Looking to Tune- What Should I Be Looking For?

[matttheduckman]

SureFlo used to have a tuner on hand, young bloke from QLD - Jason or Justin? He has some good results from out of the square theory.

Yeah, Greg told me that he used to but no longer does.

 

[matttheduckman]

So I have narrowed down the tuner to a local shop who have done a few tunes in the past, unsure of their work on V8's (will be calling them to discuss in the near future). Anything I should be requesting or looking out for?

Again, not looking for big numbers!

 

[dgp]

Ask them if they lock their tune. If they do, you can't take it to another tuner if you are not happy with your first tuner as the first tuner will charge you to flash a stock tune back into the car and unlock the ECU.

 

[markalan1two]

i Matt what part of Sydney are you in? i have a good tuner if your in the right area PM me if you like

 

[panhead]

So I have narrowed down the tuner to a local shop who have done a few tunes in the past, unsure of their work on V8's (will be calling them to discuss in the near future). Anything I should be requesting or looking out for?

Again, not looking for big numbers!

I’d be going to a reputable tuner with known results and not someone who’s done a few tunes and even better they should be very au fait with your engine type.

Just because you drive out of their shop thinking the car is running well doesn't mean you're not driving a ticking time bomb.

I'd want peace of mind for my money.



.

 

[monstar]

Ask them if they lock their tune. If they do, you can't take it to another tuner if you are not happy with your first tuner as the first tuner will charge you to flash a stock tune back into the car and unlock the ECU.

Dude you have EFIlive FSV2 right? You and I can swap and edit unlocked tunes but why would it be an advantage for someone who doesn’t even know how to speak to the tuner to ask what he would like?
OP there are two main flavours of engine management editing software - EFIlive and HP Tuners. With both you pay for a licence of the vehicle’s ECU, about $250.
With EFIlive you only pay once per tuner you see, and the details of the calibration are locked to the tuner’s equipment. This is because it is a commercial service with proprietary information.
By comparison leaving the tune unlocked for anyone to read and resell and upload to a tune repository (sort of like pirate bay for cars) is ludicrous, professionally irresponsible and dangerous.
In other words cancelling the commercial arrangement with a professional tuner is no big deal because you have to pay another to tune anyway. At any point you can ask for tune to be flashed back to Stock else any tuner can overwrite the “locked” file.
My advice is to steer clear of bozos who deal in flashing other people’s original work, sort of like looking for videos on USB at a flea market stall. Cheap trashy is low-brow and dangerous in this context.

 

[matttheduckman]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I might give these local guys a call and suss out their methods, and if they've any further experience with these engines. My biggest concern overall is long term longevity. I don't want the motor to go KABOOM in 3 months because I was able to push close to 300rwkw for pen1s size competition!

 

[dgp]

Monstar, yes I do have FSV2 but still only a second month apprentice. Thanks for the feedback.