Tuning for a sts turbo kit

[Nhra_Firebird]

I'm going to be getting a sts turbo for my formula in the next couple weeks. I just wanted to know if anybody here has a sts turbo and tuned their car? If so how bad was it to tune?

Thanks,
Derek

[Smoov-E]

I have an STS system on my 2000 Camaro SS, and bought HPTuners at the end of November. Granted, this is a fresh turbo motor, and I've changed a lot of things - cam, heads, injector size, fuel supply.

I would highly, highly recommend having a professional help you with an initial base tune on an LS1 FI motor. Allen Nelson (www.nelsonperformance.com) is helping me. He sent me a safe initial base tune, and now we are tweaking it. This is not necessarily a quick process if you want to be safe. Working with someone like Allen and/or getting a dyno/wideband O2 initial tune is the way to go.

I'm getting a wideband o2 for myself as well. I burned up a couple of pistons with my stock motor, and don't want to take any chances. I may sound overly cautious. With a NA LS1, you have a great deal more room for error than with FI or Nitrous. You need to know your actual A/F ratio throughout the powerband.

The stock GM PCM can be tuned for FI, but is not able to recognize or respond to positive manifold pressure. With a turbo, you will dump a ton of air in an engine that is controlled by a computer and sensors that don't fully recognize anything more than atmospheric air pressure. If you get lean, you will burn something up, really quickly. I didn't even hear pinging when I did it.

Working with a pro, being careful, and logging are the only ways to get this right in my opinion. $500 to get started with someone like Allen is much, much less than I spend on R&R and forged bottom end on my LS1.