Let me define my configuration and then what changes were made to the factory high performance tune of the Predator Programmer for the C-5.

The car is an 03, Speedway White, fully loaded, COPO car, Z-06 motor with an automatic.

I removed the mass air flow sensor screen (about 1/2" thick as it severely reduces air flow).

Using SLP Blackwing Air Filter, the heavier and wider than stock snorkle that clears the radiator back to the motor, all accordian hoses were replaced with smooth rubber types as available from Ecklers and just about every merchant listed on the website. I am also using the cup that attaches to the throttle body that is supposed to improve mid range torque as it provides a 120mm face for air to enter into the throttle body. I did have the dealer reset the throttle body to dead on zero, so the car will move or accelerate at the top of the pedal, not 1.0-1.40" down per spec.

Ok, the Predator high performance tune was installed and all went as planned. While still connected to the car, ran the diagnostic program, all was clear. Car performed acceptably but not a true Vette performance but better than stock.

Next: I reconnected the programmer, went to actual settings or live settings, and saw that the spark was running somewhere between 14-17 BDTC. As I recalled in the days, a 350 was at 10 degrees or like the big block 12 degrees if also equipped with the go kit from the factory.

I reset the parameters on spark (-) .100% so the timing now is 13 and the engine seems to idle smoother. Shift pressure was increased in all automatic gears 2.5%.

End result, even though this is a fly by wire system, there are no mechanical connections to the throttle body, its all electronic, came away with the following:

Pedal pressure increased 25%, now firm

Mass Air Flow Pressure increased from 4.5 to 5.75 PSI

High performance: greatly improved, car lurches forward under 3/4 to full throttle like a 4 speed with someone who knows how to speed shift.
Around town driving seems smoother, gets into upper gears faster than either stock or Predator provided, gas mileage around town up 1.5 gallons per mile in 500 mile test all in town driving. Freeway testing is showing the very upper 20's but that was a simple 250 mile dash down to San Diego then back to LA, results therefore inconclusive.

I do not know of any problems I have incurred as of this writing, someone more technically minded than myself should respond to this post as possibly we can get another 100 HP out of the motor than the factory claims without spending $5,000 to get there.

Grandpa Bear

 

I took my 04 6 spd to the shop, loaded the predator and then did a dyno tune. the predator added zilch. The dyno tune added about 11.6 RWHP at 5600 rpm, and showed an increase throughout the range. Only non stock item is an Z06 air cleaner cover.

 

uhh... you wanna further inform us about what you mean by "COPO" car; and the Z06 with auto trans ?


so you didn't do any AFR adjustments with your Predator and a wide band O2?
Without that; it probably won't do much (unless you have the A4 - applying it's tweaks to torque management).

 

To make clear what my Corvette configuration is, for the simple reason not every car is exactly the same, results will be different in your personal vehicle:

COPO car: Central Office Production Order, a special order authorized by the car dealer and GM factory executives, for an agreed upon fee, charge or up charge, this applies to the fact my Vette is a Z-06 with an high performance automatic transmission and all available factory options except for the navigation system. 1 of 3 built.

Predator settings: SLP Programmer Upgrade

Loaded SLP performance program from Diablo Predator Programmer, changes made include:

Spark: -.100
Shift Pressure: + 2.5

Average gas mileage 17.8 mpg in this performance tune, back to SLP tune average mileage is 19.6, based upon city and high way driving, 500-700 miles in each example over a period of four months.

With the performance modifications of the SLP kit for the 427 horsepower upgrade, did everything except for headers, the car performs like a big block on steroids. The car lurches forward and keep a firm grip on the steering wheel, best to floorboard the car after 5-15 miles per hour to avoid tire spin. 1/4 mile in the upper 11 second range at 129 miles per hour, temp 76 (f), humidity 50%, no wind discernable. The car burned rubber in all 4 gears using street tires..

