Stratified Automotive Controls

Miata Is Always The Answer. Well, maybe most of the time. The BP-T engine that powers this MazdaSpeed Miata is special to me as it's the motor in my first car (a blue Ford Es**rt GT) that I turbo-ed, built, and tuned on a Megasquirt standalone.

This track Miata is ALSO running an MS standalone ECU and is tracked regularly - as it should be. It's such a sweet throw back to sink into dialing in the VE tables on an MS ECU on the dyno. Then to dial tip-in and idle. I used to do this on the street - now it's just too comfortable :).

This car needed quite a bit of tuning love, but the owner is enjoying it immensely on track and on the street and I love seeing that. It's not about peak numbers, it's about smoothness, response, maximizing what the stock turbo can do when hot lapped and making sure all of this is tied together. 👌

Got a project we can help you enjoy even more? Whether it's on our dyno or remote tuned, port or direct injected - we have years of experience to bring the smiles out.

www.stratifiedauto.com

Photo: Eric Berard
Track Time: Goat Motorsports Club

Want to void that warranty? How about enjoy the car instead and forgeddaboutit! Our next installment in the build series is here! Track time, suspension, wheels, and overheats!

GR Corolla - Suspension, Wheels and Track Time - EP3 The GR Corolla gets suspension, wheels and brake upgrades for our next track sessions at Area27 and The Ridge. We show you guys how and what we changed on th...

This 2023 GRC gets a lot of love from us here. It's built by our friends . What started out as a core model has so many details, from the painted grille to the wheels to the suspension package they put together.
I focused on dialing this car in for track use on pump 93 and E30 blend via software.

Power numbers were 333whp peak on E30, 298whp peak on 93 and 285whp peak on stock tune with the mods installed. Keep in mind this is middle of summer on sticky A052 tires that sap some power from the pulls. The car has an intake pipe, inlet, panel filter and a catted downpipe for power.

As we are tuning more and more of these cars here are the findings on what works and what doesn't work power wise. A great combo is a 2 slot tune, one for pump gas and the other for an ethanol blend. The slots can be swapped with cruise control buttons.

**Intake is worth around 15-20whp - all top end
**Downpipe looks to make little to no difference on stock turbo. We have seen this on several cars.
**Fuel octane is big and is worth 30whp from 93 to E30 when tuned for
**Temperatures: on a colder day (winter), the power will go up - expect another 15-20whp

Soft spot for jellybeans ✅
But seriously, a light weight, manual car is a joy to toss around. Ask our long term friend and customer how she's enjoying her built and tuned FiST.

Whoosh hybrid for good response, all the bolt-ons and a lotta smiles. Hope you're all enjoying the warm days and rolled down windows.

New video out! If you like some tuning insight and big(er) power, this one's for you:

STI on M**h - Big Turbo, Built Motor, Big Power This STI doesn’t mess around. Step into an in-depth look at dialing in a beast of an STI. Powered by a motor designed by our friend Jameson at Dale’s Automot...

It's been so busy in the shop this summer, I fell behind on posting updates on some of the cars and builds we've had the pleasure of tuning.

How about an FK8 Type R on Sunday? This is such a well setup track car. Everything from cooling mods to the KW Clubsport coils, brakes and bolt-ons make this a track weapon and a joy to drive.

Dialed in on our dyno via Accessport - and gains were had across the entire power band. Left a bit of peak torque off the table for traction and cooling purposes. These cars respond very well to tuning whether they are track or street driven. They also put the power down remarkably well for being FWD.

www.stratifiedauto.com

More Porsche content you say?!?!? How about some aircooled goodness off the press!

Air Cooled Porsche 911 and EFI Tuning The Air-Cooled Porsche cars are a treat to drive and they are amazing enthusiast cars. As they are rebuilt, modified and modernized, one of the ways to impro...

The search for Naturally Aspirated Power is not for the faint of heart. The purity of the naturally aspirated engine has the tradeoff that you simply can't turn up the boost.
So we have to be very deliberate in the changes we make to extract that little bit extra.
Porsche does a great job at this, don't get me wrong, but we won't let a GT4 leave our dyno without that little bit more.

