Protege5 ECU for automatics probably has learning ability

[MuffinMan06]

I’ve been driving my automatic like a maniac for the past few months and the ecu seems to have adapted the shift points and line pressure to my driving style. Am I insane? I can keep up well with a manual protege now. I know the focus community managed to tune the trans a while ago using only software

 

[Lazy2.5]

Your auto is not faster than a manual.

 

[MuffinMan06]

Your auto is not faster than a manual.

Never said that. With a cooler installed I can keep up. Definitely not winning any drag races.

 

[jadycr]

i don’t think it controls line pressure or shift points based off of learning but i bet it’s running cooler and the shift points do adjust based off the tps sensor so if you’re noticing a difference it’s probably the combination of cooler trans fluid and quick changes in throttle that tell it to shift later and rev higher

 

[Lazy2.5]

Never said that. With a cooler installed I can keep up. Definitely not winning any drag races.

Right, yes. I meant, I highly doubt that the auto would "keep up" with a manual, but I don't think it would be such a huge difference either, as you rightfully pointed out.

That doesn't matter, because, you have the 4 speed auto, and you seem to enjoy the car. This is what matters. I am 25 now. When I was 16, I bought a 1.6L protege with the 5 speed manual. It was a fantastic car to drive, especially as someone brand new to driving manual.

Based on your username, I am assuming that you are 18. You also seem to know about cars, pointing out shift points and what not. While I don't know anything about line pressure, the TCU primarily adjusts to maintain emissions and engine protection as priority over performance. All it really knows is, "the driver is applying conservative, moderate, or aggressive throttle input", and probably won't deviate much from the shift points it has learned from the factory. If conditions are not favorable for the throttle input you are requesting, such as, bad fuel, bad air, compromised engine health, that's the biggest reason why the computers would choose a different shift point. While it will adjust slightly if you're beating on the car, it's still going to be maintaining its factory shift points as priority, which is, try to cut timing and short shift on you, if it detects that you're not driving conservatively enough. That's the computers primary concern.

Assuming you are 18, I can tell you, that I too was 18 once, and beat on all my cars like a madman. I have learned to respect my current vehicle, the Mazda 6 as a transportation machine, which involves (usually) driving safely and conservatively. I too, hope you are one of the rare few who will mentally evolve into enjoying your vehicle safely and efficiently as time passes.

Enjoy your protege according to how it was tuned. It doesn't have much power in a straight line. Gearing in the 4 speed auto is not optimized. It does have a great chassis and suspension though, which luckily needs little power to enjoy. Go based on that.

Turbocharging your car as mentioned in another post is 1. pointless, because its a handling car, and 2. pointless, because it has a 4 speed auto. Learning to enjoy the car within its handling limits, which are high, provided you do a reality check with your expectations on straight line speed and focus on enjoying the great handling instead will keep you satisfied with what you have in present.

be safe and efficient. cheers

 

[MuffinMan06]

Right, yes. I meant, I highly doubt that the auto would "keep up" with a manual, but I don't think it would be such a huge difference either, as you rightfully pointed out.

That doesn't matter, because, you have the 4 speed auto, and you seem to enjoy the car. This is what matters. I am 25 now. When I was 16, I bought a 1.6L protege with the 5 speed manual. It was a fantastic car to drive, especially as someone brand new to driving manual.

Based on your username, I am assuming that you are 18. You also seem to know about cars, pointing out shift points and what not. While I don't know anything about line pressure, the TCU primarily adjusts to maintain emissions and engine protection as priority over performance. All it really knows is, "the driver is applying conservative, moderate, or aggressive throttle input", and probably won't deviate much from the shift points it has learned from the factory. If conditions are not favorable for the throttle input you are requesting, such as, bad fuel, bad air, compromised engine health, that's the biggest reason why the computers would choose a different shift point. While it will adjust slightly if you're beating on the car, it's still going to be maintaining its factory shift points as priority, which is, try to cut timing and short shift on you, if it detects that you're not driving conservatively enough. That's the computers primary concern.

