Lethal’s GT500 gets a VMP Custom Tune!
After adding the JLT Carbon Fiber High Flow intake on our GT500 it was time for a tune. In fact when adding any cold air intake on a GT500 a tune is required. The reason for this is the MAF systems on the 05+ Mustangs is very sensitive. If you were to install a high flow intake on a GT500 without a tune the car will immediately put itself into failsafe mode and won’t run properly.
So we looked to our good friend Justin Starkey from VMP Custom Tuning to hook our baby up with a high performance tune. Justin is one of the most recognized modular tuners in the industry. His extensive training with SCT and years of hands on dyno tuning has taken him to the top of the list for custom tuning. Justin owns a custom Dyno-Jet mobile dyno which he takes around the country to different events and dyno days to tune many different cars. He’s also got a tuning facility in Debary, FL which is where he does extensive testing on customers vehicles as well as his own.
What’s great about Justin is that he’s a GT500 owner as well. Taking the time to test each and every intake, pulley and even the all new Ford Racing TVS blower he’s got a huge database of tune files for all. With that said there’s no questioning why we had Justin tune our own GT500.
After installing the JLT Intake on the car all we had to do was download the tune file that Justin sent us through email and put it onto our SCT Xcalibrator 3. From there all we did was plug the tuner in under the dash and followed the simple instructions to flash the vehicle with Justin’s custom tune. All in all it was a 5 minute process. When we finished uploading the tune to the car we turned the key on and fired her up. The car started without any issues and idled perfectly. As I took the car down the block I could hear the sound of air being sucked into the JLT intake and the sweet sounds that the supercharger makes was much more noticeable. I took the car out of my community and took a nice cruise with her taking it real easy allowing the computer to recognize the new tune and adjust the the amount of air it was now breathing. It was a cool night out and I knew that once I got on it she would scream but since this was my first time in a tuned GT500 with a high flow intake I had no idea what a difference it would make. We had been told that a JLT intake and tune was good for about 80rwhp but up until that point that was a hard number to digest. I mean how could a car get 80rwhp from just an intake and tune?? Well I found out how once I mashed the pedal. The car just took off like it was a different car then before. Way more aggressive and the power change felt amazing.
Our true test was to take the car to the track. If you’ve been following our track outings our best time so far was an 11.90@117mph. This was done on a real good night with air temps in the low 40’s. Our first night at the track with the intake and tune however wasn’t ideal for record times as it was humid and in the mid 70’s. None the less we were able to pull off an 11.84@118.XX. Still not a true test to how much the intake and tune helped but it was a start. Our next trip out however yielded us a 11.73@119 which again was done in warmer weather. The temps that night were in the 70’s and it was still quite humid.
We wanted one more shot at some times with just the intake and tune. Still running the stock exhaust, pulley and suspension. The only changes made were a DSS 3.5″ Aluminum Driveshaft and a Steeda Tri-Ax shifter. This night was the first race of the 2008 Mustang Challenge and we wanted to show everyone how well the car ran since we sponsor the event. We did just that by running an 11.71@108.XX. Looking at that time you’ll say what happened to our MPH and you’ll be amazed to know that the 11.71 was done while braking through the traps. That’s right braking through the traps!! We were trying to advance to the next round of the braket race event and we were going to breakout so our driver chose to ride the brake which took us to the next round and still left us with our best 1/4 mile time so far. We were cutting consistent 1.75 60ft times with an awesome 1.73 60ft for that 11.71 run.
All in all the results were amazing. If we only had some cooler weather we definitely feel that 11.50’s were in our forecast.
So if you’re looking to take the next step in modifying your GT500 and want the ultimate performance you’ll definitely want it to be tuned by Justin@VMP Tuning. Just to let you know Justin is our exclusive tuner for all of our custom GT500 and 05+ Mustang tuning packages! Check out some of our custom tuned packages all offered with Justin’s tunes!
January 24th, 2008
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