Originally Posted by phatmitzu

I thought 12.5:1 to 12:1 redline was pretty good, consider its an off-the-shelf tune.

Good stuff.

Originally Posted by Marcus Frost

They send changes to an independent tuner they have in Germany to reflect their specifications.

Originally Posted by joshd

...what I'm wondering is how far away we are from being able to flash the ECU via OBD-II port like almost every other platform out there....

Originally Posted by joshd

I think you might be looking at the boost line instead of AFR. AFR at redline is rapidly approaching 10:1. This is probably part of what Jerry was referring to when he said there was more power on the table (probably some timing too).

Originally Posted by chiromikey

i didn't want to rain on the parade so i kept quiet, but i have to agree with victor on this one. i've got a few graphs somewhere that show way over 700rwtq on a dyno dynamics macnine and i also attribute that number to the torque converter lock up. while my car is very strong, it's not that strong.

Originally Posted by ChicagoX

That can be done right now, with the right equipment. The ECU cannot, however, be read from the OBDII port.

Originally Posted by rflow306

Imho live emulation from the chip socket is the best method.

Originally Posted by ChicagoX

That can be done right now, with the right equipment. The ECU cannot, however, be read from the OBDII port.

Originally Posted by Marcus Frost

As promised, when I had my complete results in for Stage 1 I was going to make a post about it. Again, what I have done is nothing new but I hope the comprehensiveness of my documentation in doing these mods will help people understand what is needed and what options are out there when starting to mod your beast. Before I go into things I want to make it very clear that I am in no way affiliated with any of the companies I have used thus far, and even though I consider the guys who run these companies "friends", business is business and when it comes to building my car I'm looking for results and objectivity, nothing less.

CPT performed all the work, including dyno, etc - and as usual did a phenomenal job. We used their Dyno Dynamics dyno (the best around, period), so yes, these numbers are lower than DynoJet. The full list of mods were as follows:

CPT Cooling Package
LET Stage 1 ECU Tune
VRP Pulley
Carlsson Steering Wheel
STAR Diagnostic 1" Lowering
K&N Filters

My car is a 2005, with 30k miles. She is a ringer of an '05, out dyno'ing any stock 55 that's been on CPTs dyno (he's had MANY - my old '03 did 360-370). I've also ran low 12s @ 116-118mph bone stock, so needless to say this car has a lot of power.

First up to bat is CPT with their cooling package. CPT uses a very, very large core (bigger than any one I have seen, it makes the EVOSport look like a chiuaua) along with the Johnson pump. In addition to the big core, CPT also does not separate the cooling circuit like other companies. The idea is with a large core, you may not get the 80F drop in IAT, but you can get 60-70F and you get the added benefit of not just cooling your IAT, you are cooling your block as well. We saw a 40-50F drop in IAT on the DYNO, which is impressive in it's own right. I have no question putting some good airflow through it on the street would yield 10-20F more.

I think something that is often overlooked when separating the cooling circuits is that the block is neglected, and let me tell you, our blocks do not mind being cooled. This solution I think is a better package in terms of what it has to do, and what is required to install it. Less clutter in the engine bay (extra lines, extra reservoir, etc), a bigger core, and you're cooling both the IAT and the engine. Most of the time when upgrading a forced induction car you upgrade the intercooler but if possible, you also upgrade the radiator. The engine coolant needs some love too. I am very happy with the results we were able to obtain.

VRP's pulley lived up to expectations and we saw an increase of 4psi over stock, from ~9 to ~13. The VRP pulley did not come with a new belt, and CPT did not even attempt to make the stock belt fit (because they said it wasn't possible), so we opted for the Jaguar belt. Everything turned out well. Below is the before/after boost curve:



Very satisfied with Victor's product. Good looking piece, performed as described, makes good boost. Another A+ here.

Finally, and probably the most anticipated part, was the LET tune. Now I will be honest, I was very skeptical about LET. They are new and unproven, and I for one am not someone who likes risking my $40k motor with unproven tuners. But, Jerry had talked a lot fo CPT and after shaking Jerry's hand I figured we should just give it a whirl on the dyno to see what it did. I didn't want a super aggressive tune on my car, but I did want good power. LET has pretty much the cheapest tune out there so while that is very attractive, having a product on my car I'm not comfortable with is not something I'm willing to do to save a few hundred bucks.

Now, in the thread I made before comparing the 63 to 55 motors, I posted my 420rwhp graph. For this thread I wanted to be a little more realistic because truthfully, just like I said in my previous thread, our cars do feel the pinch of heat even with the cooling package. I was able to make 420rwhp stock, but I am more comfortable saying my car makes 400rwhp stock consistently. An avarage 55 car will make 380rwhp on CPT's dyno, I've just had the blessing of having a strong '05 car. However, the strength stock does not translate to the equivalent strength after stage 1 - and this is important to make a note of. I still might make power than an average 55 car that went stage 1, but it most likely won't be 20rwhp still.

I dyno'd at 3 points throughout this process - stock, with pulley/cooling, and finally with pulley/cooling/software.

The first dyno here is comparing stock to pulley/cooling - as you can see we have relatively no gain in RWHP, but about 40rwtq gained. This is the result of TQ limitation in the ECU and an overall pullback as the ECU sees the extra power. We do get a nice fatter curve but in the end it's still taking a jump off a cliff.



Finally, we added the LET tune. I talked to Jerry a bit about this and overall this is a conservative, off the shelf tune. There isn't really anything wild about it, but I have to say it worked wonders, especially given the low price of admission. We are still running conservatively AFR wise, and timing wise, so there is power on the table if I choose to take advantage of it.

We now have:

+35rwhp and +100rwtq(!!!!) gain over a STRONG stock car.
+30rwhp + 60rwtq over pulley/cooling.




Final thoughts:

To pickup +30-35rwhp on a car that already makes 20rwhp more than other 55s was impressive, IMO - and that doesn't even tell the story. +100rwtq? Is that some kind of joke? That to me, is where the butter is. This car is just a monster now down low. One of my favorite punches, the 2nd gear 2500rpm one, is just phenomenal. Totally new feel now, and I am loving it.

This was a pretty much off the shelf tune and if need be, Jerry has offered to squeeze a bit more power out of her, as there is some room in the tune if I need it. As of right now I'm pretty happy and the torque is just amazing on this car. In the end, it's the torque you are really going to feel, and that's what I got plenty of. Next up will be a trip to the drag strip.

Sorry for the length of this thread, but as you can see there was quite a bit to say.

Regards,

Marcus

Originally Posted by joshd

I assume that equipment is crazy expensive at this point? Honestly, I'd love for someone to come out with a product a la Cobb Access Port/Conforti Shark Injector, etc. that can be shipped to me and I perform the flash myself. Instead of removing my DME and being dead in the water for a few days which will only invite questions from my wife as to why I'm not driving my car

As a bonus, it could be used to flash different maps sent to me via e-mail by the tuner based on my logging, or for race gas, or the stock map for the dealer. Just looking for convenience and the ability to switch maps as well as iteratively tune the car without shipping out the DME every time or visiting the tuning shop ... I'm lazy though.

Originally Posted by Marcus Frost

Some people have been asking about the cooling package, I have the core dimensions for everyone: 29"x6"x3" endtank to endtank.

I have to admit, although it wasn't my motivation, something about this car all blacked out with a huge polished heat exchanger/intercooler behind the grill mesh... I've seen some people notice it and I swear the air would reek of fear.

-m