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LS2 with minor mods. Worth a tune?

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Old Sep 27, 2018 | 08:12 PM
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Default LS2 with minor mods. Worth a tune?

I posted this question in the General Discussion section and it was basically ignored. I guess I should have mentioned chrome or black wheels!!

Anyway, I have an 06, 6 spd with a Vararam and a Corsa. I don't plan on any other engine mods. Is it worth investing in a tune??

Thanks.
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Old Sep 27, 2018 | 08:49 PM
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imo a tune will bring out the mods you already have because the car is fighting any changes in AFR they are doing. tuning is one of the most worthwhile mods and id say you would gain more (especially if auto) from just a tune over intake and exhaust. so heck yea i think its worth it not sure if you noticed a difference in the car after those mods but you will notice a tune for sure.
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Old Sep 27, 2018 | 09:21 PM
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I bought the car this way so I can't give you any info on the difference they made.
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Old Sep 27, 2018 | 09:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Jeff T.
I bought the car this way so I can't give you any info on the difference they made.
i think its worth it. a good tune can go a long way
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Old Sep 27, 2018 | 09:42 PM
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With the car already having a vararam, could it also possibly already have a tune?
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Old Sep 27, 2018 | 10:00 PM
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Originally Posted by myredhead1
With the car already having a vararam, could it also possibly already have a tune?
Unfortunately if it was, that info wasn't passed along at the time of the sale. I'm thinking not based on damascus comment about the Vararam and the car fighting the change.

I think it should be getting a little better highway mileage than it is, 20-22. Sounds like a no brainer for spring.
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Old Sep 28, 2018 | 08:10 AM
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Originally Posted by Jeff T.
Unfortunately if it was, that info wasn't passed along at the time of the sale. I'm thinking not based on damascus comment about the Vararam and the car fighting the change.

I think it should be getting a little better highway mileage than it is, 20-22. Sounds like a no brainer for spring.

20-22 yikes. My LS2 has full bolt-ons and a canned diablo and still gets 28+ easy hwy. Still gonna get a proper dyno tune in spring though.

Last edited by Canuck204; Sep 28, 2018 at 08:11 AM.
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Old Sep 28, 2018 | 09:06 AM
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Yes.
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Old Sep 28, 2018 | 11:55 AM
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air intake + axle back is probably not worth spending $500 or so on a tune. However, there's nothing WRONG with getting a tune, but don't think that you are going to see massive changes just with tuning. You won't see much changes over stock. Some? Perhaps. Headers would probably give you more of a change and more of a reason for a tune. Spending the time to hook it to a dyno and spend the money for a tuner's time is always fun. But, most reputable tuners will say "we'll take your money if you want to give it to us, but you don't have to get a tune with just a CAI + Axle Back".
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Old Sep 28, 2018 | 03:50 PM
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I did a basic tune with minimal mods on my 07 auto.
It made a huge difference the way the car feels and drives.
I already had the SCT tuner that I had purchased from RDP store for my former Camaro SS, so all I had to do was pay Steve at RDP for a new tune for this car.
The funny thing is that he told me that the car had a tune in it already when I sent him the file but I am not sure by who. He cleaned it up and put a tune of his own in it. Well worth the money IMHO.
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Old Sep 28, 2018 | 06:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Jeff T.
Unfortunately if it was, that info wasn't passed along at the time of the sale. I'm thinking not based on damascus comment about the Vararam and the car fighting the change.

I think it should be getting a little better highway mileage than it is, 20-22. Sounds like a no brainer for spring.
red head does make a point not sure if the car will act up without a tune but then again we are talking ls2 which has a MAF thats alot less sensitive then the one on the ls3
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Old Sep 29, 2018 | 06:32 AM
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For a few hundred bucks the Diablo Sport tune is pretty good, woke up my 08 auto with minor mods.
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Old Sep 29, 2018 | 06:51 AM
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Diablo here with hurricane intake and corsa catback... it’s a good little bump and if you contact Lew at Diablo he can dial it in as close as you would need for your setup. On canned tune 93 octane it’s noticeable in second gear on a pull from 1200-redline that you’ve gained some hp in the late middle/upper end of the dial.
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Old Sep 29, 2018 | 12:19 PM
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Originally Posted by myredhead1
With the car already having a vararam, could it also possibly already have a tune?
Originally Posted by Jeff T.
Unfortunately if it was, that info wasn't passed along at the time of the sale. I'm thinking not based on damascus comment about the Vararam and the car fighting the change.

I think it should be getting a little better highway mileage than it is, 20-22. Sounds like a no brainer for spring.
IIRC, you don't have to buy/use credits to simply look at a tune, so the cost for that would be minimal, especially if you have a friend with HP Tuners. If upon looking, it was found that the afr was fairly rich, due to a tune, a re-tune could correct that and your MPG increase (est 25%) would pay for the tune in about 10K miles. You should be checking the Vararam and filter for any blockage/restrictions before doing anything else. Plugged up cats can kill mileage too.
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Old Sep 29, 2018 | 10:27 PM
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with your terrible highway mileage I would say you are in the market for a tune.
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Old Sep 30, 2018 | 09:35 AM
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I opened up the Vararam and it was relatively clean. No red flags there, but I took the time to clean the filter. Time to look elsewhere.

Looks like a spring tune will definitely be in the cards.
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Old Oct 2, 2018 | 04:52 PM
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In short yes. I would go with Diablosport or something like that. No point paying someone to dyno tune it unless you mod the **** out of it.
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