few questions about the CX7s:

1) Are Gen1 or Gen2 noticeably easier or harder to tune? If so which is better?

2) What are the real gains people are seeing? I'm searching and finding a lot of conjecture of "seat of the pants" reports back but very few hard numbers. What are the gains and improvements in 0-60, 1/4 mile, trap speed, etc that are being realized from tunes, downpipes, TMIC/FMIC, fueling upgrades, etc?

3) Is there a lot on the table left in these cars? If we're talking 10-20hp then that's pretty disappointing, but if we can be approaching something like 250awhp then I might be able to make a case for a CX7.

Looking forward to any and all input - thanks!

[Alpha Wolf]

Well it all depends on how much you want to push it. If you want big numbers then a big turbo, fuel pump internals, cat removal and forged internals with a tune will do wonders but will be costly and take some work.

Note I am using Versa Tune and have just a mild tune on so far but just taking the Nannyware the car wakes up a lot. Not hard just takes time to tweek the tables from the basic tune and having time and a place to do test runs and not get busted is a factor in the time factor.

So it depends upon your goals.

I do not have access to a dyno so I cannot say what it is putting out now versus stock. I have noted it pulls much harder from 4,000 up to 6,000. It also launches much better. You do have to use the proper technique though. Sill not going to keep up with my FZ1 LOL...

[torquemaniac]

1) Gen1 or gen2 tuning should be the same with Versatuner although the OEM tables are a bit differently tuned

2) You get a little less gain at the wheel from bolt-on with the CX-7 versus the MS6 in big part due to the tranny...but you can mod and tune the CX-7 like any other turbo car

3) Ive never dynoed my CX-7, but here is a dyno chart from one of the Versatuner beta-tester with a stock gen1 CX-7 (21 hp and 42lbs*ft with no bolt-on)

Only drawback I see with the car are :

- The turbo comp wheel and exhaust A/R are smaller than the MS6 K04, so the spool is quick, but turbo get out of breath very fast

- The TCS cannot be turned off completely (at 30km/h it comes back on automaticaly)...this is a real bitch in winter when you want to have some fun

- The automatic tranny is not up to par...its OK for granny driving in automatic mode...on manual mode (tiptronic) the 1st gear shift is super slow (you must shift at 4500rpm for the gear change to happen at 6500rpm)...the tranny is also rated at 325lbs*ft (but Volvo guys push the same tranny to 440 lbs*ft with regular fluid change)

[Ian0611]

I don't know how familiar you guys are with Virtual Dyno, but it's been proven to be fairly accurate over the years. It's been a while since I messed with tuning our CX7 at all but here's a graph that shows the gains I saw just from tuning. The only mod (if you would even call it that) is a K&N drop in filter.



The solid lines are HP and the dotted lines are TQ. I picked up about 32 whp and 17 ft/lbs of wtq at peak, but the real story is how much smoother the power curve is and the gains throughout the entier rev range. You can see some spots where there's close to 50 ft/lbs between the before and after torque curves.

[Dimka]

Good evening all! Here my result, start from two pedals. from tuning: bnr s3, 3port ebcs, hpfp autotech, downpipe 3", inlet pipe. Boost 1.3bar.

[Vansquish]

That's...depressing.

[Dimka]

Originally Posted by Vansquish That's...depressing.

Oh yes some insuperable pause 1-2 sec. at the beginning of start. I don't know how to overcome. CX-7 of 2010-2012 known to me go also or worse. CX-7 2007-2009 go as a rule for 1-2 seconds quicker.

it is possible that different gear boxes on cars of different generations? we don't find other reasons

[torquemaniac]

Originally Posted by Dimka Oh yes some insuperable pause 1-2 sec. at the beginning of start. I don't know how to overcome. CX-7 of 2010-2012 known to me go also or worse. CX-7 2007-2009 go as a rule for 1-2 seconds quicker. it is possible that different gear boxes on cars of different generations? we don't find other reasons

You have to change the ignition timing lower limit in the tune...in the second gen CX-7 the minimum ignition timing is set to -13.5...the TCM (transmission control module) will command the ECU to apply the minimum ignition timing when brake torquing...this will kill power of the line with an automatic transmission

