A canned tune will NEVER EVER EVER be ANYWHERE near as good as a good custom tune. With that said, even though you are doing the M90, and you own other 3800s you should really look into getting into the tuning world yourself.

 

I've been running ZZP's canned 1.0 tune on my Regal GSE for about a year now and have had great results. I do understand that a custom tune is better (when done right), but the hassle of finding a good tuner and the risk of getting a BAD tune (which is pretty dangerous considering the craptastic hypereuatic pistons our cars have) might not outweigh the benefits for alot of folks, myself included.

Tuning is both an art and science...I battled with self-tuning my Mustang (via a TwEEcR) for months before I got it down right. I honestly don't have the motivation to learn to tune this platform, based on my fairly limited goals. That said, if I find that the SS M90 tune is as far off as it was in the link posted a few posts back, I might not have an option.

 

Well Matt also has a TON of supporting mods that he already had on the car before the Tune, so he was really in need of some custom work to get everything running properly, and he's still having a hard time with some things.

 

$1400 is more than a little extra; I saw a complete top swap part set go on clubgp about a month ago for $400 shipped; plus if you look long enough- you can get all the parts except the LIM/SC/Heads for virtually nothing. Even with fluids and gaskets, you still wouldn't be over maybe $600 doing it that route.

Plus, I personally hate the SS pulley setup- less wrap, and less pulley size choice.

It really shouldn't be any different for just doing a basic tune; you just unplug the MAF and correct the VE table, plug the MAF back in and correct the MAF airflow table, adjust the WOT O2s, and then bring your timing up where you can. Shouldn't really be any different than most other FI vehicles- except its a little more lengthy than a car that runs MAP only.

I realize different cars like different things, but the bulk of the base tune- getting the fueling tables in order so the fuel trims zero out, is common to all FI cars.

 

Custom Tune = MUST for SS m90 kit. you dont believe me, you will find out. also, just as some advice.....do not use the autolite 103's they send you.......wayyy to cold for your setup, even mine. get some NGK TR6's. cold starts have all but virtually disappeared now (only had them in for 1 cold start, this morning) and i have no crazy misfires at cold start now like i used to. so far, im very happy i changed plugs. the tune zzp sends in the pcm is VERY basic and not perfect by any means, but it will let you start and drive the car. my car with that tune was running so rich it was killing over 40 HP my car was capable of making. when we dyno'd it before any tune just seeing what the zzp tune was doing it only had 189 WHP........after tuning it was 234 WHP. so yes, if your spending the money for the kit, you should plan on spending money or learning how to tune. otherwise your limiting your kit BADLY.

 

With the cost of head gaskets, manifold gasket, supercharger gasket, fluids, throttle body gasket, you're going to be at at least $600 IF you can find quality junkyards parts to use. That's not factoring in the cost of your necessary tune, too- figure you're going to pay someone at least $100 (or spend a few hundred yourself for HP Tuners). I know plenty of folks who have top swapped, thinking it was going to end up being a few hundred dollar investment, only to find themselves nickled and dimed into much more.

Personally, I'm willing to pay $700 or even $800 extra to know that the kit is complete, and that I won't be hitting up a friend to cart me to the junkyard for emergency missing parts.

It comes down to your goals with car- at the boost levels the SS M90 kit is designed for, the level of belt wrap you have or don't have isn't ever going to be an issue. A 4.0 pulley on a stock L36 bottom end makes roughly the equivalent power-wise as a 3.4 or 3.5 on an L67, which is more than enough for my goals with this project.

You make it sound way too easy. I'm sure after tuning a few dozen cars it's no problem (with access to a dyno and a wideband), but for a novice it's a daunting task and one that I'm not interested in tackling.

 

Great information, thank you.

Think I can get away with the canned ZZP tune for a few months? The nearest good 3800 tuner is a few hundred miles away. A buddy of mine is getting into tuning with HP Tuners, but he's still in the learning stages.

 

If you know you can get the custom tune, then DO NOT go WOT (or drive hard) in your car until then. Unless you have a way to scan KR while you drive. You have no idea how much KR you could have, and waiting a couple of months before you find out you could completely destroy a piston already.

 

i got away with mine for 4 months, and just last week i got tired of it. my goal with tuning was to figure out why the car had really rough cold start idle, but really i think that was just the autolite 103's. now im just getting the timing and fuel trims where i want them, so i can unleash more power. gonna get it retuned next week after i know the cold start issue was with the plugs.
are you doing the install yourself with the kit?
just so you can get an estimate, im making slightly over 9 pounds of boost with my SS 3.8 pulley + mods.

 

X2 to what blacksheep said above