Are there any Stand Alone units that are truly plug and play, or do they all need tuning on a dyno after install?
Trying to decide between replacing the holley on my old small block chevy with FI, along with other updates (aluminum heads, cam, ect.), and just going the LS3 route.
The only way to go without any tuning is to get someone else's tune that is from an EXACT match - I'm talking same intake from the filter to the intake valves, same engine and hardware, same car, same exhaust (all the way out), etc. If it influences how the engine runs, it has to match. Some people like Holley tend to tout their systems as being fairly self-adapting, but that's just a fancy way of saying that it runs closed-loop. You still want that to build off of a strong base map, and you want to know enough about tuning to babysit it and make sure it isn't creating more problems than solutions. Especially if there is an underlying issue, running adaptation too early can really send it off chasing its tell, so needing more manual control up front can actually produce a more robust setup since you are more likely to have found potential problems.
Even identical cars need to be tuned on the dyno unless a certain safety margin is built into the tune. If that's the case, you're not maximizing the potential.
The new Holley units will get you pretty dang close without a dyno. On a SBC you can lock out your timing at 36° and be pretty good. The closed loop learning will get the fuel map closer than most tuners can. You can also keep your distributer and just let the Holley control fuel if that's what you want to do. If you do want to control timing through the Holley just get a distributer from a 1990 Chevy truck with a 454. With the correct harness from Holley it is plug and play.
I'm not sure how good the self-tuning is but Holley does offer self learning EFI in TBI form.
buzzboy said:I'm not sure how good the self-tuning is but Holley does offer self learning EFI in TBI form.
From reading about people's experiences here, it hasn't been great in some cases.
In reply to Stefan (Forum Supporter) :
Truth. I don't recomment one of the Sniper units. Stick to a Terminator or better and you'll be fine.
In general many standalone units can be made "plug and play" but expect some adjustment of fueling all over and around idle even on the best base mapped examples. The closer the base configuration is to your engine the better, but even small changes like the cam, converter, etc can throw it off a bit.
Thank you, these replies echo what I have been reading. Seems like I will be better off in the long run with a LS3 and Trans combo.
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