Hey everyone, this is josh pearl (JP) with an update on my 2013 Camaro ZL1. After a long wait I have finally completed "Stage 2" of my build which includes Kooks long tube headers (ceramic coated with 2" primaries), Kooks 3" to 2.5" off-road pipes, Injector Dynamics 850cc injectors, Kenne Bell Boost-A-Pump, Metco 10" lower pulley, AFCO Racing heat exchanger (with dual fans), and NGK TR7ix spark plugs.
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I'll provide some thoughts on the mods and results below. As usual, each dyno sheet is showing runs from the same day with equivalent coolant, oil, and intake temperatures. This will provide true before and after results.

Step 1 - Headers, Off-Road Pipes, and Plugs:

​The dyno sheet below shows some VERY interesting results from my Kooks header installation... no power gains! This was a bit disapointing at first, but simply proves that the factory manifolds and catalytic converters provide sufficient flow for ~600rwhp. This behavior is not uncommon on supercharged vehicles; we see it with Mustang Cobras and GT500s too. Blown motors do not experience the same benefits from improved exhaust scavenging as naturally aspirated vehicles because the supercharger is pushing the air through the motor. The exhaust simply needs to provide a hole big enough to let the air out.

​Step 2 - Tuning for the Headers:

​Though the headers did not realize an increase in power, they did provide a reduction of back pressure as seen in the slightly lower boost levels. This provided an opportunity to adjust the tune to gain some power as seen in the chart below. After the tune there was an increase of 15whp and 15wtq above 4,000rpm. These are certianly nice gains, but the cost of this power was quite high: $1,200 + install time + tune session. At this point in the build, my recommendation to ZL1 and CTS-V customers who have done my previous "Stage 1" mods would be to not invest in long tube headers unless further mods are planned...

​Step 3 - Injectors:

My experience with many different injectors led me to Injector Dynamics I850s for the ZL1. These are not the cheapest injectors available, but the quality and precision of the injectors and injector data is second to none. I often recommend these injectors to customers, because injector data is something a tuner cannot make-up or backwards engineer. There are multiple vendors who provide good quality injectors with data, but many who do not. The dyno graph below shows two pulls which are nearly identical... this is because the only change to the car was the installation of the ID850s and the only change to the tune was the injector data provided by Injector Dynamics for HPTuners. You can see the variance between the pulls is within the range of "run-to-run variance." Most low cost injectors would be unable to match this level of precision! This is why many tuners will not tune a vehicle without proper injector data.

Step 4 - 10" Lower Pulley + Tuning

My final modification for "Stage 2" of the ZL1 build was to install a 10" lower pulley. I previously installed the Innovators West Harmonic Balancer with Metco 8.6" lower pulley which provides ~2lbs extra boost over stock. The 10" lower pulley provides ~5lbs extra boost over stock. This large pulley does require an idler relocation bracket, but the installation is very straight forward and reuses the factory idlers. The tune was updated to compensate for the additional boost. 

Note: the before and after pulls were not done on the same day although the operating temps were monitored to provide as much consistency as possible. Mid way through the installation my wife called with a "slight emergency." Long story short we ended up at the hospital for the birth of our first child. Some distractions are quite worthwhile :)

As you can see in the dyno sheet below, the gains from this pulley were very large: +48whp, +86wtq, and +4lbs boost. The torque increase was much higher than expected and the horsepower increase is on target. Taking a look at the dyno sheet you can see the boost spike above 5,000rpm. This boost spike and the ramp-down in the torque curve is indicative of a restriction in the system, which can be cured with a blower swap and/or upgraded cam ;)

Conclusion:

All in all I would consider the "Stage 2" modifications a great success. The header swap did not offer much increase with the "Stage 1" modifications, but I feel the reduction in back pressure was a stepping stone for the big gains seen with the 10" lower pulley. In other words, I would not want the pulley without the long tubes and the long tubes are not a worthwhile investment without a large pulley.
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With the installation of a lower pulley, idler bracket, belt, cold air intake, injectors, long tube headers, off road pipes, boost-a-pump, heat exchanger, and of course Performance Dyno tuning the ZL1 is up 150whp and 183wtq over stock!!

