In 1996, the world of tuning turned a corner and found itself in the future. Prior to this year, the top tuners out there were guys who had mastered screwdrivers, jet sizing, oscilloscopes and exhaust gas analyzers. But a new generation of computer-savvy tuners picked up the torch in 1996, when the Federal government mandated the use of OBD-II computer control systems. Soon, the market was flush with power programmers like the Hypertech, and the future of tuning was born.
The 1996 model year was an interesting one for the Impala SS; it was the last for the old-school B-body, and the second year for the OBD-II controlled LT1 V-8 engine. The LT1 made 260 horsepower at the crank, which was a bit less than the LT engines used in contemporary Camaros and Corvettes. So GM left some room on the table for improvements. Chevrolet High Performance magazine once tested a bolt-on combo with the Hypertech. The new K&N intake system was worth a whopping 21 wheel horsepower and 28 foot-pounds of torque, and a brand-new header-back Edelbrock exhaust system was worth 10 horsepower on top of that. When CHP used a Hypertech programmer to optimize this combo, it found another 11 horsepower for a total of 39 horses and 44 foot-pounds of torque at the wheels. That 11 horsepower is a tad more than you would see on a bone-stock car: in and of itself, a power tuner like the Hypertech should be worth 5 to 10 horsepower depending on your engine condition, which model tuner you buy and how you set its parameters.
