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How to take and post datalogs on the forum

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95K views 373 replies 71 participants last post by  IHTFP08  
#1 · (Edited)
There aren't too many datalogs posted on the forum and one of the reasons for this is that the forum doesn't have native support for hosting the .csv file type and people are a little reluctant to log.

Here's a quick crash course on how to log and how to share/post these to generate discussion. You don't need ATR to download, view, and share logs. With a modified car, it is always good to periodically take logs and make sure there are no issues. This is also an excellent way to check how the tune you are running performing with your fuel and modifications.

1. First of all, make sure you have the correct map loaded on your AP and that you've driven the car with that map and the usual fuel you use for a good 20-40 miles to allow fuel trims to settle.
2. Set the correct logging parameters in the AP. We created a short video on how to change logging parameters for the AP V3. This is the same for the Focus or any other platform supported by the COBB AP V3.


COBB has also posted a number of useful videos. This following one is for the AP V2


3. A basic set of parameters to log are these:

Accelerator Pedal Position (The throttle pedal position. This is not the same as the throttle plate since the car is drive by wire. This is just what the driver is doing with the pedal)
Actual AFR (Yes the car comes with a stock wideband O2!. This is the actual AFR. Lower numbers are richer, higher numbers are leaner)
Airflow Mass (The Focus ST uses speed density to estimate actual mass airflow using its pre and post throttle pressure sensors. It is a calculation based on a model, not a direct measurement like MAF based cars)
Boost Pressure Actual (Boost measured at the manifold)
Charge Air Temp. – (CAT) (This is the temperature measured AFTER the intercooler before the throttle body. If too high power will be reduced and it tells you if your intercooler is overworked)
Coolant Temperature (Important for the car to be warm when logging. ECU applies compensations based on coolant temperature)
Engine Speed (Engine RPM)
ETC Actual Angle (The throttle plate position angle)
Fuel Rail Pressure Actual (What pressure the injectors are seeing. This is important that it stays constant at WOT around 2100-2200psi)
Ignition Timing Corr. Cyl (1-4) (This is where the ECU pulls timing mostly due to knock. If you see large negative corrections you need to adjust the tune for the fuel you are using)
Ignition Timing (Cyl 1) (This is the amount of timing advance currently running after all reductions are applied)
Load Actual (Amount of load the engine is seeing. This is related to airflow and engine speed and is used in a lot of engine calculations)
WGDC Actual (Wastegate Duty Cycle - this is what controls your boost pressure)
STFT (Short Term Fuel Trim - these are quickly changing corrections to the fueling mixture based on the feedback from the wideband O2)
LTFT (Long Term Fuel Trim - these are learned correction factors based on feedback from the wideband O2)

A more advanced list is this:

- Accel Pedal Position
- Actual AFR
- Boost Pressure
- Charge Air Temp.
- Coolant Temp.
- ETC Angle Actual
- Engine RPM
- FRP Actual
- Ign Corr. Cyl1
- Ign Corr. Cyl2
- Ign Corr. Cyl3
- Ign Corr. Cyl4
- Ign Timing Cyl3
- LTFT
- Load Actual
- Oct Adj Ratio Lrn
- STFT
- WGDC Actual

A note on the parameters being logged. If you are logging all the ones in the advanced list make sure your display parameters are some of these. Adding additional display parameters that are not also logged will exceed the logging bandwidth for the AP and you will get an error to remove some parameters.

4. After setting the AP correctly, take the car to a safe, straight, long piece of road and set the AP to be ready to start logging. Get in 3rd gear or 4th gear and hold the RPMs steady at around 2500RPM.
5. Press the center button of the AP to start the log.
6. Floor the throttle and hold your foot down to redline.
7. Get off the throttle, slow down safely.
8. Stop the log by pressing the center button.

You can repeat steps 4-8 as many times as you like to take more logs.

Datalogs generated by the COBB AP are in the .csv format. This format is can be opened and viewed on your computer with a number of programs. The most popular are:
- Microsoft Excel
- Open Office
- You can upload these to your Google Drive and open them from there. Google Drive has built in support.

