Intro to my XLR aspirations

[WVsunnydays]

Hello Everyone:

I'm new to XLR Net and just wanted to introduce myself. I have a plain Jane 2006 XLR in platinum. Since I live in WV, it gets garaged from late October until mid May like many other XLR owners do. I've always liked to get more performance out of my engines, so I put a Volant CAI and Corsa exhaust system on the car in 2010. It's been a real experience trying to get correct information on modifying this 4.6 L Northstar beyond that. I talked to the folks at CHR Fabricators out in CA about sending the heads with cams to them to be reworked but they said don't waste the money because the ECU could not be reprogrammed to accommodate the increased airflow, etc. I then talked to Lyndon (a super guy) at Wester's Garage in Tilley, Alberta. Lyndon has developed software to program certain XLR OBD II ECU's. Well, that was encouraging. Since I grew up in Cleveland and lived in Akron, OH for 15 years before moving to West Virginia, I called Big Shot Dyno in Hudson, OH. They said they could Dyno tune my XLR but I'd have to wait until their expert programmer from Pittsburgh was there. We never seemed to be able to connect. Then while surfing the net for Northstar performance modifications, I came across Performance Research in Columbus, OH. Great people and very helpful if I brought the engine to them to build, so that wasn't a fit. Then BINGO, I came across Smokey's Dyno in Akron, OH. My dream come true. I talked to Elliott at Smokey"s and he was the man who brought it all together. They have Dyno tuned XLR's and XLR-V's, so mine gets Dyno tuned on July 8, 2014. Smokey's thinks they can get about 300 HP at the rear wheels with my present set up. That would be a great start and we'll go from there. I'll let you know how this goes.

WVsunnydays

P.S. Smokey's says, next winter, I can take my XLR to them to pull the heads and have them reworked along with the cam shafts and fuel injectors. They will bolt it back together and Dyno tune it.

 

[Rob]

Welcome to the XLR Net!

 

[ald42]

Welcome and good luck w/your engine mods!, Al

 

[graytoad]

Welcome and my I repeat ald42's sentiments: Good luck with your mods! Let us know they dyno before & after results and what else they do to achieve that!

 

[Phrede]

Hello Everyone:

I'm new to XLR Net and just wanted to introduce myself. I have a plain Jane 2006 XLR in platinum. Since I live in WV, it gets garaged from late October until mid May like many other XLR owners do. I've always liked to get more performance out of my engines, so I put a Volant CAI and Corsa exhaust system on the car in 2010. It's been a real experience trying to get correct information on modifying this 4.6 L Northstar beyond that. I talked to the folks at CHR Fabricators out in CA about sending the heads with cams to them to be reworked but they said don't waste the money because the ECU could not be reprogrammed to accommodate the increased airflow, etc. I then talked to Lyndon (a super guy) at Wester's Garage in Tilley, Alberta. Lyndon has developed software to program certain XLR OBD II ECU's. Well, that was encouraging. Since I grew up in Cleveland and lived in Akron, OH for 15 years before moving to West Virginia, I called Big Shot Dyno in Hudson, OH. They said they could Dyno tune my XLR but I'd have to wait until their expert programmer from Pittsburgh was there. We never seemed to be able to connect. Then while surfing the net for Northstar performance modifications, I came across Performance Research in Columbus, OH. Great people and very helpful if I brought the engine to them to build, so that wasn't a fit. Then BINGO, I came across Smokey's Dyno in Akron, OH. My dream come true. I talked to Elliott at Smokey"s and he was the man who brought it all together. They have Dyno tuned XLR's and XLR-V's, so mine gets Dyno tuned on July 8, 2014. Smokey's thinks they can get about 300 HP at the rear wheels with my present set up. That would be a great start and we'll go from there. I'll let you know how this goes.

WVsunnydays

P.S. Smokey's says, next winter, I can take my XLR to them to pull the heads and have them reworked along with the cam shafts and fuel injectors. They will bolt it back together and Dyno tune it.

I'm interested in how it goes. I'm looking for a tuner as well. I know of Wait4ME in Warsaw, IN. However, that is 4.5 hours for me.

 

[XFireXLR]

Welcome aboard!!!!!

 

[mtrocket]

Glad to have you aboard the finest XLR forum on the Internet. I also say good luck with your mods!!!

 

[hawkeye372]

Yes welcome


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jimkroeker]

Welcome WV

Welcome to the forum. Looking forward to hearing about your reworking success. Mine is running pretty good right now so l think l'll leave it be and just enjoy it as is. lf it has to be opened up for some reason though, l may consider some tweaking. lt isn't as if l need to go faster or anything. Ya know?

