Drivability

BillsTy

New member
My beautiful red/red 93 has only 17K on her. Right now, all she has in upgrades is exhaust (hi-po cat and 3" magnaflow all the way to the back), Walpro 255 pump, bitpull chip and K&N filter. The truck is reliable and fun to drive and looks much better with the chrome ZR1 wheels all around with a 3" drop in the rear (Beltech springs) and a 1" drop in the front by adjusting the torsion bars.
A few weeks ago, a local event here where I live put on a cruise and 1/8 mile drags. My best was 9.3 at about 80mph. So I got the bug (the more hp type) and have been buying parts to put on my Ty to improve performance. Here are the items I plan on adding: bigger turbo, a2a intercoolers from PMR, cold air intake, smaller pullies from KB, 3 bar sensor, and an adjustable Ultimate chip. Also, was thinking a 3K stall speed converter as well.
My question is this? Will these upgrades, if professionally installed by someone who knows our trucks, dramatically effect the drivability or will she just be more fun to drive? I don't want to put this package on the truck and find myself under the hood all the time trying to adjust something.
Any feedback would be appreciated from those of you who have modded their trucks. Are my upgrades a solid package that should work well or is there something I need to add or for that matter, not install?
Thanks for the help.
 

Stealth

New member
I am new to SyTy's, but not GM. My experience with turbocharged vehicles are 300zx Twin Turbos (one of the most complicated engine/turbo combinations).

I can tell you this, your driveability will be directly affected by your tune. That is, the actual code on Ultimates 3 bar chip. You say the chip is adjustable, how do you adjust it? I would say you need a ROM file editor and a chip burner to be able to create your own .bin file for the GM trucks. I know on OBD 1 Nissan vehicles, we socket the ECU (solder an actual socket to the board) and then put the chip in the socket with the new bin file.

Next up would be a professional dynotune with a wideband O2 meter. You can actually do it yourself on the street if you know how to build .bin files and have your own wideband O2 sensor. The tune will most greatly affect performance, and driveability. You want to get a wideband O2 dyno because it will tell you your A/F curve across the board and see if you are rich or lean in spots. Rich is ok, but too rich robs power and driveability (stumbles, etc.). Too lean, and you will overheat the cylinder, either melting the piston, valve, or causing detonation and broken pistons, broken ring lands, etc.

So, you can add all the parts you want, just remember, eventually, you need to tune for all those parts.

You could also accomplish this with an AFC (air fuel controller) but I hate those since they trick the MAF sensor, etc. I only tune for real, I dont use silly gimmick boxes that go into my glove compartment.

Eric L.
 

protosy

New member
Stealth said:
I can tell you this, your driveability will be directly affected by your tune. That is, the actual code on Ultimates 3 bar chip. You say the chip is adjustable, how do you adjust it? I would say you need a ROM file editor and a chip burner to be able to create your own .bin file for the GM trucks. I know on OBD 1 Nissan vehicles, we socket the ECU (solder an actual socket to the board) and then put the chip in the socket with the new bin file.

Next up would be a professional dynotune with a wideband O2 meter. You can actually do it yourself on the street if you know how to build .bin files and have your own wideband O2 sensor. The tune will most greatly affect performance, and driveability. You want to get a wideband O2 dyno because it will tell you your A/F curve across the board and see if you are rich or lean in spots. Rich is ok, but too rich robs power and driveability (stumbles, etc.). Too lean, and you will overheat the cylinder, either melting the piston, valve, or causing detonation and broken pistons, broken ring lands, etc.

So, you can add all the parts you want, just remember, eventually, you need to tune for all those parts.

You could also accomplish this with an AFC (air fuel controller) but I hate those since they trick the MAF sensor, etc. I only tune for real, I dont use silly gimmick boxes that go into my glove compartment.

Eric L.

the ultimate is selectable with a little lcd panel and some buttons. it has multiple "versions" of the code with different timing and fueling parameters built into a single chip. you just basically push a button and it will change the code you are running, with no need to re-burn the chip. you would need romulator, chip burner, etc if you wanted to modify it beyond that.

wbo2 can now be more or less integrated into the chips so that you can see actual AFR in datamaster. this is done by using some code courtesy of Dig and DIY WBo2 sensor stuff. quite cool for the stock computer for sure.

as for AFC, we do not use a MAF sensor with the stock computer so i do not think there would ever be a need for that. these trucks use MAP, TPS, IAT and a variety of other little bits to compute the total air flow into the motor, not a MAF sensor.

i do agree with one thing you said for sure, drivability is all about tuning. i have ridden in a truck with 84lbs injectors, 60mm turbo, etc etc and it rolls down the road (AC blasting cold air in my face) with no problems.

chad
 
With that kind of upgrade you can experience some sort of drop in driveability because you could potentially have an 11 second truck on your hands. Like Stealth said, it all depends on your you tune your truck. The 50lb Ultimate would be a better choice for a larger turbo and the kind of setup you are talking about. Better would be to have a custom chip made for your truck with all the upgrades you plan for it.

Just don't drive it everyday as things will break on a setup like that. Specially the drivetrain.

The ultimate will not take care of your tuning needs, but it will be a great step in the right direction from the stock setup.
 

nick041881

Member
and i would start by having the parts professionally installed by YOU! dont trust a shop unless its someones shop off this board.
 
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