Frost

iTrader: (45)

^this. If you want the tuning god, follow TJ around until you hear him say daddy....



There are many good tuners both on this board and otherwise that can get your needs taken care of well.. How do you know? Ask their customers.

Slowhawk

iTrader: (12)

Yup, Ed's God

69LT1Bird

iTrader: (1)

From the words of Kid Rock, Slowhawk must be "The Bullgod" with over 12,000 posts.

edcmat-l1

iTrader: (10)

See......Told ya...LOL......

joecar

To LS1-450:

Thanks, I do appreciate your high regard for me in mentioning my name (it's nice to know that someone thinks kindly of you...)...

But, I'm not qualified or experienced enough to be mentioned......I'm nowhere near the level/league of the others you have mentioned... I'm just a DIY'r playing on the family's cars... I log everyday, flash often, look for correlations among the tables, do all my own car work, and try to help people if I'm able...

[I'm also one of the moderators on the EFILive forum, I get to see a lot of ideas that I can try out... thanks to all members for contributing, and thanks to everyone that has taught me something...]


To no one in particular:

I have gotten my car to drive quite well in OL/CL and/or MAF/VE in any combination, with/without COS, with/without headers [you know where I live...]

As a DIY'r I'm able to spend a lot of time playing with and adjusting my tune...

To the OP:

A tuning shop can spend only limited time on a vehicle before cost to customer starts climbing (time is money, and tuning shop has to pay rent and feed family)... WOT tunes can be done in a short time (cheap)... driveability requires more time/effort (expensive)... you get what you pay for... there's more to it than making record numbers... see what Ed said above "Making them drive nice is the hard part."

Of course, you have to do your homework: understand what it is that you want to do with your car; and do research on what people have to say about various tuners... their reputation will precede them... there are good ones and there are bad ones (after all, this is the automotive industry)...

the good ones will make sure your vehicle is in good condition before proceeding... (these are the true tuning GODs...)!!!!... the bad ones will just take your money and hope you won't notice.

It's not as simple a question as you asked.




P.S. you guys pay $500-$600 for a tune... back home Aussies pay $1000-$1500... (conversion rate really doesn't matter).

Frost

iTrader: (45)

That's it; I quit! I'm moving down under.

jpajkos

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for all the replies guys, I really appreciate the feedback. My current setup is as follow.

Stock bottom end LS1
Un-ported F.A.S.T. 90/90
TSP Torquer v.3
Patriot 64cc Stage two 243s
Hooker Stainless LT's
SLP Lid
Smooth Bellows
Ported 85mm MAF
160 T-Stat
Free Mods
Dual cut outs at the Y
SMi 4k stall w/ two coolers
LS7 lifters
Fresh tune up such as NGK plugs,MSD Wires,fuel filter, oil changed,cooling system flushed, LS2 chain, Full BMR everything except the K, Adjustable QA1's all the way around, im probably forgetting other stuff.

Put down 443.4 rwhp @ 418 rwtq cut outs closed. Car has ran 11.45 @ 120 with a 1.66 sixty on a bone stock 10 bolt with 3.23s, stock 4L60E, full weights minus the back seat on ET Street DR's 275s with heavy chrome ZR1's launching off idle.

Parts I have now and that will be putting in through out the winter season will be.

Built 9" geared with 4.30s
My F.A.S.T. setup ported
Fast Toys 102mm Lid (clear)
Rossler Level 3 TH400 w/ brake
Neal Chance 4400 Converter
T-Rex V.2 cam
Billet Specialty wheels (slicks and skinnies)
Mickey Thompson ET Drag's 28" and sports mans up front
Heads (still undecided haven't purchased yet)

I'm waiting till I have the money to purchase my heads but I have called Thunder racing and left 3 messages for them to get back to me so we could talk cylinder heads since I purchased there cam, yet I haven't gotten a call back from them and I left 3 messages over a month ago. They must be busy people. Any how i'll probably gain 20-25 with the upgrades. I'm sticking N/A and this car isn't a daily driver. I drive it once in a while but it's primary purpose is the track and will probably remain that way. Hope this helps.

WeathermanShawn

iTrader: (1)

Great analysis Joecar!

Interesting thread. Joecar should be mentioned in this thread. He helped me calculated (estimated) 1/4 miles times using MPH and acceleration while logging a WOT run ( using 10 frames per second). Took some heavy duty calculus, but he took the time to help me out. Great guy!

Jpajkos, sounds like you have a great setup. Have you thought of getting some tuning software and tuning your own car? With that much invested, I can certainly understand why you want it professionally tuned. I admire cars that are built NA, and your setup is certainly impressive.

Has this thread helped you at all in determining which route you are going to go?

