LAP3 USA Kia Stinger Tuning

[Steve O]

Those are excellent questions Stinger. I'd love to chip my GT Limited but don't want to jump HP by 36%. That'll lead to other failures. I'll be happy with a 15 or 20% bump. So 420 bhp and I'm good. I'll be modifying the suspension first. Then the chip.

 

[STINGER]

Well guys, just a quick update. We installed the LAP3 chip on the Stinger with the JUN BL Race Cat-Back (same car that ran 12.6 in the 1/4), things went well at first but we did have some problems later on.

To start, we ordered directly from LAP3 in Korea. The package arrived and did not have any diagrams or instructions, not even how to set it to the desired fuel type etc. Anyways thanks to K5optimastore.com video and other videos online I was able to figure out how to install it. Installation is very simple, literally 2 minutes.

We run our Stingers on the best pump fuel we have which is 98ron octane, this is the equivalent to 93pon "pon = Pump Octane Number" in the US. The default setting the chip came in was "6-6-6" which is the highest setting for 93pon fuel, to be safe we ran it on the lowest setting on the chip setting "7-4-4" which is for 89pon octane and ran the car on the dyno. Power went up from ~353whp to 386whp, to say the least we were quite happy.

While on the dyno we put it back to the highest setting "6-6-6" and the car pulled 410whp, the gain in torque was nuts also 463wtq.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdgAVqrHHXF/?taken-by=brc973

However it did hesitate on the top end of the powerband and threw some little pops of smoke, it sounded to me like some minor detonation. We thought it might be that the factory ECU still didn't adapt to the new setting and couldn't adapt quick enough to the additional boost, so we took it for a test drive. The car was considerably faster, but the hesitation kept getting worse.

We returned it to the lowest setting and the hesitation remained, however the more we drove it the worse it became. decided to remove the chip and the problem remained, at this stage we knew something is wrong with the car now, so we reset the ECU and no change. We checked the spark plugs and plug number 3 which is the hardest one to get to was bad, we replaced it and things are back to good now.

I was thinking if we should go with a colder plug, I know they recommend doing so when installing the chip on other KIA platforms but we didn't get any advice from LAP3 Korea.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Kazz]

By detention, I assume you mean "detonation"? That's really, really bad. If it was a spark plug that let go somehow, OK. But that would be really rare, and this is a pretty scary story. Please keep us posted!

 

[TurboTx]

We checked the spark plugs and plug number 3 which is the hardest one to get to was bad, we replaced it and things are back to good now.

I was thinking if we should go with a colder plug, I know they recommend doing so when installing the chip on other KIA platforms but we didn't get any advise from LAP3 Korea.

Let me know what you guys think.

So, you were still on the stock plugs, is that right? If so, then this proves they were serious when they said racing plugs are required with the tune.

 

[Steve O]

Anaybody try the Uncle chip?

 

[STINGER]

By detention, I assume you mean "detonation"?

Yes , fixed.

 

[STINGER]

Anaybody try the Uncle chip?

This is the Cousin, Aunt, I mean Uncle Chip.

 

[STINGER]

So, you were still on the stock plugs, is that right? If so, then this proves they were serious when they said racing plugs are required with the tune.

Yes, stock plugs. No recommendation or advice was given to change the plugs. I am hoping K8stingerstore.com can advise further.

 

[TurboTx]

Edited; shared wrong info.

 

[STINGER]

Edited; shared wrong info.

We are lucky to have a very reputable performance shop here, I asked them to have a look at the car and see if they can break the ECU and tune it. Plus, I am not really convinced with the Uncle Chip and the piggy back idea, it limits us if we want to modify the car further.

Anyways, the shop accepted to take the car and see if they can access and tune the ECU, we are taking the car Sunday and hopefully should know sometime next week if they are able to tune the car or not, if they can then you guys will have a new source for tuning. If not then we will try the Uncle Chip again with different plugs and see if we run into any problems.

Staying on the Uncle Chip subject, do we know if the Stinger plugs are the same as the Optima etc?

Anybody know what is the stock heat range of the stinger plugs?

 

[robz32]

The OEM spark plugs for the stinger are Denso FXU16HR11

Which means it has a heat range of 16 and a gap of 1.1mm. The next colder plug will be a 14 in the Denso.

