There's a local shop that sells predators and also does dyno tunes with them. Would it be worth it to get a predator and have a tune done on an 01 Z28 with only a lid and cat-back? What kind of gain on average would I get?

Also, I don't plan on heavily modifying the car. At most, I'll be adding headers and a mild cam and really like the idea of being able to read codes and correct for tire size.

Sorry if this has been asked before. Thanks!

 

I suppose the answer to your question depends on what you are looking for and what you want to spend your money on. I have a stock '99 Z28 Convertible and based on some datalogging I've done, the factory tune looks pretty darned good. Although, I've been told with some tweaking it is possible to unlock 15-20 HP in the LS1s in stock trim. Of course, the car is pretty frickin' fast already!

If you've got a lid and exhaust, chances are you could unlock some more power with a dyno tune. But, if you are planning on adding a cam and headers later, I would suggest waiting until then to dyno tune it, because if you dyno-tune it now, you'll have to do it again when you make those modifications anyway.

As for whether to use the Predator or not, I cannot comment on it since I've never used it, but I know you can buy a mail-order PCM program at a lower price. If you are going to dyno-tune it anyway, I'd recommend buying a PCM program from a reputable PCM programmer, and dyno-tuning that. A professional PCM programmer will be able to get you a program better suited for your car. A hand-held like the Predator, by design, needs to be a "one-size-fits-all", although I've read the Predator allows you to download maps from the web. In any case, you're probably money ahead buying a program from a custom PCM programmer.