Jim

 

[onalaska]

Welcome. Glad to have you aboard. Apparently the 4.4L XLR-V is easier to tune than the 4.6L in the XLR. Jesse at Wait4me tuned my XLR-V and I am very happy with the results. Better performance and it still gets 28 MPG at 75 MPH!

 

[WVsunnydays]

Dyno Results

Welcome and my I repeat ald42's sentiments: Good luck with your mods! Let us know they dyno before & after results and what else they do to achieve that!

I took my 2006 XLR to Smokey's Dyno in Akron, OH on 7/8/14. They mistakenly told me that they could dyno tune my 2006 XLR. After setting my XLR up on the wheel dyno and doing a base line pull, they discovered that they couldn't get into my ECU. Whoops, what do you mean? I drove 4.5 hours to get here and you tell me you can't dyno tune my car like you said.

Here's what I learned. Smokey's Dyno uses HP Tuners VCM Suite software to reprogram the ECU. Unfortunately, the HP Tuners software only supports the 2006 - 2009 XLR-V and the 2007 - 2009 XLR. Since I don't have a 2006 XLR-V, they couldn't reprogram my ECU. Well, maybe it's not as bad as it sounds because from the base line dyno pulls, they probably couldn't squeeze much more blood out of my XLR turnip. But my aspirations of turning this engine into a beast are shot. I'm stuck with a whimpy 277 HP and 272 lb. ft torque at the rear wheels as shown on my base line pull. The air/fuel ratio looked pretty decent. My XLR does have a Corsa exhaust and Volant CAI for what that's worth.


The dyno results are shown in the attachments below.

 

[WVsunnydays]

You are correct

Welcome. Glad to have you aboard. Apparently the 4.4L XLR-V is easier to tune than the 4.6L in the XLR. Jesse at Wait4me tuned my XLR-V and I am very happy with the results. Better performance and it still gets 28 MPG at 75 MPH!

Yes, you're right, the 06-09 XLR-V can be reprogrammed with HP Tuners software. Only the 07-09 4.6 L can be reprogrammed. I also talked extensively with Lyndon at Wester's Garage in Tilley, Alberta. He has also developed software to tune most XLR's and XLR-V's but not my 2006.

 

[onalaska]

I wonder if you can put a 2007 or later ECU in a 2004 - 2006 and then have the ability to program it? There may have been other changes in the electrical system to prevent this, but it sounds like the only possible alternative short of buying a later model.

 

[PAK XLR8]

Reprogramming the older base models

I wonder if you can put a 2007 or later ECU in a 2004 - 2006 and then have the ability to program it? There may have been other changes in the electrical system to prevent this, but it sounds like the only possible alternative short of buying a later model.

I ran into a similar problem with D3 in California - they could not crack the code on my 2005.

I ended up sending my ECM and TCM to PCM Performance for the upgrade (I had to do this anyway, to calibrate the speedometer with a rear end gear ratio swap to 3.42). I requested a "hot tune" with higher shift points and firmer shifts (along with the speedo changes). I have the Volant CAI and performance exhaust also.

The difference was very noticeable, but I did not want to pay for the dyno, before and after, to get the actual results. I can tell you that, bang for the buck, this was the best $600 I spent on my upgrades to get a little more juice out of the 4.6 With the new rear end, the car chirps the tires shifting from first to second, and I can do 0 to 60 in under 5 seconds.

Talk to Alex at 917-825-9069, or e-mail him at programmer@PCMperformance.com He is located in NY. www.pcmperformance.com

BTW, when you get the "hot tune" the ECM expects 93 or better octane for full performance. I add octane booster - the best I can find - to get at least that much. If you use a lesser octane, the ECM will retard the timing, and you will not get the full benefit of the "hot tune".

Good luck!

Paul

 

[WVsunnydays]

Maybe There's Still Hope

I ran into a similar problem with D3 in California - they could not crack the code on my 2005.

I ended up sending my ECM and TCM to PCM Performance for the upgrade (I had to do this anyway, to calibrate the speedometer with a rear end gear ratio swap to 3.42). I requested a "hot tune" with higher shift points and firmer shifts (along with the speedo changes). I have the Volant CAI and performance exhaust also.

The difference was very noticeable, but I did not want to pay for the dyno, before and after, to get the actual results. I can tell you that, bang for the buck, this was the best $600 I spent on my upgrades to get a little more juice out of the 4.6 With the new rear end, the car chirps the tires shifting from first to second, and I can do 0 to 60 in under 5 seconds.

