I had originally posted this in the turbo/nitrous/etc. spot, but it was suggested that I put it here. I ordered an Edelbrock Performer X
turbo kit a couple of days ago, and should have it in a few days. My question is this - with a bolt-on turbo kit, how long can you run it using the tune it came with? I know the Edelbrock kit is designed to work on a stock EX, and I'm not very far above that, with a 60mm Skunk2 t/b, an AEM Short Ram (which'll go bye-bye), DC Sports 4-2-1 ceramic header (which'll go bye-bye),a Skunk2 intake mani (which the Edel. kit replaces), a Magnaflow cat, and Apexi WS2 cat-back. And little things like MSD wires. If I am in fact good to run with Edelbrock's little black box or whatever with my current setup, at what point would I benefit from some other kind of management? I'd like to go with a good cam, an adjustable gear...basically upgrade the entire valvetrain. Since I just hit the 60k mark, like, yesterday, I'm planning on pistons, conrods, maybe some head work, etc., once I get my taxes next year. I'm aiming for 180-200 whp, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get there when it's all said and done. Anyways, sorry for the rambling (I'm very excited about the turbo!), and thanks in advance to anyone who answers my questions. L8r.

 

Better to be safe than sorry and upgrade the engine management immediately, imho. What year is your car?

 

Hmm....sounds pretty wise. My ECU's OBD2, so I know that limits my tuning options to piggybacks and standalones. I wanna keep OBD2 (why, I can't honestly say), and I'm having difficulty justifying the +/- $2k it would cost for an AEM EMS....so minus that what are my options as far as management? Fortunately I can get anything but the EMS right away, so that'd just leave.....a place to actually tune it. BTW, my car's a 98 EX.

 

Honestly man you're best bet is to just convert to OBD1 and run a chipped ecu w/ Crome or Neptune. COnverting to OBD1 takes approximately five minutes

 

Yeah...that's what I figured. I was going to be stubborn, but oh well. I would really like to do that, but I'm having a hell of a time finding somewhere around here to do this kind of stuff. It's starting to annoy me, because lack of a tuner has been behind most of my major car decisions, such as build my own kit or get a bolt-on...and you can see where that went.

 

Gotcha, are there any online forums or clubs that you know of close to you? That's usually the best way to find the right people for the job. Or, just talked to some guys who are boosted in your area and see what they did.

 

Every, and I mean EVERY, local car I've talked to that's boosted AND tuned had it done at a place called ST Performance in Savannah. For reasons unknown, that place closed down. But fortunately, I did find a few possible spots....I just had to expand my search. I think the closest place, called "Japtrix", is about six hours away from me....not too bad. Anyways, I was thinking of going with Hondata for engine management, maybe the S200 or S300. Do you have any experience with either of those, or know anyone who does? 99% of the guys down here are running some kind of AFC hack, and there's one with an AEM EMS. But I figure I'll drive the car with the Edelbrock tune, then in Jan-Feb timeframe get all of my engine stuff (pistons, rods, cam, etc.) and whatever EMS I finally settle on, get everything installed and tuned, and be broke....but happy

 

jason, i live in gwinnett-i know 2 or 3 places around here that are known for their tuning abilities. Im taking mine over to mainstream by six flags. Scotty over there pushes out some serious hp cars. I know you said its hard to find time, but if you want it done right, i can give you some #'s for some places up this way, you would just have to make a little trip to the ATL

 

if you would be running the car with stock internals, and the boost recommended by the kit, then you wouldn't have any troubles with the fmu in the kit, but once you start upgrading the engine or running more boost then additional tuning is needed.

www.rywire.com has obd2 - obd1 conversion harnesses

and getting a chipped obd1 ecu is relatively cheap and easy (you can chip it yourself, but i would leave tuning to someone that knows what they are doing)

there are programs such as neptune, uberdata, crome, and hondata. hondata is the most expensive but has more tech support which is what you pay for. crome and uberdata are very cheap and just need someone with expiriance to tune.

 

Schweet. I'd really appreciate those #'s, if you would. I really wanna do more to the ride, but until I find a place for tuning, it's all just planning and such. Thx.

EDIT: Also, in response to ef4life....I'm cool with paying more if it means some good tech support, because I'm pretty sure I'll have a BUTTLOAD of questions about this.....I'd eventually like to learn how to tune my own ****e, which would be really nice. So as of right now, I do wanna go with Hondata. And thx for all that info.