Boss intake tune

[acrbill]

So I just installed a Boss intake mani on my 2011 6spd. I was running a BBR tune before the install and now am going with a Bama since I have the tunes for life deal with them. The issue is that the car feels gutless down low. I know there is a dip in torque but it has been described as hard to notice. This is anything but hard to notice. Does anyone know what the differences in the tune is and would it be a terrible idea to run a non Boss tune with a Boss manifold? I really do not feel like paying $90 for a new BBR tune just to find out that the manifold really is the culprit. If I run the BBR non boss tune and my low end comes back I would be more than happy to get a proper tune.

Just about every Bama tune I have had sucked in comparison to the BBR.

BTW I am running a 4.10 gear so when I say it is gutless it feels like it did stock with the 3.55.

 

[jayman33]

Get a BBR tune then, easy fix.

 

[BlackMamba3]

If you're not happy with the Bama tune then get a new BBR tune but make sure you let them know you have the Boss intake. If you get a non-Boss tune then it could mess up your motor. The stock intake and the Boss are very different and the tune needs to be done towards the correct manifold.

 

[scotmach]

Apparently you didn't do your homework regarding the boss intake. Will a better tune help? Maybe. But the boss intake is what it is.

 

[Red Turtle]

So I just installed a Boss intake mani on my 2011 6spd. I was running a BBR tune before the install and now am going with a Bama since I have the tunes for life deal with them.. The issue is that the car feels gutless down low. I know there is a dip in torque but it has been described as hard to notice. This is anything but hard to notice. Does anyone know what the differences in the tune is and would it be a terrible idea to run a non Boss tune with a Boss manifold? I really do not feel like paying $90 for a new BBR tune just to find out that the manifold really is the culprit. If I run the BBR non boss tune and my low end comes back I would be more than happy to get a proper tune.

Just about every Bama tune I have had sucked in comparison to the BBR.BTW I am running a 4.10 gear so when I say it is gutless it feels like it did stock with the 3.55.

:shrug: So regardless of the "tunes for life", why are you running this if you don't like them?

 

[Chuck@Evolution]

The length of the runners on an intake manifold are "tuned" (much like the pipes in an organ for example)

The principle behind this is that when the intake valve opens, it creates a sound wave that travels up the lenght of the intake runner. But, when it reaches the end of the runner, it actually "bounces" back and then travels down the length of the runner towards the intake valve, forcing a little bit more air into the cylinder, allowing a little more power to be made. The magic (science) of this is that you can tune the intake to give you a bump in power.

Acura did a dual length runner setup in the late 90's that at low rpm used long runners, then in the higher rpm range switched over to a set of shorter runners.

Mazda also did something similar in the latest rotary engine in the RX-8, but if I remember correctly, that was a 3 or 4 stage system.

 

[acrbill]

I fully understand how intake manifolds can be designed to work best at a certain RPM. There is something called the Heimholtz principal?? Where some sort of formula is worked out so that when air bounces back towards the intake valve it opens at the right moment. Because we have VVT this can be worked out in a tune, however I highly doubt tuners took the time to figure it out since it is probably super complex. I will put the BBR tune back on and see how it acts, if I feel a big improvement I will go ahead and order a BBR boss specific tune.

I tried Bama again since I wanted something Boss specific. They are highly regarded in the industry so there is no harm in trying them again. I did do my homework before ordering the manifold. What I am experiencing is not what I read about. It literally feels like the car was flashed back to stock and the 3.55 gears were swapped back in.

 

[acrbill]

I loaded the BBR tune up and it did seem to give some of the low end back.
I am going to email Bama because I am not sure if they wrote the tune correctly. I was tipped off by the fact that the skip shift was not disabled. They also do not have any choice to add the Boss Manifold. I specifically wrote it in the comment section, I also asked that they verify that they included the Boss manifold when they emailed them to me. They did not include any info so its hard to say.

I will share what I hear back. I will say that as of now the Boss manifold has a very noticeable difference in low end performance. I will update when I get new tunes.

 

[WHITEMACH]

tuner is everthing! i have a boss manifold and i dont have a torque problem ,,however when i installed with a CAN tune it made 336rwtq it sucked!!! a dyno tune and woot woot 371.92rwtq ,,tune is everything!!

 

[KonaGT]

I wish you could just call Bama and have a tuner talk to you on the phone and then make a tune based on that conversation.

 

[acrbill]

So this morning things got a bit odd. I started the car and when I when to blip the throttle the RPMS went down below 500 then shot up. I let the car warm up and went on my way. I was getting some very nasty bucking while driving at part throttle. It almost felt like a vacuum leak. I thought maybe I needed to retorque the mani. Then I remembered that I felt something similar before. My last Bama tune did this and it was fine after I went with the BBR tune. So I pulled over and loaded the BBR tune and the car ran fine.

I really need to work with Bama on this.

I will try a BBR Boss tune to see if it revives some of the lost low end.

 

[BlackMamba3]

If I was having these types of problems, I'd be calling Bama and voicing my concers in a rather firm tone.

Stick with the BBR tune. Seems to be doing good for you.

 

[jymboslice]

i have a bama canned tune on my 5.0 with the boss manifold.. it seems just as powerful down low as it did before i did the boss manifold swap. It screams in the upper rpm range as well. i have 3.73's too.

 

[acrbill]

I just ordered a VMP tune and once I get back from my business trip later in the week I will update with my feedback.

 

[chico_mustangs]

I have an AED tune which I really like but no matter whos tune you go with their is a significant loss in power with the Boss manifold. My car put down great numbers with the Boss on it, but I swapped back to the stock manifold and it feels better with the butt dyno but no new numbers yet.

 

[acrbill]

just a quick update.

Bama is being helpful in resolving this issue. They requested some info that I will get back to them as soon as I head back home later this week.

I am hoping to have the VMP tune by Friday so I can get the car going properly.

I may go a different route with the Boss manifold if I do not regain some of the low end loss.

Anyone who has seen pics of the manifold installed knows there is a huge gap under it.
The first thing that comes to mind when I see a gap is the overwhelming desire to fill it. What better thing to fill it than a nice direct port nitrous setup. The idea would be to make it easy to hot swap it by outfitting the Boss with aftermarket rails with a threaded port for the fuel and some larger injectors so I can run an E85 tune without going off the charts with duty cycle while spraying. If I can get my hands on a spare throttle body I could probably swap the intakes in 10 minutes.

 

[Chuck@Evolution]

Anyone who has seen pics of the manifold installed knows there is a huge gap under it.
The first thing that comes to mind when I see a gap is the overwhelming desire to fill it. What better thing to fill it than a nice direct port nitrous setup. The idea would be to make it easy to hot swap it by outfitting the Boss with aftermarket rails with a threaded port for the fuel and some larger injectors so I can run an E85 tune without going off the charts with duty cycle while spraying. If I can get my hands on a spare throttle body I could probably swap the intakes in 10 minutes.

Should get the under manifold pieces to dress that up.

Also, I would suggest upgrading the injectors if you are going to run e85. It is not strictly necessary, but you will start getting up there in duty cycle, causing the injectors to run hotter than normal and somewhat negating the advantages of e85.

 

[jas11151990]

haha when i get the Boss Intake Manifold i need to get an Evolution tune to make sure i keep my low end torque.

 

[acrbill]

I am going on a road trip so I decided to swap the stock manifold back on. Now that it is back on I can really feel the difference. I am still waiting on the VMP tune. As of now I definitely prefer the feel of the stock manifold but will give the Boss a shot with a proper tune.