SLP Peformance kit for the LS-1 or LS-2 motor, headers, black wing air filter, removal of screen from mass air flow sensor, new high flow snorkle, solid rubber conncectors used through out, removes accordian connections, 1000 cfm throttle body, and wide mouth exhaust system. My car does not use headers due to heat problems and preferred the Corsa Indy cross over and exhaust system, like to hear the exhaust when I want to hear it, not continueously. There is also a special program written into the Daiblo Predator programmer to achieve the alleged 427 horsepower claim.

 

Reading the from this guy .... "Grandpa Bear" is pretty amusing ... I have no clue what question he is asking .... but claiming to have a "Z06" (and no navigation system on a C5 ... and de-screened a 2003 MAF ?????? ..... what a freakin moron) with a picture of a coupe in his profile ..... I want some of what he is smoking ....

Oh ... and COPO .... Central Office Purchase Order .... usually used for vehicles to be used for internal GM purposes ... such as car shows ......

This is one MAJOR

 

no kidding. Of course; we know what COPO stands for.

I suggest the OP try posting this question here:

www.LivingInFantasyLand.com

 

 

COPO as each respondent has said means Central Office Production Order, we agree upon that point.

Has anyone ever heard of John Wayne or his wife Pilar? Pilar was the original owner of this Corvette, the engine is certified by Window Sticker and Z-06 data plate code as a Z-06 405 hp base engine with an automatic transmission. It is one of three known such made by GM. I bought the car from a Ferrari dealer who took this car in trade from Pilar as it was not fast enough for her and she bought a 430 Ferrari.

Sorry do not smoke nor drink. I did have the engine upgraded recently with the MSD coils and iginition wires with no distortion in radio performance or 12 disc remote disc player performance, no increase in disernable horsepower, fuel economy or other gains, factory stuff ok so say stock and save the $500.

 

the COPO performance program ended years ago. There's still special orders allowed, but it's for unique paint colors (similar to Mary Kay cars) and fleet options (special commercial bumpers)... and they now call it (if I remember correctly) an "authorized override of a production build".

Regardless; all COPO cars have a 4 to 5 digit order code; this code represents the specific change.
For example, code "9561" got you a 427 cid 425 hp engine in a Camaro back on the early '70s.

There are a few aftermarket companies that have put an LS6 in a non-Z C5.

Provide us with your COPO code (it's located at the bottom of the build sheet) and we'll check to see if it's valid, or inform you if the dealer was pulling your leg.


BTW, Pilar Wayne was 74 years old in 2003.

 

 

Sounds legit to me.

I have an 04 with a factory installed LS7(pre-production) and a limited run 7 speed paddle shift auto.

 

Heck, the VIN number will be a dead give-away as to what engine was in the car when it left the factory ..... How about the first 10 digits of your VIN Grandpa ???

 

cheap entertainment

 

no offense but it sounds like you bought into a lot of marketing BS, descreening the MAF doesn't really increase your airflow much and neither does the little thing you stick on your tb and while the stock acordian bellows don't look all that nice they don't really effect airflow much and a predator is not money well spent but hey its not my money nor my car

 

FWIW, I have a predator programmer, and it added 18 or 19 hp at the wheels, on the dyno. I have the charts, but I don't remember exactly, and I'm too lazy to look it up. Had to play with the enrichment, but it worked. My car was waaaaayyyyyy lean with the factory tune, so I'm sure I was losing hp there, but numbers to numbers, same dyno, same day, minutes apart, the Predator got me just less than 20hp at the tires.

 

im not saying anything bad about the predator but jut for about 100 more bucks you can have it professionally tuned and probably gain some more hp but to each his own.