Using the AP Manager you can download these logs from your AP. Link to the AP manager below.

COBB Tuning - Ford Accessport V3

Now you want to share these. Simple stuff due to the number of cloud services available.

1. Get an account with Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. It's free and datalogs take very little space so you should have no problem hosing these. I will used Dropbox as an example.

https://www.dropbox.com/

2. Upload the log to your Public Folder on Dropbox.
3. Right click on the log and select -> Copy Public Link.

Paste that link in your thread on the forum like this:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48912771/Focus ST Logs/2013 Focus Stage 1 93 LT 20130108.csv

Here's something else fun to do to check your performance. If you take logs on a nice, flat, stretch of road you can use these logs to estimate the power your car is making using a tool called Virtual Dyno which is actually free. This is a lot cheaper and if you are consistent can be an excellent tool to see what changes to your tune and hardware are doing:

http://www.virtualdyno.net/

A Vdyno sample below:



Done! Happy Logging and Sharing!
 
#70 ·
Sorry if I missed the inference but, with ATR/ATP can you log more PIDs? I am looking at this from a purely data collection standpoint where ALL is better than most, regardless of immediate necessity.
 
#71 ·
Currently, Accesstuner and the Accessport share the exact same PID lists; aside from Estimated Horsepower which is ATR/ATP only. We are looking to enhance the monitor and datalog tasks in a future update which will only be available on the V3 due to the hardware horsepower it contains compared to the V2. Right now both V2 and V3 are limited to a maximum of 56 bytes of data and they will warn you if the monitor/datalog selections are over that limit. We are looking to double this capacity as well as increase the rate in which those packets are exchanged.

We've got a lot of great things coming on this platform and look forward to hearing your feedback to make these products even better!

Cheers,
-Braden @ COBB
 
#75 · (Edited)
This is my first attempt at posting a data log on here so hopefully it works. I have the FSW stage 1 93 tune. I have a COBB CAI and I always run 93. I am getting a -2 correction on my 1cyl at the high end of 4th and 5th pulls. I have adjusted the log settings to log all four cylinders but have not yet had a chance to get out and take any logs with the new parameters. Is there something I should be worried about with this data or can I just mark it up to the 'winter blend' gas I have here in Baltimore right now? I have posted three logs. They were taken about five to ten min apart from each other. Also, I do not have the tuner program so I am unable to adjust my tunes at all. To be honest, I wouldn't know where to start anyway.

1st run:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AguyHhnJZVmadFE5NDVUN1RTMzVNbEdBenZ4R1NBQXc&usp=sharing

2nd run:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AguyHhnJZVmadFNZTGpubml0ZktlVjhtM2FObXhZc2c&usp=sharing

3rd run:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AguyHhnJZVmadDl2WFJnNG9MVjFCTVRhUkNfMUpNdWc&usp=sharing
 
#76 · (Edited)
Please post your full name if you're going to post logs. I have no idea who you are so I can't look at your file. :) Or email me data logs versus having them here. Sales at fswerks dottt commm.

The first run is odd to look at and you aren't keeping the gas to the floor, though that isn't a huge deal since it was pressed far enough for the most part. It's just not ideal to stab it and then right away let off the gas a bit. I see the -2 at the end of 5th gear in the first run. I don't really like it to go to -2 so I'd like to adjust that. What is your Octane Adjust Ratio Learned value on the AP? That is good to log, always.

The second run is much better to look at and looks like you kept your foot to the floor mostly. It would be good to start the run earlier in the RPMs to see more of what is going on, though. Spark looks fine. Again, I'd want to know what the OAR Learned is.

The 3rd run looks incomplete. Was there an issue with that run? The data for the Ign Corr isn't displaying correctly, graphically, but I do see the -2 there at the top end. I'd like to know what the OAR Learned is since the overall Ign Timing is pretty low at that point.

Do you feel like you're using the highest quality gas that you can? You might want to try a different brand and station if you aren't sure.
 
