When should i get a tune?

[Napp E Roots]

i have a k&n filter, o/r hpipe and catback. the next thing i plan on doing is lowering so i know that doesnt matter and the engine is gonna stay the way it is for a while maybe longtubes in a year or so.

would it be worth the money to buy a tuner now, would the gains be worth it?

thanks

 

[greenscobie86]

this is my question as well. BUMP.

I have tuner already though, just dont know if i should "tune" that car or not.

Sorry threadjack lol

 

[cobra_neill]

i would say tune it. i have almost identical mods on my snake, OR X pipe, JLT intake and tuner, just recieved the tune file and it honestly makes a world of difference to sound, torque and horsepower. fuel economy has gone to pot, though.

 

[SVTCobra306]

^^Mail order tune will tend to do that. Getting a dyno tune costs more but is more effective and shouldn't have a bad effect on your mileage.

 

[Napp E Roots]

cant i just buy the tuner like a SCT or diablo, i dont want a mail order tune and use the handheld to input my mods and it will tune it for me, this is what i see happen on horsepower tv.

will that work? and if i do go to a shop, a dyno tune would just be a better tune overall?

 

[cobra_neill]

cant i just buy the tuner like a SCT or diablo, i dont want a mail order tune and use the handheld to input my mods and it will tune it for me, this is what i see happen on horsepower tv.

will that work? and if i do go to a shop, a dyno tune would just be a better tune overall?

a diablo or SCT will only have a tune for the stock parts. after just one WOT run with my old C&L intake and diablo 93 octane tune, i had 3 codes on the car, two of them were telling me about a lean running condition!

on the plus side, americanmuscle are offering free custom tunes when you buy an SCT tuner. you cant just tell the tuner 'intake and exhaust' and it will tune it, its a bit more complicated than that.

Neill

 

[mrxr250rider]

the sct tuner with free tunes from american muscle sounds like it would be a good way to go. i think thats what im going with when i decide to tune my car

 

[poisoned apple]

I have a similar set up. I have a K&N air filter and about to install an O/R X pipe, Longtube headers, port my heads/intake and shifter and stuff. stock mufflers tho.
Will I be "needing" a tune? Or just whatever I want.

 

[SVTCobra306]

Newer cars (05 and up mostly) tend to have options in an SF3 that will list what brand intake you have, and it will mostly set the MAF Transfer function to match that intake and prevent driveability problems or a CEL. It is still not tuned to what the specific engine and trans need. A dyno tune is the only way to get that spot-on. American Muscle and most other mail order tunes will be fairly close but will nearly always be safe on the rich side.. they don't want to blow your junk up and get blamed for it. Usually there's another 5-10 HP to be found by a good tuner over a mail-order.. I've seen this more than once.

If you only have minor bolt-ons I wouldn't worry about it yet. Realistically I usually draw the line at longtube headers or aftermarket camshafts to "require" a tune.. and obviously nearly any power adder (especially boost) is going to run best with a dyno tune.

 

[cobra_neill]

I have a similar set up. I have a K&N air filter and about to install an O/R X pipe, Longtube headers, port my heads/intake and shifter and stuff. stock mufflers tho.
Will I be "needing" a tune? Or just whatever I want.

it will drive perfectly fine without one, but to get the most from your gains you are going to need a tune. i drove mine a few times with the new mods on and it was alright, only problem i had was with the C&L intake and bigger MAF housing.

 

[gq916]

i would get a tune..makes a difference..if you get other parts later u can go back to the same tuner and they only charge u by the hour.