i've had my vett for about 7months its a 20006spd. i have been hearing a lot about dyno tuning is it worth it to get a tune with minor mods? i have straight pipes, vararam, long tube headers and hi-flo cats.
will a tune benefit me and how much? also how much do they generally cost? and what do they do?
any help will be appreciated.

 

 

I would say you will definitely benefit from a tune, prob in the 30-40RWHP range. Just a guess on the price would be $500-600 range. They will put the car on a dynamometer and test the engine at load to see what the air/fuel ratios are running at and will adjust them in the computer to get them where they need to be. That's a pretty basic explaination, but I'm sure someone else can offer some more details.

Chris

 

I wouldn't pay more than $500 from a reputable shop and I would expect 15-20 rwhp from the tune.

 

I hope to have my LT headers, cats, x-pipe, and honker installed by the end of the month. The tuner that I have decided on says he will tune the car for the best drivability and overall performance, the HP yeild is yet to be determined from the tune alone.

If you want max HP at WOT (good for if you plan to drag race a lot) go with the dyno tune, if you want driveability and all around performance go with a street tune.

The tune is going to cost between 350 and 500 depending on how long it takes and if we get a group together for the dyno pulls.

 

You MIGHT gain 10-15rwhp with your few bolt-ons with a tune. If you are planning more mods, I would wait till you went into the motor to get the dynotune.

 

From my understanding tunes from the factory are a little on the lean side. You can spice up the mix a little for performance but sacrifice in gas mileage. What exact numbers you will gain I couldn't say, post these up when you get them.

 

thanks for the replies
but whats the diff. between a dyno tune and a street tune now im really confused

 

from my limited understanding, hope this helps:

Dyno tune: car is placed on a dyno and you make multiple wide open throttle runs while the tune is being adjusted. this will provide the best possible torque/HP for when you are at wide open throttle. if you are purely looking for numbers or WOT power for the drag strip this is the way to go.

Street tune: your tuner (accompanied by their laptop plugged into the car) rides with you while you drive on the street/track. this way they can look at how the car responds to regular driving scenarios and they can tune for it to drive the best under those circumstances. this may not yield the highest HP ratings, but will give you the best overall feel and driveability while on the street.

 

sure.. you'll pick up some power but i'm gonna say it's honstly not worth it unless you plan on stopping here... If you have plans to mod more in the future save yoru money.. If you are satisfied with this amount of moding and would just like everything to work 100% you can either do a mail order tune or a dyno tune. Typically the dyno will cost you more. For the mods you have i don't see it taking to many pulls (dyno runs) to get everything figured out and you might get away wtih paying $300-$400. Depending on the shop it coudl be more i'm just giving a general idea.

Gain... 10-15 at best is my guess.

you can mail order tune and get very close to the same results (in some cases better) for a flat rate pending the tuner.

It's already been explained but i'll go ahead and do it again

Dyno Tune. You back up on to the dyno which is usually two drums that sit in the ground( this varies per shop) you then get up say 3rd gear and idel then go WOT (wide open throttle) and run the car up to redline or where ever you would typically shift. and let off. The data collectd from the wide band (another set of O2 sensors) along with the data obtained from your car's computer and the dyno is used to "tune" your car Ie make corrections to the map so that your car performs to it's peak performance.

Mail order tune: i'm not 100% how this is done.. but basically you mail your computer (from your car) to a tuner with a detailed list of the mods you have and they take this information and reprogram your computer. They mail it back to you. Plug back in and your ready to go.. I've heard very good results about mail order tunes but have never had one myself.

 

any car can benefit from a tune. the question is what's the cost benefit for a given car. Since a good dyno tune is going to run you about $500 and you'll only be picking up about 20 hp only you can say if it's a good deal. Actually that's $25/ hp and that's cheap - once you get into the mods hot and heavy you can figure about $100/whp.

 

I agree with all the comments above - but also, one of the best benefits of a good tune is the wonderful midrange response you get.
The car just leaps when you punch it. Makes it a joy to drive.
Yes, it probably is about 15 top-end hp gain with your mods, but that
midrange punch will feel like the torque went up 30.

DG

 

Wow, you need to do more research. A dyno tune usually incorporates a wideband o2 monitor that will give a more accurate reading. If you have a good tuner there is no need to drive the car on the street. The dyno tune is the best tune you could possibly do. About the only difference between what you are explaining is that a tuner isn't getitng as much information when they are just "riding" around tuning the car.

 

Like I said, I have a Limited understanding of tuning and have probably explained the differences wrong. Oh well, that is why I leave these kinds of things up to the professionals and just enjoy my ride!

Hope I didn't cause too much confusion :o

 

We always finish up our dyno tunes with a drivability tweak while having the customer drive it while we monitor it looking for ways to "fine tune" the tune

www.RevXtreme.com

 

I would think that would be mostly for autos though. I forgot about those since I haven't had one in a while. You can get the tune pretty much perfect on the dyno with great drivability, I have never seen any dyno tuner take a ride with someone, but hey everyone has their little tweaks they like to do I suppose.

 

Check out Chuck at Corvettes of Westchester. He is very knowledgable and will answer ANY question you may have. He is located in Westchester County, New York. He does "mail order" tuning as well. I am going to him in the spring with my '04. The good thing about Chuck is that if you have him tune your car now, any future mods you do through him (pricing is VERY reasonable), then he will re-tune for free!!! Phone # 914-332-0049. Good Luck, Rich (New York)

 

When you change things from stock – intake air system, cat backs, headers,heads,cams,tb – you change the efficiency of the motor, you make it more efficient. More air passes thru. The stock tune is established for stock efficiency. The result of this newly gained efficiency is more air for the old amount of fuel, which will usually cause a lean motor. After modifications you need to have a tune to keep your motor in the safe zone A/F wise.
A side benefit is the extra HP!!

 

Ever heard of a maf? It can keep up pretty well especially with bolt-ons.

 

I had my 04 MN6 tuned by the Vette Doctors in Amityville, Long Island. 'Dr. Carmen' truly performs magic with their dyno and computer work. I was impressed and VERY satisfied. Also less than $500.
They are supporting Corvette Forum Tuners.