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ZFG Tune


dolsen

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I am in the process of remote tuning with ZFG. I will post the results when I finish. To be honest it has been a long hard road since I started in July. lol. I have comp turbo technology hybrid turbos and am trying to tune with ZFG racing. I ran into problems in Sept. The first ZFG tunes were amazing. It felt like a 50-75 hp bump over Livernois or Unleashed, both of which I used for the prior year on my stock turbos. But I wanted more than my stock turbos could give. On revision 3 of remote tuning I began experiencing misfires on #6 cylinder and sometimes on #3, and it felt like I had my stock turbos back again because the power suddenly disappeared.  I was so confused and lost to be honest. I am not mechanically inclined and don't do any work on my vehicle myself.  I consulted many people and ZFG said that was was a problem with my #6 cylinder. I had two bad injectors so was told that running lean on ZFG scored my #6 cylinder.  This was confirmed with borescore inspection. Cylinder 6 is badly scored. I drove on misfires for 6 weeks because I was told it was a tuning issue, not knowing my injectors were bad.  So after replacing plugs, coils and injectors I decided to replace the engine. I honestly feel that something went wrong with my comp turbos also. In the process of replacing the engine I am having the turbos inspected. This has been a long, expensive process. I will never modify another vehicle other than a tune after this one. lol. Power is fun, but getting it work properly has been much more involved than I ever imagined. I will post how the ZFG tune does after my engine is replaced. This forum and its members have been a tremendous help to me in the past year. In hindsight, I wish I had spent a bit more on the BNR turbo upgrade option after reading about many people having problems with comp turbos. I will post if my comp turbos are ok.  I don't want anymore to spend money on something that can't hold up. I hope nobody has to go through this much headache.

Edited by Markham12
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23 hours ago, Markham12 said:

I will never modify another vehicle other than a tune after this one. lol. Power is fun, but getting it work properly has been much more involved than I ever imagined. 

 

There’s a saying I live by: “don’t seriously modify your daily”. A lot of people break this rule and are miserable when it fails. Basic stuff and if you have a go fast bug, get a separate car so when it’s down you’re not down too. 

Edited by CrackedDSM
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4 hours ago, CrackedDSM said:

 

There’s a saying I live by: “don’t seriously modify your daily”. A lot of people break this rule and are miserable when it fails. Basic stuff and if you have a go fast bug, get a separate car so when it’s down you’re not down too. 

 

After 40+ years of modifying every vehicle I've owned I now have a daily with no power enhancements. It seems so weird.

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On 11/27/2020 at 4:36 PM, CrackedDSM said:

 

There’s a saying I live by: “don’t seriously modify your daily”. A lot of people break this rule and are miserable when it fails. Basic stuff and if you have a go fast bug, get a separate car so when it’s down you’re not down too. 

 

This is very sound thinking. Next time I will just buy fast enough off the lot. Lesson learned. This is the first vehicle that I have ever modified in my life so I guess I didn't realize all that could go wrong.

Edited by Markham12
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10 minutes ago, Markham12 said:

 

This is very sound thinking. Next time I will just buy fast enough off the lot. Lesson learned. This is the first vehicle I have ever modified in my life so I guess I didn't realize all that could go wrong.

 

 

It’s a part of why I went with the edge. I cannot have a slow daily so I needed something with some boogie enough to keep me satisfied, but that wasn’t ridiculously priced or seriously unreliable(friends with Jeep SRTs and trackhawks have had nothing but problems and they’re expensive...) and if I get bored and need a fast car, I’ve got others. :) 

 

 

Lessons learned the hard way are what I try to share with others to prevent history repeating itself. I’ve modified my daily seriously and bought a slow daily and both resulted in the same thing. Heartbreak. The edge is honestly one of my favorite cars ever. Every time I drive it I remark how I love this thing. Lol. 

 

But honestly a foxbody, an older LS1 f-body, or if you can find a non abused clean dsm for a fair price(good luck) are all amazing cars to get to satisfy the go fast bug. All three will go 10’s reliably(key word reliably. You can throw nitrous on a stock junkyard block for pennies but it ain’t gonna last)for $5,000. Hell of a lot cheaper if you’re good at finding deals and have some luck! 

Edited by CrackedDSM
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I have lms 91 and e30 tune which I’ve heard are comparable to unleashed. Maybe it’s different now. I also have zfg 91 and e50. My zfg 91 feels comparable to lms e30, I wasn’t impressed with lms 91. The zfg e50 is unreal and traction issues are there. I am at 5600 ft. I only have a dragy of lms 91 and e30. Going to do one on zfg 91 since that’s what I’m running for winter. I also will do an e50 once I switch back. I’ve been meaning to do dynos but since Covid my shops not open on the weekend which is the only time I can do them.

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I had strongly considered ZFG E50, but that would have been a $600 investment, and I have no ethanol stations within 10 miles of my house so It would have been an expensive endeavor had I decided I hated driving so far to always fill up. Unleashed was a $200 investment, and I have a bit of purchase history with Unleashed and I know that I am getting an excellent product from him, so for me it was a no brainer. However, I would be very interested to see the difference between an unleashed and a ZFG tune. I'm just not willing to spend $600 for an experiment at this point. A dragy might be in my stocking for christmas though, so that's nice

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I’d go unleashed too. If I was to get an MVPI-2 I’d just tune the edge myself. It’s like investing in an aem ems for a stock car and not tuning it yourself. Same results can be accomplished with the stock ecu and a programmer, and I don’t have to bother learning a new software and platform at the same time. ?