​Step 2 - Intake Install:
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An easy power gain with these LSA motors is to install a cold air intake. I decided to go with the Roto-Fab setup, but similar results can be found with CAI or others. The install was painless and the instructions were more than sufficient. I made dyno pulls before and after the installation... verified coolant, intake temp, and intake temp 2 were all at the same level for the pulls. It's great to see a product live up to the hype! 

Final results are 35whp and 9wtq with no tuning! Looking at the dyno sheet shows no difference below 4,500rpm, the factory intake was sufficient until ~400whp.

​Step 3 - 10% Overdrive Pulley:

The the second part of "stage 1" for the LSA is an overdrive pulley. I installed the Innovators West 8.6" overdrive lower pulley. This drive the supercharger about 10% faster than stock. This pulley utilizes a dampener with a hub setup to easily switch the outer ring, which cuts down on install time for future pulleys swaps ;)

I made dyno pulls before and after the installation... verified coolant, intake temp, and intake temp 2 were all at the same level for the pulls. It certainly made good gains. The air-fuel starts to pull lean at the top-end because the injectors can't keep up.

Final gains from the pulley and tuning was 40whp and 47wtq! 

All of the above gains are by optimizing timing and air/fuel (carb adjustments).  Most people would pay hundreds to buy parts that would gain 15 hp, for typically less than $200 we can find the horsepower you already have.

Whether you’re looking to increase the drivability or increase the horsepower we can help you.  We offer the SCT 6600 4 bank chip, custom tuning and dyno time.  With this package we’ll use our SnEEC Datalogger to adjust and monitor all your sensors.

Is the shop you’re currently going to not using one of these?  Well, then they can’t be correctly tuning your Mustang.  This is one of the only monitoring systems that will work on the pre-1996 Mustangs. Without it they’re just guessing!  Also included is a complete systems check of your car.  We’ll adjust your base timing, fuel pressure, TPS, MAF signal, 02 sensor operations and look over your whole setup including spark plugs.  These cars are notoriously hard to tune for drivability so come to the shop that specializes in these cars!  We’ll take on any project no matter how bad it runs.  We also offer the Drivability Guarantee.  If you’re not happy with the way it drives and there’s no major mechanical issue we’ll retune it NO CHARGE!

Ok, you’ve got a GT and want more power.  We offer many different options ranging from basic bolt-ons to supercharger installs.  The 96-2004 had many updates from previous years.  This was the beginning of the returnless fuel system as well as coil on plug ignition.  The best bang for your buck on these cars is a supercharger.  Basic bolt-ons will gain you 20-30 rwhp but you’re working with heads that don’t flow very well so even cams can’t overcome this.  The cure?  Install a supercharger that forces the air through those small valves!  Here’s the difference:

We specialize in tuning these cars whether you have cams, supercharger, turbos or any combination!  We utilize the SCT X4 handheld tuner with our own unique custom tuning for you specific combination.  We’ve tuned hundreds of Mustang GT’s on our Dynojet dyno and have the experience needed to tune your combination.  We data log as many as 20 parameters while tuning to make sure everything’s safe and working properly. 

There are many tricks to tuning these cars correctly and we’ve got over 12 years experience in doing them.  We offer the same Drivability Guarantee!  Not happy with the way the car drives?  We’ll retune it NO CHARGE as long as there are no mechanical issues!  Need to pass emissions?  With the introduction of the OBDII Readiness tests in New England it’s harder than ever to get heavily modded cars to pass!  We can help!  We’ve done extensive testing and if you’ve got High flow cats or other mods and are throwing a “check engine light” call us!  We can almost always help you get the “tune” you need to pass!  As a matter of fact, if we tuned your car we’ll guarantee you’ll pass the test and get your sticker.  We even run a “simulated obdii readiness test” on the car when you leave to make sure it’s ok.

