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Tuners

11K views 59 replies 21 participants last post by  Skulls98GT 
#1 ·
Hey guys my next step is tuning, I'm thinking bama tunes with steeda CAI, saw some cool things at a mustang show today. Anyone have any literature that I can check out. I'm looking for what it does. Pros and cons. Wait times on tunes and difficulty. Thanks in advance. I want to know everything about it before it goes on my stang.
 
#3 ·
I've heard good and bad things. Pros that its better than stock, you will save more gas and have more throttle response

Cons (from what I heard) not the best performance out there,more for the daily driver rather than track/drag, problems that occur when uploading like some files not written correctly
Besides that AM has great customer service and will do everything they can to help you out
 
#4 ·
Merben50 said:
I've heard good and bad things. Pros that its better than stock, you will save more gas and have more throttle response

Cons (from what I heard) not the best performance out there,more for the daily driver rather than track/drag, problems that occur when uploading like some files not written correctly
Besides that AM has great customer service and will do everything they can to help you out
Is that bama that's writting those files??
 
#6 ·
Yeah I'm not too concerned about the warranties because I'm in a 2010, but I'm all about mpg gains with better throttle response. Not to mention making my exhaust sound better. I'm just hoping it does all these things haha
 
#8 ·
Doug, the former owner of Bama moved over to C&L as their only tuner. CLICK I have a C&L CAI and Doug tune in the mail.
 
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#11 ·
With the exception of the Ford Racing Performance Tune, your warranty is toast as soon as you flash your ECU, although tune-friendly Ford dealers might look the other way if you have trouble.

AM/Bama will provide a warranty for #8 cylinder failure, but failures are rare. Bama will also give you free tunes for life, which means that if you upgrade your car incrementally, you can receive recalibrated tunes at no cost.

Even recognizing the risks, I don't think you can go wrong with either Bama or Steeda tunes. I ran Bama tunes in my departed '11 GT and in my new '13 GT without any issues and with significant performance gains. These companies wouldn't be in business for long if their customers started having engine trouble. Bama claims 30RWHP gain with a tune and an Airaid CAI on their '13 GT.

Nothing is perfect: the Ford tune provides a significant boost in low end torque, but some people have had problems with pinging. Although I've had no problems with my Bama tunes, the SCT programmer has given nothing but trouble. Cooling vents on the hood of the '13's supposedly leak water on to aftermarket CAI's.
 
#12 ·
Doug at C&L will give free upgrade tunes for life also.
 
#13 ·
UncleSpud said:
With the exception of the Ford Racing Performance Tune, your warranty is toast as soon as you flash your ECU, although tune-friendly Ford dealers might look the other way if you have trouble.

AM/Bama will provide a warranty for #8 cylinder failure, but failures are rare. Bama will also give you free tunes for life, which means that if you upgrade your car incrementally, you can receive recalibrated tunes at no cost.

Even recognizing the risks, I don't think you can go wrong with either Bama or Steeda tunes. I ran Bama tunes in my departed '11 GT and in my new '13 GT without any issues and with significant performance gains. These companies wouldn't be in business for long if their customers started having engine trouble. Bama claims 30RWHP gain with a tune and an Airaid CAI on their '13 GT.

Nothing is perfect: the Ford tune provides a significant boost in low end torque, but some people have had problems with pinging. Although I've had no problems with my Bama tunes, the SCT programmer has given nothing but trouble. Cooling vents on the hood of the '13's supposedly leak water on to aftermarket CAI's.
Yea, I know. I was asking tj@steeda about their tunes since he made such a big deal about working with Ford. I figured if they are so great Ford must ok their tunes for warranty.
 
#14 ·
Jetag93 said:
Yea, I know. I was asking tj@steeda about their tunes since he made such a big deal about working with Ford. I figured if they are so great Ford must ok their tunes for warranty.
I agree, you can't claim to be so close to Ford if they don't share the same feeling in the form of backing up with warranty.
 
