Amurphy

Odd question that's been on my chest. Is every tuner different when it comes to tuning a modified ls engine? I have a bored 6.0 with cam full bolt one and built a4 with 3200 stall in a 2002 camaro. I'm from Houston area and seen some shops charge only 250 for a street tune and most others 400 for the same tune.

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

There's usually variances of some sort. Not uncommon at all

G Atsma

A lot has to do with how good they think they are, which could be irrelevant to reality...

Amurphy

Okay yea that makes since. Have anyone heard of 747 garage?

8.Lug

gametech

iTrader: (1)

Quoted for the absolute truth in your short statement.

LSX Power Tuning

iTrader: (4)

Thats very true alot of times. However your probably not going to find someone with tons of experience and who is really good out there doing $250 tunes. I would say 95% of the time you get what you pay for. It goes for alot of things besides just tuning, If they were that good they would know their work is worth more than $250 IMO. Anyone can buy hpt and a laptop and claim to tune.

G Atsma

I agree. If a shop is always belting out good tunes the word will get around, and a higher price will be willingly paid. It's the shops that put out a good tune sporadically but blows their horn about them AND calls for a high price that I'm talking about. And they do exist, which makes it tough for good ones like you.

joecar

A good tune take time, and time costs money... you can see why a cheap tune is looking suspect.

Kawabuggy

iTrader: (1)

I've only ever paid for 1 tune. The guy was "mobile" and came and plugged up and we drove around for almost 2 hours. He used the factory O2's to work out driveability, idle, and some other things. That truck was damn near spot on-except for WOT which I did not expect to tune while driving on the streets. It cost me $300. I did not think that was a bad price and the truck sure did run really well.

Then, I got HP Tuners and began to do my own tuning. All I can say is that it requires a LOT of learning, and experience, to do it correctly. Like mentioned above, there are a lot of people who think they are super-tuners in their own minds.. But in reality... They should not be tuning lawn mowers. I will never pay anyone to tune anything I own, or work on, ever again. I've tuned several vehicles to date. I do all of my tuning by datalogging street driving scenarios. After all, I drive my vehicles on the street-not on a dyno. Not that there's anything wrong with dyno tuning. I just don't have access to a dyno.. I've heard it said-but do not know it to be true myself-that those who want big HP/Torque #'s for bragging get dyno tunes.. Those that want the best driveability, reliability, & performance on the street-datalog & tune on the street. I understand that WOT can only be done on a dyno, or track, or private property.. So, there's that.

Amurphy

So if I got get a $550 dyno/street tune which he does both for that price I'm going to notice quit a big difference vs this $250 street tune I'm on now?

gametech

iTrader: (1)

There is some truth in the idea that a blind squirrel sometimes gets a nut. Odds are you will get improvement, but it is not a guarantee. Just look at the difference from one vehicle to another in factory trim.

Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

I have done some where I street tune the car with LOTS of hours and then on the dyno can only find 8 hp. Other times, street tune leaves 20-30 on the table that you find in the dyno.

LSX Power Tuning

iTrader: (4)

It would depends on the person doing the tuning, their experience and the vehicle. I can street tune a bolt on or cam car and get it really close on the street, a 1500hp turbo car not a chance.

If they are lower horsepower we have street tuned them and put them on the dyno only to be able to get less than 5hp more out. Boosted or power adder cars are a different story.