Ok, you’ve got a GT and want more power.  We offer many different options ranging from basic bolt-ons to supercharger installs.  The 05+ Mustangs had many updates from previous years.  This was the beginning of the ETC (electronic throttle) as well as the newer 3-valve, aluminum block motor.  Ford added the ETC not as an added performance upgrade but to be able to take the throttle control away from you and give it to them.  That’s called Torque Management.  When we tune your Mustang we give the control back to you!  With a stock Mustang when you punch the throttle the computer will slowly open the throttle to help with Ford’s warranty claims.  We specialize in tuning these cars whether you have cams, supercharger, turbos or any combination!  We utilize the SCT X4 handheld tuner with our own unique custom tuning for your specific combination.  The 05+’s are harder to tune with the drive by wire.  We’ve tuned every combination including cammed, turbo’d, supercharged and basic bolt-ons.  We data log as many as 20 parameters while tuning to make sure everything’s safe and working properly. 

There are many tricks to tuning these cars correctly and we’ve got over twelve years experience in doing them.  We offer the same Drivability Guarantee!  Not happy with the way the car drives?  We’ll retune it NO CHARGE as long as there are no mechanical issues!  Need to pass emissions?  With the introduction of the OBDII Readiness tests in New England it’s harder than ever to get heavily modded cars to pass!  We can help!  Have you installed High Flow Cats and got the dreaded “Wrench” light?  That’s because the emissions requirements after 05 tightened up so much that virtually every high flow cat doesn’t have enough precious metals to be efficient enough.  We have a fix for this!  As a matter of fact, if we tuned your car we’ll guarantee you’ll pass the test and get your sticker.  We even run a “simulated obdii readiness test” on the car when you leave to make sure it’s ok.

We specialize in tuning these cars whether you have cams, supercharger, turbos or any combination!  We utilize the SCT X4 handheld tuner with our own unique custom tuning for you specific combination.  We’ve tuned hundreds of Mustangs on our Dynojet dyno and have the experience needed to tune your combination.

Here’s an 04 Mach1 with about every mod you can throw at it including cams, ported heads, Procharger with 14psi of boost and our custom tune:

The Ford Lightning has a lot of potential as well as its sister the Harley Davidson.  The most common mods are a high flow air filter/intake and 4lb or 6lb lower pulley.  This increases the boost from about 8psi to 12-14 psi.  This will increase the power from about 345 rwhp to close to 400 rwhp with torque reaching as high as 500 rwtq.  The 5.4L motor has the potential to make even bigger power but the stock rods are too weak.  Are you running a “mail order tune” with higher boost?  With the high cylinder pressures that comes with added boost it’s even more important to make sure your air/fuel and timing are safe.  You can break these motors easily with a “bad” tune.    We also offer a custom transmission tune that was designed after extensive testing on the street for maximum performance as well.  It’s included in every custom tune.  

When tuning we make sure your air/fuel is safe and you don’t have too much timing.  SCT’s “canned” tune actually puts too much timing in this motor, especially when it’s cooler.  We make the required changes in the tune to make sure the motor’s safe.  We data log as many as 20 parameters while tuning to make sure everything’s safe and working properly. 

Ever wonder why your 300 hp Ford truck doesn’t go that good?  That’s because thanks to the warranty and emissions departments you’re not getting all the power available!  Here’s some results from tuning a stock F150:

As you can see, the stock pull (blue) has way less midrange hp and torque.  That’s because the stock calibration keeps the air/fuel ratio too lean to make power and the electronic throttle keeps the throttle closed until higher in the rpm’s.  When the truck shifts, it closes again!  We fix all that with the custom tune!  We data log as many as 20 parameters while tuning to make sure everything’s safe and working properly. 