#15 ·
Just because they work closely together and do not have warranty does not mean they fail. I think you guys are looking too much into this and expecting too much. Look at all of the R&D they put into their products. And anyone that has owned a Steeda product can easily see this.

The way I see it is that they probably do not collaborate directly with ford engineers, but they do care enough to stay as close as possible to the way these cars have been engineered as possible and use their modifications to compliment the cars abilities as much as possible as opposed to starting from scratch and trying to reinvent perfection as opposed to improve upon the design of the vehicle. Also Steeda is third party, no surprise there is no warranty
 
#20 ·
GrabberBlue5.0 said:
Doug created Bama chips, aka Bama tuning, but it's not what it was when Doug was around, I hear nothing but great thing about C&L, still going with steeda lol
I had a tune from Doug on my 2006 v6 auto with a c&l CAI. It was surprisingly quick and the tune was spot on from the get go. I sold the car tuned with Doug's card in the cup holder, and the couple that bought it said it was faster than their blown GTPs.
 
#22 · (Edited)
I too am thinking of a tuner (both the person/company and the hardware). I am leaning (based on what I have read over the last few months) towards the Steeda tunes. I do have some questions (hopefully these are relevant to the OP's question in some way; I don't want two back-to-back Tuner threads!).

1) I see references to "91 Octane Street", "93 Octane Street", "93 Octane Race" etc. I get the octane of course ... but what are the practical differences between a race tune and a street tune? Forgive my ignorance. Does anyone run race tunes all the time? Is it safe?
2) Which tuner hardware. Seems to be a choice between SCT and Diablosport? Are the funky touch-screen units like the DS Trinity worth the coin? I like gauges, touch screens, etc. - is any of the data displayed by the Trinity actually useful, or does it just look cool?
3) After installing a tune, is there anything I should look for? I know the FRPP Tune causes pinging for some people. Is this an issue with other tunes? I thought the knock sensor would adjust for that, anyway?

Thanks. I am excited for my future tune.
 
#24 ·
As put by Bama:

Street (87-93 octane) - The street tune is designed as a daily driver program that focuses on increasing mid-range power. Automatic vehicles are further enhanced by making adjustments to the transmission's shift points and firmness.

Performance (87-93 octane) - The Performance program is designed to add power at 3000 RPMs and higher, focusing more on the top end horsepower and all out performance driving. Timing, fuel and throttle response settings are slightly more aggressive than the street tune. This is a great track tune but also works well for daily drivers that are looking for a little more "get up and go" than the street tune. The automatic transmission settings are the same as in the street tune.

Race (91 - 93 octane) - The race tune will ensure the largest increase in vehicle performance. Using the highest grade of fuel available in your area is mandatory. This file is designed for "Race Use Only", as the timing, fuel, and throttle response settings are very aggressive. It is so aggressive that we do not recommend it for daily driving as it may cause your vehicle to try to jump out from a stop and easily spin the tires. On automatics, we implement entirely new shift points and firmness settings to further enhance the all-out performance of the vehicle.
 
#23 ·
mmike87 said:
I too am thinking of a tuner (both the person/company and the hardware). I am leaning (based on what I have read over the last few months) towards the Steeda tunes. I do have some questions (hopefully these are relevant to the OP's question in some way; I don't want two back-to-back Tuner threads!).

1) I see references to "91 Octane Street", "93 Octane Street", "93 Octane Race" etc. I get the octane of course ... but what are the practical differences between a race tune and a street tune? Forgive my ignorance. Does anyone run race tunes all the time? Is it safe?
2) Which tuner hardware. Seems to be a choice between SCT and Diablosport? Are the funky touch-screen units like the DS Trinity worth the coin? I like gauges, touch screens, etc. - is any of the data displayed by the Trinity actually useful, or does it just look cool?
3) After installing a tune, is there anything I should look for? I know the FRPP Tune causes pinging for some people. Is this an issue with other tunes? I thought the knock sensor would adjust for that, anyway?

Thanks. I am excited for my future tune.
These are the kind of questions I'm talkin about, excited to hear the answers
 
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