Racer001

iTrader: (15)

For a bolt on cts-v (headers, magnaflow x and catback) and a K&N Cold Air, whos the best to go with for a mail order tune? I've heard mixed reviews about wait4me so is there anyone else thats good?

wcryan

iTrader: (2)

I'd justo get it Dyno tuned. The good thing is with most tuners like mine. You pay 550 the first time but then everytime after it's only 150

BudRacing

iTrader: (3)

If I were to get one I'd probably go with pcm4less. You'll see more improvement on an automatic, but there is still room for gains on our cars. But to be honest I would shop around for a reputable tuner to handle the tune in person either on the street or on a dyno.

HeavyH20

Have you seen the Diablosport Trinity? I use that and the wait4me tunes. He is a one man operation so you need to be somewhat patient for work and updates, but, his work is fine. My car now runs 11.4s all day with only a $1400 investment (CAI, 2.55 pulley, solid coupler, shorter belt, tuner, and tune).

Racer001

iTrader: (15)

pcmforless tuned my last car!

I've talked to them about going down there to dyno tune my cadillac, but if a mail order tune will save me a day of towing the cadillac down, a day out of work, etc then it makes more sense to do that

cts v r4

I was pondering the same since the trinity would allow me to tune 93 octane down south, and switch it when I take my car north where 91 is all I can get. IMO the convenience of switching back and forth is worth giving up the bit of extra power a dyno tune would gain as I don't track my car anyway.

04Vguy

iTrader: (3)

i would def find a tuner not and not do the mail order thing. you never know whats gunna show up in the mail. with a tuner you can see whats going on and they are always there when/if something goes wrong. little bit pricier but def worth it

Domsz06

iTrader: (2)

THIS IS/SHOULD be gospel!!

shadyLS6

+1

I used W4me before i installed my headers and got a dyno tune. Tuner said the the mail order tune was running on the lean side on my motor. Dyno tune is the way to go imo

Greed4Speed

iTrader: (7)

From past experience, get a dyno tune. Mail order tunes assume things are 100%. There are issues that a live tune can pick up that may be an easy fix but make a large difference.
2 that issues I had on my f-body with a pcmforless tune: TB only opened about 80%, a lean condition at WOT. Both were detected by a live tune, easily fixed, and made a huge difference in performance (~30 whp).

Not that they were PCMforless' fault. Its just the nature of mail order where they can't log data.

HeavyH20

I have found that dyno tunes that are performed to wring out the last drop are the most prone to errors due to changing conditions with respect to heat, air density and heat soak. Most of the canned tunes are done on a healthy car with the same setup and then dyno tuned to a safe value. This effectively becomes the canned tune. If your car is running right with some standard changes, I have found the canned tunes pretty darned effective. And, of course, it all depends on the tuner.

I know I really like having the ability to change the tuning parameters to suit the need on the fly.

itsslow98

iTrader: (18)

Do you always pull things out of your *** because that statment is a JOKE.

Where exactly have you found that info? Enlighten me.

BTW as far as air density and heat go I suppose you have never heard of a MAF sensor or IAT? Ya know, the things that tell the computer important things like this.

You might have a hair of an argument if your talking about everyone doing speed density tunes.

vmapper

iTrader: (8)

Completely false.
If the tune is done bang on, the ECM has little or no need to adjust. Throttle response, MPG and power will be dialed in, and within all the safety boundaries based on that cars setup.
Feedback is required to see how the vehicle is performing based on each individual setup. A Canned tune has no chance, at best, ballpark and does NOT account for specifics, alterations or flaws or if troubleshooting is required.

However, and I will stress, you can (and some have) used a tuner that really has no place being one. But this doesnt mean, default to mail tune, but rather, go to someone with experience and references.

vmapper

iTrader: (8)

Done right, especially on Gen III cars, SD is better than MAF or blend. I find the throttle response untouchable vs MAF only. And it only makes sense, the transition times (of the air after the MAF still to be ingested (already measured and value passed to ECM), even when the throttle has either opened or closed vs SD, which is a calculation based on rpm, which is more instant.
Again, IATs are important in SD, and, poor location of sensor, poor Curve table etc, will lead to drifting VE accuracy.

itsslow98

iTrader: (18)

I meant as far as SD vs MAF tunes affecting the car in extreme climate changes like air density and temperature etc. For a daily driver hands down MAF>SD if you go from 20 degrees in the winter to 105 degrees in the summertime and dont want to be retuned.

vmapper

iTrader: (8)

Regarding Gen III ECMs:
but, what I am saying is, if the SD was tuned proper, your temperature swing will not affect the tune, nor will elevation change. If it does, it wasn't tuned right, end of story. (or bad hardware setup - Improper IAT sensor location for example) Your RAF and other stuff may be at greater risk than your driving and WOT. to changes as well.
But all in all, if ALL VE values are dialed in, your injector values are bang on and MOST IMPORTANT - TEMPERATURE sensor is located in proper spot and dialed in, SD is very good at handling varying DA and temp deltas. Otherwise, yes, SD is not forgiving like a MAF tune as its measuring the actual air. But as I said, other problems arise, transient throttling for example.

Steve (Frost) and many others (RWTD) will argue you otherwise...(they will say the same thing I am right now)
This temperature/elevation stuff is internet myth.
A proper SD tune works very well. I take it you have not driven a well tuned SD car to base on your MAF blend or MAF only tune.
In any case, agree to disagree.

I have ran all three in various cars. (SD only, MAF only, and GM blend). Any of them can work very well.
**Caveat - MAF only is tricky for idle and low air flow if the tube is 4"+ to slow velocity for FI cars to avoid hitting the Hz limit. Air flow is too large and slow, creating spikes, even with a saxon air straightener.

I run SD and drive around in -10 to +30°C and from 3400ft (where i live) up to 4500 in the mountains and down to 100 when i drive to Vancouver.
The ONLY issue I had was tuning for the MAP values I could not get at as I tuned at elevation 3400, DA varying from 4500-6000. (adds roughly 1.6psi or ~11kpa) I had to guess... but trends work well for the most part.

Ideally, one would tune at sea level to tune ALL values

HeavyH20

I have seen more than a few bad dyno tunes. All depends on the tuner, canned or dyno'd. Too much timing, wrong fuel curve, assuming a 93 octane at all times, overly aggressive mappings, etc. can affect things. I was simply stating that a dyno tune does not guarantee a better experience versus a quality canned tune. Hell, the factory tune is canned. Sure, maybe I am giving up 15 to 20 BHP but I have not seen any issues, at all. AFR is fine. I do agree, however, that every motor and every car is somewhat unique and a dyno tune is generally better than a canned tune but only if both are from a quality tuner. I like the flelxibility of moving to a high octane when I am at home and 93 non-blended gas is available and a little less agressive tune for traveling about when a 91 octane blend is only available.

As a point, a friend of mine got a professional tune with E85, injectors, pulley, and CAI. He was at the track and was experiencing power loss at the top where the car simply cut out. He had to take it back to the tuner three times to get things worked out. They blamed heat soaking at one point, then timing, then the CAI. Constrasting that, I did all the work myself with a canned tune and never experienced an issue. So, the issues cited with canned tunes are not exclusive and can also affect dyno tunes. The latter is always better and definitely tailored to your unique circumstance but only if the tuner is worth a damn.