MAFLESS Tune??

Should you go MAFless?

One of the first and most common modifications performed on any vehicle when chasing more airflow and power is the removal of the Mass Air Flow sensor.

In this article I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of removing the MAF sensor and discuss if it is necessary to do so in order to meet your needs and goals.

What does the MAF sensor do?

To start this off, lets cover briefly what a MAF sensor does and how the ECU controls fuelling when a MAF sensor is not present.

A MAF sensor or Mass Air Flow meter is placed in the intake stream before the throttle body and it’s job is to meter the amount of air entering the engine, allowing the ECU to provide the correct amount of fuel required to achieve target Air/Fuel ratio. Typically a MAF will also incorporate an IAT (Intake Air Temperature) sensor as air temperature plays a vital role in the oxygen content of air.

When we remove the MAF sensor, the ECU is now operating in speed density (SD) and using a MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) sensor and the IAT sensor to calculate airflow or more importantly air density.

As mentioned above the IAT sensor is typically incorporated into the MAF sensor meaning when we remove the MAF sensor, we need to place a separate IAT sensor in the intake stream.

Understanding that the MAF is metering airflow vs a speed density system calculating airflow, it is understood the MAF sensor provides a faster, accurate reading of airflow.

This meaning that unless your setup will benefit from the removal of the MAF sensor, it is better left in.

Why is a MAFless tune so common?

The number one reason people remove the MAF sensor and get a MAFless tune is the belief that it is a restriction of the intake airflow, in turn it is believed that removal of the MAF sensor will provide an instant gain in airflow resulting in more power right?

The reality is the MAF sensor is not always a restriction of the intake airflow meaning a gain in performance will not always be a result of MAF sensor removal.

There is other reasons why removal of the MAF sensor can be beneficial to your setup, however you should understand these prior to ditching the MAF just because everyone else does it.

Reasons to remove the MAF sensor

•   MAF sensor is restrictive of the intake airflow

•   Large cam fitted with overlap, causing reversion through the intake

•   Airflow maxes out MAF sensor scaling, meaning it can’t read true airflow because airflow exceeds the sensors max reading

MAFless or not?

So, do you need to ditch the MAF sensor?

Well as you can probably tell from the above reasons this can vary between setups, however generally if your vehicle is relatively stock and the MAF sensor doesn’t restrict the intake, you probably won’t see the benefit in removing it and will be wasting money and time on a MAFless tune.

On the other hand if you have a vehicle that the MAF is proven to be a restriction or you have large camshafts that will cause reversion through the intake, the removal of the MAF and a MAFless tune will than benefit your setup.

The main takeaway from this is before pulling the trigger on removal of the MAF sensor and getting the ECU calibrated to suit, do your research and find out if it will benefit your setup rather than doing so just because everyone else does!