Just got a tune, does this seem right?

[MrPaddo]

Hi guys. I just got a tune done on my VE V6 Commodore 2009 3.0l international SIDI 6 speed automatic.

Firstly, I don’t want smartass answers, or v8 owners going on about how their extra 2 cylinders suddenly make them have the biggest dick in the world, if I could legally drive a v8 I would.

Now that, that’s out of the way I can get to my serious question.

I will attach my tune result from the computer in store, and I need a bit of help. See the thing is, being in the car I feel as tho I have gained a small bit of power and the car certainly runs better, but I did a bit of research to see what my car came with stock in terms of hp. My car (apparently) comes with over 200hp which I’m sure is at the engine, right? Well the attached image says 156hp (at the wheels). Now the dyno tuner has told me you lose about 30% through the drivetrain, he also told me the attached image is at the wheels not at the engine hp. Me not knowing much about tuning, I may have been ripped off, but luckily for me and this community, there is a wonderful community here that helps out. My question is, is the attached images results correct? Or was it basically a **** tune?


Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[EYY]

130-140rwkw is probably about what id expect from a tuned 3L but I'm no expert.

 

[07GTS]

it dosnt matter what the end result is u need the before and after to see what any gains were, even if dynos give a high reading if u look at the gains compared to someone with a low reading they are usually about the same, do u have a base line run ?

 

[MrPaddo]

it dosnt matter what the end result is u need the before and after to see what any gains were, even if dynos give a high reading if u look at the gains compared to someone with a low reading they are usually about the same, do u have a base line run ?

I don’t really. I do but the problem was I put an intake on and with 09’ sidi models the ecu doesn’t adjust to it like previous years and so engine light and fuel consumption/air intake perimeters weren’t correct therefore making my car run like a 4 cyclinder. The before tune was with the intake on and problems accuring which gave it a max 65hp (I know shocking), but if I do a research on my year model exact car the hp is 200 something, but the thing is it feels faster/better to drive (obviously gear shifts etc are better). I’m just trying to find out if the tune done is average hp/kw for my car tuned or if it’s below the average etc. because I can’t really get a true before tune spec apart from what the original factory specs say on say carsales because of my intake issue. Old mate did the tune over a period of 4 hrs and ran me thru it and told me LF1 transmissions are “notorious” for throwing codes with the tune and he had to jump over that hurdle and what not but apparently my tune is “weak” or “s***”

 

[_R_J_K_]

Now the dyno tuner has told me you lose about 30% through the drivetrain, he also told me the attached image is at the wheels not at the engine hp.

Yes, these are both correct (car turns the dyno rollers with its wheels, some power is absorbed by the transmission and drivetrain). Other thing to remember is what RPM it's making peak power/torque. In your photo it's 5.6k RPM wheras Wikipedia quotes the official engine power output at 6.7k RPM. In other words you're getting more power and torque earlier on, would really be much more helpful with the complete dynograph. Who said the tune was weak?

As for finding post tune power averages for this engine, you're literally the first person I've ever heard of getting a 3.0 tuned, so good luck with that.

 

[MrPaddo]

Other thing to remember is what RPM it's making peak power/torque. In your photo it's 5.6k RPM wheras Wikipedia quotes the official engine power output at 6.7k RPM. In other words you're getting more power and torque earlier on

The tuner told me that it doesn’t stop making power even when it hits redline. Now of course my cars only a 3.0l v6 nothing fancy, but I also can’t rememember If he meant that by just the one gear of any gear or if he meant through the whole gear changes from 1-6. And yes I know I don’t see anything about 3.0l tuned sv6’s but that’s alright, guess I’ll be the minority group, if not lone wolf hahaha.

I will reply tomorrow with a picture of the dynotune graph.


Cheers

 

[syl3ns]

It sounds about right. The dyno measures the force on the hub/rollers and converts this to torque (by knowing the size of the rollers). The power at any point is the force times the speed at that point, therefore even if the torque decreases for revs higher than 5.6k rpm, the power will still go up as the speed at the wheels is higher. The power will stop rising when the torque at that rev point drops off significantly.

 

[syl3ns]

For comparison, a 3.6L sidi sv6 z series, otr, tuned. Notice the constant torque leads to a linearly rising power (a bit of integration here). The power keeps rising even with the torque falling because the speed is still increasing. Also, the green "before" traces show just how bad an untuned engine is after an otr installation.