PCM Diagnostics & Tuning HP Tuners | Holley | Diablo
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:

AFR vs Lambda... why ever use AFR?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 02-19-2022, 12:29 PM
  #1  
TECH Addict
Thread Starter
iTrader: (7)
 
FCar2000TA's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Arizona
Posts: 2,661
Received 177 Likes on 136 Posts

Default AFR vs Lambda... why ever use AFR?

I am curious why anyone would use AFR to tune when most pump gas has some percentage of ethanol and additives in it, which changes the Stoich.
Old 02-19-2022, 01:44 PM
  #2  
Moderator
iTrader: (4)
 
Darth_V8r's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: My own internal universe
Posts: 10,446
Received 1,838 Likes on 1,146 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by FCar2000TA
I am curious why anyone would use AFR to tune when most pump gas has some percentage of ethanol and additives in it, which changes the Stoich.
Force of habit? Kidding but not kidding. I learned on lambda, and it's far easier to convert for various fuels. You can never completely divorce AFR, because at some point you have to tell the computer how much fuel to squirt for the air it ingested. But for logging, etc, the first thing I do is take everyone's transforms and convert to lambda
Old 02-20-2022, 12:28 AM
  #3  
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (39)
 
LilJayV10's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Evansville,IN
Posts: 9,447
Received 898 Likes on 640 Posts

Default

AFR is imperial and Lambda is metric system and people hate the metric system.

People have used AFR for years because pump gas was well...actually gas. It's not anymore.

A lot of PCM's are written in AFR, well GM's are anyway. The PCM in my 2000 T/A is in AFR, and I have to reverse engineer the multipliers to get the commanded Lambda I want. I had a spreadsheet a long time ago that I made but I can't find it anymore.

What's the stoich of E15, or E30, what about E50? I don't know..but I can tell you in Lambda all of them are 1.0



Old 02-20-2022, 12:30 AM
  #4  
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (39)
 
LilJayV10's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Evansville,IN
Posts: 9,447
Received 898 Likes on 640 Posts

Default


Old 02-20-2022, 12:45 AM
  #5  
TECH Fanatic
 
ChopperDoc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,220
Received 177 Likes on 107 Posts
Default

Either is fine really, as long as you have the correct stoich set as the target. For example E10 should be down in the 14.1 ish range, since the E10 is really E10 ish anyway. That would also matter for lambda too. Lambda is simply a reference to your target, so 1.0 is whatever stoich is set to. I could make it 18:1 and tune it, it would say 1.0, and I’d be wrong as hell. AFR is the actual you’re seeing in real time. For gas motors and average joes, AFR is just easier to explain because there are no “extra steps”…
Old 02-20-2022, 01:03 AM
  #6  
TECH Fanatic
 
theunderlord's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2022
Location: Seattle
Posts: 1,034
Received 467 Likes on 354 Posts
Default

I've watched countless Joe Simpson Holley tuning videos where he begs for a straight Lambda set up from Holley.

The following users liked this post:
LilJayV10 (02-20-2022)
Old 02-20-2022, 01:41 AM
  #7  
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (39)
 
LilJayV10's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Evansville,IN
Posts: 9,447
Received 898 Likes on 640 Posts

Default

A wideband is a Lambda sensor. Not an AFR sensor.

we've been asking Holley for years to have a Lambda option. They said they were going to put it in back when V4 released.
The following 2 users liked this post by LilJayV10:
mOtOrHeAd MiKe (02-26-2022), NSFW (02-26-2022)
Old 02-20-2022, 04:27 PM
  #8  
Moderator
iTrader: (4)
 
Darth_V8r's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: My own internal universe
Posts: 10,446
Received 1,838 Likes on 1,146 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by theunderlord
I've watched countless Joe Simpson Holley tuning videos where he begs for a straight Lambda set up from Holley.
Off topic but I would beg Holley for the ability to tell you which cylinder is misfiring like the oem pcm cam do
Old 02-20-2022, 08:48 PM
  #9  
TECH Resident
 
NSFW's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 852
Received 133 Likes on 101 Posts
Default

"AFR" is just an old habit from pure-gasoline era. People who speak in terms of AFR (myself included) are actually talking about lambda, just in different units of measurement. The ratio of fuel mass to air mass in the combustion chamber won't exactly match the spoken/written AFR, but it will match the lambda that corresponds to the spoken/written AFR for whatever the fuel happens to be.

The sensors in the vehicle measure lambda, regardless of fuel, and the conversion is trivial, so this ends up being just a distinction without a difference.
The following users liked this post:
G Atsma (02-20-2022)
Old 02-25-2022, 07:13 PM
  #10  
TECH Addict
iTrader: (47)
 
rpturbo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: A-Town, Ill side
Posts: 2,370
Received 202 Likes on 166 Posts

Default

Originally Posted by Darth_V8r
Off topic but I would beg Holley for the ability to tell you which cylinder is misfiring like the oem pcm cam do
Yeah they are too busy trying to get a 6spd transmission to work, rather than provide that kinda stuff. I guess they figure if we are using their products we can figure it out. While we can, I agree, it sure would be nice if it would just identify it. The crank sensor is already there, they just need to write a little code.
Old 02-25-2022, 10:43 PM
  #11  
TECH Fanatic
 
