Q&A with Luis Sola
Discussion
I'd be interested in his opinion on the following.
When I bought my Monaro, 5.7, in 2009 it was completely standard apart from a Wortec switchable cat back exhaust.
Somewhere around 2013 I took the car to Monkfish who installed Wortec headers and freeflow cats and "remapped it to suit".
They were claiming at the time that this would increase power by around 70bhp, a figure I took with quite a large pinch of salt, however I was still hoping that there would be enough of an improvement for me to notice.
It was louder, which was nice, but certainly no quicker.
I've read a few differing opinions about the quality of tune that was used to go with that mod so I'd be interested to know if Luis thinks there is a question mark against that tune and if there is any gains to be had over it.
When I bought my Monaro, 5.7, in 2009 it was completely standard apart from a Wortec switchable cat back exhaust.
Somewhere around 2013 I took the car to Monkfish who installed Wortec headers and freeflow cats and "remapped it to suit".
They were claiming at the time that this would increase power by around 70bhp, a figure I took with quite a large pinch of salt, however I was still hoping that there would be enough of an improvement for me to notice.
It was louder, which was nice, but certainly no quicker.
I've read a few differing opinions about the quality of tune that was used to go with that mod so I'd be interested to know if Luis thinks there is a question mark against that tune and if there is any gains to be had over it.
My question is pretty much as above.
My car was a stock 05 CV8 when I bought it. Years ago I fitted a VCM cold air intake, mid length headers, sports cats, and a straight through Magnaflow cat back exhaust. It was then mapped with a Wortec tune. On a dyno I was told it made 325 RWHP, with a rough back calculation we are looking at 425 FWHP. The car has 70,000 miles on it at the moment.
Do you think these are fair estimates ?
Is it worth fitting a mild cam without upgrading the cylinder heads, I'd be looking for something to pass the mot and drive without surging in traffic. I was thinking maybe 450FWHP and as much low down torque as possible.
Thanks, John
My car was a stock 05 CV8 when I bought it. Years ago I fitted a VCM cold air intake, mid length headers, sports cats, and a straight through Magnaflow cat back exhaust. It was then mapped with a Wortec tune. On a dyno I was told it made 325 RWHP, with a rough back calculation we are looking at 425 FWHP. The car has 70,000 miles on it at the moment.
Do you think these are fair estimates ?
Is it worth fitting a mild cam without upgrading the cylinder heads, I'd be looking for something to pass the mot and drive without surging in traffic. I was thinking maybe 450FWHP and as much low down torque as possible.
Thanks, John
I have a question and I appreciate the answer will be quite approximate. My HSV Ro is an LS2 running standard internals, wortec headers, wortec cold air intake pack, Harrop HH112 with charge cooler and Wortec sports exhaust with 200 CEL cats and was MAFless tuned about 12 months ago.
I have one rolling road print out for the car that was done in 2008 but the tuner that did it, was heavily discredited as an idiot. The print out reads 578bhp on a 2bar mafless tune and 540bhp on a 1 bar mafless tune which I assume to be total nonsense.
In reality what would you suggest is achievable with the current setup I have? Car has done 48K miles from new.
I have one rolling road print out for the car that was done in 2008 but the tuner that did it, was heavily discredited as an idiot. The print out reads 578bhp on a 2bar mafless tune and 540bhp on a 1 bar mafless tune which I assume to be total nonsense.
In reality what would you suggest is achievable with the current setup I have? Car has done 48K miles from new.
My car runs fine as far as I know, the only thing I have that sometimes bother me is when backing of full throttle I get light pops from the exhaust, I have a full wortec with headers without cats and I am supercharged with standard cam, engine is a LS2.
My question is, is it normal to have pops from the exhaust when backing of full throttle and would you recommend having my tune looked at through Carl and yourself, I assume the pops are unburnt fuel.
My question is, is it normal to have pops from the exhaust when backing of full throttle and would you recommend having my tune looked at through Carl and yourself, I assume the pops are unburnt fuel.
Hi guys, I'll try do my best here to answer your questions
Roman Knows:
]When I bought my Monaro, 5.7, in 2009 it was completely standard apart from a Wortec switchable cat back exhaust.
