quick questions

[homebrewer]

Hey all, this is one of my first posts. Just bought an 07 GT a few days ago, and had a few questions after searching around through the forums.

It seems to me that everytime a CAI is mentioned, that a tuner is also mentioned. Is this because the CAI really needs to be retuned, or is it because those two mods together will give you the biggest bag for the buck when first starting? I know most other cars I've dealt with don't NEED a tune for a CAI, but could benefit from some tuning/carb work.

I'm looking to keep my warranty for a while, but I think I have a pretty understanding dealer, so it shouldn't be a problem if I modify the car at all. One other thing.... are these tuners a one time tune, or can you continually reprogram depending on the mods you do? Many cars have tuner chips that will reflash the ECU, and they modify the tune depending on your mods. It seems like the tuners available for the S-197 will tune for what you have, and then retune the car if you add future mods.... is this true?

Thanks in advance for the advice. I can't wait to learn more about this car....

 

[blbrchnk]

Hey all, this is one of my first posts. Just bought an 07 GT a few days ago, and had a few questions after searching around through the forums.

It seems to me that everytime a CAI is mentioned, that a tuner is also mentioned. Is this because the CAI really needs to be retuned, or is it because those two mods together will give you the biggest bag for the buck when first starting? I know most other cars I've dealt with don't NEED a tune for a CAI, but could benefit from some tuning/carb work.

I always get questions wrong so you should just wait for someone that knows what they are doing to come along, but I believe it is due to the fact that these cars are drive by wire and more or less need to be told about the changes, not to mention a tune alone will eliminate the throttle lag that is standard from the factory. But yes, they are the best bang for the buck as far as performance goes.

I'm looking to keep my warranty for a while, but I think I have a pretty understanding dealer, so it shouldn't be a problem if I modify the car at all. One other thing.... are these tuners a one time tune, or can you continually reprogram depending on the mods you do? Many cars have tuner chips that will reflash the ECU, and they modify the tune depending on your mods. It seems like the tuners available for the S-197 will tune for what you have, and then retune the car if you add future mods.... is this true?

Thanks in advance for the advice. I can't wait to learn more about this car....

The SCT X-Cal II can hold 3 tunes I believe at a time as well as store your default car's tune. They can be reprogrammed according to whatever mods that you acquire. Check out http://www.brenspeed.com/customtuning/ to see their prices on tunes. But it is my understanding that if you purchase your tuner and components from them, they will give you new tunes to fit the pieces you bought from them for free. Hope some of that helped. and welcome to :SNSign:

 

[thump_rrr]

Since I own both a Diablosport Predator and an SCT X-Cal II I believe I can give you an unbiased opinion.

I first purchased the Diablosport along with a C&L intake. I went from running 13.65 to running 13.25 on a canned 93 octane tune designed for the C&L. The throttle lag was virtually eliminated and I was very satisfied. When I installed 4.10 gears I simply went in to the programmer and and changed the gear ratio and presto the spedo was calibrated. When I installed the longtube headers I didn't retune yet i didn't throw a check engine light. When I went with offroad cats I went into the tune and turned off the rear O2 sensors. When I changed the wheel and tire size I went into the tune and recalibrated once again.

I have installed a supercharger and JDM Engineering who did my tuning only use sct so I switched.

Now the comparisson.

The diablosport can datalog without using a laptop. You can plug it in and chose what you want to datalog and just either record the run or just monitor it. The screen on the predator is far superior to the X-Cal II with more lines and a backlit display. Some of the fastest S/C'd 05's are tuned by Diablosport. I still use my Predator for datalogging even thouugh it is tuned using SCT.

The SCT can functionally do everything that the Diablosport can do as far as tuning the car. The advantage of the SCT is the amount of top tuners who tune with the X-Cal II such as Bamachips and Brenspeed. If you want to go with SCT and be able to datalog without a laptop you'll need to wait for the release of the livewire.

Both of these tuners give you the ability to tune for different grades of fuel which will give you the best performance gains. This CANNOT be done with intakes not requiring a tune.

IMHO you are limiting yourself to less than stellar performance if you purchase an intake which doesn't require a reflash. There is someone who has recently released an intake which doesn't require a reflash and is having a bunch of difficulties. This company is repacing the maf with another companies product and using an interface between the 2. If this thing breaks which some already have you are sol. You can't buy parts from anyone else but them. This is the wrong way to go in my opinion.

The bottom line is that a tuner is necessary for the many different tweaks most of us performance junkies need.

 

[nancegt350]

A shorter clearer answer: some of them CAN be used without a tune, but it is not recommended AT ALL. These cars are VERY computer sensitive and WILL run lean. If you were going to go with a CAI, there is no way you should pass up getting the tuner, it's just not worth the risk. Now, that being said, the CAI and tune, particularily if you go with a good tuner *cough* brenspeed *cough* is hands down the best mod and should be the first mod you ever do to your mustang.

 

[homebrewer]

Thanks for the replies guys... I had no idea that the tuners for these cars are so versitile. Most other cars you hear of require you to buy a new tuner each time you make a modification. Sounds to me like these tuners will change just about anything you like. I'll have to start looking into them some more.

One other question though, for those of you that do have tuners. How many of you actually take it to a dyno shop for the tune? Is that pretty much required, or are you able to tune it by yourself, on the street or track? I'm sure the results from the dyno tune would be a bit better, but I would think you could get close doing it yourself over time.

Already loving it here one StangNet.... there seem to be some people with a lot of good quality knowledge. That's a welcome change from some other boards I've been on.