Assuming you are 18, I can tell you, that I too was 18 once, and beat on all my cars like a madman. I have learned to respect my current vehicle, the Mazda 6 as a transportation machine, which involves (usually) driving safely and conservatively. I too, hope you are one of the rare few who will mentally evolve into enjoying your vehicle safely and efficiently as time passes.

Enjoy your protege according to how it was tuned. It doesn't have much power in a straight line. Gearing in the 4 speed auto is not optimized. It does have a great chassis and suspension though, which luckily needs little power to enjoy. Go based on that.

Turbocharging your car as mentioned in another post is 1. pointless, because its a handling car, and 2. pointless, because it has a 4 speed auto. Learning to enjoy the car within its handling limits, which are high, provided you do a reality check with your expectations on straight line speed and focus on enjoying the great handling instead will keep you satisfied with what you have in present.

be safe and efficient. cheers

I just like the challenge of turbocharging an automatic. I am also in the middle of tracking down parts to strengthen the 3-4 clutch pack and add high performance frictions which would make the auto able to take boost when I start the project in a few years. I own 2 vehicles so I’m not too worried about the protege being out of commission for a few months. The wiring harness modifications are already designed. I have also done some research around the transmission and the hard components are very sturdy. Probably going to run boost at 5 psi until I get the tuning done and either track down a converter with an aluminum stator or machine my own since I have access to a tormach 5 axis and lathe. In Regards to respecting my vehicle, I have learned the limits of my car on a track and always keep up on maintenance. There are also supporting modifications to stop the oil starvation issues and the trans cooler to keep it within a safe temperature. I never take it on roads I haven’t scouted first either. Also the turbo is more of a once im graduated and have a stable job type project. Mainly having fun gathering Info and planning right now current plan is to do chassis modifications like the motor mounts, front/rear sway bar, mazda3 front brakes, anda nice set of coilovers

 

[MuffinMan06]

Right, yes. I meant, I highly doubt that the auto would "keep up" with a manual, but I don't think it would be such a huge difference either, as you rightfully pointed out.

That doesn't matter, because, you have the 4 speed auto, and you seem to enjoy the car. This is what matters. I am 25 now. When I was 16, I bought a 1.6L protege with the 5 speed manual. It was a fantastic car to drive, especially as someone brand new to driving manual.

Based on your username, I am assuming that you are 18. You also seem to know about cars, pointing out shift points and what not. While I don't know anything about line pressure, the TCU primarily adjusts to maintain emissions and engine protection as priority over performance. All it really knows is, "the driver is applying conservative, moderate, or aggressive throttle input", and probably won't deviate much from the shift points it has learned from the factory. If conditions are not favorable for the throttle input you are requesting, such as, bad fuel, bad air, compromised engine health, that's the biggest reason why the computers would choose a different shift point. While it will adjust slightly if you're beating on the car, it's still going to be maintaining its factory shift points as priority, which is, try to cut timing and short shift on you, if it detects that you're not driving conservatively enough. That's the computers primary concern.

Assuming you are 18, I can tell you, that I too was 18 once, and beat on all my cars like a madman. I have learned to respect my current vehicle, the Mazda 6 as a transportation machine, which involves (usually) driving safely and conservatively. I too, hope you are one of the rare few who will mentally evolve into enjoying your vehicle safely and efficiently as time passes.

Enjoy your protege according to how it was tuned. It doesn't have much power in a straight line. Gearing in the 4 speed auto is not optimized. It does have a great chassis and suspension though, which luckily needs little power to enjoy. Go based on that.

Turbocharging your car as mentioned in another post is 1. pointless, because its a handling car, and 2. pointless, because it has a 4 speed auto. Learning to enjoy the car within its handling limits, which are high, provided you do a reality check with your expectations on straight line speed and focus on enjoying the great handling instead will keep you satisfied with what you have in present.

be safe and efficient. cheers

The beating on it for a few months was more of an experiment to test ecu learning. It’s fun, but I realize it shortens the lifespan of the car tremendously when it is driven like that for its entire life