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I was told by a local shop in Houston that installing headers on the c8 stingray will cause the ECU to have to be unlocked and a tune mandatory? I don't believe this is the case, but can anyone verify? They quoted 4,000.00 for the ECU unlock and tune. I have seen many people have headers, cat deletes, and exhaust with no ECU unlock and no tune, but maybe I am mistaken. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C4 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
No, the C8 Stingray uses wideband O2s and will adjust for any "bolt-on" mods (air intake, headers, exhaust) without issue. Cat delete would either need a tune or secondary O2 simulators. Personally, I don't think cat delete is worth it as you might gain 5HP from it, and it will smell. The only reason you'd need a tune would be: cam/heads, Flexfuel, or forced induction.
This isn't your uncle's C6 or C7, and the car already basically has headers from the factory. The best bang for the buck is an E85 flex fuel tune, cost around $4,600. I picked up 30 rwhp with an E85 flex fuel tune by Peitz Performance up in Tomball. $2,400 of this goes to HP Tuners to unlock the computer, interface between the cars computer and a laptop, and credits to reprogram the car's computer.
No, the C8 Stingray uses wideband O2s and will adjust for any "bolt-on" mods (air intake, headers, exhaust) without issue. Cat delete would either need a tune or secondary O2 simulators. Personally, I don't think cat delete is worth it as you might gain 5HP from it, and it will smell. The only reason you'd need a tune would be: cam/heads, Flexfuel, or forced induction.
I agree EvanZr1. I ran my C8 HTC at the dragstrip
The bolt-ons were the following: Ported intake manifold, ported 87mm throttle body, Halltech Cold Air Intake and E85/93 mix. The total cost was $1400 DIY. I have no idea on horsepower gains Bonestock, the ran 11.29@120.98.....with the above bolt-ons including stock all season michelins 11.03@123.64. Now with the Hoosiers my car managed a 10.95@123.64. Without the E85/93 mix l ran 11.15@122. So l am thinking maybe 20 hp gain with just simple bolt-ons. In order to reach around 30 hp you would probably need headers of your choice which should give you at least 10 more gain. That would probably be my next step.
This isn't your uncle's C6 or C7, and the car already basically has headers from the factory. The best bang for the buck is an E85 flex fuel tune, cost around $4,600. I picked up 30 rwhp with an E85 flex fuel tune by Peitz Performance up in Tomball. $2,400 of this goes to HP Tuners to unlock the computer, interface between the cars computer and a laptop, and credits to reprogram the car's computer.
Hello OldGoat
Whatever happened to your tune update before you traded to the Eray? I was just curious. Also congratulations on your new Eray.
Headers ECU unlock and tune?