Talk to Alex at 917-825-9069, or e-mail him at programmer@PCMperformance.com He is located in NY. www.pcmperformance.com

BTW, when you get the "hot tune" the ECM expects 93 or better octane for full performance. I add octane booster - the best I can find - to get at least that much. If you use a lesser octane, the ECM will retard the timing, and you will not get the full benefit of the "hot tune".

Good luck!

Paul

Paul, thank you for the information about PCM Performance. This forum is a gold mine of information and I am greatly appreciative of other members like you who are willing to share their knowledge with me.

I went to the PCM Performance website and it does show they can reprogram the 2004 - 2006 XLR 4.6L (LH2) with a Siemens TCM and an E22 ECM. If I'm not mistaken, my 2006 XLR is the same as yours and now I see why it cost $650 because they have to reprogram two modules instead of one. I didn't realize this until your reply. This is also probably why there won't be any software for the dyno tuners to use on the 2004 - 2006 4.6L XLR's.

Like one of the other Forum member has suggested, I'm also considering selling mine and plowing the money back into a 2006 or 2007 XLR-V. When I got mine new, I was a little afraid that the "V" engine might not be as serviceable as the 4.6L engine, plus it cost about $30,000 more. Now they're almost a dime a dozen like the regular XLR's and it looks fairly cost effective to get a "V" instead of trying to tweak mine.

Thanks again,
Rick

 

[WVsunnydays]

Update to my XLR aspirations

First of all, thanks to everyone for their comments and encouragement on my dreams of making a beast out of my 2006 XLR. After talking to Alex at PCM Performance, he didn't feel comfortable reprogramming my ECM for the modifications that I wanted to make to the 4.6 liter Northstar engine. Since it looks next to impossible to modify the 2004 - 2006 XLR with the 4.6 Northstar and reprogram the ECM, the simplest solution was to buy a 2006 XLR-V, which I did on August 13, 2014. I bought it out of Texas and had it shipped to WV for $600. (I had a very good experience having the car shipped because I got a grasp of how the auto shipping brokers work with the transport companies. If any of you other XLR owners need some guidance, I'd be glad to provide it.)

Anyway, now I have a 2006 light platinum "V" with a black interior, which by the way is identical to my 2006 XLR 4.6 Northstar. I pulled the Corsa off of my 4.6 Northstar and converted it back to stock except for the Volant CAI. By the way, my 4.6 Northstar with the Corsa on it sounded absolutely great and I can feel the decrease in performance since I've removed it. I'm planning on putting the Corsa on my XLR-V and will go with at least the D3 Stage I CAI to start. But again, I may go wild and install both the D3 Stage I and II CAI and "Y" manifold. I would appreciate any comments on performance from other Forum members who have installed the D3 intake components. I do plan on having the "V" dyno tuned on a wheel dyno at Smokeys Dyno in Akron, OH. I'll be putting my 2006 XLR 4.6 Northstar up for sale shortly.

As for the Corsa, I've read "Popbigguy's" 11/26/2007 post on installing a "Corsa on a V" with great interest. I'm hoping to avoid buying the C6 Corvette "H" pipe kit (14166) from Corsa like Pop did. (Thanks Pop for the great post.) Since West Virginia is home of the original shade tree mechanic, there must be a way to fabricate a stainless steel hanger to modify the Corsa 14156 "H" pipe to hang on the 2006 "V".

I'll let everyone know how things go as I venture into this new project.

 

[airmike]

I put the D3 cai and tune on my xlr-v and love it. It sounds fantastic now if you like to hear the supercharger whine and the air intake sound. The performance is noticeable as well. I can't give you a number, for that, but I'm sure you have read D3 site. You also might consider the mild to wild before you install that corsa. You could compare that way, vs just changing.

 

[GizmoQ]

First of all, thanks to everyone for their comments and encouragement on my dreams of making a beast out of my 2006 XLR.

I'm planning on putting the Corsa on my XLR-V and will go with at least the D3 Stage I CAI to start. But again, I may go wild and install both the D3 Stage I and II CAI and "Y" manifold. I would appreciate any comments on performance from other Forum members who have installed the D3 intake components. I do plan on having the "V" dyno tuned on a wheel dyno at Smokeys Dyno in Akron, OH.

I am no expert, but it sounds like you have a good plan: D3 stage I & II with a dyno tune. Whatever you do don't waste your $600 on the D3 performance chip they try to sell with the intakes. The dyno tune is the better method.

 

[CNC]

Welcome

Welcome to the site. Interesting stuff on a potential super tune. Obviously not too successful on an 06' like mine.

Charles