Custom Tune Bull Twang

[morningbeers]

team,

I have had my FG T for a couple of weeks now and I am used to the power... NEED MODS! anyway, have been digging around and plenty of the so call custom tuners seem to be anything but that... the feeling is they get a T, play around till they get a nice tune and save it. then you drive yours in, they plug in / dowload and its done. the only reason you wait 6 hours is so they can justify the $1000. I was quoted $1400 for a fair dinkum one "apparently" but I thinks its all horse sh1t.

anyway, I am a sceptical b4stard so can anyone tell me how to prove they are actually custom tuning your car not just dumping one in there and belting you in the hip pocket? or is it just trust.. this is have a problemm with!

cheers, beers.

[Ace]

mate I think if ya go wit any of the forum sponsors your pretty safe they will do everything they can to get the most outta your car - they may start with a saved tune but you can be safe in knowing that they are gonna customise it to your car cos everyone knows that each car takes to tunes differently so they will tinker with it til it suits your car

[jimmy1234]

I believe most tuners will start with a base tune then fine tune to your car. Whilst every motor is different if a tuner has tuned a car with the same mods then starting with a saved tune would save time and money for the tuner.

So yes $1400 is a lot of money to tweak a couple of things but you are paying for R&D. You can get a tune a a local 'I can tune anything tuner' or use some one that has tuned a lot of these cars.

Local guy you pay $1400 for him to learn on your car

Trusted Forum sponsor you pay $1400 for them to apply knowledge from many hours of R&D on their own cars.....$1400 is on the high side. but you get my point.

[01txr]

Agreed.

My car was tuned by a big name tuner here in QLD to which the previous owner

had informed me never to use him as he could not get it right.

He had another tuner do the tune, cant recall the name.

I have just started tuning myself and with some help from a few members here

I had the car idling a smooth 650 rpm idle from its 1000rpm with a slight random miss.

as well I improved my fuel consumption from 11's to 8.8 hwy.

And was turning the tyre's harder.

And I only have scratched the surface of the tuning on these things.

Best bet is just research and find who is doing a good job.

Good luck

[our06t]

01txr , where roughly in Qld are you ,I may have a mate up your way who would love to chat to someone like you , he works as an aircraft eng for Qantas up in brissie and has tuned the ls1's for a few years in he's spare time , but I have convinced him to get the vcm suit for the fords and another mates workshop is in the process of fitting a dyno here on the coast so he want's to start playing with some fords too

[01txr]

As I said have only started to tune these myself, but if he wants to exchange notes that's fine just PM to arrange

some time to catch up with him.

I am located brissy southside, west of logan city.

I am not using VCM either, I am using SCT Racer Pro.

PM for further info.

[bluprinturbo]

team,

I have had my FG T for a couple of weeks now and I am used to the power... NEED MODS! anyway, have been digging around and plenty of the so call custom tuners seem to be anything but that... the feeling is they get a T, play around till they get a nice tune and save it. then you drive yours in, they plug in / dowload and its done. the only reason you wait 6 hours is so they can justify the $1000. I was quoted $1400 for a fair dinkum one "apparently" but I thinks its all horse sh1t.

anyway, I am a sceptical b4stard so can anyone tell me how to prove they are actually custom tuning your car not just dumping one in there and belting you in the hip pocket? or is it just trust.. this is have a problemm with!

cheers, beers.

I totally agree mate.when you get a generic tune your are recommended to have afrs etc checked on the dyno.basically that's a custom tune if anything is adjusted.ive never had anything but custom tunes done to my car and a generic tune would have probably been better.im sceptical too mate,made that way by dishonest mechanics.prices are a joke too.c & v are doing a custom tune with xcal3 and siemans dekas supplied and fitted for $1580,yet up here there are certain tuners who want around $1700 just for custom tune and xcal3.what are they doing to warrant such prices.gold plating your fxxxxx plenum,I mean cmon.

[LOK11]

I totally agree mate.when you get a generic tune your are recommended to have afrs etc checked on the dyno.basically that's a custom tune if anything is adjusted.ive never had anything but custom tunes done to my car and a generic tune would have probably been better.im sceptical too mate,made that way by dishonest mechanics.prices are a joke too.c & v are doing a custom tune with xcal3 and siemans dekas supplied and fitted for $1580,yet up here there are certain tuners who want around $1700 just for custom tune and xcal3.what are they doing to warrant such prices.gold plating your fxxxxx plenum,I mean cmon.

It's so long since I posted on the forums as a sponsor that even my history is gone but I thought I had to reply.

I have to say that I am saddened by your scepticism. I still hold on to the hope that most of my colleagues in the automotive industry do indeed perform the custom tuning on their dynos in a diligent manner which should warrant a reasonable payment for their service. I would also hope that they are at the absolute least checking all of the PID loop operation for Valve Control and Boost Control as well as the more obvious AFR's and Ignition Timing.

Within reason of WH&S concerns, you should be able to see (or hear assuming the tuner has a decent dyno cell) the custom tuning operation on your vehicle as each component of the tune is checked and custom tuned on the dyno. If you aren't getting that in a custom tune, I would then concede it may not be worth the money charged.

Lachlan

[Adam]

While this may take place in some instances my experience has always been a tune done specifically to my car. How do I know? Because I was there for every minute the tuner had the car and witnessed many dyno runs and tiny adjustments in order to get it just right.

[gregor]

as others have said it makes sense for tuners to use a common base tune just like would with almost any aftermarket ECU which would come with base maps and you tune from there. I havent had mine edited yet but when I do ill be seeing a sponsor because they do a lot of these things and know the little bits that make a big difference.

Something to consider - if you've been quoted 6 hours for a job and maybe they find an issue with your car you could either have the guy starting from scratch solve the issue but then not have enough time to make the tune perfect or you could have someone who uses a basic tune with values already close for your injectors, exhaust and intercooler combo so they have a lot more time to iron out any issues, make it right and probably have some time to spare.

Unfortunately the only way to tell who does a good job or rips people off is through their customers, attending a few local crusies should get you some better uncensored feedback about your areas tuners.