TurboTa01

I'm new here and I hope I'm posting in the right section. Is the Holley HP a good upgrade over having the stock PCM tuned? I did a search and found a bunch of comparisons but only for Holley HP vs Holley Dominator. Going in a turbo LS1 t56 trans am.

Orr89rocz

iTrader: (13)

For a milder setup, maybe not. It does have a better timing table function with more room to adjust in boost than stock pcm but thats not a show stopper for most basic setups.

There are some nice control features in holley i believe like fuel pressure monitoring with air fuel corrections if pressure drops. Believe HP has that, dominator definately has the ability

Self learn kinda works for quick initial tune in.

Up to you which way you want to go

TurboTa01

How is tuning with the Holley EFI for a beginner? Say for someone with little to no experience? Does Holley offer a base tune for a turbo LS that you can adjust with your own specs.

The price of high impedance injectors for the factory setup are almost just as much as the Holley EFI itself.

BMF_Racing

iTrader: (6)

Well with anything new there is a learning curve but the support (peer and Holley) is very good so if your willing to learn you should have no issues. I really liked my Holley setup on the race car; so much both my street cars have Holley EFI's now too (price is only thing but you get what you pay for).

And you are correct about the injectors, crazy some of those prices.

TurboTa01

I just spoke with Holley on the phone. I couldn't find the Dominator setup on there website so the Holley rep gave me part # 550-608 for the Terminator setup. He advised that there is a basic tune on file already for a turbo LS and I would only have to change a few perimeters to get the tune close. I'm really thinking about going with this setup.

JoeNova

It really depends. I daily drive my car and use the factory ECU and wiring that I got with the engine. HPTuners is great, and I can do everything I need with it on a street car. The Holley isn't cheap and I'm not sure I could pay an extra $1500 for a few extra features. Yes, it has more inputs/outputs, better data logging, and better timing control, but for most setups, the extra timing control isn't needed.

What is your setup? Injectors are only expensive if you're one of those guys that thinks he has to have ID2000s for 600 HP.

LS1NOVA

iTrader: (12)

I used a stock pcm for a few years on a milder single turbo 6.0 setup and had it professionally tuned with HPtuners. Like most guys Im always changing stuff and the tune needed to be adjusted often. I felt like the stock ecu tuning was over my head at the time. Around the same time the car starting getting more serious (around 950) and Holley came out. I decided to convert to HP and it was probably one of the best things Ive done to the car. Used a base tune to get it up and running and let the self learn do most of the fuel tuning while driving around. I now do most of the tuning myself.

Advantages I can think of right now:
Everything is built in. Two step rev limiter, boost control, wideband, etc. All that stuff is an extra box with a stock ecu.
Datalogging is super easy to use and review.
Low impedence injectors are cheap.
Cost of an HP setup is lower if you can get by with 4 inputs and 4 outputs. Boost control uses a couple, 2nd fuel pump, ic pump, etc they get used up pretty quick. If you're the type that wants to datalog and monitor everything get the Dominator box. They use the same software.
Wiring harnesses are clean and easy to install. No nasty OEM harness to hack.

Go Holley, you wont regret it.

TurboTa01

The Holley rep advised me to download the software before I bought the setup to get a heads up. I'm looking through all of the base tunes and cannot find one for a turbo 346 e85. Could I essentially just input my own custom tune file and then let the self learn do the rest?

SLOW SEDAN

iTrader: (13)

As I'm sure you know E85 sucks up IDC. Lots of street cars easily max out 1000's on E85. I don't use ID but I didnt see any brands that are "cheap" for bigger injectors compared to what low impedance injectors cost.

Personally I added up the cost of hptuners pro, wideband, boost controller, and high impedance injectors. In comparison Holley more then pays for itself right off the bat.

That said I certainly have nothing against Hptuners, I use it on lots of cars but for my setup Holley works great.

x2 I love the Holley setup. I got mine running on 93 and low boost, then made the switch to E85 and cranked it up! Holley made it simple! I do like the datalogging with the overlays, makes it easy to see exactly what's going on.

