Who to tune my baby?

[OZ GTR35]

After a long battle with getting my PFC fixed and the boost controller working, I’m now ready to tune the car. I boosted to 1 bar last night and the response was exciting.

I’m not sure where to take it, or even if I should do it myself. My thoughts were to go down to Bob Wynn’s dyno and book it for an hour and have a play. I don’t want to spend $1000+ to SAS or CAS to change my timing figures and add a few ms of duty cycle, I know how to do that.

Let me know of your experiences and cost with other people, or do you think I can do it myself?

My mods are.

PFC

Apexi Boost kit

Steel wheel High flowed (47.5mm) turbo's

FMIC 700 x 360 x 72mm

550cc Injectors

HKS dumps with 3 1/4" exhaust

Cam sprockets (Currently +4 / -4)

3000lb brass button clutch to hold the power.

What do you think the WK numbers should be?

Thanks all

[PranK]

Hey Mate,

I get all my stuff done at Hills (88020777) - Mark tuned my Power FC and it ended up costing much less than i expected (and not as much as you stated). He has to take the car elsewhere (Sams Performance) because of 4WD..

If you call him, tell him you're my mate and he should look after you.

Christian

[DoughBoy]

I've used Rick Shaw Rotary a couple of times, but he can only tune 2WD on his dyno - he has access to a 4WD one but not sure where that is. Price is ~$300.

And i've heard good reports of The Hitman . Met him, seems to know his stuff (I think he's been working with Haltech for over 6 years?) but road tuning only. How many points you got on your license? He charges around ~$270. No pretty chart to toss over either.

Any others with prices?

[kabab]

I would go to CAS Jim has proven himself to be the best give em a call it might not be as expensive as you think.

[fatz]

oz bring it over my joint and we will discuss a plan (slab of beer= plan)

pete

[OZ GTR35]

Gents,

I have spoken to Mark at Hills, Im very happy with his process and knowlage and very happy with $190 to tune with 1 hr dyno time included.

Fatz,

Hmmmm Beer!

[franks]

a 1 hour tune is an awefully quick and nasty tune??? i can guarantee you will get what you pay for...

i've heard Jim @ CAS charges around $800 but he does put in the hours. tuning will be the last thing on my performance modification list and it will probably be one of the most expensive item aswell - i don't want to go back for a retune and i want it to be tuned for full throttle low end, mid range & top end and also tuned for half throttle/cruise - i want it to be perfect!!!

remember, any mug can tune top end.

i've had my powerfc tuned twice by C&V, both times after performance upgrades done to the car. I think Con is OK, but needs more practise. he's only spent about 3 hours in total tuning my car and i think it performs like it has had 3 hours tuning done to it.

in summary, my full throttle low and bottom ends are pretty good, mid range in a higher gear with high loads has its problems, im running out of AFM, injector duty cycles can be a little bit random and half throttle i dont think anything has been tuned...!

i get about 400kms to a tank and this is city driving with more than the average spurts -> im happy with this. on highway driving i get about the same? -> i dont like this.

attached is a dyno graph after my last mod, which was boost upped to 1.0bar with c&v tuned PowerFC. mods are not disclosed.

[RAIDER]

nice power figure

i went to c&v, its true, the longer it takes, the better you get but the more it costs

BTW i got 185rwkw in my s15 at 15psi

1hr dyno is nowhere near enough, takes half a day to get an initial good read the longer the better

with the mods you have there oz, spend a bit more and you will see the difference

[franks]

rub it in ay! well technically i was only at 1bar or slightly less which is 14.3psi so nerr

[OZ GTR35]

All,

Thanks for the comments and keep them coming.

I am happy extend the tune time by 1 to 2 hours if there is still more work required. Mark has offered to send the completed Maps of an identical GTR for me to preload my apexi, then we can spend the 1 hr in fine tuning.

[fatz]

thats got to be harsh on you car

how many dyno pull would you do in 3 hours (that is just abuse if you ask me)

i was under the impression that the dyno guys from the big name shops would have a preset tune they dial in then spend 1 hour just giving it a tweak

3 hours maybe from scratch

thats alot of strain on your car 3 hours of say 4-6 pull (hihihihihi said pulls) and hour

just my thoughts

pete

[jayR33]

Just regrding CAS. I got my car tuned their. It took Jim about 1-2 hours and i ended up paying $700. Whether it was worth that much i dont know, but i am more than happy with the result (186.7kw @ 12psi).

Oz GTR it really depends how serious you are about performance, if you want the best than it is very hard to go past Jim at CAS. I really do think you get what you pay for.

[DoughBoy]

I don't think it is very relevant to post your peak power ratings when discussing tuners. I can arm myself with my trusty seat-o'-the-pants-tuning and lean my car out to produce a great peak power amount, but something tells me that it isn't going to last very long.

What about things like part throttle response, trailing throttle, idle quality, fuel economy or any *bad* things like stalling, coughing/spluttering, power dips etc?

I know my car ran excessively rich at idle and on trailing throttle, to the extent it would stall if going from ~3,000 rpm to idle (e.g. stopping fast for a red light camera). Put it down to laziness or a concern to run rich to preserve the engine, but it was damn annoying.

[yogi000]

But guys you gotta think about what type of tune your getting. You can pay 150 and get a stage one dyno tune which might be 45-60mins on the dyno. But if your getting a full dyno tune, ecus, regulators, timin, a/f ratios, boost increases and other things along those lines.

CAS will charge 150 for a 1hr dyno just like everyone else to do the basic shit but if u got mods left right and centre your obviously gonna pay more.

Thats wat i tink anyways.......but have a look at the link...its a gooden!

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~james.stev...ng%20kombis.jpg

[DoughBoy]

Woohoo! Kombi racing! I'd pay $150 an hour to see that!

[OZ GTR35]

Fatz,

I agree anything more than 4-5 full boost to redline runs, cant be to good for the car.

All,

Im not sure if we all know exactly what happens in a PFC tune but it is not exactly rocket science. The big job (time mainly) is in cruize tuning. That can take a while and you are not necessarily pushing the car while you are doing this on the dyno!

For peak power.

1. Keep you Fuel rations around 11.5 to 12 (Very safe). The Standard INJ maps on the PFC do this very well anyway. (I know Mario says 12.6 was the best Fuel / Air ration but I use street fuels and cant afford a Bang! haa haa I just said bang! get it get it)

2. Stop the boost when duty cycle hits 90-95% (Again very safe, to stop leaning out on those cold dense nights that the skylines love)

3. Play with the 400 segment ING maps to produce as much peak power without getting >25 Knock (Very Safe)

For cruise setting. (I don’t really care because the company pays for my fuel but it does help with mid range torque and power.)

1. Just play with your ING & INJ maps to produce smooth, not to rich, power. You normally run you car at the 60 – 120 KM areas while the tuner plays. This is where I need Marks help, as I am not 100% sure on how and what to do.

I guess I just needed to clarify my requirements and let you know what I need from my tuner. I believe I will be able to live with the performance I get after 1 hr of tuning and only say 3-5 hard hits.

Thanks for all the good input and the PM’s

[B-Man]

Let us know how you go dude