Example methods of modeling a nonlinear dynamical system such as a vehicle engine include providing a model using linear programming support vector regression (LP-SVR) having an asymmetric wavelet kernel, such as derived from a raised-cosine wavelet function. The model may be trained to determine parallel model parameters while in a series-parallel configuration, and operated in the parallel configuration allowing improved and more flexible model performance. An improved engine control unit may use an LP-SVR with an asymmetric wavelet kernel.