Somewhere around 2013 I took the car to Monkfish who installed Wortec headers and freeflow cats and "remapped it to suit".
They were claiming at the time that this would increase power by around 70bhp, a figure I took with quite a large pinch of salt, however I was still hoping that there would be enough of an improvement for me to notice.
It was louder, which was nice, but certainly no quicker.
I've read a few differing opinions about the quality of tune that was used to go with that mod so I'd be interested to know if Luis thinks there is a question mark against that tune and if there is any gains to be had over it.
Hard to say Roman , the mere fact you can't really feel the extra 70bhp should say something - having said that 70hp at the fly is not uncommon when you let these cars breathe properly .
Get it run up on a dyno with some data logging , that will soon tell you the true story.
mfp John:
My car was a stock 05 CV8 when I bought it. Years ago I fitted a VCM cold air intake, mid length headers, sports cats, and a straight through Magnaflow cat back exhaust. It was then mapped with a Wortec tune. On a dyno I was told it made 325 RWHP, with a rough back calculation we are looking at 425 FWHP. The car has 70,000 miles on it at the moment.
Do you think these are fair estimates ?
Is it worth fitting a mild cam without upgrading the cylinder heads, I'd be looking for something to pass the mot and drive without surging in traffic. I was thinking maybe 450FWHP and as much low down torque as possible.
Thanks, John
Hey John , that figure is about spot in for those mods,
I never use flywheel power as it's just a calculation , rear wheel is what you are measuring on a dyno .
The CV8 is 5.7 , these love a little skim off the heads and a nice cam , but even a cam alone will give you very good results.
You have plenty to chose from that will give you a nice power increase with good drivability. The key is to pick something sensible with moderate overlap and lift without crazy duration
99PBATR:
I have a question and I appreciate the answer will be quite approximate. My HSV Ro is an LS2 running standard internals, wortec headers, wortec cold air intake pack, Harrop HH112 with charge cooler and Wortec sports exhaust with 200 CEL cats and was MAFless tuned about 12 months ago.
I have one rolling road print out for the car that was done in 2008 but the tuner that did it, was heavily discredited as an idiot. The print out reads 578bhp on a 2bar mafless tune and 540bhp on a 1 bar mafless tune which I assume to be total nonsense.
In reality what would you suggest is achievable with the current setup I have? Car has done 48K miles from new.
Hey mate , so to your print out....
For a forced induction car to operate properly when tuned mafless it needs a 2 bar tune with the corresponding mods, so not sure how they did a 1 bar tune ( hopes and dreams technique possibly)
Keep in mind the HH112 is an earlier design and less efficient blower and more susceptible to high intake temps when running higher boost levels.
Gut feel is you are probably at about 6 psi so that figure is probably on the money - have a look at your injectors , if they are purple they will be more than likely 47lb/h - std on the old harrop kits and only good for about that power level.
To say "what's achievable" - a bit tricky but you have to keep the above in mind
stu vxr:
My car runs fine as far as I know, the only thing I have that sometimes bother me is when backing of full throttle I get light pops from the exhaust, I have a full wortec with headers without cats and I am supercharged with standard cam, engine is a LS2.
My question is, is it normal to have pops from the exhaust when backing of full throttle and would you recommend having my tune looked at through Carl and yourself, I assume the pops are unburnt fuel.
Hi Stu
When you "give it the beans" , the exhaust will heat up , the ecu will put the car into what is called "power enrichment" mode in order to deliver more fuel to cope with the extra in-cylinder temps and demands on the engine.
If you suddenly let off , for a millisecond you can have some excess fuel go out the exhaust unburnt, before the ecu goes into a condition called "decel fuel cut off", in this transition , you will get small pops.
We have also seen some maps that have been changed on purpose to give the over run pops , so hard to say which of the 2 you are experiencing without actually hearing it
As to the 2nd part of the question , it's totally your call
Roman Knows:
]When I bought my Monaro, 5.7, in 2009 it was completely standard apart from a Wortec switchable cat back exhaust.
Somewhere around 2013 I took the car to Monkfish who installed Wortec headers and freeflow cats and "remapped it to suit".