ChopperDoc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,220
Received 177 Likes on 107 Posts
Default

Technically, AFR and Lambda are the same thing, just different units. It’s literally like comparing gallons to liters. One is in percentage of stoich (lambda) and one is raw ratio (AFR)… it literally doesn’t matter which you use so long as you have the base (target) set appropriately for the fuel type. That’s my take on it at least. No matter what, lambda is still a ratio of air to fuel, and AFR, well, literally the ratio of air to fuel. Lambda is definitely easier to use for different fuels because you don’t have to be a math whiz to know when you’re off target. But at the end of the day, both still measure the same thing.
The following users liked this post:
G Atsma (02-25-2022)
Old 02-25-2022, 11:07 PM
  #12  
TECH Fanatic
 
ChopperDoc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,220
Received 177 Likes on 107 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by LilJayV10
A wideband is a Lambda sensor. Not an AFR sensor.

we've been asking Holley for years to have a Lambda option. They said they were going to put it in back when V4 released.
I’m not quite following what you’re saying here. A wideband is simply an O2 sensor with greater range (5v) than the stock ones (1.2v). They operate based on the difference of outside air vs inside air. The greater the difference (or lack thereof of oxygen aka O2) the greater the voltage produced. The materials used to make O2 sensors actually create voltage in this scenario, just like little generators. The ratio I’m looking for in the tune is up to whatever my sensor bandwidth is.

Since no matter what, my REAL reference is literally the oxygen left in the pipe after combustion (or lack thereof) then the argument over which “ratio” works better is moot. Both work. Be it lambda, or AFR, both measure this ratio. It’s like saying I’m wrong for saying 1 inch when you’re saying 25.4mm. We’re saying the same thing. You just have to know your numbers better if you use AFR. I suppose that can actually be more difficult with other fuels. 1.0 lambda is whatever I tell the PCM 1.0 is on the stoich table.

I just don’t see how wideband O2 sensors are “lambda” sensors. Maybe stock ones. Maybe I’m completely wrong, so enlighten me if I’m way off track here. As I understand it, lambda is 1.0 at whatever I set stoich to. That means it’s also “x” AFR at the same stoich value. What is the difference if one chooses to see 1.0 or “x” AFR value? I don’t see the issue, or a difference. It’s literally just a different unit.
Old 02-26-2022, 01:09 AM
  #13  
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (23)
 
QwkTrip's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 1,320
Likes: 0
Received 399 Likes on 291 Posts

Default

I think the Holley ECM reads in Lambda and then they do an extra step in the software to convert to AFR. It's kind of silly they don't have an option to tune in Lambda. Just makes things more awkward when they don't. Estimating fueling changes when tuning in Lambda is so easy that you can do the math in your head.
The following 2 users liked this post by QwkTrip:
mOtOrHeAd MiKe (02-26-2022), Project GatTagO (03-02-2022)
Old 02-26-2022, 11:51 AM
  #14  
TECH Resident
 
NSFW's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 852
Received 133 Likes on 101 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by ChopperDoc
I’m not quite following what you’re saying here. A wideband is simply an O2 sensor with greater range (5v) than the stock ones (1.2v). They operate based on the difference of outside air vs inside air. The greater the difference (or lack thereof of oxygen aka O2) the greater the voltage produced. The materials used to make O2 sensors actually create voltage in this scenario, just like little generators. The ratio I’m looking for in the tune is up to whatever my sensor bandwidth is.
Yes... and what's saying is that ratio is lambda, not AFR.

In order to turn lambda into AFR something has to do a little arithmetic based on how many grams of air can be burned by a gram of the particular fuel in question (i.e. the stoichiometric ratio of that fuel). The O2 sensor doesn't know what kind of fuel went into the other end of the motor, so the sensor just has lambda.

Last edited by NSFW; 02-26-2022 at 01:19 PM.
Old 02-26-2022, 12:58 PM
  #15  
10 Second Club
iTrader: (26)
 
ddnspider's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: FL
Posts: 14,600
Received 1,743 Likes on 1,301 Posts

Default

Originally Posted by LilJayV10
AFR is imperial and Lambda is metric system and people hate the metric system.

People have used AFR for years because pump gas was well...actually gas. It's not anymore.

A lot of PCM's are written in AFR, well GM's are anyway. The PCM in my 2000 T/A is in AFR, and I have to reverse engineer the multipliers to get the commanded Lambda I want. I had a spreadsheet a long time ago that I made but I can't find it anymore.

What's the stoich of E15, or E30, what about E50? I don't know..but I can tell you in Lambda all of them are 1.0
I believe GM actually uses Equivalence Ratio, the inverse of Lambda and HPT or EFI Live converts to either AFR or Lambda depending on what you like.
Old 02-26-2022, 03:12 PM
  #16  
TECH Addict
 
pdxmotorhead's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: PDX-OR-USA
Posts: 2,499
Received 475 Likes on 365 Posts
Default

If you go way way back,, Airplanes had a AFR table in the manual to assist in properly adjusting the mixture, So a ton of early engine guys were ex military who got in to racing.. So they used what they knew. It assisted with fuel burn calcs as well.

Haven't seen one in years..



Quick Reply: AFR vs Lambda... why ever use AFR?



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:29 PM.