What Should I Be Paying For a Tune?

[PIR4TE]

I'm not a huge fan of remote tuning because there is no way to check WOT AFR safely without using a dyno (not to mention a wideband 02), so if you're going to have to go to a dyno anyway...

I think you're confusing OP with all of this unneeded jargon; it's just a VE with some pipes and OTR, not a supercharger or cam that needs to be logged on the road and fiddled with until it is 'just right'. It will be a very straightforward job (barring any mechanical failure) for a tuner who does them on a regular basis.

You are talking crap. What exactly the #### are you suggesting to OP then? Go to a country bumpkin who "knows Holdens"?!

OP look into remote tune from an expert, don't listen to a backyard yahoo just because he drives an old Holden.

 

[Grennan]

Honestly, a bolt on LS tune is probably extremely simple.

Theyll have generic tunes that are loaded in based on XYZ mods, lets face it. Tuned LS engines are a dime a dozen and these workshops probably go through a hundred of them in any given month. Chuck it on a dyno and make some slight tweaks.

Find a workshop that you can trust and go from there. As I said earlier in the thread, I base who I leave my car with, on how they chat to me. If they sit you down and are happy to spend 15 minutes talking, fantastic. If they give you the negatives and straight answers, fantastic. There is heaps of knowledge out there on the LS, including workshops to go to and to avoid.

I just gone mine tuned by C&A in Blackburn and couldnt be happier with how they dealt with me. In the lead up, discussed with me the AFM disabling, discussed MAF removal/retain, discussed where I wanted power/torque. After it I asked them about cams and they sat down and gave me a few options as well as labor quotes. Was the price they quoted. Was quick and easy and the overall product is a car that makes 250+ rwkw with a snappy auto and still keeps a fuel average of 8l on the freeway all for under a grand.

 

[bozodos]

Re read my previous posts Pirate, obviously comprehension isn't your forte. You're the only one talking crap here. Your actual understanding of the tuning process seems to be very limited apart from what your favourite tuner has told you.

Yes Grennan that's what I was getting at - most of these shops have a generic bolt on tune that has been run and run and tweaked endlessly, so it fits most cars quite well. Why would you bother with an autocal and remote tuning unless you had to? Any tuner that reckons they need the car overnight to do cold start or it needs extra logging etc, is the one I'd be steering clear of.

I suggested 3 well known and experienced workshops that I would deal with that which are closer to most places in Western NSW than Sydney. I honestly can't believe that you refer to those 3 as "country bumpkins", mate you have no idea.

Alternatively a lot of people locally like Corsa, but I haven't been impressed with the post tune customer service that I've seen.

 

[PIR4TE]

Hey look Bozodos ignore me. Stop hassling me. Stop ghosting me. Stop drilling me for info then arguing and calling me names.
Nobody on this forum does that to you, right? I've asked you twice before in other threads, be polite and have some courtesy if you want to engage me in conversation, else cut me some slack and use the ignore function. Thanks.

 

[bozodos]

I think I've been fairly polite and resisted the name calling - YOU started on me in this thread. I don't agree with some of the stuff you write, so I argue against that, which is the entire purpose of a forum. It's nothing personal, nor do I have a vendetta out against you. You should welcome robust discussion and diverging opinions, rather than everyone blindly following certain users on a given forum.

If someone else wants to pick on my comments, that's fine - I wouldn't post if I was worried about someone calling me out.

Go back through this thread - I stand by my comments about bolt on tunes, I don't think there is a huge difference between HPT and EFI Live for OP's intent, I suggested places that were closer to Adelaide than Sydney given the approximate location of the OP, that I don't think mail order or remote tunes are a good idea unless you're desperate or very remote etc, then you started with your rant about Macca on LS1 and his opinion on Oztrack etc. Completely irrelevant to the thread, surely you can agree with that.

You then accuse me of talking crap, and imply that the 3 workshops I mentioned as examples were 'country bumpkins'. Without wanting to get into yet another tiresome workshop debate, they all have a very good rep.

 

[VBhero]

To the OP...

As already demonstrated by some users on here, Tuning is a very cut throat personal world. Most opinions are based on whether someone likes a bloke or not, rather than on their actual tuning ability. Have a search on the various forums and this will become blindingly obvious.
Some tuners will stick out for various reasons, some good some bad. You will have fanbois of both types. Oztrack is a perfect example, there are numerous threads on the interwebs that warn people to stay way from him, backed up with hard data and personal experience. But in the same vein, he has his fanbois who claim they have had good results will defend him regardless of what facts and data are presented to them, regardless of how much of a douche it makes them look.

So, the trick for you, the customer, is to filter through all the crap to find someone that will achieve what you want. One big word of advice though, a good tune is not cheap. A cheap tune is rarely good.

PS I only referred to Oztrack above, because it is probably the easiest example to use that proves my point.

 

[PIR4TE]

To the OP...

As already demonstrated by some users on here, Tuning is a very cut throat personal world. Most opinions are based on whether someone likes a bloke or not, rather than on their actual tuning ability. Have a search on the various forums and this will become blindingly obvious.
Some tuners will stick out for various reasons, some good some bad. You will have fanbois of both types. Oztrack is a perfect example, there are numerous threads on the interwebs that warn people to stay way from him, backed up with hard data and personal experience. But in the same vein, he has his fanbois who claim they have had good results will defend him regardless of what facts and data are presented to them, regardless of how much of a douche it makes them look.

So, the trick for you, the customer, is to filter through all the crap to find someone that will achieve what you want. One big word of advice though, a good tune is not cheap. A cheap tune is rarely good.

PS I only referred to Oztrack above, because it is probably the easiest example to use that proves my point.

PS, perhaps should of used another example, bad taste, makes you look like the douche.

 

[Grennan]

PS, perhaps should of used another example, bad taste, makes you look like the douche.

Whats the difference between them using Oztrack and me using Chevs as my example? There are people who defend him to the hilt and Im sure theyve had great results from him. Personally, I had two bad ones as well friends.

There are lots of bad experiences from that particular workshop (lets not get into the rumors side of it). But there are good reports as well as the OP has asked for a recommendation.

It would be prudent that he hears bad reviews as well as good.

Lets not draw this into a "the man called me a mean name in the other playground...".

 

[07GTS]

i have one thing to say about remote tunes simply if a part of the logging do they get u to use a wide band oxygen sensor..? simply if they do not then i wouldnt get a remote tune because u can not tune wot accuratly without one and sure u can do part throttle using the trims but any OL tuning needs wide band, where as a good tuner on a dyno should have one so u know its going to be all good...

 

[monkey]

Not sure im looking forward to a tune as much now