• Mustang Forums
  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-

Sct Bama Tuning

  • Thread starter Thread starter darthcual
  • Start date Start date Jul 17, 2012
Prev
  • 1
  • 2
First Prev 2 of 2

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor
Admin Dude
Jan 4, 1985
42,977
21,156
234
Box behind Walmart
Jul 19, 2012
#21
  • Jul 19, 2012
  • #21
ratio411 said:
I don't know what you mean by canned tunes, then say you need to tell the tuner the mods to your car?

That is how Bama works... They ask about every aspect of your car, all the way down to the manufacturer of your CAI.
They ask measurements, specs, manufacturer names, part numbers, anything you can think of... then they ask for any mod you have done that they didn't ask about.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty good description of a canned tune right there.

Let's say I take two TOTALLY bone stock 93 Cobras with exactly 5000 miles on each. I can tune ONE of those two cars and apply that tune to the second car without too much trouble. THIS... is a canned tune.

Now... let's put 50,000 miles on both cars. Car A lives out in the North East. Car B lives in Arizona. Each one wears differently, sees substantially different driving conditions, but both car owners are pretty good at keeping up with maintenance. Car B blows a head gasket one day and overheats. It gets a brand new set of head gaskets and also gets the heats cleaned up and resealed along with some minor grinding on the head surface to make them flat again for installation. The headers are OEM and have seen better days, so they're tossed for some 1 5/8s shorties. Aww hell... might as well put some free flowing cats on there too and oh... The Bassani cat-back REALLY sounds nice. You get the idea here....

Even if car B had NO modifications, it's going to wear differently than car A. With modification, that wear is going to be even more severe. That doesn't even take into account whether replacement items were done correctly on either car. Every Fox on the planet takes in some amount of unmetered air. No two engines are the same. One gets a little more air than the other, one has an injector that's slightly better/worse, thorttle bodies, ignition, PCV, etc...

Now you can build a margin of safety into a canned tune but the more you modify and the longer the engine runs, the further you're going to be from the center of that margin.

THIS is where the problems start to come in. Performance problems and also problems sometimes so severe, that it causes engine damage. Hell... I've been in car that ran and FELT great! Until that day where conditions pushed it just past the point that made the whole thing go, "POP!". Lean engines make power (to a point). That 93 octane tune you got from Tuner X? That's what's been done. The fuel mixture has been leaned out, and timing advanced to give you that extra XX HP. Unless you've got some way to check though (the new GTs are great... they have a built in AFR meter), you're taking a risk with your gear.

Sure... some of these tunes are better than others but the point is that you take it on blind faith. After having been part of this discussion (as others have been), if you end up one of the dudes on the classifieds here who's parting out his roller well....

NOT EVERYONE WHO MODS THEIR MOTOR NEEDS TO KNWO HOW TO TUNE... Everyone who mods there motor DOES NEED to be able to understand the basic principles of tuning what it does to/for/against your car.

If you're not sure what an injector slope or pulse-width is... then you should probably find out for the SOLE purpose of understanding what can happen when they are wrong.
 

darthcual

Member
Mar 31, 2005
985
19
18
Arlington, TX
Jul 19, 2012
#22
  • Jul 19, 2012
  • #22
I think a canned tune is for a vehicle that is stock or very near to it. I'm more inclined to believe someone who has actually used the product. Bama takes into account all your mods if I'm not mistaken. That's no different than other manufacturers do. However, a wideband might be a good idea.
 
Reactions: ratio411

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor
Admin Dude
Jan 4, 1985
42,977
21,156
234
Box behind Walmart
Jul 19, 2012
#23
  • Jul 19, 2012
  • #23
darthcual said:
I think a canned tune is for a vehicle that is stock or very near to it. I'm more inclined to believe someone who has actually used the product. Bama tries to take into account all your mods if I'm not mistaken. That's no different than other manufacturers do. However, a wideband might be a good idea.
Click to expand...

Fixt

...and yes, if you have a wideband, you'll at least be able to see if this tune you have is safe. A data-log will even help show if there's a lot of HP still left on the table.

Other than that though... it's a crap-shoot.
 
Prev
  • 1
  • 2
First Prev 2 of 2
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
First Car, what should I do for power??
  • tunedV6
  • Apr 13, 2026
  • 1996 - 2004 SN95 Mustang -General/Talk-
Replies
7
Views
226
1996 - 2004 SN95 Mustang -General/Talk- May 4, 2026
580HP*428Cj
5
E
Nightmare after tune install!
  • EnemyofTyranny
  • Mar 29, 2025
  • 2005 - 2014 S-197 Mustang -General/Talk-
Replies
1
Views
415
2005 - 2014 S-197 Mustang -General/Talk- Apr 12, 2025
89ripper
B
Saying Hi
  • BriansNSane
  • Dec 20, 2025
  • The Welcome Wagon
Replies
5
Views
275
The Welcome Wagon Dec 21, 2025
BriansNSane
B
Progress Thread Progress Thread- From6to8's 95 GT/Saleen Supercharged 331 install
  • from6to8
  • Mar 22, 2026
  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-
  • 2
Replies
24
Views
798
1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk- May 6, 2026
from6to8
A
Discussion on mild budget build/ top end
  • Acesario
  • Feb 21, 2026
  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-
  • 2
Replies
20
Views
695
1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk- Feb 23, 2026
General karthief
Share:
Bluesky Email Share Link
  • Mustang Forums
  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-
Menu
Log in

Register

  • Forums
  • What's new
  • Media
  • Resources
  • Contact
  • Sponsor
X

Privacy & Transparency

We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:

  • Personalized ads and content
  • Content measurement and audience insights

Do you accept cookies and these technologies?

X

Privacy & Transparency

We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:

  • Personalized ads and content
  • Content measurement and audience insights

Do you accept cookies and these technologies?