Owners of Kalmaker Tuned Vehicles

[shaggerz]

Anyone who has had their car tuned using Kalmaker, could you please let me know where you got it done and how much it cost you?

I have what seems to be a good price from Bayside Performance Services (aka BPS Chiptek). Has anyone had any experience with them? Good or bad?

 

[Furious_8]

The only reason i have never used Kalmaker is that you cant tune the chip with any diffrent software. WHich means you need to go back to a Kal Tuner. Correct if wrong..............

Aslo the tuner needs to buy a $200 chip to do the tune also which is a bit $$$ to the bill.

Talk to Blue Chip i think they use Kal

 

[mattman]

Yes you are stuck with Kalmaker tuners, but AFAIK with a good tuner it's about as good as it's going to get.. the key is the tuner though

Also shaggerz, you should talk to Darren, I recall him at least talking to BCT about a MAFless tune on his VY S L67...

 

[shaggerz]

base price i've been given is $850 but the guy said to tune an L67 to suit 17psi and intercooling usually costs $1450.

I would rather retain the delco computer which is why I want to use kalmaker, but if there is another system that allows me to do this please let me know!

Also lower prices than that are no good to me unless they are local... finding a tuner in Brisbane is a pain... seems in nsw and vic you can go to your local corner store and they'll do a dyno tune for you when you pick up your milk.

 

[383 hatch]

Mine cost me $990 at Chip Control in Victoria. That was on an L67 with W2A intercooler & 63mm pulley. But as far as i know the W2A intercoolers are easier and cheaper to tune than the A2A intercoolers.

 

[Raptorsc]

My 2c if its any help

Every Raptor customer recieves a Kalmaker tuned chip. You can't beat the DELCO for tuning capacity, it has a map or maps for everything you can think of which means a beautifully running vehicle.

Tuners, well everyone has their favourites, we use Electronic Automotive fromr Melbourne and sometimes Chiptorque - Gold Coast.

 

[Furious_8]

Mine cost me $990 at Chip Control in Victoria. That was on an L67 with W2A intercooler & 63mm pulley. But as far as i know the W2A intercoolers are easier and cheaper to tune than the A2A intercoolers.

Have seen a few of each and W2A seems to run better even after tuning and They make the same power on the dyno from what i have seen. the air to air would work better is there was less volume of vacuum when off throttle.

 

[shaggerz]

Have seen a few of each and W2A seems to run better even after tuning and They make the same power on the dyno from what i have seen. the air to air would work better is there was less volume of vacuum when off throttle.

thats all well and good but I don't fancy the risk of the cooler core leaking and ending in hydraulic lock... could just about push the car off a cliff if that happened, thats why I want air 2 air... also the cooler hanging under the bumper looks tuff

 

[sixshooter]

thats all well and good but I don't fancy the risk of the cooler core leaking and ending in hydraulic lock... could just about push the car off a cliff if that happened, thats why I want air 2 air... also the cooler hanging under the bumper looks tuff

I haven't heard of any W2A failures yet.

I can name at least 3... A2A Intercooled setups that have either blown up their engines or sufferd engine damage.

Muvro Vt - the first pioneer of A2A... blown piston.
Bec's Vt - spun cam bearings - high idle on start ups suspected to have worn off bearing material causing it to grip and spin.
STI-VS6 - blown #1 Piston... bad tune ???

Also heard on the grapevine that ICULKN has blown his engine now aswell...

 

[Immortality]

the problem with A2A intercoolers and tuning is that when tuning your vehicle on a dyno you aren't getting the the actual airflow through the intercooler as you would drving down the road. also, if you stop at the light etc then things warm up a little and don't cool down again until aflter you have been moving again for a while etc. W2A intercoolers solve this problem because they have a constant medium flowing over the cooler (i.e. cooled water). if using an A2A setup it is best to have it with a intake temp sensor after the A2A intercooler so that the engine management system can take the changing temps into consideration and remove ignition timing as required. the buick engine runs a MAT sensor which is fitted into the intake manifold and sees the actual temp of the air entering the intake ports etc. the ecotec runs the temp sensor in the airbox and therefor is sensing the ambiant temperature more so then what is actually happening in the engine. W2A setups really suit dyno comps cause they can pull the intake temp down below 0 degrees on a good system, the penalty for such systems is however that you require a large heat exchanger somwhere in the car that usually weights a lot plus pumps and coolant that again adds to the overall weight of the vehicle. i've heard of W2A systems that weigh in excess of 100kgs. A2A setups obviously weigh a lot less then this but have more tuning hassles.