Anyone running fitech ultimate ls?

[absinthe]

Is anyone running one of the ultimate ls setups? Any issues with them? Setup, run problems?

What are your thoughts with it?

[dontlifttoshift]

No!!.....because I don't have it yet.......grrrrr

My thoughts are that it will be wonderful and absolutely the easiest way to handle an LS swap for a large amount of applications.

[Jr]

No!!.....because I don't have it yet.......grrrrr

My thoughts are that it will be wonderful and absolutely the easiest way to handle an LS swap for a large amount of applications.

I had one... and returned it. They told me to add 30-40 cubic inches to the setup (the handheld programmer) in order to run E85.

The directions were very straight forward. It should be a very easy install.

[RT_66_Pro_Touring]

Is anyone running one of the ultimate ls setups? Any issues with them? Setup, run problems?

What are your thoughts with it?

The manifold looks fantastic and I read great things about fiTech (no personal experience so take that with a grain of salt).

Performance is another matter. This is pretty much the same short runner design of Symbol Performance's fabricated manifold. In Hot Rod's test it made great peak power, but below 5,250 rpm it made less power than even the LS1 manifold.

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/20-ls1-intake-manifolds-tested/

Once again it comes down to a balance of price vs looks vs performance.

Look at the average power in your usable range. For the same price you'd be better off with a used LS6 or LS3 or for an old school look and ease of installation a dual plane with an fiTech throttle body.


If instead, you want great looking at a good price (sacrificing power) this package will fit the bill (pun intended) :lol:

[dontlifttoshift]

We are not all dialed in yet.....and it will be a while before I can get some more seat time in the car.

I put the 750hp version on a 5.3 with a cam, how's that for overkill. I really just wanted to see what we can get away with.

So far it runs good and keeps getting better. I have done very little "tuning" other than the initial setup and setting the idle. I did have to manually pull fuel from the tune in the 3000 rpm range as it would load up at part throttle and fall flat on its face when you tipped in from there. It's great on the highway, my wife drove it to Pittsburgh without issue. We are still leaving some power on the table, high load, low rpms, such as autocross launch or slow corner digs but that is improving. At the first autox passes, it couldn't get out of it's own way but by the end of the next day it was turning tires at launch......I am waiting to see how good it will get on it's own before I start making changes.

You have to buy a separate throttle cable bracket, I used one from Holley and I am 99% sure it is the exact same part. Past that, it is exactly what I expected, no more, no less. I have two more on order, with trans control, for basic LS swaps and I expect them to work just as well.

[MtotheIKEo]

I have just finished installing mine and have only taken it for a short drive around the block a couple of times so my opinion of the product at this point is only of the install. All of this is installed in a 1973 Camaro.

I got the 70001 kit, 500hp without trans control. I went with a tanks inc tank and ran new supply and return lines to the front of the car. I also used a Holley boost reference regulator to control fuel pressure. My install is on a 2002 5.3L pullout engine from a Suburban. To avoid a ton of typing I’ll just list out the pros and cons as I experienced them...

Pros:
Price point - pretty much everything in one box and it allows you to tune it yourself. I looked at stock ECU, but then you need HPtuners or something along hose lines, and a modified harness, etc...
Looks - personally I like the look of the “fabricated” intake, even if it’s not the best performing option. I will be cruising in the car, not racing it, and I don’t necessarily care that I’m leaving power on the table. The FiTech parts look good quality wise
All new harness - no dealing with old weathered plugs and wiring
Easy setup - my motor started up after a couple attempts of cranking it. And within 5 minutes of self tuning had settled into a nice idle.
Starts right up at the turn of the key every time after the initial start even though I need to do some work on adjusting the throttle blades and a vacuum leak.
Cons:
Need to buy a bracket for the throttle cable. Should be included in my opinion
Lackluster instructions - if you do some reading on the forums you can easily figure it out, but these could be improved.
Vacuum ports - located on the bottom of the intake. FiTech supplies a few NPT to hose barb fittings, but they point straight down into the valley cover. I got a couple elbows to point the barbs towards the back of the motor.
Throttle body vacuum port - FiTech supplies a 3/8 barb pointing straight out of the side of the throttle body, straight into the throttle cable. Maybe I have something setup wrong but I don’t see how this works. I need to get an elbow for that as well to connect to the valve cover port.
Wire harness - this one is a split complaint and kudos. The harness is labeled great and seems well made. But the lengths were a bit odd to me. My ECU is under the dash and I put the harness through the firewall centered above the valley plate, some wires reach perfect and others could stand to lose a foot or more of wire.
Truck water pump doesn’t work - I didn’t think it would, but their site says it will. The throttle cam hits the upper neck of the water pump.
Truck 4-port steam lines don’t fit. The intake hits the rear lines.

I’m sure I’ll think of more and try to update this thread as I get more experience. I still think this kit is a great deal for what ou get, especially if ou find a deal on a long block and just need these parts to finish it off.

[MtotheIKEo]

I’m going to change some things at a later date but I just wanted it driveable for the summer.

[Musclerodz]

Manifold is the same Chinese knock off of a Precision Manifold that everyone is selling now including Holley. Although I have not run that particular FItech unit, I have not been happy with the carb style units we have used. At first they seem great, but after awhile, we have had to fiddle with a couple of them and had to reload the software on 2 of others to fix some issues. As far as the intake, I have run 2 of those Chinese intakes before and also pulled them not only because of power losses, but they tend to "hammer" or "echo" and sounds like somethings broke because of the thin sheetmetal. They really don't work properly on small cube motors.

We installed a Holley Sniper on a ZZ502 in a Chevelle last year right before GG DFW. With zero tuning or test miles I drove it 400 miles roundtrip with zero issues. Car now has almost 3000 miles on it, and I have not touched it since I installed it. Oh, and this same customer also has one of FItech units we had trouble with on his 55 Sedan and has considered swaping it out to a Sniper.

[minendrews68]

I put a FiTech on my '68 Camaro. It was the #30002 600 HP unit. ( I believe that is the right number). I put mine on when the weather was in the teens and 20's. Had a little problem with the idling, but after a call to FiTech they helped me with some settings. I've now got about 600 miles on it and the more I drive it the better it seems to run. Most definitely one of the best purchases so far for my car.

[MtotheIKEo]

As a follow up to my above post, I now have about 500 miles on mine and so far I would say I'm satisfied. Part of me wishes I would have spent the extra $500 on a Holley HP setup, but the FiTech is doing everything that it should for the most part and I knew going in I wasn't getting a Holley level product. Some additional thoughts now that I have been driving it.
Keep in mind, this is a stock everything 2002 5.3 with 190k miles on it and a TH350. None of the motor internals have been changed, just accessories and the FiTech intake.

Motor fired right up and idled great. Throttle response was ok intially but is getting better. Working through a hanging idle.

The IAC makes a TON of noise. It is literally all you can hear at certain points. Certainly my biggest complaint with the system.

I was having a stalling issue when coming to a stop that got worse as I improved the hanging idle, and now seems to be fixed after some additional tuning. The tuning parameters aren't very well defined so it took a bit of googling to make sense of what affects what in the settings. There is a decent amount of help out there though and it continues to get better.

There is no connection to factory oil pressure sensor. Another simple addition that should have been included in my mind.

The motor fires as soon as the key is turned whether its dead cold or 200+ degrees.

[Vega$69]

The issue I see is with the shorter runner it kills low end torque.

Don't know but is it only for cable driven TB?

[MtotheIKEo]

Yes, cable driven throttle body is all that their software supports.