Track testing took place at Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ. The test vehicle was equipped with Nitto 555 radial tires set to 30 psi to replicate a street-driven LS1's traction constraints. The launch rpm was 2,500, and shift rpm was 5,500. The stock tune and each tuner (set for whichever tune yielded the best horsepower) were given two runs, then the mile-per-hour numbers were averaged. A 15-minute cooldown was given between each tune change, and each tune was hot-lapped. Coolant temps and driving technique were kept as consistent as possible for the most accurate results, and due to slowly rising density altitudes at E-town during the course of the day, the tuners were track tested in the order of the least dyno horsepower gained to the most.
A FAST dual-sensor wideband was used to keep track of air/fuel ratios-which, by the way, didn't deviate much from the dyno A/F numbers.
The price shown is the lowest price we found for the unit, either from the manufacturer or at summitracing.com. The warranty info is per the manufacturer, and there are also notes pertaining to each tuner. Now let's start testing.
| BASELINE NUMBERS: |
| TIMING: | 26, 26 |
| AIR/FUEL: | 12.2, 12.2 |
| RETARD, | |
| DEGREES: | 0, 0 |
| HP: | 329.0 |
| TQ: | 349.0 |
Since wideband oxygen sensor readings would be imperative to this test not only on the dyno but also at the track, I requested FAST's new two-sensor air/fuel meter kit (Part No. 170402, $613). This sweet device puts a wideband O2 in each bank and allows the user to see either both individual sensor readings, or an average of the two. It has a built-in data logger with playback, and outputs for additional sensors and the like. Though bungs have to be installed for the sensors, the rest of the install was simple: the wires were run away from hot exhaust, up through the shifter hole, and connected to the unit. The power plug went into the outlet, the unit was mounted and suction-cupped to the windshield, and we were in business. | 
To maximize the performance potential, the Z's stock thermostat was swapped for a 160-degree Hypertech 'stat (Part No. 1014, $51) by TTP's Jon Robertson. | 
Though originally we installed an oil temp sender and wire to tap oil temps into TTP's HP Tuners tuning suite, we weren't able to get it to work. Rolling with the punches, a laser thermometer was aimed at the oil pan while a large shop fan was aimed into the Z's radiator. From the baseline testing on, the pull didn't start until the coolant temp was 205, and the oil temp was 162. |