Being a truck fanatic who loves to go fast and happens to own a Chevy S-10, adding a supercharger to the stock 4.3L was a no-brainer when it all came together. Superchargers are great and can add gobs of power to an otherwise factory-equipped truck. Herein lies the problem, supercharger + no computer tune = little to no horsepower gain. This was the case on my '01 Chevy S-10 as I ran the truck on a dyno when I installed the AEM Brute Force Intake where the truck laid down a very respectable 171 hp to the wheels. Fast forward a year and the truck was strapped down to the Superior Automotive dyno, this time equipped with a Vortech SC-series centrifugal supercharger complete with a smaller 9-pound serpentine pulley, a high-flow T-Rex inline fuel pump, and a reflashed ECU. After smashing the throttle, the dyno chart showed 156 hp. Sure, different dynamometers read differently, but a decrease of 15 hp, how could this be? Talking to dozens of other S-10 owners, tuning seems to be the missing piece of the horsepower puzzle.
Strapped onto the Superior...
Strapped onto the Superior Automotive dyno in Anaheim, California, the untuned supercharged 4.3L laid down an embarrassing 156 hp. If you have experienced let downs like this on your truck, a tune should be in your future.
The revelation that my truck was in desperate need of some tuning sent me straight to Ida Automotive, one of the United States distributors for Perfect Power. Ida Automotive is the same company that built the Ford F-150 project named "Frightning," a 1,000 hp, twin-turbo V-8 truck that could smoke just about anything on the road. Talking with owner Bob Ida on the phone, we discussed several tuning options and agreed that the Perfect Power SMT-6 piggy-back computer was the way to go. The SMT-6 has the ability to tune almost any engine and has three separate maps: fuel, timing, and ignition, with the capability to fire extra injectors, nitrous, or other performance accessories.
Using Windows-based software, the SMT-6 is easy to use and can be installed by someone familiar with tuning.
Discussing fuel issues with Bob revealed Ida Automotive's capability to weld a bung onto the Vortech aluminum intake hat. This bung would house two extra injectors (fired by the SMT-6 under boost) that would fire right into the oncoming air from the supercharger. Remedying the lean issue, fuel would now be free flowing and power might actually be made. I contacted Edelbrock for a pair of its 27 lb/hr Pico-style injectors that would fit the machined bung perfectly. With each piece of the puzzle obtained, it was time to find someone I could trust to tune the V-6. I looked no further than Shawn Ellis of SoCal Tuning who had tuned several diesel trucks we knew and made serious power with some computer wizardry. Using Superior Automotive's dyno facility in Anaheim, California, we were able to plug the Perfect Power pigtail cable right into Sean's laptop and begin the tuning. How did it turn out? Read on
Starting off the install before...
Starting off the install before we arrived at Superior Automotive, we installed the Perfect Power SMT-6 digital processor. Among its many features, the SMT-6 can handle superchargers, turbos, nitrous, multiple ignition boxes, and other accessories requiring a vacuum-assisted 12-volt signal. For the tight confines of this engine bay, we removed the wiper motor (no wipers anyways) and then mounted the small processor box on the firewall. The SMT-6 kit also included a pigtail cable to plug into a PC laptop.
Here are wires prior to being...
Here are wires prior to being cleaned up. As you can see, we labeled each color-coordinated wire to correspond with the stock ECU wiring. Ida Automotive, supplier of Perfect Power products, supplied a wiring schematic just for the 2001 S-10 with 4.3L so that there would be no second-guessing of the wiring.
A requirement with the SMT-6...
A requirement with the SMT-6 kit is the use of a 2 bar (28 psi) MAP sensor. By tapping into the MAP sensor, the SMT-6 can instantly determine when boost is occurring and activate the necessary triggered accessory (in our case, two extra fuel injectors). Whereas '01 S-10s didn't come with a MAP sensor, the two-bar unit was included in the Vortech supercharger kit and senses boost from the T'd stock vacuum hoses.