Remote Tuning USA
Discussion
I've noticed a few folks have had some starting, idle, or tuning issues in general so figured I'd make put my 2 cents in. Have you guys looked into remote tuning? The amount of money some folks spend on minor upgrades and cosmetic parts, you would think they'd make a small investment on mapping/logging software.
When I was mildly modified, I had my car tuned and mapped in the UK in person (reputable V8 tuner in the community), it ran "ok". I got a remap done remotely and the car ran so much better and faster at the pod. Now, I am making a bit more power and still remotely tuned. While I admit the same tuner having the car in person would probably be a better option, I have no complaints on drivability for such a powerful car.
This is not a sales pitch, I am merely trying to help some folks out that may or may not be looking for options. I'm not going to go too much into detail as to not break any forum rules on advertising but if you have any questions, feel free to contact me (email on my profile no longer active :/).
When I was mildly modified, I had my car tuned and mapped in the UK in person (reputable V8 tuner in the community), it ran "ok". I got a remap done remotely and the car ran so much better and faster at the pod. Now, I am making a bit more power and still remotely tuned. While I admit the same tuner having the car in person would probably be a better option, I have no complaints on drivability for such a powerful car.
This is not a sales pitch, I am merely trying to help some folks out that may or may not be looking for options. I'm not going to go too much into detail as to not break any forum rules on advertising but if you have any questions, feel free to contact me (email on my profile no longer active :/).
Edited by minime68 on Wednesday 21st December 08:42
Totally agree with you, though if you buy EFILive you get great support from Ringram and you can constantly tweak things.
BTW, you still running stock ECU? I am thinking about going with a Holley Dominator or similar at some point as have seen that on the LSA, P7&8 can run a bit lean, so a custom ECU can control the AFR for these separately and you can gain a bit more power from that.
BTW, you still running stock ECU? I am thinking about going with a Holley Dominator or similar at some point as have seen that on the LSA, P7&8 can run a bit lean, so a custom ECU can control the AFR for these separately and you can gain a bit more power from that.
HappyMidget said:
Totally agree with you, though if you buy EFILive you get great support from Ringram and you can constantly tweak things.
BTW, you still running stock ECU? I am thinking about going with a Holley Dominator or similar at some point as have seen that on the LSA, P7&8 can run a bit lean, so a custom ECU can control the AFR for these separately and you can gain a bit more power from that.
Yea I'm on the stock ECU (E67 I believe) right now...Definitely leaving some features off the table by doing this but right now I am not about to spend $3K+ on ProEFI. Pat G has been tuning my car for two years now and haven't had issues with fueling, though you are right about those two cylinders typically running leaner.BTW, you still running stock ECU? I am thinking about going with a Holley Dominator or similar at some point as have seen that on the LSA, P7&8 can run a bit lean, so a custom ECU can control the AFR for these separately and you can gain a bit more power from that.
mini_me said:
Yea I'm on the stock ECU (E67 I believe) right now...Definitely leaving some features off the table by doing this but right now I am not about to spend $3K+ on ProEFI. Pat G has been tuning my car for two years now and haven't had issues with fueling, though you are right about those two cylinders typically running leaner.
Yeah, the E67. Be interesting to see how it actually controls the boost for the turbos.It sounds like remote tuning is a good option for most people. I know you can simply plug in and read the existing tune, but I assume that you need an EFI licence or similar to be able to write the revised tunes back to your car?
It's not hard to understand that the cam tunes that come off the shelf are probably only 90% optimised and that it would take considerable data logging and time to iron out the niggles.
I love the idea of EFI and DIY tuning but it seems that the well experienced tuners can get things wrong so I would be terrified of doing something silly and ending up with a big (unnecessary) bill.
For what it's worth, my car has an off the shelf tune, it idles perfectly and pulls smoothly to the limiter. It's just the lazy / laboured hot starting that seems to be a bit of a common complaint.
It's not hard to understand that the cam tunes that come off the shelf are probably only 90% optimised and that it would take considerable data logging and time to iron out the niggles.