They were claiming at the time that this would increase power by around 70bhp, a figure I took with quite a large pinch of salt, however I was still hoping that there would be enough of an improvement for me to notice.
It was louder, which was nice, but certainly no quicker.
I've read a few differing opinions about the quality of tune that was used to go with that mod so I'd be interested to know if Luis thinks there is a question mark against that tune and if there is any gains to be had over it.
Hard to say Roman , the mere fact you can't really feel the extra 70bhp should say something - having said that 70hp at the fly is not uncommon when you let these cars breathe properly .
Get it run up on a dyno with some data logging , that will soon tell you the true story.
mfp John:
My car was a stock 05 CV8 when I bought it. Years ago I fitted a VCM cold air intake, mid length headers, sports cats, and a straight through Magnaflow cat back exhaust. It was then mapped with a Wortec tune. On a dyno I was told it made 325 RWHP, with a rough back calculation we are looking at 425 FWHP. The car has 70,000 miles on it at the moment.
Do you think these are fair estimates ?
Is it worth fitting a mild cam without upgrading the cylinder heads, I'd be looking for something to pass the mot and drive without surging in traffic. I was thinking maybe 450FWHP and as much low down torque as possible.
Thanks, John
Hey John , that figure is about spot in for those mods,
I never use flywheel power as it's just a calculation , rear wheel is what you are measuring on a dyno .
The CV8 is 5.7 , these love a little skim off the heads and a nice cam , but even a cam alone will give you very good results.
You have plenty to chose from that will give you a nice power increase with good drivability. The key is to pick something sensible with moderate overlap and lift without crazy duration
99PBATR:
I have a question and I appreciate the answer will be quite approximate. My HSV Ro is an LS2 running standard internals, wortec headers, wortec cold air intake pack, Harrop HH112 with charge cooler and Wortec sports exhaust with 200 CEL cats and was MAFless tuned about 12 months ago.
I have one rolling road print out for the car that was done in 2008 but the tuner that did it, was heavily discredited as an idiot. The print out reads 578bhp on a 2bar mafless tune and 540bhp on a 1 bar mafless tune which I assume to be total nonsense.
In reality what would you suggest is achievable with the current setup I have? Car has done 48K miles from new.
Hey mate , so to your print out....
For a forced induction car to operate properly when tuned mafless it needs a 2 bar tune with the corresponding mods, so not sure how they did a 1 bar tune ( hopes and dreams technique possibly)
Keep in mind the HH112 is an earlier design and less efficient blower and more susceptible to high intake temps when running higher boost levels.
Gut feel is you are probably at about 6 psi so that figure is probably on the money - have a look at your injectors , if they are purple they will be more than likely 47lb/h - std on the old harrop kits and only good for about that power level.
To say "what's achievable" - a bit tricky but you have to keep the above in mind
stu vxr:
My car runs fine as far as I know, the only thing I have that sometimes bother me is when backing of full throttle I get light pops from the exhaust, I have a full wortec with headers without cats and I am supercharged with standard cam, engine is a LS2.
My question is, is it normal to have pops from the exhaust when backing of full throttle and would you recommend having my tune looked at through Carl and yourself, I assume the pops are unburnt fuel.
Hi Stu
When you "give it the beans" , the exhaust will heat up , the ecu will put the car into what is called "power enrichment" mode in order to deliver more fuel to cope with the extra in-cylinder temps and demands on the engine.
If you suddenly let off , for a millisecond you can have some excess fuel go out the exhaust unburnt, before the ecu goes into a condition called "decel fuel cut off", in this transition , you will get small pops.
We have also seen some maps that have been changed on purpose to give the over run pops , so hard to say which of the 2 you are experiencing without actually hearing it
As to the 2nd part of the question , it's totally your call
Thanks Luis, it's very good of you to take the time to answer our questions.
I'm glad it seems that my car isn't far off what it should be for its state of tune, I was always curious about it.
One final question, my wife is furious that I want to speed a bit more money on my car...any suggestions.
John
I'm glad it seems that my car isn't far off what it should be for its state of tune, I was always curious about it.
One final question, my wife is furious that I want to speed a bit more money on my car...any suggestions.