There are many tricks to tuning these trucks correctly and we’ve got over 12 years experience in doing them.  We offer the same Drivability Guarantee!  Not happy with the way the car drives?  We’ll retune it NO CHARGE as long as there are no mechanical issues!  Need to pass emissions?  With the introduction of the OBDII Readiness tests in New England it’s harder than ever to get heavily modded cars to pass!  We can help!  Have you installed High Flow Cats and got the dreaded “Check Engine” light?   We have a fix for this!  As a matter of fact, if we tuned your car we’ll guarantee you’ll pass the test and get your sticker.  We even run a “simulated obdii readiness test” on the car when you leave to make sure it’s ok.

Here’s a stock GT500 vs Ford TVS blower with 15psi and some other mods:

Here’s a stock one vs Kenne Bell with about 18ps:

Here’s the downside:  These motors have decent pistons and a steel crank but the rods are longer than the Cobra’s and aren’t H beam.  They are the weak link and you simply can’t get to the same 800 rwhp as the Cobra’s and have the motor survive!  The GT500’s are harder to tune with the drive by wire.  We’ve tuned many combinations and can help you with yours.  We data log as many as 20 parameters while tuning to make sure everything’s safe and working properly. 

There are many tricks to tuning these cars correctly and we’ve got over 12 years experience in doing them.  We offer the same Drivability Guarantee!  Not happy with the way the car drives?  We’ll retune it NO CHARGE as long as there are no mechanical issues!  Need to pass emissions?  With the introduction of the OBDII Readiness tests in New England it’s harder than ever to get heavily modded cars to pass!  We can help!  Have you installed High Flow Cats and got the dreaded “Wrench” light?  That’s because the emissions requirements after 05 tightened up so much that virtually every high flow cat doesn’t have enough precious metals to be efficient enough.  We have a fix for this!  As a matter of fact, if we tuned your car we’ll guarantee you’ll pass the test and get your sticker.  We even run a “simulated obdii readiness test” on the car when you leave to make sure it’s ok.

GM Cars:

Corvette:  We can custom tune from ’98 to current Corvettes including every model from the base LS1 to the ZR1.  Whether you have a cam, intake, long tube headers or supercharger/turbo we can help.

Camaro:  We can custom tune from ’98-02 Camaros and Firebirds and the 2010+ Camaros.  This includes all mods like a cam, long tubes, intake, superchargers and turbos.  The 2010 has new challenges as it’s drive-by-wire and the automatics use the 6L80 transmission which is very complicated.  It has layers of torque management and 100’s of parameters.  We have a track tested tune that works!

Here’s a 2010 Camaro auto stock vs. Headers, exhaust, intake and our custom tune:

Pontiac GTO:  We have custom tuned many of these including supercharged and turbo’d versions and cammed cars. 


Here’s a twin turbo GTO with stock motor:

GM Trucks:

Here’s a little secret with GM and Ford trucks:  You’ll never see the stock rated horsepower with the stock calibration in the pcm!  You see, after the engineers spend all that time making some really good, powerful motors the emissions and warranty departments take it all away!  Don’t believe me?  Check out this graph:

Here’s the results of just a custom tune with no mods whatsoever in an 08 Silverado 1500 Vortech Max.  You can see we gained 40rwhp with just tuning!  That’s because the stock calibration keeps the motor too lean and this causes the knock sensors to pull timing as well.  If they run this tune to make the motor last longer it makes no sense to me!  With this a/f ratio it makes the truck run too lean at full throttle which makes the exhaust hotter and forces the engine to bounce off the knock sensors constantly. 

We also remove most of the torque management and that pesky speed limiter!

Ever notice when you punch the throttle the truck hesitates between shifts?  That’s the electronic throttle closing during the shift.  Your foot might be planted to the floor but the pcm is overriding you and closing the throttle.  When tuning we remove this pesky feature so that the throttle opens when you want it to  and stays there until you lift!


Worried about emissions with your bolt-ons?  
Don’t... we can take care of any emissions related problems with your car or truck!