 

When the Map Sensor was removed, the dense screen that occupies the air filter side of the sensor was removed, it is about 1/2 inch think and we were quite deliberate in removing all the wires, adheasives etc from the unit to avoid damaging the thin wires that determine the air flow for the on board computer. We also installed an after market snorkel or air bridge across the radiator to one that was larger than the one supplied by SLP which seemed very inadequate for the application. We also replaced the accordian to the firm smooth rubber and installed the air horn at the throttle body, had the factory dealer ship reset and service the throttle body position prior to this experiment. In the worst case senerio the $400 to replace the sensor seemed a reasonable risk since there is a firm air bridge protecting the sounce of the air, the Z-06 screens in the bumper provide a good air flow and the K&N type black wing filter has a 360% greater air mass to collect air than the stock Z-06 air box which is highly restrictive. It was also felt that sense the air came in from the sides, there is a screen under the radiator inlet to protect the radiator and air filter from debris made from stainless steel also in place.

The results on the flow bench showed that the factory set up was geared for 850 CFM which back in the day was an ideal set up for the 350 block. With the aforementioned changes, the air flow capability increased from 850 to 1050 cfm. The throttle body has been since replaced as well with the 1000 cfm version from Ecklers. There seems to be a great improvement in low range torque that kicks in at about 1050 rpm and is strong all the way to 5850 rpm at which the higher torque curve tends to drop off. This car does has the SLP 427 horse power modification (kept the old parts) which conisted of the 1.85" lift for the rockers, a daul coiled spring (NASCAR design), a special SLP proporietary program in their Diablo Sport programmer. Results are quite satisfactory for me as it performs like back in the good old days when a Vette was a true performance car. The torque at the rears is up 20% over stock as advertised as indicated on the dyno. The dyno did not provide any imporvement over the SLP performance package.

I will not engage in a debate about SLP, apparently some have had a bad experience with SLP, mine has been quite the opposite and very impressed with the support and the quality of their workmanship. Guess this is the difference, there are Ford lovers and I am strickly GM, unless you tell me about a Cadillac Northstar (have owned 8) and nothing but a very sad experience, will never buy another Caddy.

If there is another tuner one could recommend in the greater Los Angeles area, I would like to take this 27K mile car to see him for his evaluation, just to be sure all is as it should be, and possibly he could get a little bit more gas mileage out of the top end. The car gets 17.8 in a 1,000 mile test using actual car mileage and retained gasoline purchase slips, the on-board computer if like a Caddy is the last 25 miles and not a true measure of performance.

I may have found a cure for the in-frequent piston slap issue that has plagued some of us owning a C-5 regardless of model year. I have been using Royal Purple 5-30x and changing the oil and filter every 3k miles. I have also been using Prolong an engine additive. Either I am being softer on the peddle (doubtful) but the engine noise seems to have been reduced by 50% over a 9K experiment. There is no perceived piston slap present, at idle, I still could be there at speed, but I cannot hear it due to obvious reasons. I am not saying this is a solution as the oil seal ring should be replaced in those models experiencing piston slap as some damn engineer thought he could get more wind up speed with a lessor diameter ring size (a personal comment to my own profession - damn the short cuts for the sake of saving five cents.) Oil consumption using Royal Purple and Prolong returned the car to normal oil consumption, one quart every 5K miles. The same is true for another person's Z-06 who had the same problem, so in these two limited and not statictically relevant cases, the combination seemed to work. Engine windup is quite strong using this combination.

Some of the comments made were well received, some read like a predacious little boy who has limited experience building a small block NASCAR engine, got more years doing this than most forum members are old.

Some of you will recall, back in the day, going to the mid years, you got an extra bonus when the air filter was removed entirely from the 427 L-88 at the strip, clock times dropped 1.5 seconds on average, the same appears to be the same with the nylon and steel black wing air filter vs. paper.

Keep the faith and enjoy the hobby, would appreciate any common sense remarks. Thanks, Grandpa Bear

 

I can't read anymore crap from this idiot ....

The MAF for the LS6 engine was de-screened by GM starting with the 2002 Model Year .... this complete moron just proved he does not have an LS6 ..... or any clue as to what he is talking about .....