TCT IS NOT MFI. ITS A CARBURETOR NO MATTER WHAT THE ADVERTISING SAYS. MFI needs a fuel pump, pressure powered injectors and a air metering system. The TCT has an easily adjustible AFR...
Nono.. it's some sort of dumbed down MFI alright..
the vacuum pulse from the engine actuates a plunger which pressurizes a metered amount of fuel being injected
into the venturi..
air metering is actually sublemented by the amount of vacuum in the throttlebody of the carb..
(more vacuum means the plunger has a wider throw and loads more fuel)
that's why the carb is only suitable for a very narrow set of combustion volume (160-220cc)
otherwise the metering would be off.. it can be dialed in according to combustion volume within a suitable range [for above cc engines].
it's not as exact as a proper EFI, and maybe not even as exact as a first gen MFI... but it's certainly not 'just your ordinary carb' either.
The idea is actually quite clever and it's not marginally but ALOT better than just a rejetted stock carb.
Not as tunable as a mikuni slide carb .. by far not.
But here's the point:
Say you have two perfectly identical engines, both setup for the same peak horsepower and torque
one of which running the TCT and the other say a rejetted stock or a slide mikuni.
Since the TCT can adjust a significant portion of the fuel as it's needed it does save fuel.
And if you need just 10% les fuel on board to finish a race you might have just the advantage you need
Also since the vacuum increases most when you try to increase rpm,
it injects most at acceleration.. which makes throttleresponse much better compared to any other venturi style.. it's even hard to match that with a slide carb I'd say.
Anyways, truth is.. if you care enough to put some hours of testing and setting into a mikuni
(adjust for daily weather changes and such) it certainly can push the same engine to a higher performance than a TCT would be able to,
even IF you invest a similar time to reset the TCT on a daily basis.
And here's where
smartcarbs come in...
a terribly expensive crossbread of a TCT-style fuel injection carb and a mikuni slide carb...
tuneable as the mikuni would be with all the benefits a slide carb has over a venturi style.
PLUS the vakuum metered additional drop of fuel injected whenever needed.
if you're willing to spend the money and are torn between a mikuni and a TCT being unable to decide... THAT is what you want
A TCT needs to be dialed in as any carb would need to be, maybe more;
just not as much as a Mikuni style slider
I wouldn't call the benefit marginally personally;
Since same power with less fuel to me is still a noteworthy benefit,
and less fuel and slightly more power to me is great;
but that's a matter of perspective.
For non racing hobbyists
that just wants a bit more throttle response and a snappier ride,
maybe a tad more power and torque
the TCT is the ideal carb (once properly set up).
If you want Top Speed dyno performance only
or are actually competing in a race
and don't care about wasting fuel..
there's nothing but a mikuni IMHO
'sid