I love the idea of EFI and DIY tuning but it seems that the well experienced tuners can get things wrong so I would be terrified of doing something silly and ending up with a big (unnecessary) bill.
For what it's worth, my car has an off the shelf tune, it idles perfectly and pulls smoothly to the limiter. It's just the lazy / laboured hot starting that seems to be a bit of a common complaint.
Janosh said:
It sounds like remote tuning is a good option for most people. I know you can simply plug in and read the existing tune, but I assume that you need an EFI licence or similar to be able to write the revised tunes back to your car?
It's not hard to understand that the cam tunes that come off the shelf are probably only 90% optimised and that it would take considerable data logging and time to iron out the niggles.
I love the idea of EFI and DIY tuning but it seems that the well experienced tuners can get things wrong so I would be terrified of doing something silly and ending up with a big (unnecessary) bill.
For what it's worth, my car has an off the shelf tune, it idles perfectly and pulls smoothly to the limiter. It's just the lazy / laboured hot starting that seems to be a bit of a common complaint.
You will not need a license to flash the car. The HP Tuners setup I have would cost around $1000 including wideband. That being said, you can have your car tuned out the door (with the hardware for data logging and making changes) for around $750. That is including mapping.It's not hard to understand that the cam tunes that come off the shelf are probably only 90% optimised and that it would take considerable data logging and time to iron out the niggles.
I love the idea of EFI and DIY tuning but it seems that the well experienced tuners can get things wrong so I would be terrified of doing something silly and ending up with a big (unnecessary) bill.
For what it's worth, my car has an off the shelf tune, it idles perfectly and pulls smoothly to the limiter. It's just the lazy / laboured hot starting that seems to be a bit of a common complaint.
It is really not too complicated with the right tuner. My car went from sputtering and barely drivable to making big power on the dyno with 4-5 revisions only. That's less than an hour worth of logging.
mini_me said:
I'm not sure if Pat adjusted fueling to individual cylinders. I can tell you one thing though...two years ago I killed piston #6. (different tuner).
Without actually monitoring each cylinder, there isnt really much point altering them.There is no real evidence to suggest any cylinders run leaner than others, and if there are some on each build it could be down to intake, exhaust, injectors, valvetrain, cooling system or a range of factors. So taking a guess here...is just pointless.
There is perhaps some evidence that the rearmost cylinders do run hotter than others, largely that's a cooling system issue rather than tuning though.
Simple solution is ensure "steam" ports are functional and always worth allowing the engine to run a little cooler if it is making some power via a colder stat. It will do many favours. OEM and for emissions reasons like to run them very hot though....it isnt such a great idea for making power safely though, and hotter coolant temps will always yield much higher oil temps. Which again, isnt always a good thing.
As for remote tuning, perhaps a simple step by step guide to show those who might be interested as to what they need and need to do to make it all happen.
Moving to aftermarket ecu's has its place, but again if you have no local support or access to competent tuners...it can just open up another huge minefield. Support is everything regardless of tuning methods.
But a good aftermarket ecu will also offer many more possibilities and safety features, although there would be hardware install to consider there too
stevieturbo said:
As for remote tuning, perhaps a simple step by step guide to show those who might be interested as to what they need and need to do to make it all happen.
Moving to aftermarket ecu's has its place, but again if you have no local support or access to competent tuners...it can just open up another huge minefield. Support is everything regardless of tuning methods.
But a good aftermarket ecu will also offer many more possibilities and safety features, although there would be hardware install to consider there too
Remote tuning DIY:Moving to aftermarket ecu's has its place, but again if you have no local support or access to competent tuners...it can just open up another huge minefield. Support is everything regardless of tuning methods.
But a good aftermarket ecu will also offer many more possibilities and safety features, although there would be hardware install to consider there too
1) Contact tuner...some of them provide a scanning tool to work everything out.
2) Get a wideband
3) Log/Flash your car
Best thing I can recommend is to contact a reputable tuner of your choice before purchasing anything.
