A friend tells me you can get software that allows you to hook a laptop to your Rubicon and override the on-board program which limits the Rubicon's top speed.
He tells me you can reach 120 km/h (70 mph)!!!
Now I don't feel it necessary to drive my Rubi that fast, but since I'm putting larger, heavier tires on it (27" Mud Bugs), the added power would compensate for the expected power loss from the larger tires.
Has anyone heard about this?
It certainly would be cheaper than a K&N power kit, which is what I expect I'll need.
Hopefully TexMudder will read this and respond as I haven't seen him stumped yet.

 

Howdy, I am very interested in what you have heard and if you find anything out please let me know and I will do the same for you.

 

Your friend would have to be one heck of a high paid electrical engineer and programmer to figure this out. I have never heard of this.

 

I have not herd of this for a Rubicon, by riding mine it feels as if its at 1-1 at around 40MPH and i could not imagen the swash plate being able to "build" a overdrive....... on the other hand, my nebor who just grad from toyota teck pluged his service computer into my OBDII port on our Z71 Chev and he was able to control shift points, Lockup the converter in any gear, bypass the antilocks, richen the mixture to where my cat's were glowing red and even override the steering sensitivy all from the passanger seat!!!!

 

I have never heard of this on the rubi before but if it's possible I would love to add more power. I do have my doubts about it working though, plus where would you plug a laptop into the rubi at anyway.

 

The answer is NO! You cannot hook a computer to a atv and increase the power by adjusting computer perameters. In a Chevy, the engine is run by a computer that controlls injector timing and spark timing, among other things, which means that air/fuel ratios can be adjusted along with timing advance or retardation. This in turn changes engine tuning and power/torque curves. A different computer, which works with the engine control computer, controlls the transmission shift points and other vairables. Your atv has a carb that is mechanical and not computer controlled fuel injection, also there is no secondary computer for the tranny. Any adjusting that you could do would just alter any of the programed interlocks that help to provide smooth operation. Only way to increase power is to increase air flow through the engine and rejet your carb for correct air/fuel mix. Sorry but vehicals and ATV do not work on the same systems any more.

 

Sounds pretty far fetched.

 

It IS conceivably possible, however if it were true, (which I doubt) it would be limited to ignition curves and rev limit settings.

Everyone who owns a sport quad knows there is aftermarket cdi boxes available that are programable (vortec for instance) and you can actually pick up 2-3 HP is some situations by simply changing the ignition curve.

WeAREsane is right about the fuel delivery. It would have to be an EFI setup for the software to be able to make these adjustments.

But this.....

this is BS! while that is the area where you will see the biggest gains, it is possible to make it run more efficiently whith the fuel/air that it currently uses by controlling the point of the stroke that it is ignited. This is done via the ignition curve as stated above. While not a substantial change, it does make a difference. Rember there are three requirements for an engine to run, air, fuel and ignition. Most people forget they can tune the ignition, even if it IS a CDI ignition.

There are a few other ways to increase power also:
-reduce rotating mass
-reduce friction


however with that said. Most of the factory ignition setups on quads are not reprogramable. The program is burnt into the chip. You can find aftermarket ones however that will hold up to 10 different programs and will let you switch between 2 or more on the fly.

-Tom

 

There may be diagnostic link for the Honda tranny but I belive only cannondales can crank the engine power up through a laptop or pda software right now. They can be adjusted from 33 to 40 horse on the stock engine by a changing the mapping of the fuel injection,timing curves, air fuel ratios,rev limiters.Ive done it and it is wonderful. The reason for lower power settings is to make them more ridable for the average Joe . There are even different maps that let you control wheel spin at lower speeds for woods racing. It is just like software I use at work on ford powerstrokes, and chevy trucks. You can buy rev boxes for many quads to increase the max engine rpm and change timing curves but from our experience the stock engines dont make any more power above the factory rev limiter and reliabilty issues arise from over reving without major engine work. I wouldnt be surprized to see fuel injection on the major ATV brands in the next 10 years. It will probalby depend on the EPA cracking down on the old fashioned carburator like they did on cars 20 years ago. Ill keep an eye out for more info for you.

 

Well Tom here are a few points to consider...

1) The original post was for a honda rubicon not a sport quad and it was stock computer not a aftermarket upgrade
2) You yourself said that "Most of the factory ignition setups on quads are not reprogramable. The program is burnt into the chip". Therefor one could not change the ignition
timing could they
3) There are a few other ways to increase power also: reduce rotating mass and reduce friction ... These do not increase power they only increase efficientcy which in turn
allows what power is avaiable to be used instead of lost
4) " it is possible to make it run more efficiently whith the fuel/air that it currently uses by controlling the point of the stroke that it is ignited." Ignition timing changes the
horsepower/torque curves of the engine (tunes the engine for specific uses, EG. low end torque or high rpm power) it does not increase the ultimate power that the engine
can produce. The amount of air and fuel that is ignited will give you power along with things like compression. Why do you think bigger engines produce more power?
Big Bore kits are used for power right?

All the statements that you made seem to say that I was not BS ing. I agree with you that given time and money to do mods anything is possible but not on a stock rubicon!