Halltech

Good question. I have been retired from tuning since 2008, but see a possible opportunity to get back in the fray. Now that enough motors have gone South that were bone stock, folks cannot blame tuners for this normal event. I have tuned 598 Z06s/LS3s 2005 to 2008, with maybe 50 in 2011. All have our intake onboard, so we can generally use a pre tested tune that was dyno certified and come pretty close to cloning horsepower for each car.

Soon Wisconsin and other states will see E15 fuel. Mandated by Obama's EPA. I can't wait. I love ethanol, but am a non drinker, so in the fuel is fine with me.

Here is the problem. GM has never changed the NFF PCM stoichiometric values from 14.7:1. That air to fuel ratio is stoichiometric for 100% gasoline only, not E10. E10 has a stoich of 14.08:1; E15 contains 6.6% oxygen, which means the stoich is going to be 13.79:1.

Now divide 14.7:1 closed loop stoich by 13.79:1 and you can see that 6.6% more oxygen at the O2 sensors will enrichen your a/f ratio incorrectly. 6.6% fuel that cannot burn in the combustion chamber ends up in the tail pipes as soot. The cats burn most of the fuel, but that can't be good either. It makes you wonder who at GM thinks this is a good thing for our cars? What does the fuel wash do to our cylinders? How much pollutes our oil, and then makes our valve gear go south? Lots of questions. Answer? Flex Fuel capability for all cars.

FF motors like most of the trucks SUVs by GM automatically determine the amount of O2 in the burn after a fill up. They adjust the air/fuel ratio to the precise stoichiometric burn no matter what the mix. Not so with our cars.

Here is the table showing stoichiometric values for various amounts of ethanol, and the corresponding oxygen content. Look at E85! The amount of O2 contained in this fuel, makes it a supercharger fuel.

All tunes that I have done in the past have been at 14.08 air fuel ratio for the E10 fuel. When E15 hits the local stations, I will have an update for all of the 600 tunes I have done in the past. $1000 each.

Dan Parker '96

Jim, would it make business sense to primarily sell a tune that results in 20 RWHP rather than the expense of producing a hard part? Of course you could follow up with a product that accentuates the base and add another 15 RWHP. It would make sense of that a factory product would have enough consistency that an ECM modification should work across a very broad range. Couple that with your expertise of tuning with the hard product in question then you have a terrific product combination.

Why don't you promote the tune (primarily) plus intake combo? Liability concerns? Deniability? ( I understand why this can be important).

My deal is that I find it a bit disingenous that the promotion of intake systems (all producers) seem to imply "30+ RWHP with my product" when close to 70% of the gains are from ECU tuning that is left to the consumer. I would love to purchase from a vendor that supplies a complete package that is truly representative of the claims.

Halltech

For all those wanting results without tuning. This was the pull done on a stock LS7, then JUST the Super Bee MF103:
+19.3 RWHP/12.3lbs-ft torque in 30 minutes, one bolt on:

Notice that pull one was stock; pull 2 was with the MF103:



Pull 5 was after tuning and retuning for best power without any chance of knock: A gain of 16.82 RWHP/22lbs ft. over just the MF103
Total gain from the MF103 and tuning: 36.1 RWHP/34.35lbs-ft.

LEAVINU

Very impressive Jim! Don't take it wrong but I'm still not sold over my VR and the only reason is because of the events I do. I get up to 160mph in a very short distance and the more frontal air I can pull through the traps keeps me pulling harder than the next guy. Any input on that?

I literally lose sleep over switching to your intake so don't take my question as bashing it in any way.

Halltech

Another dyno just received today. This customer had us ship a MF103 to a shop that we have never done business with. We get more new dealer/tuners this way.

Stock vs. the Triple Threat Intake system (Halltech SBMF103;Williams 102 TB; FAST LSXR intake) with a cam only setup and headers; stock heads:

Halltech

We got these results from a new tuner in 2011; this was our 2nd SBMF103 sent out for testing. The customer had VR on his car for a couple years. Tuned to the VR.

Swapped out the VR for the Halltech MF103. The car was retuned with the MF103 without the car leaving the dyno. Comparing best power VR to best power MF103:


Then there is this. Gary Hillen's "Bolt On Only" Z06 World Record pass with the MF103: This pass was 2mph faster than Sebastian's (VR intake in Canada) best trap speed and beat his e.t. by a few tenths. Different car, different driver, but Sebastian had the record last year until the MF103 came on the scene:

jnv255

If this who I think this is, your car is fast and I don't see how taking away the VR would make it faster, especially doing the events you do.

LEAVINU

Yep, this is me.

jnv255

Small world

Halltech

Still undecided about Halltech vs. VR? Just in from a new dealer that swapped out the VR for the MF103. He added the WP102 throttle body at the same times, so part of the increase is due to the larger TB. Typically, Katech has seen +3 to 4 HP on the engine dyno with the WP102 vs the 90mm TB. Some shops say it is a wash. No torque increase at all.

Katech did the initial testing on the WP102 and FAST LSXR with our Super Bee MF103 (Carbon fiber version) back when they first hit the market.

Here is the bump from the MF107R+Williams TB vs VR stock TB:

Halltech

This shop has been a dealer/installer of ours for 12+ years.

LEAVINU

Its long been said that the VR shows little to no power on the dyno as no fan can simulate the speed increases of the air at 100+mph speeds. Thats where I'm having a hard time being sold by your intake Jim.

The dyno is one thing and 100+mph speeds on a long stretch is another.

Halltech

I would recommend you stick with the VR then if dyno testing and track results are not sufficient proof. The MF103 is the World record holder now in e.t. and trap speed in the quarter mile. Bolt on only Z06. 9.97 @ 137.72 beat the heads and cam record as well, held with our Killer Bee II. Obviously, the driver and other components factor in large on these records, but if the VR only ran 135 last year on the Canadian challenger's Bolt on only car. Maybe that will change this fall, maybe not.