Plus when my wastegate line came up Holley saved my engine and allowed me to drive home... would have been in pieces with stock ECM.

Another nice perk is you can start with the HP and if you end up needing more sell just it and buy a Dominator. They plug right in to your existing HP harness and run the same OS! I'm currently running the HP and so far have enough I/O. I'm using the dedicated fuel pump output to control my pump, and the extended I/O to control my fans, shift light, etc.. Using a cheap Dell tablet for my gauge display and to adjust tune as needed.

Another thing I don't think that has been brought up is switching between 24x and 58x engines. With the Holley its easy, stock ECM not so much.

SLOW SEDAN

iTrader: (13)

There is config named "Turbo LSx 364ci 850HP 20PSI DBW 4L80E WM" in the download. That should get you started, just back off the timing a bit since that one is setup for race fuel. You can delete the modules you don't need if your not using water meth, etc...

Tomhames

iTrader: (3)

Awesome conversation as I'm leaning in this direction myself...


Where is the best(cheapest) place to purchase anyone has found??
And the wideband is already built in?!
If so -Awesome. That saves a few hundred right there!

Edit-
What's part #554-113
It's $1,100
Edit #2 ( summit has it for $1,008)!!!!
Is it last years model or something?

Summit has a #550-604 that $1,500
What's the difference?

TurboTa01

Yeah I believe it uses a wideband O2. Holley direct is the cheapest I've found so far. They seem to be running a sale right now.

Sube

iTrader: (14)

The 554-113 is just the ECU itself, the 550-604 is the ECU, wiring harness, and wideband.

TurboTa01

So what else is needed to complete this kit, say part number 550-602? I see a couple sensors that need purchased?

Also, would I have to run the Holley boost controller right off the bat? or can I control it manually at first? I see the kit costing realistically about $2,000 all said and done.

Tomhames

iTrader: (3)

Look I don't know **** but the ecu(550-604( with harness) advertises it can control boost by time (and or gear).....or nitrous....?
Does it really need (not come with)more sensors?
Or does it just have the wires (outputs or inputs)but no sensors?

69-chvl

iTrader: (11)

With the HP and harness kit you will get the engine fired-up and running. If you want to log fuel and oil pressures, you need to buy the pressure sensors at 100.00/ea. If you want to run boost control, you need to buy another pressure sensor and a couple of solenoids at ~100.00/ea again.

Keep in mind though that the hp has only 4 inputs and 4 outputs. If you have a fan(s) you will use one of the outputs, maybe 2. Boost control uses another 2 of the outputs so after that your out of outputs. At that point you need to go dominator.

squarles67

There is a Holley forum with lots of good info as well

http://forums.holley.com/forumdisplay.php?13-Holley-EFI

I chose to go with the Dominator on my project because of the 4L80. Not far enough along to be of any help on tuning, sorry.

rpturbo

iTrader: (47)

I have been to the Holley tuning classes, and the Holley unit is a really awesome piece, but from the videos I have seen denmah make, that gold box seems to be probably equally as cool, and is a bit cheaper. As far as tuning goes, well it is a learning curve for any of it. If you don't do it a lot, you forget it, or at least I do, and I have to play with it again, to remember. I have a ton of tuning info, and it all crosses over, just in different places on the software.

1bdbrd

iTrader: (12)

I wanted to bring this up. On paper the ms3 pro does everything the dominator does for way less money. It's what I would ultimately like to go with.

3 window

iTrader: (1)

I have the Holley Hp on one car and the next one will have it as well. Very user friendly. My first install went great and after driving about 10 miles, the car ran just about perfect. Easy to overlay datalogs as previously mentioned and you can tinker all you want. Great setup. As far as switching to E85, leave the AFRs on the gas scale and add 25-30% fuel to the main table, starting fuel, and temperature enrichment tables and that'd be a good start. Very simple.