This is a stock hardware 981 we had the pleasure of dialing in. The car is used both on the street and on the track and it walked away with more power across the entire power band. That's something that will be felt both on the street and on the track.

These cars take well to some breathing mods so if the owner wants more - especially in the top end - opening up the flow in and out of the motor will further help.

Got a GT4 to dial in? We can help you! Got something entirely different to dial in? We can probably still help you!

stratifiedauto.com

New GRC video is up and we cover the new map switching and boost control software from EcuTek. Well worth the watch if you like technical details!

GR Corolla - First Mods and EcuTek V2 Tuning - EP2 We got our own GRC! We love this platform, its performance and what it has to offer so we had to build our own to gain as much experience as possible with th...

Who wants to see some VB WRX shenanigans?

2022 VB WRX Tuning Gains vs VA STI and VA WRX The 2022+ VB WRX has been out for a couple of years and it’s one of our favourite go anywhere do anything and have fun while doing it car. We are not alone a...

White RS on the rollers - love to see these cars so clean.

Phil got a Tuning Stg2 Power Pack (intake, intercooler) from us and then drove up to let us tickle the keys and dial in his RS on our rollers from Washington.

Dialed in the tune and the car made great power and torque but Phil ran out of boost on the way home. Gave me a call and I told him it was likely a blown charge pipe. He nursed it home and took it to a shop the next day.

In his words: "Just got home.... So it was the charge pipe, it wasn't completely off but definitely askew. 35 minutes later and much tightening (and pulling on it to make sure it stays) I was back out on the road. Its making all the right turbo noises now and peaked at 25.72 lbs of boost (according to the accessport, lol). All is right in the world again."

All is right when you enjoy your RS with the right parts, tune - and all the charge pipes intact!

After breaking in the GRC, it was time to see what it can do on track. This is a bone stock baseline before we tune it and add some choice parts.
However a few small things before unleashing it on track

- Oil change with 5w30 synthetic
- Heat wrapped exhaust around rear differential
- Heat insulated the differential temperature sensor to prevent heatsoak

The car was very well sorted on track - even stock. Engine was strong and consistent (can't wait to turn this 1.6 up!). The brakes held up with zero fade on a very brake intensive track. The suspension and differentials (this has the LSDs) are very well sorted for stock. Very little if any understeer and 4 wheel drift behavior on throttle. Easy to modulate and predictable and even with PS4 tires, the car would turn in and grip.

No overheating or derating of any kind in time attack format.

The biggest gripe so far is ABS - in the wet when engaged it has a bit too much of the ice mode effect where there is a big difference in stopping distance between the ABS being engaged and not being engaged.

Much much more to come for this build and chassis from us - but for a first outing - very pleasantly impressed!

A local Subie enjoying his Stratified tune :)

He showed me his Stage 1+ WRX (Great sounds!!! Big STI Brakes and more) He showed me his Stage 1 Subaru WRX, which I always was a fan of. I love the sound of the engine, the power is great (although he wants to take it Stage 2). ...

A video we put together debuting our 992 T build and delving right into the tuning via COBB Tuning Accessport! https://youtu.be/MJ2-aTg3z-k?si=Jgk3bmOkOCFKYlzu

Any tuning inquiries or questions, don't hesitate to reach out!

992 Carrera T Stratified Build - Tuning - EP1 The Porsche 911 is such an iconic sports car and we are very excited to have our own development 992 and share the ownership and build process with you!In th...

Last week we had the pleasure of hosting to demonstrate what can be done with just software tuning on our 992 Carrera T.

We developed our calibration earlier for this 992 and within minutes the car turned from a fast car into a very fast car. Flashed using the Accessport.

The bottom line is - with modern turbocharged engines, performance can be greatly enhanced with very few drawbacks (those poor rear tires) within minutes.