..WeathermanShawn..

jpajkos

iTrader: (3)

Thanks Shawn, I'm going to stick N/A. I thought about getting HP Tuners however I have NO clue how to tune an LS1, and just from talking with people about tuning it's just a head ache I don't want lol. With the help of some good friends we wrench on the car, and if something breaks due an installation error I'm good with that learn from it and fix it. If I blow my car up from not knowing what im doing tuning wise then I probably would be very upset and frustrated with myself and do something stupid like shoot my foot lol j/k. I have researched hundreds of setups by some good folks on this site and have built my setup from all the info gathered from everyone else mistakes.

I would love to chase down Texas Speed for the stock bottom end N/A record, and know I have a long ways to go but that's my overall goal is to hold the fastest stock bottom end N/A record. When the motor goes then I'll build a motor for a big shot of nitrous. But tuner wise it's still in the air. I don't try to skimp around when it comes to my setup so that's why when the time comes I want the best tuner who's in it for my best interest and not always telling me my setup isn't good enough. Hope this helps.

LS1-450

iTrader: (33)

It's very easy to understand how I mistook you for a pro. You've helped me out both here & on EFILIVE. Am sure more assistance will be needed in the future; thank-you. We'll just reffer to you as a qualified amatuer.

Frost is another who has bailed my sorry a$$ out more than once; thanks Frost.

luigiandme

iTrader: (2)

Amen!

AFASTYZFR1

iTrader: (55)

Frost (Steve) is the only one I will let tune my car! He is an excellent tuner and knows his stuff!

Black02SS

iTrader: (36)

Good clean thread. I like it.

396D1SS

iTrader: (21)

They never called me back either

jpajkos

iTrader: (3)

Yeah I don't know what's up over there. I called twice again last week and still no answer. Hopefully I'll get a call back. Maybe they went on vacation for the holidays... Who know's. Just sucks I can't get ahold of anyone over there to get some advice.

edcmat-l1

iTrader: (10)

No offense, but maybe this is the main reason they're so hard to get a hold of. We all run shops. It's costs money to run these shops. We can't field phone calls and give away advice all day and pay the bills. We need people to spend money. Buy parts, services, tuning, etc.

Not only that, that advice you're looking to get was probably earned by them through blood sweat and tears. It is valuable.

I hope that you are/were also planning on spending money with them, or at least paying for your "advice".

WeathermanShawn

iTrader: (1)

To the OP, I will try to give you some advice..without stepping on anyone's toes.

While I agree that a reasonable amount of customer patiences is always in order, I like you have sometimes wished that many shops or businesses had the resources to truly invest in a dedicated 'customer service department'.

So, without starting an war here..My advice is too look at what shops frequent these threads and judge who you think you can work with. Then when you call them up say" I have $5000.00 I would like to spend on a Head and Cam Setup". And "when can you get me in".

And I am not being sarcastic. I am just telling you how to get it done. Money talks. I am not saying it should be that way, just telling you how you get to the front of the line and get answers.

If after that a shop or company shoes no interest, you keep looking.

I mean no offense to anyone in my viewpoint. But, there are some great Sponsors that frequent these forums that might be easier to work with.

Food for thought.

Respectfully

..WeathermanShawn..

Slowhawk

iTrader: (12)

LOL,the advise thing.I wish we could charge CC's for being on the phone giving free advise.Every phone call for advise costs me about $80hr.

Kevin@Vengeance

iTrader: (11)

Originally Posted by edcmat-l1


Originally posted by Slowhawk

LOL! We were joking about that the other day!!!

Press "1" if you would like to place an order....
Please have your credit card ready.

Press "2" if you would like technical assistance....
Please have your credit card ready.... technical assistance will be billed at $3.99 per minute to your credit card.

jpajkos

iTrader: (3)

Well how I look at is that the sport we all participate in is more of an impulse buying sport. A lot of guys don't usually have all the money up front right or away so guys like us stack up parts till we can get things done. I bought there T-Rex cam and a few other parts that day thus totaling my bill to a decent amount. They didn't have any recommendation on there site as far as heads for this combo. I repo car's,trucks,boats,bikes, etc for a living so my money is earned the hard way meaning not always easy. Not all peaches and creme for me. So when I get ready to spend my money I always go with the people who take there time with me and provide the best customer service.

I found Texas-Speed to be an excellent vendor on LS1 tech that's why I went ahead and purchased my Fast setup,my first cam,cam install package, with other parts and racked up over 3k with them. Same with BMR when I did my entire suspension BMR took there time and didn't over sell me however educated me on my purchase and which component did what. It all comes down to customer service. Regardless you spend $500, or $15,000 earning a loyal long term customer would be a greater satisfaction then anything. If your getting so many phone calls about the product your selling then that should tell you something. It would tell me I was doing something RIGHT. No offense, and without starting a war here but if a shop can't lend me 10-15 minutes of there time then maybe I should lend them my debit card.

I mean really how many people come on this board to obtain information on a daily basis from people who are knowledgeable? Maybe everyone should start charging a fee.