Tuners
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Joined: Dec 2022
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From: Germany
Tuners
Finally narrowed my search down to a 2012 base model Corvette, now I need to find a really good tuner in the eastern NC or Central NC area. I have already contacted Pray Performance to ask a few questions, but what other recommendations can you give? My home is in Wilmington NC, so I am aware of National Speed, but I'm not sure how highly recommended they are when it comes to the LS3. This will be dyno tuning for sure, and not remote tuning. Thanks for any input.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Dec 2022
Posts: 99
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From: Germany
Extract as much power as I can with a limited budget. The car is coming back to Germany with me, so my goal is driving it on the autobahn as much as possible. At the very least, I would like to do a CAI, maybe headers, free-flow cats and a Corsa or Borla exhaust. Depending on the cost and what the tuner recommends, I had also pondered a new cam.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Dec 2022
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From: Germany
Okay, that begs another question. Since I am brand new to the whole tuning process, my assumption was that a tune was a way to extract more power(or at the very least a better running engine) than the stock tune that comes from the factory-what am I missing? I know a tune is needed if you do mods beyond a certain point, but that is the extent of my knowledge.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2013
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Okay, that begs another question. Since I am brand new to the whole tuning process, my assumption was that a tune was a way to extract more power(or at the very least a better running engine) than the stock tune that comes from the factory-what am I missing? I know a tune is needed if you do mods beyond a certain point, but that is the extent of my knowledge.
Most “tuners” will just take the stock tune and make it run leaner to make more power. If you are running at WOT on the autobahn that is something they have never tested and personally I’d trust the oem calibration over a lean tune.
Supporting Vendor
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From: Mooresville North Carolina
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2009
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From: Klein TX
2023 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
When you're looking for a tuner, make sure they know everything about octane ratings of available fuel, and emissions laws related to car modifications in Germany. That will probably narrow down the field a bit. Let us know what you find out.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 833
Likes: 119
From: Raeford NC
Finally narrowed my search down to a 2012 base model Corvette, now I need to find a really good tuner in the eastern NC or Central NC area. I have already contacted Pray Performance to ask a few questions, but what other recommendations can you give? My home is in Wilmington NC, so I am aware of National Speed, but I'm not sure how highly recommended they are when it comes to the LS3. This will be dyno tuning for sure, and not remote tuning. Thanks for any input.
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 224
Likes: 72
From: Rocky Mountains USA
You need to install everything first before getting it tuned as the tune will alter the airfow and torque models based on the mods you do.
As stated, work out what the equivalent R+M/N Octane is vs the Euro RON rated stuff. IIRC 98 is 93 and 95 is 91 for example.
Also as indicated the general approach is to lean out open loop a little to gain power. At part throttle you are in closed loop and fueling is optimised anyway.
As for timing Id hazard that 99% of tuners do very little to optimise that, other than roughly sketching out of the map based on their experience with mods and octane requirement.
The only way to optimise timing is to use an aftermarket ECU and engine dyno to hold load at every load point across all RPM while varying timing to find Minimum Best Timing.
That takes ages aka $$$. Well you can do it by areas with a blending function, that can speed things up, but its not optimal then, its approximate.
Ive done it once on a chassis dyno, initially cell by cell, then area blended, I melted my tires and overheated the Dyno.. But the gains were awsome. Surprisingly best timing was often like 10 degrees off the base tune with no knock logged when it was at 10 degrees higher!
As stated, work out what the equivalent R+M/N Octane is vs the Euro RON rated stuff. IIRC 98 is 93 and 95 is 91 for example.
Also as indicated the general approach is to lean out open loop a little to gain power. At part throttle you are in closed loop and fueling is optimised anyway.
As for timing Id hazard that 99% of tuners do very little to optimise that, other than roughly sketching out of the map based on their experience with mods and octane requirement.
The only way to optimise timing is to use an aftermarket ECU and engine dyno to hold load at every load point across all RPM while varying timing to find Minimum Best Timing.
That takes ages aka $$$. Well you can do it by areas with a blending function, that can speed things up, but its not optimal then, its approximate.
Ive done it once on a chassis dyno, initially cell by cell, then area blended, I melted my tires and overheated the Dyno.. But the gains were awsome. Surprisingly best timing was often like 10 degrees off the base tune with no knock logged when it was at 10 degrees higher!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2023
Posts: 1,087
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From: Florida
2025 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
Not sure if this applies to the c6 as well but i was reading on my C5 back in the day if you disconnected the battery overnight it would reset the fuel tables etc in the ecu and if you drove it hard the first xxx miles it will learn that fuel table. I think something with the LFT tables?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2013
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Not sure if this applies to the c6 as well but i was reading on my C5 back in the day if you disconnected the battery overnight it would reset the fuel tables etc in the ecu and if you drove it hard the first xxx miles it will learn that fuel table. I think something with the LFT tables?
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2023
Posts: 1,087
Likes: 392
From: Florida
2025 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
So the same applies with the C6 ecu? I think basically it’s zeroing out the LFT value… Correct me if i’m wrong I haven’t been looking into this stuff for years.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2013
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2023
Posts: 1,087
Likes: 392
From: Florida
2025 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
I’m sorry it’s the LTFT… “The goal is to get ALL LTFT�s between -5 and +5. Positive LTFT's indicate fuel is being added because of a lean condition. Richen this cell by increasing the VE table value by the amount of the LTFT value. The operation is opposite for negative LTFT's. ”
So basically driving it hard with a “reset” ecu will bring the values closer to zero. I don’t think everyone know’s about this, wonder what the hp difference is between a stock tune car with higher ltft values than one closer to zero?
So basically driving it hard with a “reset” ecu will bring the values closer to zero. I don’t think everyone know’s about this, wonder what the hp difference is between a stock tune car with higher ltft values than one closer to zero?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 5,969
Likes: 1,410
I’m sorry it’s the LTFT… “The goal is to get ALL LTFT�s between -5 and +5. Positive LTFT's indicate fuel is being added because of a lean condition. Richen this cell by increasing the VE table value by the amount of the LTFT value. The operation is opposite for negative LTFT's. ”
So basically driving it hard with a “reset” ecu will bring the values closer to zero. I don’t think everyone know’s about this, wonder what the hp difference is between a stock tune car with higher ltft values than one closer to zero?
So basically driving it hard with a “reset” ecu will bring the values closer to zero. I don’t think everyone know’s about this, wonder what the hp difference is between a stock tune car with higher ltft values than one closer to zero?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 2,300
Likes: 232
From: Round Rock Texas
Another option you could do is get the PredatorX This will allow you to make some changes like the trans mission tune and some engine tunes and if there is any kind of test over there you can quickly switch them back