Standard VP 5.0 ute

[atd350]

Hi All,

I have a dead stock 5.0 VP Ute with 400,000+ kms on it. It doesnt exhibit any of the characteristics of its age, but is a bit of a slug after downgrading from my VY LS1 with stuff. I am wondering though just how much more power and economy could be extracted from this engine, with just timing and fuel adjustments. is it worth me buying all the gear and messing with the tune? or am I better off just taking the gamble of a $114 ebay tune?

I like the idea of learning how to tune one of these semi ancient beasts, and seeing what more i can get out of it using the bitumen dyno, but i dont know if its worth the risk of messing it up and ending up with a pig of a car.

Thoughts guys? Has anyone here actually tuned a dead standard 5.0 car for more power and economy on 91 octane?

[Holden202T]

the beauty of tuning it with the gear you can purchase here is that if you stuff it up you can simply upload your previous tune that worked or if all else fails go back to the tune you started with.

as far as ebay tunes, with the amount of people that have turned up here with them and not happy asking for help on how to fix it i wouldn't waste your time!

if you are keen to learn then i'd suggest getting the gear to allow you to tune it yourself.

as for numbers, can't really say as i haven't done anything with a stock 5ltr, but you will be able to improve it atleast a bit.

[atd350]

thats kind of what I expect from the ebay tunes, and my reasoning for looking further. likely to ping it head off etc...

Is it possible to view like a spreadsheet or something of the standard fuel and ignition tables for my ute?

[Holden202T]

if you can find out what the tune is in it (on the top of the memcal on the grey sticker) then you will be able to download it along with the definitions from here and tunerpro rt 5 from tunerpro.net and then you can view everything in the tune that is changable!

[v8-tuning]

Ive done well with stock 304s getting some solid gains
I also sell on ebay user 1holdenman
Id watch other sellers they are dodgy and tend to copy
work and sell substandard tunes.
I know cause i bought one years ago,overfueled and ran like crap
not to mention the dodgey real time ecu's they sell too.
I will say you wont gain much on 91 either you need 98 at a min and
400,000ks thats alot prob too much and time for a rebuild.
Good practise if you want to learn though gotta start somwhere
As for numbers anything from 150-160rwkw one freak of an engine did 165rwkw also.

[atd350]

Lots of good talk here.

I should say, whilst the speedo reads 447,000 kms, the engine could have been rebuilt last week and I would have no idea, as I just bought the car. It has great compression, doesn't use any oil and definately doesn't smoke or tap at all, even on cold or hot starts. So I believe its reasonably healthy internally. That being said, i have no plans to rebuild this engine ever. If it blows, i will LS it. If it doesnt and I get seriously hard up for something to work on (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA), i will do a rear mount turbo setup on it, and keep it super stealth.

For the moment, its a zero budget car, so basic tuning to make it as efficient as possible and drive as nice as possible is the key. Keen to see if there is much in it from a characteristics point of view. I know my VY was a totally different car pre and post tune, and then again when tuned using a different technique.

[Holden202T]

rip the oil filler cap off and have a look inside, the amount of crap on the rockers (or lack of) might give a good indication of the health of the motor!