maybe hes at a dyno or racetrack.

 

Or bring the dyno to you.

 

Been away with my T/A... Was I expecting more, Absolutely, but yes, a mail order tune was the culprit, and the A/F was low, better than high, this I know. I'm currently doing a speed density tune on it. I'll post numbers of it once I get it back to a dyno.

 

I fail to see how this is Frost's fault. I'm still new to the LSx family, but I understand what and what not to expect with a mail order tune. Its a band-aid, thats it. Its not a mail the rough stone in and get a diamond back in return. As stated the tuner, in this case Frost, can only do so much safely.

I have had a tune from Frost which was slightly rich also, and am now currently awaiting my dyno day with a mail order tune from TSP for my cam swap. So far with driving the car before the dyno tune, I am pleased, my AFR's are more than acceptable, but I know to expect some changes to be made when I get to the dyno cause a true tune can only be done with the car on the dyno to adjust real time requirements.

Now had Frost sent you back a PCM and the car didnt start at all, or your afr's at WOT are 16.5, then yes that is the time to gripe. But from what you described, Frost did right.

 

If that expectation was based on the previously mentioned figure of 366hp/405tq for a bolt-on, stalled A4 car then you were bound to be disappointed no matter what.

Header/basic bolt-on LS1 A4 cars absolutely do not make 405rwtq. Something was wrong with that dyno run, period.

 

while i would try a retune on the dyno does anybody think maybe the 102 / 100 maf is too big / not a good combo for his basically stock engine? i kinda thought the 102 was for bigger cubes. just my one cent.

 

I'm going to sing the same old tune I've sung for years, but ... people will spend thousands on mods, mail order tunes, and dyno tunes, but balk at laying down the coin for the one thing that will see to it that their car is running right - EFILive or HPTuners. If you're anything beyond a lid & catback, a tuning suite is going to be your best mod investment, period.

Then no more complaining. If your tune isn't right, you learn how to fix it - yourself.

 

I don't get why you're upset. Those numbers aren't terrible for your mods. Maybe 10whp short of what I would've guesstimated.

And things like air temp, IATs, and elevation have an effect on dyno numbers as well which no one else has mentioned. If it was hot as **** the car will lose a few HP compared to a nice day with nice cool air. And you can still gain a bit with a dyno tune. The FAST 102 and the rest of the intake set up is probably not optimal considering your other mods. Your buddy is either lying about his numbers or there was an issue with the dyno. Period. No need to bad mouth Frost for no reason.

 

I agree to a point. But it can be costly and some of the people I see posting really shouldn't be touching their cars. If they can't figure out how to search for what lid to buy or what spark plugs to buy and how to gap them without starting a new thread...they simply have no business tuning.

It's not super easy or straightforward. I've been playing with EFI Live for years and still don't know half what I'm doing. I would love to go to Geoff's tuning classes or something like that, but coming up with the time and money isn't easy.

But if nothing else the ability to alter shifts, rpm limits, log data, and if nothing else do email tuning is an invaluable bag of tricks.

 

I'll be flat honest here: Tuning intimidates the hell out of me. I'd rather let Geoff work his magic and me leave happy... and DONE.

 

tuning imo is an art form and each vehicle should be treated differently and left to an expert to take their time and get it right.

 

IMO, a good mail order tune is a educated guess, and since he has to strictly rely on the accuracy of the information he was given there's a chance that some of the info he received isn't 100% accurate, or misunderstood. So. to offset the possibility that some if the info isn't 100% accurate he owes it to you as a customer( to keep you engine alive), and himself as a business man(to stay in business) to play it a little safe. That way you can safely drive the car fairly well until you can afford better/dialed in tune . IMO that mail order tune was as most expected, a conservative educated guess., and you should have realistically expected the same.

 

I could see getting a mail order tune to get a car to a tuner who can dial it in with real time feedback but to expect someone to nail the tune without having hard data to adjust to is ridiculous. Besides variable in elevation and weather conditions any little changes like brand of fuel/type of air filter used/mufflers-exhaust used and so on are variables that can throw a mail order tune off course.