Recently found a used zfr for sale and could not pass it up for the price & condition of the turbo. I will be getting an estimate on the install and get the car hptuned as well. I am currently on a stock long block and stock drivetrain. I know I will have to replace the clutch, so please do not say I need that. I want to make the tune safe for my stock transmission. I know there is numerous threads on this subject, but none of them have the exact answer I am searching for. When it comes to boost ramping what is a safe rpm for full boost to come in? What boost level do you guys recommend for 1st/2nd to help maintain traction from a dig or 40 roll? And lastly what psi do you guys recommend me getting it tuned at on 93 oct to still maintain a safe set up? Would 26psi be too much? 24psi? I just need my clutch to make it through the tuning process. Ps - I am fully bolted already.

 

Traction in first and second is going to be tricky. You'd have to do ~50% torque in those gears to have traction more often than not unless you are running a sticky street radial or something.

A really conservative ramp would be something like 18 psi from spool up to 3000rpm, 20 psi by 3500, and all in by 4000. Most of the stock transmission horror stories seem to be loading up hard below 3500 with sticky tires and a grippy clutch You are pretty much inducing lag on a set up designed to spool super quickly, but since you said you got a good deal, I wont judge you on spending money for technology that you aren't using .

As far as max boost on 93 octane - 24-25 is a good place to be for longevity. The turbo will certainly make more and the block will take it for a while (ask me how I know), but for longevity sake, 24psi is a good place to be. On a good tune, you could still be high 300s/approaching 400whp at that boost. Hope this helps.

 

ZZP says nothing past 26 is recommended and id think 24-25 for longevity.

 

Have someone that tunes these cars specifically do the tune.

 

I'm tuned to 28 psi, but it stays at about 25 psi till 5k ish rpm then goes to 28.

 

I would not recommend replacing the clutch before you replace the tranny. I did and tranny went boom. A clutch is much cheaper to replace and the stock clutch will fail before the stock transmission will. Just a thought.
As for the tune I highly recommend Terminator2. He's tuned 4 different ZFR Cobalts just in our club and everyone is very happy with the power. Most are on stock tranny and some on stock clutch. Some run on 91 and some on E47.

 

My my clutch seems to have given up before the tranny. Probably the tob though, have to get it torn apart to see. Still works fine, just looses pressure after hard pulls. I'll replace clutch as well since it has to be torn apart anyway, not paying that much labor and only changing a tob.

 

Trans failures have quite a bit to do with driving style as well as tuning of course, but the driver needs to take some accountability there too.

As far as traction, good luck there. There's a very fine line between the car making enough power/torque to be fast, yet mild enough to not break a fwd vehicle loose. As long as whoever tunes you vehicle knows how to set up the tables properly to where boost isn't just an "on/off" switch, your foot should be able to control your wheel spin plenty fine off the line.

As far as peak boost and rpm. I usually recommend to not hit full boost any sooner than 4500rpm or so. I've done quite a few of these turbos and have always had great luck of balance between performance and longevity by ramping/limiting boost that way and keeping boost around the 26-27psi range at most. I think I may have a couple out there pushing closer to 28psi, but that about as far as I really feel comfortable going with these turbos, especially in a basically otherwise stock engine and drivetrain.

 

Close to 28 is where i will be, i want my money's worth out of the ZFR lol.

 

After I cranked my WG Rod I was hitting 30 psi in 2nd at around 4000 rpm. I had spark blowout and flashing CEL so I dont recommend that lol.

Terminator has me at 27 psi now, I had to replace plugs gapped at .028.

 

I bet you were even higher than 30psi tbh. Those sensors don't have much head room and cap out just about right at 30psi so you very likely made more than 30psi but didnt know it. What wg can are you running?

 

Medium Canister

 

Ok good. Just making sure.

 

Oh yes in my case I totally agree with that statement!
Mine broke at the road track on my current tune. I knew the tranny was the weakest link, but was being too much of an optimist.
The lap before it broke I managed to keep an MP4-12C behind me for just about an entire lap.
That almost made it worth it. Almost.

 

So 25 psi seems on the safer side. Full boost after 4200-4500rpm. And throttle control to keep traction. Seems easy enough. I'm taking it to a reputable tuner here in toms river nj. He tuned my car the first time on the k04 and we made some good numbers and haven't had any issues. He has tuned a couple of Balts and has vast knowledge of the efr series turbos on subies.

 

And which tranny has better gearing for dd and the zfr. 4.45 f35s or the f40 6 speed?

 

F40 easily because of the extra gear for the highway.

 

 

^^ How did 35psi feel there? lol

 

car takes it like a champ lol.

Massive wastegate flutter though.

 

Matt @ Tune Tyme?

 

It was 30 psi but at his 6000ft altitude total system pressure at 30psig (207kpa) is 289kpa (207+82). WG rod was way too loose before so I have the wg dc cranked a bit high right now but I will likely lower it a tad there.

 

you already did lower it, I have the plugs and I am putting them in tomorrow along with a new Evap purge solenoid. It was a quick WOT in 4th to show a buddy who didn't believe my bigger turbo spooled as fast as stock lol

 

4th will boost higher than 2nd or 3rd for sure. Any traction in 3rd anymore LOL?

 

It did not peg the 3 bar maps otherwise VE airflow would have spiked to 67lbs/min and it did not. It was geting right at 29-30psi max up top.