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How much can you play around with mods before you need to have these cars tuned. I'm used to the old school OBD-1 system in my stroker motor LT-1....so where are the limits?
Some guys can get away with doing the bolt ons, and not throw a code for the rear 02 sensors, but most throw a code. You can get around the tune and get sims for the rear 02 sensors.
That's about it, if you upgrade to a cam, you'd really want to have it tuned or your wasting the performance.
Most common mods like CAI and catback exh won't require a tune--You just need to let the fuel trims learn out---This is done just by driving the car normally for about 50-75 miles--Only exception would be with a Vararam you may need to fine tune the MAF table to correct leaness
Mods beyond that like shorty or LT headers--cam --heads--manifold
would greatly benefit from a tune as you will not get all the potential HP gains without one--maybe even LESS HP
These cars are pretty well tuned bone stock and there isn't lot on the table--maybe just 12-17 RWHP--However if you car is an automatic- you can make your car quicker in the 1/4 mile with just trans tuning alone !! without even touching the engine--gains of 2-4 tenths are common--