Questions about tuning options.
Questions about tuning options.
My current setup is in my sig and over the winter I am planning on adding an alky kit and the "new" 20G.
My question has to do with tuning options. I dont live anywhere near any shops and with my future mods I will need more than my mail in flash. I want to be able to learn to tune it myself and be able to run a pump+alky map and a pump+alky+race fuel map. Ive been looking into either the MAFTpro or the ECUflash. I dont really want to do the AEM EMS as I dont have that much money left over and dont want to go full stand-alone if dont have to.
I would also like to not have to buy a laptop. What are some of the benefits/downsides to either system? What things might I need to take into consideration for either? Is there another setup I should consider? Thanks guys for any advice you can give.
My question has to do with tuning options. I dont live anywhere near any shops and with my future mods I will need more than my mail in flash. I want to be able to learn to tune it myself and be able to run a pump+alky map and a pump+alky+race fuel map. Ive been looking into either the MAFTpro or the ECUflash. I dont really want to do the AEM EMS as I dont have that much money left over and dont want to go full stand-alone if dont have to.
I would also like to not have to buy a laptop. What are some of the benefits/downsides to either system? What things might I need to take into consideration for either? Is there another setup I should consider? Thanks guys for any advice you can give.
I think with your level of mods it might be a good idea to learn the basics of tuning in case you ever need to change anything. I'm not saying you have to be a guru with your engine controller, but at least know the basics.
However, I would not rule out getting the car professionally tuned with the new stuff. Your only one road trip away from a good tuner. You can drop off the car somewhere, spend a few days in the area, take a friend or two, have some relaxation, maybe make a long weekend out of it, have a FUN drive back...you get the idea. And in the long run, I think youl spend less time screwing around with the car if you have a pro do it right the first time.
Once you get the car back you can make minor adjustments if you ever add any mods or take some off, dial in tunes as the weather changes, make safer maps for other drivers or crappy gas (if you ever have to travel to Cali or Canada or something) etc. That can at least get you started in tuning without jumping in the deep end.
Don't forget, you will need some equipent if you want to tune your car. Wideband and some sort of knock detection at the very least. I assume you already have a decent boost gauge. And you really need some sort of logging capability. Its totally impossible to monitor all the stuff you need to be looking at while driving safely. Just dont even try.
However, I would not rule out getting the car professionally tuned with the new stuff. Your only one road trip away from a good tuner. You can drop off the car somewhere, spend a few days in the area, take a friend or two, have some relaxation, maybe make a long weekend out of it, have a FUN drive back...you get the idea. And in the long run, I think youl spend less time screwing around with the car if you have a pro do it right the first time.
Once you get the car back you can make minor adjustments if you ever add any mods or take some off, dial in tunes as the weather changes, make safer maps for other drivers or crappy gas (if you ever have to travel to Cali or Canada or something) etc. That can at least get you started in tuning without jumping in the deep end.
Don't forget, you will need some equipent if you want to tune your car. Wideband and some sort of knock detection at the very least. I assume you already have a decent boost gauge. And you really need some sort of logging capability. Its totally impossible to monitor all the stuff you need to be looking at while driving safely. Just dont even try.
Last edited by Mercenary3; Sep 22, 2006 at 06:32 PM.
You might consider Vishnu XEDE as a fairly user friendly piggy back. I think that Shiv schedules tuning days for Washington state. So, he could do an Alky/pump and an Alky/Race custom map for you.
With XEDE you can have 2 maps and the ready made maps on the site give you a good starting point then you can modify it to suit your particular combination of mods.
With XEDE you can have 2 maps and the ready made maps on the site give you a good starting point then you can modify it to suit your particular combination of mods.
Oh BTW, congratulations, that's a pretty impressive trap speed in your sig for those particular mods on 102 octane and a flash. Speaks gobs for Dynoflash. I would think that Al could rework your existing flash to take into account the new BR turbo and the Alky. You just wouldn't be able to switch maps, that's all. It would save you a bit of cash though.
Thats the only reason I dont just want to do a custom tune is I want to be able to switch maps and I would like to learn to tune myself. I want something thats going to be fairly user friendly at first though with room to grow as I learn.