#78 ·
I think the secondary purpose (or possibly primary, lol) of this and similar threads is to get people used to posting logs on this forum and for tuners and other members with some experience and expertise to chime in publicly in order to educate members to eventually allow them to better understand their own logs and tunes. Keeping these discussion private between tuners or members is contrary to this purpose and does nothing to further the platform or educate its members. You can always PM private details like full names and you can always email logs and questions to a specific tuner; however, it would be very nice to also keep them posted for the public (logs, not private information). No harm and only good will become of the practice, imo.
 
#81 ·
Discussing these datalogs will "calibrate" how the forum looks at and can help members out. It will become second nature to pick out issues and for the community to help its own. It will also push for better and more refined tunes and a better understanding of the ECU and this car which is pretty cool and something a lot of us can geek out on.
 
#82 ·
I agree, however post em up here and send em to the tuner in a private manner. I'm sure randy is straight up to his eyes in work right now, he just wants to help I'm sure (obviously I cannot speak for him, simply an observation) and it is much easier for him to go email to email versus trying to look at every forum his is a member of. I think we should all post logs don't get me wrong but Randy also has a point
 
#96 · (Edited)
For tuners it's beneficial to see various datalogs because it gives them a better idea of how different mods/fuels/conditions will affect performance. The larger the number of samples they view/analyze the more complete their understanding will be.

For end users it's beneficial because many people are running tunes that their car is not happy with. If a user understands what the information in a datalog means they can view their logs and request changes to their tune if they notice something that doesn't look correct. They could also use datalogs to compare fuels from different gas stations to see which fuel their car performs the best with.

For self tuners it's beneficial because it saves people from repeating the same mistakes someone else has already made; less trial and error and it provides a general ballpark idea of where to start tuning their own vehicle.
 
#93 ·
The FST is a very new platform that is just now getting the point of having a community base that is logging and dissecting those logs for the benefit of the community. The more information we have available the better able we will be(as a community) to help out members when they are experiencing an issue or wanting to learn about what makes their car tick.
 
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#107 ·
Can we please keep one ****ing thread on this ****ing forum on topic, if you don't think sharing logs is neccesary then go to another thread and tell people about their warranty it is a full time job here; if you are in the business of tuning and don't want people sharing logs from your tune just ****ing say so, I'm sick of people in this community being so ****ing immature, if you care about the platform then act like it; if you don't go build a Honda, I've never seen grown men act so ****ing retarded this **** makes me want to trade my ST for a civic or some stupid ****; I'm sick of this **** between tuners and users and whatever I'm out of here; have a great ****ing day make sure you change your tampons regularly
 
#113 ·
I can certainly tell you that you will definitely not be building a tune from viewing logs on any modern car. There are no polls in here asking you which business is better, which tuner is better, which practice is better. This is not a challenge to any one person or tuner but somehow interpreted that way. Work always speaks for itself.

COBB offers a great tool to perform the work, learn, and interpret data and there is a reason why they are so successful with this model. It caters to the fact that in modern times, a lot of auto enthusiasts will spend their time working with the control system since it is integral to every aspect of the performance and driveability of the car.

If you can discuss exhaust diameter, cam lift, and compressor wheel sizes, why not discuss the inputs, outputs, and strategies used in the ECU?

Let's please get this back on the rails.
 
#114 ·
Just because a log is posted does not mean somebody can say "oh I know exactly how that car is tuned" There are many tables and each tuner ends up with their own style of tuning. Posting logs is mostly important for people that are modded to know that their car is running the way it should.

Just by logging you can tell if there is a boost leak, plugs that are on their way out, bad fuel, etc. All things that can potentially cause harm to an engine, especially a forced induction engine.

The mentality of set it and forget it doesn't work for me and many other guys. We are on a forum to A) have fun, and B) share info.
 
#115 · (Edited)
^This

I dont want to run a modded turbo without knowing that it is running properly and that the engine is functioning the way it should be.

