Turbotrio

You guys (NTB) are slow (Good/Bad economy aside)? Doesn't seem like the type of business that would be effected much so I am just curious... Sorry for the OT question but good luck on the sale Jeff

Yes it is. Eric has been tuning LSx cars since before everyone in city save for maybe Bill Wright who has always done it "On the side" w/LS1 Edit IIRC. Eric bought HP Tuners for himself and Sam back in 2003-04 (Same day we installed the cam in his car here) and then "Bought-in" with HP Tuners when he decided to work for DynoTune since Brian didn't do anything with GM cars. It wasn't much of a secret how well his personal Z06 and cars like Sam's Z06 and Linn's Z28 and Tilley's Z06 ran and then it just kind of went from there. If twenty other people also tuned LSx stuff back then I will apologize in advance as I either never heard of them or I am getting old and have forgotten all about them lol. Jeff

I took a few "nicer" pics of the Viper I will post up tomorrow if I have time. Little less power than Jason's car made but still plenty enough to get in trouble with Jeff

We don't tune mustangs very often (We are not nor ever will be considered a "Ford" shop) and depending on your specific set-up that might have had something to do with it (Aren't you getting a cam upgrade?). Our LSx tunes range from $350-450 depending on the vehicles set-up (Including dyno time of course). I am told pretty much weekly that this is $100-150 cheaper than what Brian charges (I have no idea what he charges but that is what I am told) and I am sure it is more than what others may charge. Oh, and comparing our parts price quotes to one of the cheapest online retailers on the intraweb does not make us "Expensive" lol. Jeff

Just to add my un-biased 2 cents IMO there are a few very good Columbus LSx tuners so going out of town in search of a "Great" tune really isn't necessary. Now, that being said, the biggest difference between tuners really isn't even the tuners themselves IMO. All of them can say they have tuned this or that and all are familiar with the specific set-up each chose to use (EFI Live / HP Tuners / LS1 Edit / DiabloSport / Etc) so no worries about somebody "Learning" on your car. Now, you assume going in that the car is going to work perfectly and you are not going to have any mechanical issues -- that part is done and it is time to start tuning. As most of us know, that is almost never a safe assumption once things start to get pushed. The absolute best tuner on the planet doesn't do a whole lot of good if he doesn't have the spare parts in stock, a great mechanic to help diagnose a possible issue, and the ability to swap something out or replace something on the spot instead of instantly being dead-in-the-water with the car strapped to a dyno. Hours sitting on the dyno = $$$ The longer a problem takes to get figured out, regardless of severity, the more costly it is. Many times a tuner's "Best guess" as to what might be causing a problem might not be as accurate as a mechanic that works on the cars 24/7. Having both (Great tuner and mechanic(s) ) present and able to help quickly diagnose a problem, fix it, and continue on with tuning is an invaluable asset that is often overlooked when deciding on where to go for the tune itself. Some of the shops and individuals mentioned in this thread have such assets and others do not. Not passing judgement on anyone (Good / Bad / Otherwise) but I am happy to say that here at IPS we are blessed with great techs and a couple VERY good tuners. We stock many many LSx parts and keep many "Test" stock parts around to help quickly trouble-shoot possible problems and correct them. My advice would be to ask wherever you plan on taking the car what their abilities are beyond just tuning Go and visit your top 1 or 2 and make a decision after checking out the facilities and meeting the people and getting a solid quote. Just my 2 cents... Jeff

Have him give me a call and I can walk him through some of the potential issues / problems regardless of who he wants to tune the car. It will most likely save him a ton of time/money in going to somebody that isn't overly familiar with the platform if it indeed is more of a "Set-up" issue. Jeff

Does the car have a MAP sensor or still on the factory MAF? The car will be severely limited (Regardless of turbos) if it doesn't have minimally a MAF/MAP set-up already installed. We just tuned an Emanage Ultimate VR4 last week that is currently 2nd on the highest-horsepower TD04 turbo list and is coming back once his paint-work is finished to break the world record in a few weeks. IMO great tuning is as much about knowing the vehicle (And its particular quirks and characteristics) as the specific set-up the tuning is being done with. Depending on the rest of the cars set-up, the "Problem" with low(er) power might not have anything to do with tuning at all... Jeff

The best part of the evening was when we got there Jason's car was parked (After making his first pass) and Mark was lined up to make his first run. One of the track guys was sitting on his Quad behind Jason's car repeatedly asking where the owner was lol. Mark pulls up (After going 11.1 @ 13x) and the tech guy is PISSED. They are done. Go home. No way either of them is making another pass w/o a cage and a few other things. Jason starts joking with him about being more than willing to turn the boost down but he can't so that he will just make one more and try his best not to run 10s again lol. The guy is not laughing. Twenty minutes later the tech guy is joking around and telling them they are good to go back out "And do me a favor and whatever you do DO NOT run a 9-anything". Pretty funny. Not a bad day when your first time out you make three 10-second passes and drive it home afterward The fly-by on the way home sounded awesome BTW. Jeff PS -- Mark's car ran 11.10's @ 13x twice on 4psi but had what appears to be a Trq Converter issue that we will be looking at this morning. Hope to have it back out by the weekend

