Need for Speed - performance changes for a Leaf?

Hello all.

I have where a company (for $1400 no less) will tweak your computer for quicker acceleration.

Any Mods or computer chips/programs/editing equipment out there that can do the same thing at home?

I did do a search here, nada..


Thanks!

For that price I'd guess that what they are doing is re mapping the "electric" pedal to give more power with less travel, hence feeling faster. Drive the car in eco for an hour then switch back and it will feel faster right away but it's just a mind trick. Many cars have eco, normal, sport. This would just add a sport. In racing where every nano second counts it makes a car faster because there is less delay, in the real world floor 1 leaf in eco and 1 in normal at the same time and they'll get to the same place at pretty much the same time. My second guess if you have a newer leaf is they are giving you the 200 or so lbft that the original had before nissan limited it to around 180.

I think to give more power you'd have to either change the voltage going into the motor or the current. They won't be able to dp that for $1400. Traditional ice tuning changes the power/toque curve which is compromised by the design for smoothness, power, torque, fuel economy, noise, long life etc... For example they may give torque lower down for street use or more hp high up for track at the cost of making it drink more fuel and make more noise. With the flat torque of electric there is very little to improve on.

minispeed said:

I think to give more power you'd have to either change the voltage going into the motor or the current...With the flat torque of electric there is very little to improve on.

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The problem with the Leaf is that the faster you go, the sooner you run out of juice. Range is already so limited, that a light foot is required to make sure you can get where you need to go. It really isn't the right platform for driving hard. I wouldn't pay anyone to make it consume energy faster. It would make more sense to strip weight out of the car to increase performance, and give up comfort instead of range.

TT

ttweed said:

The problem with the Leaf is that the faster you go, the sooner you run out of juice.

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THIS!^^^^
also once you get past 30MPH there really isn't too much left. you can put try all you want but the LEAF will never be anything more than a good city car

I drive my '14 SL in B mode here in hilly Asheville. In full-pedal acceleration from a stop, I've noticed it takes a couple of seconds for all the dots on the "Power" side of the dash to light - it starts with a few, then builds. The car's rate of acceleration seems to track the number of dots, as you'd expect. I've searched this forum, but still haven't found a clear answer as to whether this behavior is "built into" the motor and therefore unchangeable, or programmed into the controller by the chip. If it's programmed in, then a faster ramp-up of power would sure help your ET, especially on a 1/8-mile strip. See if your LEAF behaves the same way mine does.

My hunch is that Nissan deliberately softened the first couple of seconds' acceleration to be sure that drivers wouldn't have the car "get away from them" by accelerating much quicker than expected in tight, low-speed situations. Given all the media attention drawn by "unintended acceleration" and the number of folks who accidentally hit the wrong pedal and drive right into convenience stores, this programming may not be easy to bypass...

I think there is some torque control (limiting) at the low end to
help avoid leaving black rubber stripes at intersections?

DaveInAvl said:

I drive my '14 SL in B mode here in hilly Asheville. In full-pedal acceleration from a stop, I've noticed it takes a couple of seconds for all the dots on the "Power" side of the dash to light - it starts with a few, then builds. The car's rate of acceleration seems to track the number of dots, as you'd expect. I've searched this forum, but still haven't found a clear answer as to whether this behavior is "built into" the motor and therefore unchangeable, or programmed into the controller by the chip. If it's programmed in, then a faster ramp-up of power would sure help your ET, especially on a 1/8-mile strip. See if your LEAF behaves the same way mine does.

My hunch is that Nissan deliberately softened the first couple of seconds' acceleration to be sure that drivers wouldn't have the car "get away from them" by accelerating much quicker than expected in tight, low-speed situations. Given all the media attention drawn by "unintended acceleration" and the number of folks who accidentally hit the wrong pedal and drive right into convenience stores, this programming may not be easy to bypass...

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My guess for lower power when starting out is because the motor is not capable of producing that much torque. As tbe rpm increases you can put more power to the wheels because power is torque times rpm times a constant. The leaf has no transmission or clutch just a single speed gearbox.

apvbguy said:

ttweed said:

The problem with the Leaf is that the faster you go, the sooner you run out of juice.

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Naaaaa, I only need it a 1/4 mile at a time!

Economy, distance and battery life will not be of any concern. We have this car to race.

Ed

minispeed said:

It would make more sense to strip weight out of the car to increase performance, and give up comfort instead of range.

TT

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Agreed!

We will be relieving this car of any useless weight. It will still be completely street legal....for one driver.


Ed

Torque limited to some speed around 30mph, then power limited after that.

Remove the former and you risk transmission/drive-line damage. It is already a very high torque load. Remove the latter and you risk overheating the electronics, motor and battery. These control limits will be embedded deeply within the motor controller software, not sure what else will need to be done to avoid 'messing around with' other stuff in the controller and really screwing it.

etracing said:

I have where a company (for $1400 no less) will tweak your computer for quicker acceleration.

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Is this the Nismo VCM upgrade for the Leaf in Japan? Because if it is good luck getting it here. I tried VERY hard. Japan only. Period.

I was afraid no one would mention the NISMO chip or other upgrades. Try searching *that* for the topic that already exists.

donald said:

Torque limited to some speed around 30mph, then power limited after that.

Remove the former and you risk transmission/drive-line damage. It is already a very high torque load.

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Torque is limited in any case by wheelspin, and what I was talking about is quickening the ramping up of torque to the level it already has at, say, 20mph. Suddenly apply full pedal while cruising at that speed and the car lunges forward instantly without wheelspin. If that damaged the driveline it wouldn't be allowed. And having that kind of acceleration earlier in the process would sure help the ET for drag racing. A minimal amount of ramping up would be enough to avoid shock load, and off you go...

johnrhansen said:

My guess for lower power when starting out is because the motor is not capable of producing that much torque. As tbe rpm increases you can put more power to the wheels because power is torque times rpm times a constant. The leaf has no transmission or clutch just a single speed gearbox.

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The power is softened to prevent "over acceleration". It is capable of full torque at 0 RPM.

jelloslug said:

johnrhansen said:

My guess for lower power when starting out is because the motor is not capable of producing that much torque. As tbe rpm increases you can put more power to the wheels because power is torque times rpm times a constant. The leaf has no transmission or clutch just a single speed gearbox.

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The power is softened to prevent "over acceleration". It is capable of full torque at 0 RPM.

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full torque, but not full power. The dots show power, correct?

johnrhansen said:

full torque, but not full power. The dots show power, correct?

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Full torque would translate into a specific amount of "thrust" if you will, which would translate into a specific rate of acceleration until the torque starts declining to maintain constant horsepower. I'd really like to see a high-resolution graph of the first few seconds' full-pedal acceleration, to see how much "softening" is built in... wonder if the Need for Speed folks have an accelerometer?

The power is restricted and it could be increased. The motor can also be driven harder and cooled more as there is still plenty of headroom and the car would not need much change on the bottom end to make a significant difference. I thing the Nissan racking people never had help on this early on so they never did any mods initially which was laughable.