Completley built engine- need tuning advice

[SCDSM]

I've recently resurrected my DSM from storage yard hell (where the drivers side was attacked by a giant demon known as an RV- farewell straight body and decent paint!). I've downgraded my goals of having a barely streetable drag car, to wanting a sports car that has around three to four hundred wheel horsepower.

I have a stroker engine with just about all of the good stuff that one would throw into such an engine (no coatings or knife edging of the crank). The heads are ported and polished with oversized valves and Ti retainers, the balance shafts are gone, the compressions higher etc. etc.

I've got the fuel system sans a AFPR and injectors (I guess that is a lot of it, I have the 255 pump and -8 fuel lines to the rail anyways). I have a water injection system that served me well way back when.

I'm planning on attempting to use a larger side mount intercooler and my water injection for charge cooling.

I don't know about the turbo- I need something that looks close to stock under the heat shield, but that question is for another day.

My question today is what is a good tuning device for the car these days? I stopped reading about DSM stuff right when the MAF-T came out.

In all honesty, I'm not looking for the fanciest thing out there. I don't need to make on the fly adjustments while I am driving around. In fact, I plan on having it professionally tuned on a dyno for pump gas, and then just leaving it alone. I just want to have something that is rock solid reliable once its set.

So any suggestions?

 

[T Money]

Dsmlink.com

Best mod ever

 

[GVR4592]

There are quite a few options out there. You'll obviously need the injectors, afpr, and an upgraded maf. I recommend the Evo, or 2g Maf over a maf-t, for ease of tuning.

Here are some of the options that I would consider in order from least expensive to most expensive, not including standalone ecu's like the AEM, Autronic, Haltech, etc...

Safc-II or Neo roughly $200 new if you can still find the SAFC-II and $275 for the Neo. It can handle the upgraded maf and up to 680cc injectors without any issues and possibly 750 injectors if you know what you're doing in the tuning department.

Eprom ecu/custom chip roughly $250 for the ecu and $150 for the chip. Lots of options with this route. The engine has the potential to run a lot smoother in the idle and cruise area's with a chip, compared to a piggyback device like the safc. You can compensate for almost any size injector, any common maf sensor, you can specify what A/F ratio you want at wot and even how much timing advance you want at wot. You can even add the SAFC to this option and have the ability to fine tune your fuel settings. KEYDIVER Chips - DSM ECU Tuning

Eprom Ecu/Dsmlink Again, $250 for the eprom ecu and $550 for Dsmlink. This is the best option in my opinion. I'll just link you to the Dsmlink page so you can read all of the info for yourself. If you have more questions regarding Dsmlink, just hit up the search, there's more information than you could handle for one night. DSMLink Homepage

If you feel like you might be able to burn your own chips, that's another route. It can be the cheapest and best way to get the tune you really want, but it can be a long process.

I've used everything to tune, from an adjustable fuel pressure regulator to the AEM. In my opinion, for 99% of Dsm owners, Dsmlink is the best and easiest option to tune with.

It comes down to your budget and how much bs you want to deal with during the process.

 

[SCDSM]

wow- that looks really, really sick.

 

[dsmmike50t]

Dsmlink is very user friendly, and theres a forum where you can post up logs and get advice.

 

[GVR4592]

The new version of Dsmlink is in the works, there's no release date yet. It's already the best option available for most people, but it's getting even better. There are a few threads about the new feature's I'll see if I can dig them up. The best part is when the new version comes out, you just pay a small fee and you upgrade. You don't have to buy the whole thing all over again.

 

[dsmmike50t]

^^^ As mentioned above theres a small fee to upgrade, v1 to v2 was like $20 I believe.

 

[SCDSM]

It comes down to your budget and how much bs you want to deal with during the process.

Six hundred for what the DSMlink offers seems pretty darn reasonable.

I'm not real big on the BS, but I'm also not totally against learning something new

 

[GVR4592]

^^^ As mentioned above theres a small fee to upgrade, v1 to v2 was like $20 I believe.

V2 to V3 upgrade will probably be quite a bit more than that, there is more hardware and a lot more time put into V3.

 

[SCDSM]

what is the v2 to v3 conversion for?

(I didn't see it on the site)

 

[GVR4592]

I forgot to mention that Forced Performance has a pretty sweet stock appearing turbo. It's called the 18G-6SL2.

Forced Performance: DSM 18G-6SL2 Turbo

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/bolt-tech/270140-evo-3-16g-vs-new-fp-18g.html

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/ven...formance-td06sl2-18g-debut.html#post151270631

 

[dsmmike50t]

what is the v2 to v3 conversion for?

(I didn't see it on the site)

I heard it supports gm mas, so you'll save yourself around 300 becuase the translater won't be needed anymore.

 

[GVR4592]

what is the v2 to v3 conversion for?

(I didn't see it on the site)

It's just the new version of Dsmlink that they are working on. It will have more features and be a little more in depth. It's not on the site yet because they don't want 1000 emails a day asking when it will be ready. I can't find the thread, but basically there's going to be more datalogging inputs, a new memory board, direct GM Maf support(no more maf-t) speed density option(no more maf), access to the complete fuel and timing maps, and a lot more.

 

[dsmmike50t]

I forgot to mention that Forced Performance has a pretty sweet stock appearing turbo. It's called the 18G-6SL2.

Forced Performance: DSM 18G-6SL2 Turbo

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/bolt-tech/270140-evo-3-16g-vs-new-fp-18g.html

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/ven...formance-td06sl2-18g-debut.html#post151270631

SBR Bastard 20g, It has 20g compressor in a 16g.

 

[SCDSM]

I forgot to mention that Forced Performance has a pretty sweet stock appearing turbo. It's called the 18G-6SL2.

Forced Performance: DSM 18G-6SL2 Turbo

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/bolt-tech/270140-evo-3-16g-vs-new-fp-18g.html

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/ven...formance-td06sl2-18g-debut.html#post151270631

I saw those, they sound great, especially since I live in California.

 

[GVR4592]

SBR Bastard 20g, It has 20g compressor in a 16g.

I don't really understand what you're getting at. The Bastard 20g is just a cheap copy of FP's Sleeper 16g. It isn't really similar to the 18g-6SL2 and since SBR sells it, people should just stay away from it.

 

[SCDSM]

I don't really understand what you're getting at. The Bastard 20g is just a cheap copy of FP's Sleeper 16g. It isn't really similar to the 18g-6SL2 and since SBR sells it, people should just stay away from it.

I wasn't going to say anything, but thats what I remember about SBR.

I've had problems with sketchy shops, so pretty much anything I buy is going to be completely name brand or from shops like RRE, FP, or Buschur.

 

[turbodsmawd420]

I agree with SCDSM, You're much better off pawning down the extra money for a turbo from FP or one of the other named shops, where the guys know what they're talking about and get you exactly what youre looking for.