S58 WITH PUMP 93OCT:

STOCK S58 WITH FLEXFUEL:

MAP POWER LEVEL VS ETHANOL CONTENT

Our direct injection calibrations typically make peak power in the E45-E55 range to take full advantage of the octane of ethanol and we may adjust this range for each car depending on goals. Power is reduced at high ethanol contents to stay within the mechanical limits of the direct injection only OEM fuel system. If fuel system upgrades are added, this limitation is removed.

PORT INJECTION

There are 3 primary benefits when adding port injection compared with as stock DI (Direct Injection) setup:

1. You can run high ethanol blends up to 98% which has much higher octane than a typical 50% ethanol blend
2. We can run richer air/fuel mixtures which are much safer than leaner combustion levels of DI only, max effort calibrations
3. More power as we can make up to 780whp when fully pushed on an optimal car with good air, good hardware, and good density altitude. Most cars typically in the 750whp range. Both of these numbers are risking rod bending on any calibration.

All three of the above advantages come with PI because the limitations of the stock DI system is alleviated by adding a PI system.

PORT INJECTION - CONSERVATIVE CALIBRATION

BASIC HARDWARE CONSIDERATIONS

When running the stock DI (direct injection only) fuel system, maximum power is achieved in the E50-E60 range. There are a couple caveats worth mentioning when running a max effort stock fuel system tune: 1) Exhaust cam tracking may display some inconsistency. 2) Achieving these higher numbers requires running a leaner, more aggressive mixture.

Adding PI completely alleviates both of the above issues. It allows maximum power on full E98.

Intakes: Avoid hot air engine bay intakes; utilize cool front mount intakes or sealed airbox intakes that receive cooler air from the front of the car. Higher flowing intake setups with improved inlets have the highest potential to make the most power since the pressure drop is much lower so the turbos don’t have to work as hard to flow. Top tier setups currently: AMS (with closed tops) and Eventuri intakes which include high flow inlets. Adding Eventuri scoops will also improve performance slightly at speed believe it or not due to a slight ram air effect when the turbos are being pushed to the end of their effective compressor maps.

Exhaust: Higher flow setups can yield more power potential; a top tier setup is the IRL Modular V2 midpipe as one key item.

We recommend the best because we like to avoid situations like this where a client had very underwhelming results; and we removed the restrictive exhaust from the equation and gained 30whp across the whole powerband:

HPFP AND DI INJECTOR UPGRADES?

We’ve had great success with Dorch HPFP’s and upgraded S58/Nostrum injectors on the B58 engine and need more testing of the upgraded HPFP/DI Injectors on the S58 before we can recommend this pathway. Regarding the FX350 injectors and Spool HPFP's or Nostrum S58 Upgraded Injectors we may run into issues when tuning these and I'll try to explain very briefly. The HPFP's are driven by the exhaust cam and we've seen on all the S58's (and B58's) that when you push the HPFP's to their limits this puts more strain on the exhaust cam and the exhaust cam no longer tracks the target. The engine will make less power in the event that the exhaust cam does not follow our targets. So I don't expect us to be able to properly take advantage of the full power delivery of the upgraded HPFP's or injectors…however we are absolutely willing to put our best work into testing this and letting the results speak for itself. The results you may see posted online by others may have cam tracking issues, HPFP pressure issues, or lean conditions in order to sell a product and we will absolutely verify this before we say otherwise, this is just us being up front and we look forward to further testing these products and getting many sample points to verify so if you’re interested in running this, we will tune the DI upgrades to the safe limits of their capability.

When in doubt, the simple solution here is to run port injection which does not suffer from exhaust cam tracking issues (until built motor hp levels) and has much higher output capacity. We can recommend solutions on built motor hp levels to overcome this issue as well.

SELECTING A PLATFORM

We offer S58 tuning on the three major tuning platforms which include MHD, BM3 and ECUTEK and depending on your goals we can advise you directly on what the best solution for your setup is, please reach out to us directly at tuning@bendcalibration.com; more details below.

With the addition of Autotuner and Femto “Full” unlocks in late 2025, selecting between the three primary tuning solutions we offer has become significantly more straightforward. Below is our current attempt to recommend the best tool for the job based on typical use cases and configurations. We continuously revise this blog to ensure the information remains accurate and up to date.

Please note that we do not provide unlock services, and unlock availability and requirements are frequently changing. If there is any uncertainty, we encourage you to email tuning@bendcalibration.com so we can verify the best recommendation for your specific setup and goals.

As of January 2, 2026, and based on our years of experience tuning the S58 platform, MHD+ has proven to be the most advanced solution available. It allows us, as tuners, to achieve the most consistent and reliable calibrations across a wide range of vehicles. In addition, the team at MHD provides exemplary support to our calibration team, which further enhances our ability to deliver high-quality results to our customers.

