seeking advice on a tune

[The Unknown 7]

I'm about to get a tune, and I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for what exactly I should change? Also if there's any one on here thats close to the dallas area that is experienced with these cars please let me know if you have a decent price I'll hit you up. I know I could search this stuff up but I'm not sure what all should apply to me. Well I'll say this, the mods I've currently done to the car are: ram air intake, 3" single pipe all the way back no cat, MSD coils and wires, 3.73 gears with posi of course, and.. thats about it. Not gonna do headers just yet but I want the tune first because its needs it for the gears bad, Im tired of not knowing how fast I'm going. so what are some things I should ask for when I get it tuned?(btw im taking it to someone with hp tuners). obviously I wanna get it tuned for the gears, 93 octane fuel, clear the ses code for the cat being out, etc.. but what should I do with the transmission? I've read some places like zzp will make it down shift twice when you gun it, like from 3-1 and 4-2, also changing the line pressure? Im new to tuning stuff so any suggestions are welcome. Also has any one throw a code from dropping in a 160* thermostat? I might do that before I tune it. also could I see any gains from removing the egr?

[Watazz]

Re: seeking advice on a tune

Well you need the tune for the gears, and the ses light. There is some debate as to the 93 octane, if you dont have headers i would probably stick with 87, most people agree that it doesnt really make a difference so you might as well not spend the extra money. Disable torque management, and tune for the shifts. I dont recall anyone throwing a code for a 160*, but i would put a 180* in it and tune for that. Does anyone else have any input?

[The Unknown 7]

Re: seeking advice on a tune

Would be better if iwere to wait until after I get headers? Would driving with gears without a tune be bad for my car?

[battousai]

Re: seeking advice on a tune

The speedo would be off without a tune. I would wait untill after you get headers for the tune, it would be more productive.

[ssms5411]

Re: seeking advice on a tune

You will need a wideband to get the most out of the tune, since your exhaust is free flowing and you get headers you will be running lean. So if you want thee most out of your car a wideband is going to get you the best out of it, that way you can adjust your timing tables and fuel tables so you have no KR. Since you have a auto the 3.73 gears are going to mess up your shift points, so I would def. get that tuned right away and also delete your TQ Mang. and set your shift points lower for a quicker/firmer shift. Theres also alot more, just need to go through one of the tunning guides but a wideband will save your engine in the long run since you are modding it.

[The Unknown 7]

Re: seeking advice on a tune

alright. well I got a lot of research to do then maybe I shouldnt tune it quite yet lol. Man id really like to know how to do all this myself. If i got a wide band is that all I'd really need?

[ssms5411]

Re: seeking advice on a tune

I would tune for the gears and your trans right away(you don't want your trans shifting thinking it has 3.73's when it doesn't might wear out or break some parts) and other minor stuff like TQ mang. shift points and shift properites, egr. Then once you get your headers and full exhaust all done and get a wideband you can tune for timing and A/F. So you don't have any KR and you can up you timing for more HP.

[The Unknown 7]

Re: seeking advice on a tune

yeah. but the only problem is i would have to keep paying over and over since I dont have hp tuners, so I kinda wanna do it all at once. so if I could wait a little longer till I have all my bolt ons I think I will. so am I correct in saying that lowering kr would give me more and more room to increase timing therefore power?

[Blizzard242]

Re: seeking advice on a tune

Doing anything physical to the car.. mostly fuel octane and I believe different spark plugs will help with KR. You do not want ANY KR at all. But I think you have the right idea about it with increasing your timing up until you start to see KR, then you bump it back a few degrees for safety. That would be the max timing you'd want to run.

[The Unknown 7]

Re: seeking advice on a tune

ok then. well I'm thinking about buying hp tuners now that I gave it some thought. I plan on doing more to this car than I have done and if I'd have to keep tuning it to see the best performance then maybe I should do that. Is it hard to learn? also I found a deal for a 99' pcm. will that work for my 96?

[Watazz]

Re: seeking advice on a tune

From what I've studied it isnt too dificult to learn the software. But you will need some practice. If you have a 1996 put a 97 pcm in it. the 99 will not work.

[ssms5411]

Re: seeking advice on a tune

97' PCM will only work on your 96' car year, other years like 99', 00' and up might interchange. There is also a sticky on doing a 96' to 97' PCM swap.

[Blizzard242]

Re: seeking advice on a tune

Don't be worried about how hard it is to use, after you get the idea it becomes pretty easy. After you get a base tune down with stuff like transmission settings (if you're auto), speedo recalibration if needed, etc, you don't have to ever really touch those again unless you want to tweek. Then you're left with spark and AFR which is basically 3 different tables. Or just 2 depending on if you believe the VE tables actually effect our cars or not. I'm not going into details but you'll learn all of it easily enough with practice. And besides, there are plenty of people here that are usually willing to help.

[ssms5411]

Re: seeking advice on a tune

^ I wouldn't even try and mess with VE just do PE and injector fuel table. I have never seen a 97' work with VE , except if hey got a HPtuners to do a custom tune for them.