ZZPerformance dyno tuning

Indy Lonnie

Well-Known Member
Yesterday I drove from Indianapolis IN to Wyoming MI to ZZPerformance to get the Goblin dyno tuned. What an experience. It was a 4.5 hour drive one way and worth every minute. Left at 7:30am and got back at 11pm.
The facility is much bigger than expected. They have a lot of bays in the back and there were performance cars everywhere in the parking lot. The dyno facility was across the street. Before I left Indianapolis, I swapped out the MAP sensors for GM stage 1 kit on the trailer. They flashed the Goblin after we pushed it into one of the bays. It did not like the GM stage 1 tune. It smoked and didn't want to idle. Once it warmed up a few minutes we went across the street to the dyno. The first run there was a boost spike around 3000 RPM which registered almost 400 ft-lbs of torque. I almost crapped myself when I saw the graph. He said, "Well, we need to work on that first. We don't want you to blow your turbo..." He changed the torque management at least 7-8 times before he was happy. By the time we were done, ~10-12 pulls later, the air fuel was almost a straight line and the boost spike was gone. He was a little disappointed with the power #'s but he thinks it was because of my tires. I'm running Bridgestone RE 71Rs. The were very shiny and sticky by the end of the dyno tuning. He said they have seen problems like this with the Nitto R888s as well. He said we were probably losing 10% because of the tires. I ended up with 362 ft lbs torque and 291 HP. Average is now 287 ft lbs and 259 hp across the full RPM range 3000 to 6800. The pic of the graph is mid tuning...
This morning I go it off the trailer and took it for the first drive. It started up and idled perfectly from the turn of the key. It has much better throttle response and the jerking in the lower gears is gone. OH MY GOD! The butt dyno is now fully puckered. I did not have traction issues before, now I'm going to have to watch it... I floored it in second gear at about 25 mph and it lit the tires up. It pulls through the entire RPM range to 6800 RPM. Before it would fall off by 6000. I'm also going to have to keep my foot completely off the clutch, it will slip otherwise. I think, no... know the next upgrade will be the clutch. It is now pulling 24 lbs of boost where it was around 20 before. The one thing I don't like is the fan is now constantly running when it is warmed up. I'll have to look what temp it is turning on and maybe change the thermostat.
I would recommend this to anyone. It was great to watch the process and have a fully optimized combination in less than 2 hours. They do have a option where they will send you a laptop, and you can email tunes back and forth until you are happy. He had 10 of these to do before he could leave for the day after helping me. The full price of the tuning was $270.74 with a shirt. You cannot beat that increase of performance with anything I have purchased before.
Kudos to my wife for taking the day off and going with me. It was also her birthday. I got her a message and will take her out for dinner tonight. I will probably have more in that than the cost of the dyno tuning...
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lksohm

Well-Known Member
$270 for a car that runs the way it should... You can't beat that! That is more than reasonable for getting the biggest name in ecotec performance.
 

JSATX

Goblin Guru
**** I wish I didn't read this. I worked with a remote tuner guy from there for about 6 straight months and the tune is still garbage. I'm not knocking them, I'm just convinced there is no way to do it remotely. My car jerks a ton in first, I thought it was just a light pedal. My torque is also about 20 points lower than the HP figure and I know that cant be right for a 4cyl boosted engine. Guess I have to ship it up there now.
 

DCMoney

Goblin Guru
I was just thinking I've never had the desire to ever visit Michigan until now... Only a 7 hour drive for me though.

My plan is to go up there after I get some performance parts installed and have them tune it like Indy Lonnie did.
 

JSATX

Goblin Guru
Would you mind sharing who it was that did the tuning? I’m starting to wonder if a remote tune *while on a dyno* is really the answer
 

RouteAbel

Well-Known Member
Would you mind sharing who it was that did the tuning? I’m starting to wonder if a remote tune *while on a dyno* is really the answer
Justin, you should check with Eurocharged here in town. They specialize in Mercedes and other European/exotics, but they could probably help you. They have a dyno and do full tunes on site.
 

JSATX

Goblin Guru
Justin, you should check with Eurocharged here in town. They specialize in Mercedes and other European/exotics, but they could probably help you. They have a dyno and do full tunes on site.
I did, they do not use HPtuners and whatever I do I have to stick with that since I’ve already invested a lot into it.

I have another guy that will do it but it’s $650!
 

Indy Lonnie

Well-Known Member
Al (Alan) did my tune. Big intimidating guy with full beard. He was great to watch during the tuning process and didn't mind the questions. I know the remote tune is an option, but seeing mine go through 10-12 pulls, I question how well it can be done without a lot of back and forth. The dyno tune also included a drivability pull with simulated normal driving condition with varying load on the car. WELL worth the money...
He had 12 remote tunes to do after my dyno time. I left at ~4pm. He said he would be there until 8 most likely.
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Ross

Goblin Guru
I am learning tuning from Kyle, and his YouTube channel "Goat Rope Garage" as well as reading on the HP Tuners forum.
It is a lot of learning, but gives me the freedom to change parts and retune at will.
A road tune is generally considered better than a dyno tune, as it uses real world conditions.

Setting up my own tuning has cost me just under $600. ($375 for HP Tuners, $173 on the AEM wideband & gauge, $20 on wires, $37 on Thermo-Isolating O2 bung.)
And I recently added a precision butt dyno (Dragy) for $125 (open box price) to help me quantify tuning results.

So go your own tuning isn't cheap, but it is flexable, as you can add and subtract parts as often as you want, and can verify that the engine is running correctly.
 
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