John
mfp4073 said:
Thanks Luis, it's very good of you to take the time to answer our questions.
I'm glad it seems that my car isn't far off what it should be for its state of tune, I was always curious about it.
One final question, my wife is furious that I want to speed a bit more money on my car...any suggestions.
John
We have the same wife??! I'm glad it seems that my car isn't far off what it should be for its state of tune, I was always curious about it.
One final question, my wife is furious that I want to speed a bit more money on my car...any suggestions.
John
oh dear .. same mrs too , mfp i have a very similar spec car and it’s within a few bhp of yours so sounds like normal figures , i did consider a cam but it’s already very tight on emissions so won’t be doing that , for me it drives well so i’m happy , it had the focus pack done so i think that’s walkinshaw tune ? , my ls3 virtually always pops on lift off ,,, it would be no fun if it did not , Luis Sola thank you for your input
Hi Luis,
Many thank for taking the time out to answer mine and our respective questions. Just one quick question in response. Did you mean that at the 2bar figure that you think the 578 bhp is about right or that the 540 figure at what supposedly was 1bar, is actually what it would be at 2bar? I will take a look at the injectors though as I'm curious now! Many thanks again
Many thank for taking the time out to answer mine and our respective questions. Just one quick question in response. Did you mean that at the 2bar figure that you think the 578 bhp is about right or that the 540 figure at what supposedly was 1bar, is actually what it would be at 2bar? I will take a look at the injectors though as I'm curious now! Many thanks again
99PBATR said:
Hi Luis,
Many thank for taking the time out to answer mine and our respective questions. Just one quick question in response. Did you mean that at the 2bar figure that you think the 578 bhp is about right or that the 540 figure at what supposedly was 1bar, is actually what it would be at 2bar? I will take a look at the injectors though as I'm curious now! Many thanks again
Their reference to 1 or 2 bar is not what the boost engine was running, just the possible scalings within the ecu.Many thank for taking the time out to answer mine and our respective questions. Just one quick question in response. Did you mean that at the 2bar figure that you think the 578 bhp is about right or that the 540 figure at what supposedly was 1bar, is actually what it would be at 2bar? I will take a look at the injectors though as I'm curious now! Many thanks again
A little like using a 12" ruler or a 24" ruler.
You're measuring the same thing...except with the small ruler, you're guessing at anything over 12"
But either way, you might be operating at 12"...or 14, or 16, or 18....you just do not know.
If you operate beyond ranges beyond what the ecu can see and respond to....things will be heavily compromised. Some do it, either despite or unknowing of the risks, some do it regardless. It is not a sensible route to take.
Roman Knows said:
I'd be interested in his opinion on the following.
When I bought my Monaro, 5.7, in 2009 it was completely standard apart from a Wortec switchable cat back exhaust.
Somewhere around 2013 I took the car to Monkfish who installed Wortec headers and freeflow cats and "remapped it to suit".
They were claiming at the time that this would increase power by around 70bhp, a figure I took with quite a large pinch of salt, however I was still hoping that there would be enough of an improvement for me to notice.
It was louder, which was nice, but certainly no quicker.
I've read a few differing opinions about the quality of tune that was used to go with that mod so I'd be interested to know if Luis thinks there is a question mark against that tune and if there is any gains to be had over it.
I'm trying to remember how my car felt after similar mods. Im sure it did feel a bit quicker but not as much as I hoped. Standard gearing and weight probably blunt the feel of the car. What did make a difference was when I changed the diff to a 3:90. Those combined mods transformed the car.When I bought my Monaro, 5.7, in 2009 it was completely standard apart from a Wortec switchable cat back exhaust.
Somewhere around 2013 I took the car to Monkfish who installed Wortec headers and freeflow cats and "remapped it to suit".
They were claiming at the time that this would increase power by around 70bhp, a figure I took with quite a large pinch of salt, however I was still hoping that there would be enough of an improvement for me to notice.
It was louder, which was nice, but certainly no quicker.
I've read a few differing opinions about the quality of tune that was used to go with that mod so I'd be interested to know if Luis thinks there is a question mark against that tune and if there is any gains to be had over it.
