xfi F.A.S.T.

W

wmerrell

Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2010
When do you move from a stock ecm to a FAST system?
My car is back together after an "expert" tuner detonated my brand new Weber built long block and blew the head gasket.
He blamed the GN's electrical system.
Do not want a repeat of this and considering moving to a FAST system.
 
wmerrell said:
When do you move from a stock ecm to a FAST system?
My car is back together after an "expert" tuner detonated my brand new Weber built long block and blew the head gasket.
He blamed the GN's electrical system.
Do not want a repeat of this and considering moving to a FAST system.
Click to expand...

The FAST is only as good as the man behind the laptop.


Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
 
[quote="Buy from Cal...Have an expierenced shop install...Let Cal tune...Piece of mind will follow."/quote]

Amen to that!
 
You can move to an XFI anytime.
But, you would be using the same electrical system you had with the stock ECM, unless you run a whole new harness.
And, if no one monitors the knock, the same thing can happen again.

It all comes down to the user and the tuner, and what works best for them.

Sometimes I send people to Cal for an XFI, sometimes he sends people to me for a chip.:)

Eric
 
For a more quantitative answer my personal opinion is that given a competent careful tuner if you are a regular racer and plan on steadily getting faster and want predictability, reproducibility, and safety, think about switching around 11.0 and definitely do it by 10.50 so you have time to learn while mistakes may not cost you a head gasket or worse. That lets you focus on racing more than tuning as weather and traction change. If you mostly drive in street trim (high 11's to 12's) and have your tuner with you for the very occasional max effort strip pass to get a number to talk about, you could dip into the 9's with a chip if you insist and never go to an aftermarket ecu. Yes there are lots of people who have gone low 10's on chips, and a good number into the 9's, but in my experience they are both heroic and skillful tuners more than they are racers winning rounds. I know that I hardly post anymore so most current members probably don't remember me, but take this for what it's worth, from someone who has spent years both making chips for myself and a few friends and watching a lot of people start with a stock car and then start down that slippery slope of faster!, faster! :) YMMV, IMHO, etc :)
 
Great information.
The GN is not caged nor are there plans to go this route.
The goal is to turn in a 10.99 once and then have a 11.5 driver.
Thanks,
Bill
 
That sucks. Any logs from tuning?

Switch to a xfi when you have mastered tuning with the stock ecm.

I'm to the point where I could switch but figure why waste the money, my car runs great and consistent.

It all comes down to 3 things. Fuel, timing and boost. It does not matter what's controlling it as long as the job is getting done. ;)


Try and find out what the problem really was. Specifically what failed. A more likely cause for this is a vacuum/boost line popping off the fpr or boost line popping of waste gate. Get to the bottom of why it happened.

HTH

Rick
 
Hi Rick,
Those are my thoughts. Find the problem.
Had a wideband installed and car would not start.
Problem was a bad terminal on the ecm fuse.
Replaced terminal and now car starts.
Tired of throwing parts at the car.
A couple of "tuners" want me to buy a xfi FAST system.
Performance goals are a 10.99 once and then have a 11.5 driver.
Needed to find out if a xfi FAST system is necessary for my goals as I do not plan to cage the car.
Thanks,
Bill
 
wmerrell said:
Hi Rick,
Those are my thoughts. Find the problem.
Had a wideband installed and car would not start.
Problem was a bad terminal on the ecm fuse.
Replaced terminal and now car starts.
Tired of throwing parts at the car.
A couple of "tuners" want me to buy a xfi FAST system.
Performance goals are a 10.99 once and then have a 11.5 driver.
Needed to find out if a xfi FAST system is necessary for my goals as I do not plan to cage the car.
Thanks,
Bill
Click to expand...


Bill, IMO you can achieve your goals with a stock ecm no problem. My car is a 10 sec ride with stock ecm. ;)
 
would like to go xfi FAST but the parts are 2k.
Really didn't budget for the extra expenditures.
Maybe a change in goals is in order.
Car ran a 12 second quarter at 111 with old set up.
 
Do you have a powerlogger? Or scanmaster?

Was the car being tuned on street or dyno when the hg blew? Is there any data?

How much boost and timing was it running?

Alky injection?

What heads and gaskets? And what cylinder blew?

Rick
 
TurboBuRick said:
Do you have a powerlogger? Or scanmaster?

Was the car being tuned on street or dyno when the hg blew? Is there any data?

How much boost and timing was it running?

Alky injection?

What heads and gaskets? And what cylinder blew?

Rick
Click to expand...

Hi Rick,
The car was on a dyno with Champion iron ported heads when the number 4 cyclinder gasket blew the Victor Reintz head gasket at 22 lbs of boost on race gas due to detonation.
There is no data as the tuner said he doesn't keep it (lie?).
Thanks,
Bill
 
As much as i like an XFI on anything (and it wouldnt hurt) your goals can be reached with a chip i all your ducks are in a row. IE.. Timing,fuel pump, alky pump, ignition system.....
I doubtThe 2K price tag on the XFI would include tuning it also.
 
All that happened was a blown head gasket? I know that it's not great news but I bet I have blown head gaskets with the same heads on the same block at least 10 times on my road to running 6.40's in the 1/8. Over 14 years of destruction. My personal learning curves. Most all of them were before I switched to studs over bolts. Felpro vs. victors vs. cometics. Adhesive sprays, overtorquing, playing with torque to yield bolts, intake gaskets, bent valves and pushrods. On my 4th Maf , 3rd ecm, 4th set of injectors (55 to 72 to 83 ) would like to step up to a pair of 96's. Red's, ESP and Precision chips and several custom chips. It may be very tough to find someone on this board that has not blown a head gasket in the pursuit of MORE! Oh back on topic.... my street car (109) will never have an XFI but my stage car has an aftermaket ECU.
 
Yea, having Victor Reintz head gaskets probably saved other possible damage.
Car was under 22 lbs of boost when it detonated with 18-21 degrees of timing.
Getting pressure from a couple of tuners to go xfi FAST.
 
I'm in the same situation. My car is probably mid 11's as is but I'd like to see a 10.99 once. On the edge about whether XFI is "needed", but tuners are highly recommending it. What about Eric's new speed density/powerlogger upgrade vs XFI. Would that be a fair compromise?
 
I have friends running TT chips and Powerloggers and they run mid 10's every week. The new SD chips should be real nice. Don't know if my buddies will jump to them or not.
I have XFI, but only because of the amount I have invested in my build.


Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
 
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