[ABCsR2EZ4Me]

From all the sparked interested of the recent thread, I wanted to know how much you guys pay for tuning your motor. Is it flat rates? By the Hour? Are you Tuning it? Is someone else tuning it?

Info grabbed from the recent thread that should probably be here for others:

GSRGREENSLEEPER: Just out of curiosity, about how long does it take to tune a car with cams. I know it can probably vary, but i guess I'm asking how long it took to have your car dyno'ed/tuned after you put cams in.

White98LS: An hour to get it running decently, two to get it really running well... 3-4 if you want it absolutely perfect and have the tuning tools to get it there. Mine took about an hour and a half because the S-AFC V1 sucks ass pretty bad for precise stuff.

What management toys are the best for typical I/C/H/E ? VAFC, SAFC, Chipped ECU, Hondata ... which is the best bang for you buck?

 

[acuradriva]

the best bang for the buck would be uberdata since its basically free. it will prob take like 1-2 hrs at about 125/hr. its probablly cheaper in other states.

 

[White98LS]

Dyno tuning varies a lot. I got mine for $65/hour (normal price was $80) and tuned it myself, actually got to "drive" the car on the runs if I wanted also. Average I've seen is about $120/hr to tune yourself, about $200/hr if you have a tuner help you. Some offer to charge per run, the place I went to offered the $80/hr plus $10 one-time fee to hook up the wideband O2 sensor or $40 setup fee w/O2, plus $10 per run.

For tuning devices, it all depends. I don't know that much about uberdata, but from what I've heard it's a low-cost option somewhat similar to Hondata that rocks. As far as other stuff... I went with the S-AFC because A) I have OBDII so Hondata would require about $300 worth of conversion to OBDI and B) Hondata was just coming into the market at the time. The S-AFC/V-AFC is a piggyback computer (it "tricks" the stock ECU by altering information going to and from it) while Hondata, AEM EMS, etc. are standalone ECUs that replace the stock ECU and are controllable directly. Standalones are much more effective but often not as easy to use. If I wasn't on the tight budget I'm on, I'd switch to Hondata in a heartbeat... but for my fairly mild setup S-AFC and a manually adjustable fuel pressure regulator were all I really needed - with just the S-AFC I wouldn't be able to get enough fuel for my setup.

 

[Mr GSR]

When we tuned my car after the I/E and chip, an hour of time is all they sold dyno time in. It was $65 an hour with the O2 hookup on there. I have a stock chipped ECU, but am looking into getting Hondata before I go much further, actuall after a header that will be my next purchase.

 

[ABCsR2EZ4Me]

Anyone care to shed some light on chipping Ecu's and uberdata?

 

[female four]

Tuning varies in the idea that a shop will charge a diferent fee for service. Its like selling cars. One dealer may sell a teg for $11k while the other will sell it for $8k. Its basically what they say te tuning is worth.

I have done and seen $100/hr, $125/hr, and $195/hr dyno tunes jobs. Like plannin gin your project car, you should talk to the tuner and get to know him. Its the best way to know what their backgrounds and tuning preferences are. For example, some tuners work well with Hondata and some work well with E-manage/AEM EMS/Power FC/Uberdata.

Even if you don't have any modifications to your car, its nice to at least do a few basic runs to see how things work on a dyno and start building a relationship with the tuner. Most of the time, basic runs are cheaper but do not provide an A/F plot. Its basically a run that measures your HP and Torque. I've done deals that costs $30 for 3 basic runs before locally. Again it may differ from where you are and the prices they charge.

The idea is getting it tuned when the car needs it. Lastly make sure you get everything you need for it to work properly together or else you will not make the expected power goals you set out for yourself.


You'd probably start asking about dyno's pretty soon to so I'd might as well shed some light on it now rather than later since this thread is a lot more interesting than any recent thread as of late.

There are a few differnt kinds of dyno's. The two basic ones are the traditional roller dyno like the Dyno Jets. On these dyno's you pull the car onto rollers that simulate a driving condition and it then uses that force to turn those huge rollers into plotting your HP & Torque figures. Mustang dyno's are similar, but they usually record lower figures.


Pictures of a Dyno Jet

In Ground

On lift

 

[female four]

Then there are the Dyna Packs. These are pretty impressive devices that uses the wheel hub itself instead of the wheels/tires rolling on the huge rollers. Yes there has been lots of debate on whether this is very accurate since it doesn't measure power to the wheels. But there is little difference in measuring it at the wheels/tires and the wheel hub as all you have to do is factor in tire dimensions.

The benifit of the Dyna Pack is that its portable and it provides a more consitant run than the roller dyno's. Roller dyno's can easily be thrown off by chaging wheel/tire combination, but the Dyna Pack stays the same as you cant change the hub configuration.


Some pictures of a Dyna Pack:

As you can see from the two differnt pictures is that on the Dyna Packs you don't see any straps to hold the car down. Thats because you don't need any. Its a lot more safe that way because you don't have to worry about the car driving off the dyno. Nor do you have to worry about damage to the rollers from stepping on the brakes.


Back to tuning... its probably better to let the tuner tune you car on the dyno has they will have much more background experience to make the tuning session faster. Although I have heard of places that do allow customers to tune their own cars, I have yet to see one locally.