Great idea Carl & Luis. I know we’ve been discussing but thought it worth sharing here: Back in the day a lot of us had engines built or had blowers added to engines with stock compression in the 10.x:1 region, some of us tried meth/water injection but it didn’t work, losing power in some cases. We suspect it was too difficult to tune with at the time for the people involved.
What are your experiences of tuning for meth/water injection to increase the octane of pump fuel? Evidence would suggest it can add about 30-40whp to a supercharged car and costs about £400. Is it worth doing, is it reliable or should it be considered more of a safety net?
What are your experiences of tuning for meth/water injection to increase the octane of pump fuel? Evidence would suggest it can add about 30-40whp to a supercharged car and costs about £400. Is it worth doing, is it reliable or should it be considered more of a safety net?
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 18th May 16:37
wormus said:
Great idea Carl & Luis. I know we’ve been discussing but thought it worth sharing here: Back in the day a lot of us had engines built or had blowers added to engines with stock compression in the 10.x:1 region, some of us tried meth/water injection but it didn’t work, losing power in some cases. We suspect it was too difficult to tune with at the time for the people involved.
What are your experiences of tuning for meth/water injection to increase the octane of pump fuel? Evidence would suggest it can add about 30-40whp to a supercharged car and costs about £400. Is it worth doing, is it reliable or should it be considered more of a safety net?
Flex fuel sensor and run it on E85 when available? Unsure if the OEM ECU could cope with that though...What are your experiences of tuning for meth/water injection to increase the octane of pump fuel? Evidence would suggest it can add about 30-40whp to a supercharged car and costs about £400. Is it worth doing, is it reliable or should it be considered more of a safety net?
Edited by wormus on Tuesday 18th May 16:37
mfp4073 said:
My question is pretty much as above.
My car was a stock 05 CV8 when I bought it. Years ago I fitted a VCM cold air intake, mid length headers, sports cats, and a straight through Magnaflow cat back exhaust. It was then mapped with a Wortec tune. On a dyno I was told it made 325 RWHP, with a rough back calculation we are looking at 425 FWHP. The car has 70,000 miles on it at the moment.
Do you think these are fair estimates ?
Is it worth fitting a mild cam without upgrading the cylinder heads, I'd be looking for something to pass the mot and drive without surging in traffic. I was thinking maybe 450FWHP and as much low down torque as possible.
Thanks, John
Buy some CNC ported heads along with the camMy car was a stock 05 CV8 when I bought it. Years ago I fitted a VCM cold air intake, mid length headers, sports cats, and a straight through Magnaflow cat back exhaust. It was then mapped with a Wortec tune. On a dyno I was told it made 325 RWHP, with a rough back calculation we are looking at 425 FWHP. The car has 70,000 miles on it at the moment.
Do you think these are fair estimates ?
Is it worth fitting a mild cam without upgrading the cylinder heads, I'd be looking for something to pass the mot and drive without surging in traffic. I was thinking maybe 450FWHP and as much low down torque as possible.
Thanks, John
wormus said:
Great idea Carl & Luis. I know we’ve been discussing but thought it worth sharing here: Back in the day a lot of us had engines built or had blowers added to engines with stock compression in the 10.x:1 region, some of us tried meth/water injection but it didn’t work, losing power in some cases. We suspect it was too difficult to tune with at the time for the people involved.
What are your experiences of tuning for meth/water injection to increase the octane of pump fuel? Evidence would suggest it can add about 30-40whp to a supercharged car and costs about £400. Is it worth doing, is it reliable or should it be considered more of a safety net?
Luis tuned my r8 with water meth not a great amount more power but ait were better with itWhat are your experiences of tuning for meth/water injection to increase the octane of pump fuel? Evidence would suggest it can add about 30-40whp to a supercharged car and costs about £400. Is it worth doing, is it reliable or should it be considered more of a safety net?
Edited by wormus on Tuesday 18th May 16:37
kaw said:
Luis tuned my r8 with water meth not a great amount more power but ait were better with it
Thanks, good to know. My IATs are really good as I have an interchiller, for me it’s about raising the fuel octane for more spark advance. I’m undecided if it’s worth the hassle for say 30 whp....but I’m still thinking about it!
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 21st May 18:27
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