You make it seem like the only people with good running cars post logs... I am not ignorant, nor do i not want to learn about the car. I have been in the focus scene quite a long time now and have built some pretty sweet cars from my own to doing the work on others too. I have had a competent tuner do the files on every car. Im not talking naturally aspirated here either, but yes not direct injection until my focus ST.

I never once heard this BS of posting logs on a forum until Cobb and this forum. I dont disagree with posting logs, dont get me wrong but there is a reason custom files are offered from vendors, and that is to dial the car in due to the generalized OTS files. OTS files work but leave a lot of room on the table and as you stated (i havent had any issues but others have) about over boosting/under boosting.

A data log forum will not teach those interested in tuning to tune. If you are all so hell bent on tuning your car, why dont you get a ECU tuning section going where tuners can offer advice on specific situations. looking at a thread with a bunch of logs posted and Alex saying "get better fuel" or "cyl 2 looks kinda funny" does nothing for this community. Each person would need their own thread with their own issue. None of this posting up OTS and FSW and Freek logs because it has no value and the tuner cant always put a name to a screen name.

Randy has done a very good job of building a reputation not only on the focus ST forums and community but across the board for the focus. There is a reason he is the go to guy on here among other places. Capitalist? I think not, its good business practice. Why share what separates you from the rest and so far makes you the best? (personal opinion)
baby steps friend. Can't learn to tune without knowing how to read the outputs on the ECU. Period.

once we make this hurdle I will have a whole new ECU Knowledge Base section created just for tuning and engine logic. If I have a section made now it will be polluted with BS threads and I dont want that.
 
#116 ·
Make it a section which a moderator has to approve. For instance the guys who will be responding primarily in that forum kind of like some do for classifieds having posts approved.

I know what you are saying on your car with modded ko3. Do you log once a week and post that up for review? I would guess once in a while or watch live data while out giving her the right foot. When you have a concern I'm sure you contact randy now as well.

A quick FAQ or crash course post that is stickied on reading logs will eliminate this entire section and skimming through massive threads of log files. The bigger things addressed in an ecu tuning section about self tuning.

That I feel would accomplish more in regards to furthering the platform for those who want to self tune and push the limits


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#122 ·
I don't understand why people are getting offended about a section dedicated to sharing information and learning. As has already been stated many times... if one is not interested in sharing information and/or learning about topics in this subforum then simply do not participate.

Personally, I've already learned a lot from these discussions and find this subforum very interesting, informative and helpful.
 
#124 ·
Map 0 is the "stock" map
 
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#125 ·
Have you ran the modified turbo with the OEM map? I am not sure what was changed in your turbo but keep an eye on boost control as the upgraded turbo may not agree well with the OEM boost control parameters. Boost spikes can cause engine damage so just ease into the throttle making sure boost responds as you expect it to without spiking.
 
#131 · (Edited)
On a stock tune and if the WG learning has enough capacity, the PCM should be lowering the boost a tad to meet the measured airflow through the TB and hit its Torque target. So it kinda makes sense that he thinks it feels about the same as a Stock ST.

IIRC the Turbosmart is barely stiffer than stock and that's assuming its adjusted right. I think its quoted as ~"7psi" and stock its ~6psi. imo put a few cranks on the stock wga and save yourself the $200

Its hard telling if his SCT tune is running true Torque based boost control or a static psi target like with the AP
 
#137 ·
Missed this for a few days. Still don't see the point. If we had open source then sure it'd make sense. If I have issues with my car or want the tune checked, I catalog and send to my tuner, not post for a bunch of "expert" opinions. I could see this for atr but at the same time if you don't have enough knowledge to tune, you shouldn't be touching it.
 
#142 ·
That's a rather poor analogy, don't you think? A $1 can of soda being compared to a $30K investment you're placing in someone else's hands? Either way, this discussion is a rather moot point at this point.
 
#145 ·
If the guy don't want to give his secret for tuning, give him a break.

Change car or do your own tuning or go skiing.

All I know is I have tried FSWerks and COBB and both tunes are fantastic.