Wester"s Race Tune

[skyonpsi]

Just got word my ECM with Westers Race Tune was shipped today! He recommended that I set my waste gate adjustment back to stock. I need to know how many threads should be showing on the right side ? Your help would be greatly appreciated because I'm not sure !

[JustMike]

Should be about mid way with about the same number of threads on either side.

[RedSkyWV]

Factory, mine was 1 thread left of center. Most people say theirs are centered.

[skyonpsi]

Thanks for your help!

[ceeker]

Ya, about center is fine.

You really don't need your wastegate adjusted since you will have all the boost you want!

I'm getting 25 PSI like right now.

[Bogie]

Originally Posted by ceeker

Ya, about center is fine.

You really don't need your wastegate adjusted since you will have all the boost you want!

I'm getting 25 PSI like right now.

Be careful. 25psi can redline the stock turbo. Consistently running a turbo at or beyond turbo redline is analogous to running an engine at or beyond engine redline. Some engines can handle it OK, some engines seem to handle it OK but wear more quickly and eventually fail, and some blow quick. As for the Borg-Warner, maybe it can handle it, maybe it wears more quickly and will fail sooner than expected, or perhaps it will blow soon.

Engineering thought: When designing a mass produced car, the engineering is usually conservative. The engine itself is dialed back a good bit, and the "designed" turbo high end (20 psi) leaves a good bit of margin. These conservative designs provide two significant benefits.

1) Running the parts well below their design limits greatly reduces the failure rate on the parts, which is important when a large number of vehicles are produced under warranty. Even parts that perform under spec will survive when driven with the design limits.

2) It provides a buffer when a vehicle is run out of spec, allowing the electronics to intervene before damage is done. For example, a 3 psi spike from the stock 20 psi to 23 psi may be interpreted as an anomaly by the ECM, which will shut down the turbo...saving the turbo from blowing itself up. If the turbo is running at the limit (25 psi), and a 3 psi spike occurs taking it to 28 psi, it may be too late by the time the ECM recognizes a problem and shuts it down.

[SKY888]

Originally Posted by Bogie

Be careful. 25psi can redline the stock turbo. Consistently running a turbo at or beyond turbo redline is analogous to running an engine at or beyond engine redline. Some engines can handle it OK, some engines seem to handle it OK but wear more quickly and eventually fail, and some blow quick. As for the Borg-Warner, maybe it can handle it, maybe it wears more quickly and will fail sooner than expected, or perhaps it will blow soon.

Engineering thought: When designing a mass produced car, the engineering is usually conservative. The engine itself is dialed back a good bit, and the "designed" turbo high end (20 psi) leaves a good bit of margin. These conservative designs provide two significant benefits.

1) Running the parts well below their design limits greatly reduces the failure rate on the parts, which is important when a large number of vehicles are produced under warranty. Even parts that perform under spec will survive when driven with the design limits.

2) It provides a buffer when a vehicle is run out of spec, allowing the electronics to intervene before damage is done. For example, a 3 psi spike from the stock 20 psi to 23 psi may be interpreted as an anomaly by the ECM, which will shut down the turbo...saving the turbo from blowing itself up. If the turbo is running at the limit (25 psi), and a 3 psi spike occurs taking it to 28 psi, it may be too late by the time the ECM recognizes a problem and shuts it down.

thanks for the info

[skyonpsi]

Installed my Wester's race tune this evening. It totally rocks!! The car runs the best it ever has! I took it on the freeway and got on it briefly, it actually shifted into overdrive at 120mph. I let off the gas at 125mph but it still was pulling strong in overdrive. I also have the bsr tune which ran ok for awhile before I started having trouble and it doen't compare! The torgue is there all the way thru the gears and no black smoke on my rear fascia unlike the BSR tune. I am 110% satisfied and to think Wester thinks there more to be had from this engine, "unreal"!! If you do get this tune I can speak from experience the car runs best with the wastegate set close to the middle.

[DirtyMike]

good to hear

i ordered a second ecm and once it's in, off to wester's

[skyonpsi]

You won't regret it, you'll wish you had done it sooner!

[ceeker]

Originally Posted by skyonpsi

You won't regret it, you'll wish you had done it sooner!

Anyone thinking about getting a tune, the westers tune is the only way to go!

I also ordered the new ECM directly from Westers, had it overnighted and had it in the car the day after I placed my order.

[compdoc777]

Originally Posted by skyonpsi

Installed my Wester's race tune this evening. It totally rocks!! The car runs the best it ever has! I took it on the freeway and got on it briefly, it actually shifted into overdrive at 120mph. I let off the gas at 125mph but it still was pulling strong in overdrive. I also have the bsr tune which ran ok for awhile before I started having trouble and it doen't compare! The torgue is there all the way thru the gears and no black smoke on my rear fascia unlike the BSR tune. I am 110% satisfied and to think Wester thinks there more to be had from this engine, "unreal"!! If you do get this tune I can speak from experience the car runs best with the wastegate set close to the middle.

