Am I understanding the reason for tuning?

[zimbobway]

I have spent a lot of the past few days reading though all of the information posted here as well as links to other tuning articles that folks have posted here to try and get a grasp on what tuning is and when it is needed (yes I am a noob to this).

Correct me if I am wrong here in my assumption but the main reason for tuning appears to be to adjust/optimize the air-to-fuel ratio for different throttle positions and rpm ranges. The stock tune that comes with a car is only capable of adjusting things plus/minus a couple of percent so if you add things like a CAI, long tube headers, etc, anything that really lets the engine breathe beyond what it came with from the factory the stock tune can't handle and you'd wind up running too lean.

If my simplified assumption is wrong please let me know. I am VERY early in the learning curve as I would eventually like to tune my own vehicle and I have 5 years or 100,000 miles to learn how to do it unless I say screw the warranty sooner.

Thanks in advance for any feedback...

[Chris@HPTuners]

usually the reason for tuning is to make more power which is usually associated with various engine modifications

This requires AFR optimization, spark and usually the removal or relaxation of various torque management features. It usually also involves modifying the automatic trans parameters as well.

Chris...

[5_Liter_Eater]

Most stock tune cars that dyno have a very inconsistent WOT AFR and it cannot be corrected for unless the fuel trims are positive (meaning lean) then it will rather arbitrarily add fuel to WOT. There is no monitoring of WOT AFR from the factory. So you have it, the main purpose of tuning is to be able to achieve a desired AFR as well as spark advance. There are other aspects like idle tuning which becomes more important with larger cams and tuning for aftermarket forced induction but fuel and spark are the main reasons.

[Bill@HPTuners]

When I first got into tuning I mainly bought it for drivability reasons ie big heads/cam LS1, smallish converter & numerically low gears=surging at converter lockup and just overall wasn't fun to drive until I started tuning it specifically for my combination.

[zimbobway]

Thanks folks, I have plenty of time to read and try to educate myself and possibly "practice" on my beater car (99 Dodge Intrepid with 150k miles) if that is even worth doing. I have a 2010 Camaro SS with an LS3 on order and from all my reading so far that engine has a lot of room to grow beyond how it comes from the factory.

[zimbobway]

When I first got into tuning I mainly bought it for drivability reasons ie big heads/cam LS1, smallish converter & numerically low gears=surging at converter lockup and just overall wasn't fun to drive until I started tuning it specifically for my combination.

Bill, I see you are in Jersey, I am in Central Jersey along the coast so I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of some good shops/tuners in the area.

Thanks in advance if you are able to...

[beedo]

I hope this is not a hijack but I believe that it part of his questions. QWhen tuning what are the main things to look for, I do not have a wide band and I have tuned my STFT and driving they vary no more than +-2, so when I get the idle tune down and the WOT(after wideband) would I be done with the tune? Guess these are the questions I wonder as well as the basic reason for tuning. TQ management is out and the codes are deleted.