Stay tuned for our video release of the tuning process this coming week but until then check out some enthusiasts enjoying a great tech talk and demonstration of performance.

www.stratifiedauto.com

Any tuning questions - don't hesitate to reach out!

Treat yourself this Tax season ➡️ 10% off all COBB parts including COBB AP + tune packages! On now until 24/4.
DM us with any tuning questions

Tristan first brough us his S3 when it was on the IS38 turbo but he had bigger plans down the road for the car so he took care of the fueling side of things. MPI with an upgraded LPFP and the car had plenty of fuel to support a pump gas and E50 tune (which made 394whp).

Once the IS38 was maxed out the car had an @ FR500 installed and this time we did a pump gas an a FLEX tune using the newly released FLEX support from Tuning.

You can see in the charts that the bigger turbo spools around 3500RPM vs the IS38 2600RPM but the top end is worth the wait. Peaking at 527whp on ethanol is a gain for 133whp over the IS38 and on pump gas the FR500 makes a very respectable 445whp.

Thought you all MQB fans would like to see what a well setup and tuned FR500 turbo can do!

Because 2 manual Alltracks are better than 1!

The same customer who brough us the Blue Alltrack also has a Red one in the family. He enjoyed the transformation of the Stratified tune and Cup Kit so much he brought in his second for the same treatment.

Dyno tune flashed via COBB Tuning Accessport, Bilsteins, a sway bar, and alignment by our friends Auto Service transform this all-season all-rounder.

The dyno compares this Red one vs the Blue one and this one made a few less HP. It was warmer out and this red one had a few more miles as well as a slightly different fuel in the tank. Both cars on OEM stock clutch.

Keep'em coming, they're such great cars!

Just wanted to share this as it's relevant for all the cars we tune - especially ones where ringlands are already known as a weak point - I am looking at you Ford and Subaru.

I wrote an article many years ago about not banging off the rev limiter as it will break ringlands. Was watching some Gears and Gasoline and lo-n-behold, the all-mighty Honda K series also has a similar failure. TL DR - don't sit on the rev limiter for fun if you want the motor to last.

My article: https://www.stratifiedauto.com/blog/keeping-the-tuned-ecoboost-2-0-alive-and-kicking-butt/

Video here: https://youtu.be/hkNPGCYzOxE?si=qjNcJq0-ksAsskO0&t=398

Alltracks are pretty awesome. Lifted Golfs with all the AWDness of an R but missing the beans. And can be had in manual like this fine example.

On the stock tune this must have been one of the lowest reading Alltracks I have seen. I am not sure if this was because it was a manual car but "wow."

Some Stratified tickling on the dyno later via COBB Tuning Accessport and we gained 100whp and 140wtq. No clutch slip, no drama. Now it properly gets out of its own way. No other power adders and we kept things on the mild side as this car gets driven at altitude and on the trail.

The second part of it is fixing the wallowing suspension. Bilsteins with the OEM springs (since it goes off the paved road) and a sway bar. This is our Cup Kit we developed on our own Alltrack and the boys at helped with the install and alignment.

Now there's both power and a more stable platform to put it down. Such a satisfying outcome to have it all come together.

Get your Wednesday eargasms here. And a bit of knowledge too. Tuned via EcuTek- this BBR225 Miata screams.

NC MX5 Miata: Are Individual Throttle Bodies Worth It? The NC Miata with the Duratec 2.0 motor is an absolute joy to drive, tune and modify. With the top down the sound of ITBs is absolutely intoxicating. We all ...

Here's another interesting finding while tuning this S3 on COBB Tuning flex fuel.

This car is fully bolted with MPI and running a PMax GT2260s turbo.
This S3 is also the highest power PMax car (469/469) we've had the pleasure of tuning on our dyno (and we have tuned quite a few of them).

I tuned this car back when it was 20 degrees F warmer and BEFORE flex ... BUUUT most importantly BEFORE he installed the MK8 PCV system with the Tiguan turbo inlet venturi which has been tested by Data Driven MQB.

