Why should I spend the $ for this. In other words, what is wrong with
General Motors tuning? Exactly.

 

General Motors tuning is great for what General Motors provided. It cannot compensate for or anticipate things like a big cam or boost, or anything else that will throw your a/f way out-of-whack or otherwise "confuse" your PCM..

If you're stock, you have little need for it. When you get into the big mods, you need to adjust the computer accordingly for the radical changes those compnents will make.

 

I have an 02 Z06 and with a STOCK TUNE and conservative highway driving, I could get 29-30 MPG without a problem!

I just added Stainlessworks Long Tube headers, High flow cats, 3" mid section with an X pipe and 3" stainlessworks duel outlet mufflers. My MPG with just the exhaust system improvement dropped to (my best with my foot out of the throttle ) is 25-26 mpg.
The significant drop is due to the stock tune conflicting with the better flowing exhaust system. The SAD part about the entire situation is I gained *** loads of power and if I get the computer custom tuned I will have even more HP & TQ and better MPG averages to boot!!!

So,,,,,,,,,,thats one reason why you would need a tune. The more factors that you change the operating prameters of your engine away from stock the more you need to have a tune done. If all you did was to install a high flow air filter, I doubt that you would gain enough performance to warrent a tune.

BC

 

on a totally stock C5 - the factory WOT tune is a "guess". And since the WOT fuel tables are static (not updated), tuning can find more HP.

Plus if your C5 has an automatic transmission, torque-management is robbing you of a fun drive.

There are other options than LS1Edit, that are easier to use; but somewhat limited. But LS1Edit is considered the king of the aftermarket tuning.

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I bought a 99 Auto coupe, it has B&B short headers, K&N Dual intake and eradaspeed rotors, and the Hypertech III programmer. Obviously stock.

Not ready for a LS1 Edit yet.

Is there anything I can do to help the Automatic? with the Hypertech ?

please email rbcox@hotmail.com

 

What exactly is an LS1 edit? Is that a dyno tune or a programmer you buy?

 

It is a program that you run on your laptop - it connects to your car through the OBDII port under the steering wheel, and lets you adjust various parameters in the PCM.

 

If you're running it from your laptop, how do you know how you're affecting the power output without a dyno?

 

I wouldnt recommend using LS1 edit if you never seen it before. There are literally hundereds of cal tables the have to be tweaked from a qualified tech in order to maximize fuel ecomony and HP.

That be said it also a very expensive purchase for a single license. and can only be used for that one car. Its cheaper to go to a reputable tuner shop and have them do it on a dyno with wideband O2

 

LS1-Edit is used in conjunction with a scan program (ie: Autotap). When driving, or on the dyno, the scanner will read and record all the car's vital stats.

Based on these readings, you use LS1-Edit (and a lot of knowledge) to make changes and upload those changes to the PCM. This is not a simple point and shoot program, you really need to know what you're doing and how changes will affect things.

The repeact the cycle...scan, note the effects, make more changes (if needed).

The best way to know for sure you're making good changes is to use with a dyno....but you can do it by driving the car too.

LS1-Edit is a rather pricey and complex program (around $600 I think)..so unless you change the car a lot, it is not worth it for most people to actually own the program.
If you get all your mods done, then take it in for a dyno tune, they will likely use LS1-Edit to make the tuning changes to the car, and you're done. Unless you change or add new mods later, there should never be a need to retune it.

For what mods you have, tuning isn't necessary and the slight gains you might get from a dyno tune probably aren't worth the cost at this stage. If you are planning more mods, save the dyno/tuning for later.

 

Cool, thanks!

 

RBCOX, It's like I told you before offline... YOu need to know what you are making now, anyway, so I'd go do a dyno pull on your car and get a baseline of the HP & Torque... You'd be surprised at the numbers on a bone stock car... My 99M6 pulled down 296hp & 301# torque with fewer mods...

I suspect your auto to be in that range as well...
Mike

 

what a tune can do