Last week ECS did a Speed Density Tune for my car (see sig for mods) and all I can say is WOW the car is great. I waited until after the weekend to do the write-up because I wanted to test it every way I could.

Last year when I decided to go with H/C package I knew there would be little things about owning a cammed car that made it not run like stock. Most cam cars have some sort of surging below 1500 rpm, sometimes have problems with hot starts, sometimes need to search for the correct rpm and the car shakes when first starting it or when turning on the air. These were some things that I was willing to live with owning a cammed car.

Now all of that is gone with the Speed Density Tune. The car starts with no problem and settles in to the correct idle speed. The car does not shake any more it just hums nice. Yesterday I wanted to see how well it worked so I put the car in 6th gear at 1K rpm and drove around. No surging or bucking the car just drove fine. At 4500 rpm I pushed in the clutch and came to a stop to see what the car would do. The rpms dropped slowly until it was back at idle speed. No searching for the correct rpm or anything. Not once over the weekend did I experience any typical cam related issues.

I am very impressed with the S/D tune. As said, it was not like I was complaining before with the old tune because the car ran nice, but with the S/D tune it is hard to believe to have the G5X3 cam in a car with AFR heads and it runs like stock except add all that extra rwhp and rwtq. The car is so much easier to drive now.

As a small bonus though I was not looking for more hp and tq I did pick up some more. Some of the gain (I guess 5 or 6) is do to the change in gears from 4.10s to 3.73s, but the rest of it is the tune. Here is the dyno sheet.

 

Wow, I didn't think ECS did SD tuning. From everything I've read and some people I've talked to, including Rick at Synergy Motorsports, SD seems like a great option for some people and in some applications. Is this new for them?

- Max

 

ECS has been working on S/D for over a month. They are just starting to put it in customer's cars though.

 

Too bad your car makes so little power...



Awesome numbers! Great to see you're a happy guy!

 

thanks. Honestly I was not concern about the numbers (of course if they went down I would not be happy ). I am happy that the car is more streetable now. I can see why guys have picked S/C over H/C because their cars would run like stock. Now with S/D tune I can have the same feeling....

 

Bob, that is awesome! I'm glad to hear that ECS is doing SD tunes now

 

I've got an SD tune on my car done by PHIL97SVT and the car is awesome. A friend drove my car yesterday and said it drives better than his 224-224 cam only car. I run a 230-236 112 +0 full H/C 90/90 car. SD tuning makes it drive "almost" like stock.

 

I'm next.

 

your car is gonna be sweet.....

 

Cool Bob I have to PM Doug. I took my Vette in last month to smooth out my low RPM surge (buck) and I wonder if the tune Doug did was the SD tune? Congrats on the new found ponies. Are you going to make a move on the seat covers?

 

Seat Covers I will probably do over the winter. I just saw another seam pulling apart, but this will be fine until the HPDE season is over....

 

Hello, I am going with the same package as you and I was wondering why you changed from 4:10s to 3:73s. Was 4:10s too much? Thanks

 

They were great for the street and for 1/4 mile racing, but they are too much for road racing which is what I do mostly now.

If I was on the track only once or twice per year then I would have stayed with the 4.10s, but since I am looking at 15 track days this year there was just too much shifting for me with the 4.10s.

If you are not planning on doing a ton of HPDEs then the 4.10s will be perfect for you....

 

WW, so doing a SD tune is a better choice for reliable drivability with a big cam? I'm about to have a pretty big cam (stock heads) dropped in mine soon and I'm very concerned about the issues cam owners typically have.

For the nOOb in me, what's involved in a SD tune?

Huck

 

for me the SD tune is better for drivability over the regular tune. The car is much easier to drive now and the issues that most have with big cam cars are pretty much gone.

I am not sure what they do for SD tune. I know the MAF is taken out and then they play with some data points, but heck if I know what they are. I know it takes more time to do the SD over regular tune because of the different data points they have to adjust.

 

Awesome! Nice gains too.
Dave

 

Excellent results WW!!

Dam it, I thought I could now stop spending on my car and save for my condo. Nope, gotta have the SD tune now.

I was in Weasel's car this past weekend. The car idles just as smooth if not smoother than my 224/228 cam. So now im pissed I didnt go with the X3. Oh well, it just goes to show technology is forever changing.

 

You can live in a car, but you cant drive a house

 

Bob,
Great news. Seems like SD is the way to go with big cam cars. The new software they are using probably helps to fine tune those tricky areas also.

Now I just need someone to get some miles on the new Aussie clutch and I will be ready to take my car up for some minor tweaking.

 

Bill they are working on Don's car now. Although his 402 is small compared to your 447 that should give you an idea of what they can do, but if they can get anything close to mine oyu will be really happy.

I think there is a back order on the Aussie Clutch (though I could be wrong about that)...