Here are three of the graphs from last night: 4psi (WG pressure): http://ipsmotorsports.net/pictures/JasonF636dyno.jpg I *Think* this was right around 9-10psi: http://ipsmotorsports.net/pictures/JasonF778dyno.jpg And the last pull at 14-15psi: http://ipsmotorsports.net/pictures/JasonF934dyno2.jpg

That was Eric's Silver C5 Z06, a customers Red C5 Z06, and Jason's TT C6 Z06 all going up to NTB where Mark's TT C6 Z06 was getting aligned I think one or two of them were also trying to get an alignment done before NTB closed last night... Jeff

99.9% of the time Spec will tell you "Sorry about your luck" so I would never plan on getting that lucky. I have purchased well over 100 South Bend clutches now and Thorne's was the first to have a problem. Since it was installed here Andy over at SB took care of us but that is HIGHLY unusual for a clutch company to not only cover the part but also the labor. Jeff

Nope. Only change I would have made would have been to a pre-built engine. Even keeping it a 402cu shorty it would have saved us well over a year in engine pulls/rebuilds due to assembly errors and other misc problems. The twin GT35R turbos we used made almost 100hp more power at the wheels @ 12psi than what any of the LPE kits are rated at the flywheel: http://www.lingenfelter.com/pack_cor_c5_725.htm Also keep in mind LPE's ratings are based off 427's and not the 402 that we used in John's car. More cubic inches and Tilley's set-up would have been pretty close to what Mark & Jason have now -- just with an aluminum block and no-where near as good of heads. Wouldn't have made equal power but at lower boost levels I am sure they would have been in the same ball-park. Jeff

That was him. He bought the turbo kit from me about this time last year. Seemed like he was nice enough at the time but I hadn't seen or heard of him or the car (Other than Brandon seeing his blown-up motor @ Fowler) until just last week. Jeff

Its not about what they "Could" run as much as it is figuring out a way to get home with the blown motor I kid I kid. Glad you are out enjoying the car Jeff

Thanks for the post and glad you are happy with the car It was nice to meet you and thanks again for the compliments! Jeff

Yep, its there

I can take a few pics of it like the ones from last year if you want. I just got back from NY yesterday and am still playing a ton of catch-up but if that is what you are looking for I will find some time to take a few new ones Jeff

The donor car / ECU had a tune in it prior so unless it was done then? We haven't tuned or dynoed the car yet at all. I think Eric plugged in to adjust some fan settings but that has been it on our end thus far. Jeff

We don't do anything with them on the tuning side so I couldn't comment good or bad. Jeff PS -- Saw your car at Outback last night and it looked great as usual

I took a few today but haven't had a chance to get them off the camera yet. Ill post up a few tomorrow Jeff

IIRC it is a 3.5L bored to a 3.6L with twin GT40R turbos. That car needs a 200-shot for spool-up BAD. Jeff

All said and done, I think the Auto-to-6sd Swap probably took as long or longer than the actual LS1 swap due to having to wait on parts from Mazda all the time. Nothing was in stock and we would wait 3-5 days only to find that half the time they didn't send the part(s) we ordered in the first place. GM LSx parts were always in stock so no hold-ups on that end at all. Buzzing issues were only a temporary thing (All fixed now) so down to a couple little things and she is ready to roll. I will take a few pics today and maybe a quick vid as well. Jeff

For those of you that haven't seen it I just figured I would toss it out there. Jay actually lives out in Virginia but bought our IPS EVO3 turbo kit and custom IPS 4" turbo-back exhaust with Porsche 997 tips among many many Mitsu parts and little odds and ends for his 3000GT VR4. I forget what the final power #s ended up at but I know it was in the mid/upper 500s awhp. He said he mentioned us (IPS) a lot in his write-up but he didn't know how much would be edited for the actual magazine so I guess I will have to pick one up and see. Gorgeous car and about as good as a 3000GT gets. Interestingly enough, the car will soon be sporting a LSX block, custom single-turbo set-up, and RWD conversion soon Jeff

Congrats! Very very nice #s for shake-down passes. Just out of curiosity, what was the best time from the "Old" car for comparison? Jeff

Thanks for stopping down and congrats on the numbers! Couldn't have picked a better weekend to have it ready to go so have fun and be safe Jeff