 

 

Edited by CrackedDSM
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/3/2020 at 6:08 PM, CrackedDSM said:

 

 

It’s a part of why I went with the edge. I cannot have a slow daily so I needed something with some boogie enough to keep me satisfied, but that wasn’t ridiculously priced or seriously unreliable(friends with Jeep SRTs and trackhawks have had nothing but problems and they’re expensive...) and if I get bored and need a fast car, I’ve got others. :) 

 

 

Lessons learned the hard way are what I try to share with others to prevent history repeating itself. I’ve modified my daily seriously and bought a slow daily and both resulted in the same thing. Heartbreak. The edge is honestly one of my favorite cars ever. Every time I drive it I remark how I love this thing. Lol. 

 

But honestly a foxbody, an older LS1 f-body, or if you can find a non abused clean dsm for a fair price(good luck) are all amazing cars to get to satisfy the go fast bug. All three will go 10’s reliably(key word reliably. You can throw nitrous on a stock junkyard block for pennies but it ain’t gonna last)for $5,000. Hell of a lot cheaper if you’re good at finding deals and have some luck! 

 

Yep, I wanted a quick daily also. The Edge was quick stock, but then I wanted to try a tune after I found this place. But then after the Livernois tune I wanted more. Speed is addictive. ? My first new car as a kid was 95 Z28. I kept it stock back then because I couldn't afford to modify it. Also had a firebird formula with the same LT1 as the Z28. I just can't see myself getting in and out of those low riding cars now like when I was in my early twenties. I am drawn to the Jeep SRT and fast suvs now because I like to sit higher up. Those jeeps are expensive though. I would have thought that they were very reliable considering you don't really need to modify something that fast to begin with. If I did buy a car now it would probably be a Stinger GT or Charger SRT. But then again those are low riders to me.

 

I am getting ready to start tuning with ZFG racing again soon. I liked the way the tune ran before my engine problems. After my replacement 2.7L was installed I was told that my one turbo wasn't spinning properly. So I sent my comp turbos to be inspected. Was told that due to the engine problems my one turbo was full of carbon on the back of the turbine wheel and wasn't spinning barely. So I had to have them both rebuilt. Finally getting them back today. And tuning should start in a week or two hopefully. This is my last attempt. lol.

Edited by Markham12
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  • 2 months later...

Finally got my zfg tune complete. Very strong 93 tune. The thing hauls butt.  I just wanted to compare it to the stock tune so I loaded the stock tune. Same 0-60 on the stock tune with the bigger turbos. 5.8 seconds. Then I was on the highway playing with the paddle shifters and doing some pulls to 90 or so when the wrench light came on with the stock tune. I checked the code and it said overboost condition. Scared the crap out of me. I pulled over and reloaded the zfg tune and cleared the code. It never came back again. I was afraid to use the paddle shifters again, but did and the light didn't return. Power is still there. Did the stock tune likely cause the wrench light?

 

Thanks

Edited by Markham12
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  • 2 weeks later...

on an ecoboost engine, yes you COULD run 87 or 90 octane fuel.  but with tuning, the reward really lies with premium (93 except in certain areas). 

 

Gearhead makes auto-octane tunes, but most require you to load the tune appropriate to the octane of fuel you will be running.

 

And you can ask your tuner to tune for power or economy.  Tho it would be a shame to tune the Sport for economy IMHO.

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20 minutes ago, CM '17 Edge Sport said:

My car is 100% stock at the moment I'm wondering if I should get a ZFG tune or if there is another kind that is better. I'm also wondering can I run 90 or 87 octane fuel with one of these tunes? Thanks.

There are several good reviews for several tuners. At the end of the day, it comes down to where you want to spend your money and how much you want to spend. I have an Unleahsed 93 and E50 tune, both of which are incredible. Ask 10 different people with 10 different tuners and you'll get 10 different answer on which is best. I would tune for the highest gasoline octane readily available in your area, and if you're feeling squirrely, you could get and ethanol blend tune.

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39 minutes ago, dolsen said:

There are several good reviews for several tuners. At the end of the day, it comes down to where you want to spend your money and how much you want to spend. I have an Unleahsed 93 and E50 tune, both of which are incredible. Ask 10 different people with 10 different tuners and you'll get 10 different answer on which is best. I would tune for the highest gasoline octane readily available in your area, and if you're feeling squirrely, you could get and ethanol blend tune.

Alright, thank you!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just a plug for Livernois. High altitude and low 5s, sometimes high 4s 0-60 with the 91 E30 tune. I've been running this all year and no complaints or problems. Our E85 is set year round to 70%.

I'm about to dyno then run a E35 with 94 just to see if there is a difference. It will be a Dyno Dynamics AWD, so no big numbers and prefer non corrected to match my trap MPH.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dmv4-gRyyh-GUJfxy3y16yAPpeH3KZZy/view?usp=sharing

BTW Dragy has F*d up their DA, but altitude is right

 

Screenshot_20210414-192047_dragy.thumb.jpg.3b96f49b77648263e0c97050d2628ae5.jpg

Edited by Edge5280
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I have long wondered, does the octane of the gasoline you use, matter when mixing for an ethanol blend?

 

For example, is there a difference in using 87 gas vs 93 gas (assuming both have an ethanol concentration of 10%) when mixing with E85 to create E30/E50 etc?

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