As you already mentioned, aftermarket ECUs can be a pain especially since you will need to do constant logging. These can take a while to dial in and then maintain and upkeep. Tuning on them is almost never a one and done deal.
mini_me said:
Remote tuning DIY:
1) Contact tuner...some of them provide a scanning tool to work everything out.
2) Get a wideband
3) Log/Flash your car
Best thing I can recommend is to contact a reputable tuner of your choice before purchasing anything.
As you already mentioned, aftermarket ECUs can be a pain especially since you will need to do constant logging. These can take a while to dial in and then maintain and upkeep. Tuning on them is almost never a one and done deal.
All remote tuning requires extensive and accurate logging. Otherwise they'd be doing it blindly ( maybe like some local tuners seem to lol )1) Contact tuner...some of them provide a scanning tool to work everything out.
2) Get a wideband
3) Log/Flash your car
Best thing I can recommend is to contact a reputable tuner of your choice before purchasing anything.
As you already mentioned, aftermarket ECUs can be a pain especially since you will need to do constant logging. These can take a while to dial in and then maintain and upkeep. Tuning on them is almost never a one and done deal.
And clearly there is more to it as a step by step than you're listing given there are other software and hardware involved for the reading/flashing process, as well as wideband connectivity etc. If any 1 step falls down, it can all fall down. Hence for remote work, there does need to be a certain level of competence at both ends too.
And no tuning could ever be considered a 1 time deal whether OEM or otherwise, other than perhaps basic generic tried and tested basic reflashes. And as this thread is showing...even those are clearly not 1 time deals as people are having issues.
No tuner is going to get the setup bang on at the very first flash or sitting to cover every eventuality. With OEM it will require multiple flashes, and with aftermarket multiple changes. So same odds really.
But when an aftermarket can do so much more, and you're starting from scratch, naturally it will take more time.
Although retaining the OEM ecu, for most part all the manufacturers hard work is still there as a base, so the "tuner" in many respects has less work to do. Although on the flip side, with boost etc....the ecu is being used for a manner it was never intended, with hacked software to allow it....so there can be compromises/difficulties there too.
Up to each individual what might work best for them and give the best end result both in terms of performance and reliability.
ringram said:
Yes E38 and E67 let you change fueling per cylinder on the stock ecu with EFILive I did add about 2% on my vxr8 this way to number 7 
How did you determine it was no7 that needed more dc ?I see you can switch off individual injectors whilst it's running but there is no cylinder balance test?, (hptuners has a specific cyl balance test iirc)
Just comments from various bods.
The suggestion is that those cylinders are usually the ones that go.
Now that might just be cooling, in which case not much to be done, though guys often run the earlier model steam vent system to help.
Some say they have seen indications of lean running etc, hence why I just threw 1% in. OEM injectors can vary quite a bit anyway, aftermarket are usually more consistent.
Hence short and long term trims etc.
The suggestion is that those cylinders are usually the ones that go.
Now that might just be cooling, in which case not much to be done, though guys often run the earlier model steam vent system to help.
Some say they have seen indications of lean running etc, hence why I just threw 1% in. OEM injectors can vary quite a bit anyway, aftermarket are usually more consistent.
Hence short and long term trims etc.
ringram said:
Just comments from various bods.
The suggestion is that those cylinders are usually the ones that go.
Now that might just be cooling, in which case not much to be done, though guys often run the earlier model steam vent system to help.
Some say they have seen indications of lean running etc, hence why I just threw 1% in. OEM injectors can vary quite a bit anyway, aftermarket are usually more consistent.
Hence short and long term trims etc.
If a cylinder/s is/are running hotter than the majority then a little richer on them will also help?The suggestion is that those cylinders are usually the ones that go.
Now that might just be cooling, in which case not much to be done, though guys often run the earlier model steam vent system to help.
Some say they have seen indications of lean running etc, hence why I just threw 1% in. OEM injectors can vary quite a bit anyway, aftermarket are usually more consistent.
Hence short and long term trims etc.
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