Custom Tune

[jbyrd423]

Hello can anyone help me in deciding what tune is best for my car??? I know that bamachips and brenspeed are prolly the two most popular tuners of people on this board. Also I have a JLT intake with a xcal 2 that I put on my mustang a while back. I bought it as a package deal from JLT. My question is this
I know that the experts(brenspeed/bamchips) know the best tunes for my car but I dont want to spend big bucks on buying numerous tunes, how do I know which tune I want, do they rate them on performance such that more expensive tunes perform better?? Do I need more than one tune, like a race tune and normal tune?
Also how big of a difference will I get froma custom tune as opposed to the regular 91 octane tune Im running strate from my xcal2.

Thanks I know this subject has kinda been beat to death but I havent been keeping up with these boards for the past year and now all of a sudden I have a urge to get a lil more power in the stang.

 

[DarkFireGT]

i bought my xcal2 with a canned tune. eventually i updated to a custom tune from bamachips. I went with 91race (93 is hard to find sometimes) and haven't looked back. From my research most people were happiest with the torque and race tunes, but say the race tune is just like the torque tune, except the power that you feel in the low end carries all the way through. The race tune seems to be the best as far as performance. Be prepared for a touchy gas pedal, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[jbyrd423]

So you run your race tune all the time?? I thought that was bad but I dont know anything. Well if thats the case then the race tune is best for me because I want to get the most agressive and powerful tune possible but still being able to daily drive with it and not hurt the engine. How much was it??

 

[stanmckinney]

I know this has been discussed many times. Help out someone ignorant on the subject. How easy is it to do a tune? And can it be returned to stock at any time, and temporarily, if you are taking the car in to the dealer so he can try to void the warranty?
Simple or difficult for the non-mechanic?

 

[DarkFireGT]

Yeah I run the race tune all the time. My '05 is not a daily driver, but plenty of people with daily drivers run the race tune all the time with no problems. As long as you're not "racing" it every day, you'll be fine. With the race tune, the power is always there. As long as you don't use all the power all day, you won't harm the engine.

It's very easy to tune. It takes about 5 minutes. You just plug your xcal2 into the computer port and upload the tune. You'll have to remove your cai and put the stock airbox back in, or else you'll trip the CEL. That takes 10-30 minutes, depending on how many times you've done it. And you'll want to go with a CAI along with the tune, because you'll get a lot more power out of it.

 

[stanmckinney]

You lost me with CAI and CEL. I said I am not a mechanic and generally don't touch something I know I could easily screw up.
What about resorting to factory tune if the car goes to the dealer. Is that necessary to avoid warranty issues or questions?

 

[jbyrd423]

Well Im no expert but Im pretty sure that you can switch back and forth froma custom to a factory tune without a problem. All you have to do is plug the x2 into your car and thats about it.

 

[281Ponies]

Yep, that's about it...



CAI = Cold Air Intake
CEL = Check Engine Light

Unless your particular dealer is MOD friendly... always upload the factory tune and CAI before taking it in.

 

[DarkFireGT]

You lost me with CAI and CEL. I said I am not a mechanic and generally don't touch something I know I could easily screw up.
What about resorting to factory tune if the car goes to the dealer. Is that necessary to avoid warranty issues or questions?

Sorry about that. Cold air intake = cai. You'll want to get one with your tune. You'll get about twice the horsepower as you would buy just getting the tune. These cars need to breathe, and the stock air box doesn't cut it. And when you load the tune back to stock (Again, very easy. Just plug the tuner into the port under the dash and load the tune), you will need to put the factory air box back in, otherwise you'll get a CEL (Check engine light). Now some dealers are ok with cars being modified, but I would check with them first, before bringing in your car with a custom tune. All in all, to go back to stock, it takes probably 30 minutes and most. No big deal. I may know computers, but I'm not that mechanically inclined either, so when I say it's easy, it's easy. My first o/r h pipe took me 5 hours to install. Of course, that was on an '03 GT, and the bolts are almost impossible to get to.

 

[kooldawg6]

I bought the WMS CAI/SCT tuner package from Brenspeed. I know it was rather lengthy install compared to other CAIs(being you move the overflow bottle and splice the MAF wires to make them longer), but it's said it can run off the stock tune so I shouldn't have to worry about getting the CEL when I reflash the stock tune back in. I haven't had any issues surface yet needing the dealer's attention.

Be prepared for a touchy gas pedal, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

+1!!!!! I can't even cough without the car bucking while my foot is on the gas pedal. Also I just came back from my friend's house which has a fairly long and bumpy driveway...was very difficult controlling the throttle(reminded me of my younger days playing in the mud with my 4x4s )

 

[junebugspade2]

Hello. I have the following mods:
JLT CAI
SCT tuner
BBK long tube headers
BBK X-pipe without cats
Flowmaster American Thunder axle-back mufflers
Car was tuned by THR (Texas Hot Rods)
Here's my problem. My CEL keeps coming on. I read the codes and it's my O2 sensors. How do I get a tune that would clear the codes? I live in Illinois and while I was in EL Paso, TX, I had some mods done. I've called THR and gave them the codes, but haven't heard from them. I keep calling, but am getting tired of the run around. I need help!!!

 

[junebugspade2]

"...clear the codes".

 

[DarkFireGT]

Well, you need the tuner to turn off the rear 02 sensors. If you continue to fail to get ahold of them, you may want to hit up bamachips or brenspeed for a tune. Otherwise you could buy mil eliminators. Until you get ahold of your tuner, or decide to go with a different one, just keep clearing the codes with your XCal.