Let me start off by saying I have pretty much no clie how the LT1 computer works. I've been a Mustang guy for quite some time and know those inside out (race them , tune them, etc.) But these things are greek to me I am here trying to help out a friend. He has a 94 Z28 which I admit is a nice car. The new winter project is to drop in a twin turbo or possibly a vortec supercharger (most likely the twin turbo.) Some other supporting mods will be installed as well (MAF, injectors, fuel pump, etc.) But I was wondering what the tuning options are.

To explain in a bit more detail.. I have a Mustang GT with a supercharger, nitrous, etc. Because of all teh extra mods and power adders I elected to buy a tuner for the car. Mustangs have a piece of hardware called a "tweecer." Here's a website that explains what it is they do. Basically, with the tweecer I can do all of my own tuning. It's not like the handheld reprogrammers that just let you do something like change gear ratio or something using simple inputs. Actually, to use this you have to plug it into a laptop via a USB cable. It gives you 100% complete control over the car's computer. You have to know what you're doing, but once you know, you can control absolutely everything. Spark, fuel, injector size, load, sensors, emissions, etc. You can basically change any parameter in the computer and make it do anything you want it to do. You can even datalog and record all of your runs with it to see exactly what needs to be changed. In other words, you have a piece of hardware and software that lets you do more than you would get if you went and got a dyno tune, and it's $525.

I'm wondering if they make something like this for the LT1. We want to just get one of these to tune it, but I don't know of any companies that make something that would give us this much control. I know that hypertech makes some sort of handheld reprogrammer. But what are the limitations to that? We need something that will let us alter commanded A/F ratios at WOT, injector size, idle speed, rear gears, MAF transfers (or whatever they're called in LT1s) and perhaps a few other things.

Sorry for the long winded post, but like I said... I don't know enough about the avialable options for Chevys. But they're definitely nice cars so I don't mind helping. If it was an import, that would be a different story

 

Oh, forgot to see what the price range was on these tuners too. Thanks again!

 

If you have a laptop, you can get a program such as LT1 Edit or Tunercat, that allows you to do anything you want to the computer, including scrambling it to the point where it won't work anymore.

 

That sound exactly like the Tweecer. If you don't know what you're doing you can cause some serious damage, lol. Thanks for the info. I'll look into it and see how different Chevys are from Mustangs. I imagine most of the things are very similar (as far as how the MAF works, etc) but either way, I've got some studying to do!

 

There should not be that much difference in the computers, all the engineers went to the same schools.
Here are the links to those programs:
http://carputing.tripod.com/
www.tunercat.com

 

Excellent. Thanks a bunch for all the help! One more question if I may. Is this something that is "married" to the computer or can you use it to program multiple cars?

Again, I know that the tweecer must stay attached just like a normal chip (although the laptop gets removed) so it can only be used on one car at a time. The newer mustangs can be reprogrammed usin a tuner that doesn't have to stay attached, but it records vehicl-specific info thus preventing it from being used on more than one Mustang. Is this similar?

 

The last I heard was that they could only be used for one car, but they also have available commercial type licenses that can be used for as many cars as you want. But you should check with them.

 

Excellent. Thanks again!! Sounds like these cars aren't so different after all. At least as far as the tuning basics and available options.