A guy I know from another automotive forum works for a company that does dyno tuning. They just got a beta release of the software that allows them to custom modify the engine management code in Holden's Alloy Tech V6, otherwise known as GM's HFV6.

To test the software, he decided to play with his wife's Commodore VZ Ute (fitted with a stock, base level 175kw/230 hp engine). Rolled onto the dyno, with its stock engine management settings, it produced 167 rear wheel HP running on 91 octane (that's 91 RON octane, roughly the same as 87 RON+MON/2 octane available in the US).

He then proceeded to play with the software to change the fuel and ignition, and later tweaked the cam timing. By the time he stopped playing, still running on the same 91 octane fuel, the car was producing 191 rw hp. It was pretty much a smooth 15% power gain over the entire rev range. It is expected that when the final software is released with the full feature set enabled, it will allow them to gain more power.

His wife loves the results, and reports that it's a lot smoother at the lower rpms, and no longer shakes at idle.

red line is stock

blue line is fuel and ignition changed only

green line is cam timing adjusted to suit

There is a down side to the HFV6. The general impression with these engines from people that are trying to re-work them for performance applications is that when it comes to getting big power, the heads will be the biggest problem. The ports are too small, and the castings are so thin, that opening the ports is not an option. It is generally considered that unless a new set of heads are produced, the older 3.8 litre Buick V6 has more tuning potential and will produce more power.

So... if I read this right... he got it up to around the 255-260 mark that the CTS already had?

This was his first attempt to tweak things with Beta level software.

The VZ series Holdens are pretty conservatively tuned (not much advance, a rich fuel mix and hair trigger detonation detectors). This week he's supposed to be getting a 190kW/250HP VZ version to play with. The estimates are that with the next gen software and running on the available 98 RON octane fuel, 250 rw HP is an easy goal.

The current VE series have 180kw/235HP as the base engine and 195kw/255HP optional.