I need some tuning or something!!! Help! My supercharged 1997 LT1 SS six speed isn't as powerful as it should be. I have a powerdyne 6.5 kit, fmu, msd ignition, colder plugs, 160 thermo, and slp lm exhaust. Should I have the computer programmed, or what should I do? My clutch does slip a bit at the track, but on the street it's fine, but doesn't seem to have the power it should. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

6lbs of boost on a stock LT1 does not make it "omigod" fast. The gain is on the order of 80-90rwhp. Most of the gain is seen at higher rpms, it's enough to notice but will not make the car shockingly fast. Without something more objective to go on, it's impossible to say if there is a problem or not. I suspect not.

Headers will give you another 30-40rwhp, a lot more than on a stock NA car. These are a very worthwhile upgrade for a SC LT1.

Rich Krause

 

Well I did run the car, and with the clutch slipping I got a 13.35 @107, but with the car before the SC I got a 13.56 once. More common were 13.80's Is there anything I can do, different injectors, or something like that to get more performance? Dyno tuned, or anything like that?

 

Tuning may or may not result in improved performance. Usually it does. Sometimes a lot, when a problem is identified and fixed. Things like bad plugs or wires, weak fuel pump, bad fuel filter, clogged cat, excessive knock retard, etc. may be discovered by a good tuner with a properly instrumented dyno. If there is no such problem, gains of 10-20hp are often seen from optimizng timing and the A:F ratio.

What were the trap speeds and conditions for the various track runs? You should gain more than 0.2sec, I agree, unless the condtions were quite different.

Rich Krause

 

Hey RSKRAUSE,

when you said you should gain 30-40 hp with headers is this true ? i made a disapointing 315 rwhp with only a 4.5 psi powerdyne kit but i did also have timing problems/weak valve springs and stock manifolds,well look at my upgrades since then do you think i will be in the low 13's too.I'm hoping for close to 400 rwhp does that sound about right... and low 12's

 

4.5lbs on a stock motor will not give any where near 400rwhp. You don't say if it's an A4 or M6, but an M6 with 6-7psi and headers will be in the 400rwhp range, maybe 30rwhp less with an A4.

I would be surprised not to see at least 25rwhp from headers, even on a low boost setup. Typical gains for a 6-8psi setup are in the 30-40rwhp range that I posted.

Rich Krause

 

Hey rskrause,

My car is an M6 and its 6.5 psi kit with Mac headers off road pipe and the rest of the mods in my sig. So do you think i will make close to 400 rwhp....

 

If it's actually making 6.5psi I'd say 360-380rwhp depending on conditions.

Let me know if I'm close.

Rich Krause

 

I had a 94 Z28 that ran 13.90's with an exaust. Put on a powerdyne SC and ran a 12.82 with nothing more than the powerdyne 6# kit. I would have to say that if you only gained 2 tenths in the quarter, something is wrong. Like RK said, these powerdyne kits are not like boltong on 200 hp. You will feel a difference, but probably not what you expected. How bad did you spin? How hot was it outside? Were you experiencing knock? All of these things will affect quarter mile times.

 

Yeah i will let you know what i make to the RW'S I just hope that i come close and i hope i can run the mid 12's at least thanks again

 

I'm going to jump in here with some simple common sense stuff here. You have installed a supercharger. Your gains appear low. My first guess is that there is a bunch of timing being pulled. However, what we really need from you is some hard data. You need to get a data scanner like Datamaster or something, and starting gathering some information from your computer before you do too much else. 6lbs is enough to damage your car if something else is acting up. Rather than just tell you "Hey, you might need ...." whatever, it's better if we can see what the car is doing. There are several items that could be wrong. Timing could be too agressive. The timing retard from whatever you are using is not aggressive enough. You could be having an issue with fuel, such as injectors already being at their maximum, or the FMU is not delivering enough pressure. But, like I said, we are guessing. You can download a demo of datamaster, and at least get a couple of scans of your car, and then we can tell you what is "wrong" or needs to be adjusted. That Powerdyne has plenty of potential. With 6lbs, I'm running 12.2's on drag radials, and someone else just posted over this weekend that he ran an 11.1! So, we just need to get you "dialed in". My very strong suggestion is that you do NOT race the car until we gather some data. It might be as simple as a slipping belt, and you are only getting 2 lbs of boost. .

-Ernest
95 Z

 

where can I get a data master, and what will it be able to tell me. I don't know a whole lot about that stuff, and there aren't many people around here where I can have the car dyno tuned. I definently don't want to hurt the motor, and it would be really nice to have someone around where I live that could help out. Is anyone going to be at the COFBA race day at Norwalk that could help? If so, i'll be there and it would be greatly appreciated!

 

Ok, you can get a demo of the software here:
http://www.ttspowersystems.com/dm_dload.htm

This allows 20 "demo" runs on your car before you are required to buy it. It keeps count, and will stop running after the 20th. But, it's enough to get you started. However, this is just the software. You will need a cable to connect your laptop/pc to the car. You can get that here:
http://www.akmcables.com/

Finally, once we have made some recommendations, you can actually reprogram your car yourself, and then monitor to see how those changes helped you. You can get that software here:
http://www.carputing.com/


As you scan, you can e-mail or post the files, and we can look at them with you to help you understand what all that garbage is. There are lots of people who have worked with these files and can help you. This will help us help you .

-Ernest
95 Z