PORT INJECTION CONSIDERATIONS

If you’re running port injection, all three main platforms offer integrated port injection support, which is essential for properly running PI and tuning higher-horsepower setups. Older systems, such as BM3 CustomROM V1.1, do not have this capability.

The current platforms that support integrated port injection are MHD+ with Advanced I/O Integration, EcuTek RaceRom, and BM3 CustomROM V2. Each platform is capable of controlling fueling, receiving inputs from external sensors, and sending outputs to external devices such as MAC solenoids or relays to activate fuel pumps, nitrous systems, and other accessories.

While these platforms share many similarities, they also have unique differences. Ultimately, they are all utilizing the same factory DME to accomplish the same core tasks, and the final choice often comes down to the custom strategies offered by each platform, tuner experience and user preference.

We believe in using the best tool for the job. Although we tune with all three platforms, we recommend reaching out with your specific goals so we can provide a tailored and accurate recommendation.

UPGRADED TURBO CONFIGURATIONS

We support both hybrid turbo setups and large single-turbo configurations capable of producing 1,650+ horsepower. For customers considering hybrid turbos, Mosselman units are often an excellent first step. Mosselman, VDL, and LM900 turbos also are excellent considerations and spool very quickly. For those moving to a single-turbo setup, options from KLM Race, and other manufacturers are well supported. Good wastegate priority is key for single turbo manifolds so choose the most reputable companies selling these components for a troublefree experience.

We have extensive experience tuning a wide range of both hybrid and single turbo systems, including LM900, VDL, Mosselman, TTE, Spool, CTS, PURE, and other custom hybrids, as well as numerous single-turbo setups utilizing Precision, Garrett, Turbosmart, Xona, BW and other turbochargers.  When choosing between hybrids and a single turbo, sound characteristics and power delivery are significant considerations.  

At this time, MHD+ offers the most comprehensive and effective toolset for tuning hybrid turbo configurations, allowing us to deliver consistent and reliable results.

SINGLE TURBO UPGRADES

Single turbo is best done on MHD+ for single bank and integrated IO control.

To start, we recommend using stainless hard lines or well insulated soft lines (stainless braided does not insulate, use something like DEI + social distancing) to prevent melted wg hoses.

While we don’t want you to depend on it, we do however have some strategies employed that will chop the throttle to prevent overboosting (we don't disable this factory control) and it has saved a couple single turbo setups who had wastegate lines melt. Some calibrators disable all of this control and while that is easy, it is not the right way to dial in the car, in our opinion.

The flex fuel setup for single cars allows you to run any ethanol content from pump fuel to full E85, or anything in between. It has two modes, switch on the fly, and allows you to access multiple power levels at any time, while staying within the safe limits of the fuel quality you’re running. The ethanol content comes in via the IO controller such as a Motiv Reflex which integrates with MHD’s Advanced Integration. No measuring and mixing, no fixed ethanol content calibrations, or any of that antiquated mentality on these modern marvels. There’s only one way to do this correctly, and that’s with everything seemlessly integrated.

One final consideration is that we run our own in-house S58 single-turbo setup, which has allowed us to perform extensive development on this exact combination. We are continually refining our work, resulting in exceptional drivability and industry-leading control. Our calibration strategies are proven, reliable, and performance focused, specifically engineered and validated for the S58 platform.

No Free Lunch: The Trade-Off Between Power and Reliability

Most vehicles we calibrate with upgraded turbochargers are still running completely stock engines. We always make it clear to our customers that, at these power levels, the factory connecting rods are operating in a range where failures become a realistic possibility.

One common misconception is that simply "keeping the torque down" makes the engine operate in a safe window where a failure cannot occur. While reducing cylinder pressure can reduce mechanical stress, it is not a solution that eliminates the risk. The reality is straightforward: increasing power increases the demands placed on every engine component. Reducing power reduces that risk, but no calibration strategy can remove it entirely.

Engine components are subject to repeated mechanical loading. When a connecting rod is repeatedly exposed to stresses approaching or exceeding its design limits, fatigue accumulates over time. This means an engine can operate successfully at a given power level for months or even years before eventually experiencing a failure. The absence of an immediate problem does not mean the combination is inherently safe; it simply means the fatigue limit has not yet been reached.

For this reason, no person can honestly tell you exactly where a stock component will fail or guarantee that it will not. Anyone making that claim is either misinformed or making promises that cannot be supported by engineering.

Our objective is to produce the best possible calibration for your goals while maintaining proper tuning strategies. However, any increase in power comes with an increase in mechanical stress and, therefore, an increase in risk. There is no calibration that can make a stock engine both significantly more powerful and equally as reliable as it was from the factory.

Ultimately, the trade-off is unavoidable: more power always comes at the expense of reliability margin. Our job is to manage that risk as intelligently as possible, but it cannot be eliminated. This principle applies to every engine, regardless of manufacturer.