A good rule of thumb is, one Heat Range colder for every 75?100hp added.

Hope this helps.

 

[K8 Stinger Store]

We have already sold around 28 LAP3 Uncle Chip Tunes for the Kia Stinger and have yet to have a single issue from any of our customers.

About 13 of the 28 we have sold have been shipped to our Australia customers.

We have also sold about 6 for the G80/G90 platform which is the same engine.

On the Kia Stinger, the stock plugs should be more than sufficient to handle the additional boost from the tune we sell.

The recommendation for the HKAS M45XL Spark Plugs are not for the Stinger, as it uses a differnt size plug.

Many times there can be isolated incidents that take place that may have nothing to do with any aftermarket parts installed.

Since this is the very first isue any of us have ever heard of, let's not jump the gun and make any assumptions as to what could be the cause of the issue.

Keep us posted as to what the shops says when you take it in on Sunday.

 

[STINGER]

The OEM spark plugs for the stinger are Denso FXU16HR11

Which means it has a heat range of 16 and a gap of 1.1mm. The next colder plug will be a 14 in the Denso.

A good rule of thumb is, one Heat Range colder for every 75?100hp added.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info, I believe the higher the number with Denso the colder.

Do you know this is the equivalent of what heat range in NGK, 5 or 6 maybe?

(Update) Ok, answer for comparison below.

https://www.ngk.com/learning-center/article/225/heat-range-conversion-chart

A 5 heat range from my experience on even a stock turbo car is kinda low, probably going with one step colder on even a stock Stinger will result in an improvement.

 

[STINGER]

We have already sold around 28 LAP3 Uncle Chip Tunes for the Kia Stinger and have yet to have a single issue from any of our customers.

About 13 of the 28 we have sold have been shipped to our Australia customers.

We have also sold about 6 for the G80/G90 platform which is the same engine.

On the Kia Stinger, the stock plugs should be more than sufficient to handle the additional boost from the tune we sell.

The recommendation for the HKAS M45XL Spark Plugs are not for the Stinger, as it uses a differnt size plug.

Many times there can be isolated incidents that take place that may have nothing to do with any aftermarket parts installed.

Since this is the very first isue any of us have ever heard of, let's not jump the gun and make any assumptions as to what could be the cause of the issue.

Keep us posted as to what the shops says when you take it in on Sunday.

Thanks for the reply, at this stage do you have a spark plug upgrade for the Stinger?

 

[K8 Stinger Store]

Thanks for the reply, at this stage do you have a spark plug upgrade for the Stinger?

Welcome. As of now we do not, as we have come to realize that the plugs in the Stinger are much better quality than the plugs used on the Optima.

I don't think there is a need to upgrade the plugs when running the LAP3 Uncle Chip Tune we sell.

LAP3/PROSS in Korea tunes them using the stock plugs and states the factory plugs are more than sufficient to be used.

If there is a quality HKS or NGK plug you guys find that works better for the application, let us know and we can look into stocking them.

 

[Bubbabiker]

Also it's a good idea with a tune (read higher boost than stock) is set the plug's gap on the tight side. Or even a few thousandth under spec.

 

[sbrownnw]

Also it's a good idea with a tune (read higher boost than stock) is set the plug's gap on the tight side. Or even a few thousandth under spec.

Is the Uncle Chip actually increasing boost? Interesting if it is. A fouled plug could be bad / incorrectly labeled / lower octane than advertised gas. How easy is it to test the rating of gas?

 

[VegasStinger]

Is the Uncle Chip actually increasing boost? Interesting if it is. A fouled plug could be bad / incorrectly labeled / lower octane than advertised gas. How easy is it to test the rating of gas?

I believe that's what it does is increase the boost.

 

[STINGER]

Is the Uncle Chip actually increasing boost? Interesting if it is. A fouled plug could be bad / incorrectly labeled / lower octane than advertised gas. How easy is it to test the rating of gas?

The chip increases the boost roughly ~3psi.

 

[K8 Stinger Store]

Is the Uncle Chip actually increasing boost?

I believe that's what it does is increase the boost.

Yes absolutely, it increases the HP, and in exchange increases the boost.