RockyMountain Z

I have looked for a while for my answers, with no luck.
Could you z06 experts point me to a link or answer my questions?
My baby is a 2011 stock Z06.
Is the posted 505 hp accurate?
If I dyno tune my Z, how much hp gain can I expect?
Will I gain any torque...How much?
How much will this change fuel consumption?

Mopar Jimmy

I have researched this quite a bit, on average you expect to pick up approx 25 rwhp and 20 to 25rwtq across the entire rpm board, with a good dyno tune and CAintake.

I am staying with my stock tune b/c I am not going to jeopardize 2.4 years of my GMPP warranty on my 2006 Z, and I can't even hook up the stock power on the street or track with street tires.

97Black

I don't think I would take a chance tuning my car, especially after you see some results of bad tunes.

jedblanks

I certainly wouldn't tune it with stock exhaust valves.

Do you honestly think you will feel a SOTP difference between STOCK 450 RWHP/430TQ and tuned 475/450?

If it were me I'd spend my money on better tires and race driving school.

Don't get me wrong, I've done my share of mods, on LS1s -- but at 500 HP, you are reaching the point of diminishing returns.

No doubt you will lose some drive-ability characteristics and/or reliability as you up the HP.

The Highlander

You could gain around 40rwhp with a decent tune....

RockyMountain Z

Thanks for the comments.
I was sitting on the fence about this.
I was more interested in saving some gas money when taking longer road trips.
I'm leaning hard towards doing nothing...for now.

tigertank

thats what i wud do NOTHING u shud still have alot of valuable warranty left!!

ipmtim

No need to worry about fuel mileage, I average 27.5@80mph with air on trips
Tim

JoesC5

Here is an example of a stock LS7 and then with a tune.



To me, it's not worth it.

RockyMountain Z

Thanks JoesC5.
Thats what I wanted to know.
Thanks to you too ipmtim, I am new to the Z06 world and have not had it on any long trips yet...I guess arodynamics plays a bigger role than I may have expected.

tigertank

that and very light car!!!

X25

The impact to warranty aside, do you guys really think a safe tune (something like a canned tune that Diablo offers, whose graph is shown above) would impact the reliability in terms of this valve issue? If it is the geometry that is the real culprit, and if you are leaving the engine internals (like a cam change that could impact the guides) stock as well, would this really have a significant impact?

Mark2009

Given what we know about this engine, and what we've heard implied from GM execs, it appears that this engine is at about 95% from the factory and I wouldn't tune this engine at all. I also would not put a CAI on it (for a couple of reasons, messing up tuning being only one).

Therefore IMHO there is no such thing as a safe tune for a stock engine, other than the one that came with it.

If I had work done on it (porting, cam, whatever) I have someone like Katech conservatively tune it -- given their track and dyno experience.
.

RockyMountain Z

'06 Quicksilver Z06

Having seen the results of a canned tune on another member's car, I would not even consider having one done on any vehicle I own.

X25

What happened to that member's car? And, was it a canned tune from one of the big vendors, or something like a mail-order tune?

'06 Quicksilver Z06

I don't want to get any more specific, or go into any more detail than I have already.

Michael_D

I wouldn't go with a canned or mail order tune, knowing what I do after tweaking my car. There's a lot more to it then timing tables and AFR.

A good tuner along with a load cell dyno can perk this car up a bit. I would not however expect an increase in fuel economy. When you are putting around on the highway, expected good economy, the ecm will be in closed loop. When in closed loop, the fuel trims pull / add fuel to maintain an optimum fuel air ratio of 14.7. It doesn't get better than that. Tuners do not arbitrarily move this set point either, as that takes a fair amount of work. You can move timing a bit, maybe advance it in the lower rpm / cly arm mass cells, but crap, it's already silly advanced from the factory.

What the tuner can do to pick up some power, is to optimise timing in the higher rpm / higher cyl arm cells to improve throttle response and pick up a couple more ponies under WOT conditions. Then there's torque management, power enrichment tables, etc... All these little tweaks will improve performance, as long as the tuner doesn't go nuts.

But as stated, is it really worth loosing your warranty? I wouldn't screw with it and take that risk, in the event you actually need a warranty some day.

LS9Drew

Katech doesn't do their own tuning, fyi

The Highlander

Timing can do wonders for fuel consumption.