Tuning, tuning, tuning... seems like all you hear about is tuning these days. I grew up with carb's and never really did understand them. We used to just bolt on some parts and things got faster. Not much faster, just faster. I can't read a plug or rejet a carb.

This new stuff is easy. Kind of expensive, but easy. Just buy the tools, do some research on the net, and then start programing. The tuning tools consist of EFILIVE scan tool, FJO wide band and LS1EDIT to program with.

I am no expert, but from what I have been able to figure out, there are no great tuning secrets. Basic tuning is nothing more than getting the a/f ratio and timing right. First step is get on the net and find out what are your targets. I do nearly all of my research at LS1TECH.com. They have all of the answers. For my set up some where around 11.8/1 a/f ratio is the target, and for timing something above 15deg.
The people at LS1TECH tell me 11.8 is ideal and 11.5-12 is OK. Anything above 12.5 is unsafe and below 11.5 is loosing power. Here is a wideband screen shot from my 10.91 run. Other than that spike part way through 1st gear, I am right where I wanted to be. To adjust the a/f ratio you make a run to see where it needs work, then use ls1edit to reprogram. Make another run, and adjust some more. Every time you make changes to your set up you have to recheck the fueling and adjust if needed. Fueling is probably one of the easiest things to work on.
10.91fjo pic
Now on to timing. Below is a screen shot from efilive. It is a very useful tool. When your running boost or nitrous (in my case both), you have to avoid preignition. Just a small amount will quickly kill a stock motor, and even take out a built motor. The scan tool looks at the factory knock sensors to listen for knock. You can see where the computer was picking up a little knock at the top of 2nd gear. After looking at all of my logs, I finally figured out the motor will just show knock above 6400rpm. I am pretty sure the valves are floating and making some extra noise. I need to shift sooner, it seems. In my truck the difference between 10deg and 15deg is tons of power, 15deg seems pretty safe. Anything above 15deg is a bit of a gamble, if I am running the scan tool and watching for knock I will go a little higher.
10.91 efilive

Here is another screen shot. This is real knock. With an open down pipe (loud) I could actually hear several pings.
knockefilive
There is more to tuning than fuel and timing, but not all that much more. If you don't mind reading you can find all the answers on the net. Stuff like how to tune for a large cam, and get it to idle and start well.

There is one more tool I like to use, the gtechPro. There are many things this unit will do, but I will just show you one of them. Here is a screen shot charting the horsepower during my 10.91 run. You can see the power falling off hard at about 7sec. By switching to another screen you can see that is right at the top of 2nd gear. The power picks right back up after the shift. This tool will tell you when to shift. If the power is higher after the shift then you shifted too late. If it is lower then you shifted too soon.

From these screen shots I can see right now there is some ET to be gained be shifting sooner into 3rd. It will keep me out of knock, and keep me in the power. The gtech isn't perfect, but it seems to be very consistant. For my truck it is off by 0.3sec in the 1/4, and never more than 0.01sec for my 60'.
1091gtech screen shot