You have to change the ignition timing lower limit to about -6.5 (this is what I use)...this will allow you to build boost and load the torque converter, and give you a good launch

I can build 20+ psi of boost of the line with this and launch like a king...with my 20psi tune (safe tune with no meth injection) I managed a 5.6sec 0-60

See post 509 here : Big turbo build CX-7 :P

The downside to changing the ignition timing lower limit to -6.5, is that the gear shift will be a little slower (about 200msec slower)

Dont forget to remove the TCS/ABS fuse when doing this...otherwise the TCS will engage with tire spin and affect the launch

[macromind]

Hi, how do you do the following? You have to change the ignition timing lower limit to about -6.5 (this is what I use)...this will allow you to build boost and load the torque converter, and give you a good launch

I just got my versatune with the Base 93US tune and its still bugging if I brake tork it off the line. Do you have a tune for that with my mods? Or what should I modify from the Base 93US tune?

Originally Posted by torquemaniac You have to change the ignition timing lower limit in the tune...in the second gen CX-7 the minimum ignition timing is set to -13.5...the TCM (transmission control module) will command the ECU to apply the minimum ignition timing when brake torquing...this will kill power of the line with an automatic transmission You have to change the ignition timing lower limit to about -6.5 (this is what I use)...this will allow you to build boost and load the torque converter, and give you a good launch I can build 20+ psi of boost of the line with this and launch like a king...with my 20psi tune (safe tune with no meth injection) I managed a 5.6sec 0-60 See post 509 here : Big turbo build CX-7 :P The downside to changing the ignition timing lower limit to -6.5, is that the gear shift will be a little slower (about 200msec slower) Dont forget to remove the TCS/ABS fuse when doing this...otherwise the TCS will engage with tire spin and affect the launch

[Ozynigma]

Originally Posted by Dimka Good evening all! Here my result, start from two pedals. from tuning: bnr s3, 3port ebcs, hpfp autotech, downpipe 3", inlet pipe. Boost 1.3bar.

Originally Posted by Vansquish That's...depressing.

I am running similar mods plus WMI.

I timed 0-100km/hr in about 6.5s without much brake boosting. I think it has a 6s run in it with a more aggressive launch.

I can't remember if I have any recorded proof of the run.


On performance in general, I didn't dyno the car stock but my dyno results were progressively;

210awhp K04 98RON tune
234awhp K04 E85 tune
244awhp CS turbo 98RON tune
305awhp as above plus WMI

I estimate stock power on that dyno would have been around 175awhp so I have got very significant gains.

[torquemaniac]

@Dimka; you also need to modify the valve body of the transmission to improve the overall performance of the car (faster and firmer gear shift)

See my transmission thread here : CX-7 transmission A to Z...

[SpicyOrangeMSP]

Here is my run. SRI, TIP, CS TMIC and Versatune default map.

[torquemaniac]

Hi @macromind; start with the following steps (and make sure that there is no load limiter that prevent boosting at low rpm)





On peux se rencontrer si tu veux discuter CX-7...

[macromind]

Thanks a million! Yes, we should meet at some point once the weather gets better...

Originally Posted by torquemaniac Hi @macromind; start with the following steps (and make sure that there is no load limiter that prevent boosting at low rpm) On peux se rencontrer si tu veux discuter CX-7...

[Dimka]

Thanks to the setup, it got a little better

[torquemaniac]

Originally Posted by Dimka Thanks to the setup, it got a little better

Hi Dimka...is this with brake boosting off the line?

Nice number

[Dimka]

Originally Posted by torquemaniac Hi Dimka...is this with brake boosting off the line? Nice number

Hello torquemaniac! The gate on the hot part of the turbine was loosened. Fixed the problem. These numbers, this is starting with holding the brake. )

[Tomas]

The speed at which this thread evolves is neck braking.

[torquemaniac]

Originally Posted by Tomas The speed at which this thread evolves is neck braking.

LOL...is your CX-7 evolving Thomas...still messing with the tranny

[Dimka]

Hello. Updated firmware. On this we will stop before installing FMIC or TMIC + WMI

[torquemaniac]

Originally Posted by Dimka Hello. Updated firmware. On this we will stop before installing FMIC or TMIC + WMI

Very good results...keep up the good work