What other engine performance mods do you have on your car?

[skyonpsi]

I have the following mods: RPI Intercooler,SMS larger throttlebody, stock airbox with K&N air filter. larger intercooler pipes, magnaflow 3" catback exhaust, Eibach Anti-Roll Bar Kit, reBAR, Kappasphere Lowering Springs by Eibach, Tower strut brace by DC sports.

[compdoc777]

Originally Posted by skyonpsi

I have the following mods: RPI Intercooler,SMS larger throttlebody, stock airbox with K&N air filter. larger intercooler pipes, magnaflow 3" catback exhaust, Eibach Anti-Roll Bar Kit, reBAR, Kappasphere Lowering Springs by Eibach, Tower strut brace by DC sports.

Do you plan on having the car dyno'ed?

[cfjara]

Originally Posted by skyonpsi

Just got word my ECM with Westers Race Tune was shipped today! He recommended that I set my waste gate adjustment back to stock. I need to know how many threads should be showing on the right side ? Your help would be greatly appreciated because I'm not sure !

I agree with Bogie. I redlined my turbo when i first got my BSR tune and did not change ther wastegate back to stock. Due to the wonderful engineering of the car, when the turbo redlines, the car lets you know by going into limp mode.....( no more boost and throws the check engine light and code). You can turn off the car and turn it on 20 seconds later and it will be fine until you redline the turbo again. I was hitting 25-26 psi before it redlined. You will need to clear the code if you do redline the turbo..so hopefully you can an OBDII scanner to clear the code.. Taking it back to the dealer will make it obvious to them waht you did since the Pcode ( i forget the # ) refereces " Exceeded max psi boost".

[cfjara]

....for anyone who has a few extra bucks, i recommend the Hahn BSR tune. You can reprogram the existing ECM on your own so you don't need to worry about swapping/shipping/reshipping to get new tunes, etc. The BSR tuner connects online to get the most up to date tune and you get new updates for life. Then you connect it to the OBDII port on your car and upload the tune. It all takes less than 3 minutes.
The nice thing is you can always upload the original ECM tune in case you need to take it back to the dealer for work.

A few drawbacks.... the cost. It's about 300-400 more than wester's or other similar tunes. But keep in mind you are buying the hardware to flash the ECM.
The tuner hardware "marries" itself to the car via VIN. So if you ever sell your car , the unit becomes useless unless you pay BSR for licenses for other cars.

[Bogie]

Also, food for thought:

I have seen tune disclaimers that require buyers to hold the tuner harmless/blameless (i.e., not liable) for any affect the tune may have on the vehicle.

That means if a tune blows the engine or turbo, you will have a very hard case taking action against the tuner to make you whole again. If the part is under warranty, a tune that breaks a part will essentially void the warranty claim on that part.

I don't want to discourage tuning these vehicles. Our design is indeed conservative, so there is room to safely tune the vehicles without any long term problems and without voiding warranty. Just be aware that when you go down the tune route, YOU are taking the preponderance of the monetary risk should the tune result in a part failure. Don't expect the tune shop to cover your loss, and don't expect the manufacturer to cover you under warranty.

In fact, Westers is right up front about this. They don't hide anything. They put the disclaimer clearly on the order form next to your signature (not buried in fine print), and they make the GM bulletin available on their website about GM's policy on warranty work on tuned vehicles; GM is taking a pretty hard line on failures that could be the result of a tune.

By the way, this is one reason why I recommend most buyers of new cars wait a while before implementing a tune. Run the car stock for several thousand miles to ring out any obvious problems. If a major part fails, there should not be any dispute on coverage.

In any case, have fun. Just make sure you know the risk.

[cfjara]

another thing i forgot to mention. When you do adjust your wastegate back to stock...use some threadlock on the nuts so they don't come loose after a while and cause problems. I read somewhere on the forum where the wastegate nuts came loose and they had problems with the turbo.

[skyonpsi]

Originally Posted by compdoc777

Do you plan on having the car dyno'ed?

Yes, Hopefully soon!

[skyonpsi]

Originally Posted by cfjara

....for anyone who has a few extra bucks, i recommend the Hahn BSR tune. You can reprogram the existing ECM on your own so you don't need to worry about swapping/shipping/reshipping to get new tunes, etc. The BSR tuner connects online to get the most up to date tune and you get new updates for life. Then you connect it to the OBDII port on your car and upload the tune. It all takes less than 3 minutes.
The nice thing is you can always upload the original ECM tune in case you need to take it back to the dealer for work.

A few drawbacks.... the cost. It's about 300-400 more than wester's or other similar tunes. But keep in mind you are buying the hardware to flash the ECM.
The tuner hardware "marries" itself to the car via VIN. So if you ever sell your car , the unit becomes useless unless you pay BSR for licenses for other cars.

I have both Tunes! Wester's, by far is the better tune.

[ceeker]

Originally Posted by skyonpsi

I have both Tunes! Wester's, by far