New starter with a few questions

Hi all,

I'm delving (slowly) into the world of Engine Tuning and I had a few questions if you don't mind :)

As it stands I have a VY V6 Commodore with aims to save for an XR6T (FG/FGX depending on budget) or something of the like in the future. But before I buy one to modify I want to learn how to tune and understand the dynamics of how I'm altering the engine with the modifications I do.

So that leaves me with a Commodore and a willingness to learn how to tune, however this will mean that I only have my car to tune on which requires me to either:

a) Buy an aftermarket ECU and wire it in for the commodore then take it out and put it in the XR6T (Is this easy enough to do?

b) Use RT Tuner Pro and an ALDL cable for the commodore then either buy an Flash Tuner for ECU further down the line

Preferably I'd rather buy an ECU and have a couple years learning on the platform instead of changing methods, so to my second question:

What ecu should I look to buying? I would need something that has 6 cylinder support (ofcourse) but I'm not sure of what brand/model I should get. At the moment I'm looking at the Haltech 750 (I guess because I am somewhat familiar with them through youtube & they are local to me).

Also as this is going to be a long project I thought I can start picking up pieces slowly and was thinking of getting a PLX SM-AFR WIDEBAND DM-6 GAUGE COMBO see here: http://www.plxdevices.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=897346002719 So I can start to understand what my car is doing when I'm commuting and driving around,

Is this an accurate/reliable wideband? I'm looking at this one as I think I can replace my stock 02 with this one and it will work fine with the current ECU, are you able to confirm if it will plug into an aftermarket ECU with no issues?

I'm sure I will have many more questions - many thanks from Australia!

Hey Joey, I've had a reasonable amount of experience with both of these platforms and tuning them on a standalone ECU is difficult as the integration with the rest of the car relies on the factory ECU. With both cars the most common way of tuning is to reflash the factory ECU. HP Tuners is popular for both GM and Ford reflashing so I'd recommend you consider this software. As a bonus, the HP Tuners interface and credits will work out significantly cheaper than an aftermarket ECU.

Now for the bad news. We've dealt with a few of the V6 Holdens over the years and typically there is very little to be gained from them power wise in stock form. To get any real gains you really need to perform some hardware modifications such as intake, exhaust etc. Even with these sort of modifications the gains are quite limited compared to their bigger V8 brothers. The definitions in the HP Tuners software (the definition is like a road map for the ROM file that defines what tables are in the ECU, where they are, and how big they are) are also quite limited compared to the V8 engines and this gives you limited control over what you can do.

The FG XR6 turbo is a much better platform to tune and can be very rewarding even in 100% stock form. Ford and GM took quite different approaches to the way their ECUs work though, so you'll find that coming from a GM ECU there is quite a lot to learn when you move to the Ford platform.

If you haven't already, I'd consider our Practical Reflash Tuning course which covers many of these topics and will give you insight into how the OE ECU works and a step by step approach to compete the tuning - https://www.hpacademy.com/courses/practical-reflash-tuning/

Hi Andre,

Thanks for the response I appreciate it, thanks a lot for pointing me towards HP Tuners, it definitely makes the most sense in my case - I'll have to do some reading up on them,.

The main thing I am looking to get out of my V6 is to have a base to learn on so that when I have the funds for the FG I'll have a good understanding of what I am doing (albeit apart from the forced induction). I'm happier to learn on my Ecotec than on the Barra as there is much less at stake.

I will have to check out the Reflashing course as I imagine it will be very handy in the future.

Would you think it is worth investing time and money (It's going to be 3+ Years at least before I have enough for an FG sadly) now or should I tuck this under the bed till I have a FG to tune on? So I don't have to re-learn after moving to the Ford Platform?

Edit: I may of forgot to mention also in the future that as E85 becomes more widely available (Local Servo just added it at the pump) I would be interested in flex fuel - is this easy enough to achieve with the HPTuners VCM Editor if I was able to install a flex fuel sensor?

There's pros and cons with learning on your current platform. The plus side is with a relatively low power N/A engine, there's a lot less chance of doing damage as the margin for error is quite large - On a turbo engine you have a much smaller window. The downside is that the engine isn't overly responsive to tuning changes in stock form. It's definitely a worthwhile learning experience though and you'll still get to adjust fuel and ignition so the experience won't be wasted.

None of the local GM vehicles I tune run a flex fuel system although the options for flex fuel are still available in the software. I'm not 100% certain if you can add a flex fuel sensor to a vehicle that didn't have it from factory and then enable the flex fuel system though. In the Ford I don't believe this is an option unfortunately.

I was thinking the same thing, low power N/A with plenty of spare parts laying around would make for a pretty good platform to start on. As for the engine not being that responsive, personally I think it's a pretty lackluster to begin with it being the size it is - hence why I was thinking if I could go flex some E85 might liven it up. Although I do not in my car there definitely is a power change once I hit around ~ 3300+ RPM which I wouldn't mine seeing on the dyno or if I could bring that on from a lower RPM (or at least smooth it out).

I think that is why I was leaning towards an aftermarket ECU so I could fit a sensor in the return line and unless I'm glazing over something all I'd need to do is make sure my fuel pump/injectors are capable of 30% more duty cycle (probably not) and a tune and hopefully there would be some performance gains.

How easy do you think it would be to make an adapter harness for the current wiring harness to plug into an aftermarket ECU, I'd eventually need to make one for the L36 Ecotec and then one for the Barra. I'm fine with crimping and whatnot could I find an old PCM, pull out the connector and use that as the one end to plug into the existing harness (if that makes any sense).

Also would there be any loss in functionality of the standard features of the car?