It picked up power - even on the pump gas tune (see second chart). It picked up that power across the entire RPM range at the same boost, timing, and fueling levels. With nothing else changed. Combine that with the stellar E50 results and this is pointing to perhaps lower crankcase pressure being the reason for the power gain. Looking forward to more data to confirm this.

For now, Jordan I am sure is enjoying his Flex S3 which has a pretty killer combo in terms of both spool and top end power if you ask me.

The custom features are starting to roll out for the FK8 on the COBB AP. Who's excited??

https://youtu.be/OXYkuMPuAvo?si=7MdHFmTcOUptRzfJ

https://www.stratifiedauto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=352_353&products_id=1151

COBB Tuning - Product Highlight - COBB Custom Features Honda FK8 Type-R We offer Launch Control, Flat Foot Shifting, and Burnout Mode for the Honda FK8 Civic Type R to help you get off the line and maximize acceleration. For mor...

Flex Fuel Flexin'. We had the opportunity to revisit the tune on Roy's beautiful manual R - but this time with MPI and the newly released Flex Fuel support.
The turbo is one of the older BOSS500 kits - basically a GTX2867.

This turbo does a little more than the PMax (as it should, it is larger). Spools some 500RPM later and makes over 500whp on E60 fuel. On the E60 tune I am tapering boost upwards towards redline to keep the torque curve as flat as possible for as long as possible.

You can see in the dyno plot the difference between running E12 and E60 - and now because of flex fuel - there's no map switching needed!

We got the kits, we have the tunes, time to get ready for spring and summer with some more power don't cha' think??

GR86 / BRZ owners - track season is fast approaching. We have our oil sensing kits available and ready to ease some of your worries! https://www.stratifiedauto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=324_340&products_id=1156

Happy to report we are live with remote tuning for the GRolla!

Keep in mind this is a protune that includes all the revisions needed to dial in each individual car - it is not a flash tune (which will come later). That means feedback, datalogs, and fine tuning are part of the bundle.

Most people will likely need the EcuTek dongle and license unless you have a dongle from another vehicle you have tuned with EcuTek or have licensed your ECU already.

https://www.stratifiedauto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1160

You wanted FLEX - now you have FLEX! I wanted to get this system on video because it's kind of a big deal for the MQB platform. Thank you COBB Tuning for making this an Accessport reality!

MQB Flex Fuel with COBB is HERE - EP3 MQB Flex Fuel using the COBB Accessport is here! We take a deep dive into how to setup the system and what you can expect from a Flex Tune. This means that y...

Yes you heard this right! Flex Fuel for the MQB 2.0 EA888.3 is now live via COBB Tuning and their ultra-flexible Accessport tuning solution! We're literally DRUNK on the news🌽!

Not before we got to put the kit to the test though in our own development MK7R with the PMax Turbo and MPI to support the additional fueling for the corn juice.

The dyno graph speaks for itself and everything works as advertised. You can see the car makes more power on the SAME FLEX TUNE as we added more ethanol to the tank. This means YOU can do the same once you have this kit installed AND we dial in your FLEX tune.

Your fueling system capacity and turbo installed will determine just how much headroom you have and that's something we can discuss with you guys and we are covering in our upcoming video on FLEX.

TL, DR, - we can now build you a FLEX tune that will SELF ADJUST fueling and power level based on the ethanol content of your fuel. No more mixing, no more guesswork, pure joy!

Kits available on our site and as part of our tuning packages.

We've been making these 2.3s fast since 2008 baby!

This one we just wrapped up with a remote tune and it belongs to . BNRS4 turbo supported by intake and exhaust flow mods and a sprinkle of WMI. All tuned via Accessport.

411whp on pump gas and 471whp with WMI.

Love seeing these cars built and taken care of - if you guys have any tuning needs, reach out. We tune in house as well as remotely.

How about some GR content? In case you guys were curious what the 1.6L can do!

GR Corolla - How Much Power Does Tuning Make - EP1 The GR Corolla and Yaris twins are powered by a 1.6L 3 cylinder turbo direct and port injected engine! That's a mouthful! What we want to do is what these li...