Disappointed about Steeda CAI and Tune
10-24-2013, 10:38 PM
#1
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2005
Location:
Posts: 160
Disappointed about Steeda CAI and Tune,,, No more !
Keep in mind that my Steeda kit was order from Steeda.ca which is a distributor from Steeda USA and provide their own tune support.
I waited almost a year before pulling the trigger on a Steeda CAI and tune and I'm really not impressed with the result.
INSTALL:
Instruction would benefit from an update and a little more details, but it's not a very complex assembly so at the end you can manage it.
LOADING TUNE:
Everything went fine and no issue
INITIAL START:
Scary, because when I started the car there was one or two little pop (like backfire) from the intake, the car idled rough for 5-6 second and then came back smooth. So I don't know what happened but after a idle relearn it was ok. Started the car a couple of times and everything started an ran fine.
FIRST DRIVE (YESTERDAY):
One thing I noticed right away was the lack of compression braking, it almost felt like the throttle was hanging, but after letting go the throttle 1-2 sec after you can feel the the compression, not as much as before but a little.
I had not much time to do a good drive and datalog but overall seems like I gain some throttle response. Overall drove the car for 45 minutes
Back at home I quickly checked for DTC and nothing, so the tune didn't cause any errors.
Called Steeda and they told me to be patient that the ECU would relearn and everything should smooth out.
SECOND DRIVE (TONIGHT)
So tonight I decided to hookup the laptop and the SCT to do a datalog and a longer run to test the tune.
As I turn the crank, again some popping from the intake and again rough idle... :banghead: Ouch... Was really scary ! Let the car idle to warmup a couple of minutes and everything seemed fine. So I took the road and went for a couple of test runs.
I felt that acceleration is quicker and less lag from the throttle and the car felt quicker, but because of starting issues I decided not to run for long and do a quick datalog and go back home.
Again no DTC present but really disappointed about the overall product and scared about the tune behavior.
So guess what, the car is now back to stock !
I'm surprised, because I only herd positive feedback about Steeda products and tunes but I have to say that I'm far from impressed.
I don't know what I'll do yet but for now I'm back to stock the Steeda is back in the box.............
It's really disappointing since I thought Steeda was a plug and play reliable solution... I guess it's not !
As far as datalog AFR's seems good but knock sensors with the Steeda tune compare to stock of of course spark advance is more aggressive. Here are the two datalog to compare if you want to give me your feedback. These are 4th gear WOT pulls on a flat road, outside temp around 50 degrees.
Also look at the Knocks sensors between both tunes, with stock it adds timming at the begining of the pull, where with the Steeda tune it keeps pulling timming many times during the pull.
I waited almost a year before pulling the trigger on a Steeda CAI and tune and I'm really not impressed with the result.
INSTALL:
Instruction would benefit from an update and a little more details, but it's not a very complex assembly so at the end you can manage it.
LOADING TUNE:
Everything went fine and no issue
INITIAL START:
Scary, because when I started the car there was one or two little pop (like backfire) from the intake, the car idled rough for 5-6 second and then came back smooth. So I don't know what happened but after a idle relearn it was ok. Started the car a couple of times and everything started an ran fine.
FIRST DRIVE (YESTERDAY):
One thing I noticed right away was the lack of compression braking, it almost felt like the throttle was hanging, but after letting go the throttle 1-2 sec after you can feel the the compression, not as much as before but a little.
I had not much time to do a good drive and datalog but overall seems like I gain some throttle response. Overall drove the car for 45 minutes
Back at home I quickly checked for DTC and nothing, so the tune didn't cause any errors.
Called Steeda and they told me to be patient that the ECU would relearn and everything should smooth out.
SECOND DRIVE (TONIGHT)
So tonight I decided to hookup the laptop and the SCT to do a datalog and a longer run to test the tune.
As I turn the crank, again some popping from the intake and again rough idle... :banghead: Ouch... Was really scary ! Let the car idle to warmup a couple of minutes and everything seemed fine. So I took the road and went for a couple of test runs.
I felt that acceleration is quicker and less lag from the throttle and the car felt quicker, but because of starting issues I decided not to run for long and do a quick datalog and go back home.
Again no DTC present but really disappointed about the overall product and scared about the tune behavior.
So guess what, the car is now back to stock !
I'm surprised, because I only herd positive feedback about Steeda products and tunes but I have to say that I'm far from impressed.
I don't know what I'll do yet but for now I'm back to stock the Steeda is back in the box.............
It's really disappointing since I thought Steeda was a plug and play reliable solution... I guess it's not !
As far as datalog AFR's seems good but knock sensors with the Steeda tune compare to stock of of course spark advance is more aggressive. Here are the two datalog to compare if you want to give me your feedback. These are 4th gear WOT pulls on a flat road, outside temp around 50 degrees.
Also look at the Knocks sensors between both tunes, with stock it adds timming at the begining of the pull, where with the Steeda tune it keeps pulling timming many times during the pull.
Last edited by Dineau; 11-01-2013 at 10:14 AM.
10-24-2013, 10:51 PM
#2
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 352
Sorry to hear about your troubles. I know it must suck getting excited about getting a tuner for your car and then having it not run right. I went with American muscle and Bama performance for my tunes and couldn't be happier. From the first time I uploaded a tune til now it runs strong with no problems. It started up normal. Idled normal and noticed the power increase immediately. I didn't have to wait for the car to relearn anything. Maybe since you have the tuner and intake you should get in contact with American muscle and check out their tunes if steeda doesn't work out for you. I'm sure you have one out of a million bad tunes. It happens....even with Bama.
10-25-2013, 07:31 AM
#3
6th Gear Member
Assuming it's the tune, Steeda should be able to fix that. IMO, the Bama and Brenspeed tunes are better but that may be folklore talking.
If you hadn't taken the car out for a very, VERY spirited ride stock and then repeated that ride beginning with the lowest octane tune after the install, you have no real seat-of-the-pants comparison. The aggressive drive pre-install gives you a baseline. Simply trying to compare the stock tune to a custom tune to firing up the engine and identifying throttle lag won't tell you squat about the performance gains. Driving around town like a... normal... person won't provide you with ANY comparison.
If you hadn't taken the car out for a very, VERY spirited ride stock and then repeated that ride beginning with the lowest octane tune after the install, you have no real seat-of-the-pants comparison. The aggressive drive pre-install gives you a baseline. Simply trying to compare the stock tune to a custom tune to firing up the engine and identifying throttle lag won't tell you squat about the performance gains. Driving around town like a... normal... person won't provide you with ANY comparison.
10-25-2013, 07:58 AM
#4
Former Sponsor
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: FL
Posts: 630
Have you emailed us that datalog? Your screen shots are illegible on the forum.
Email it to gus@steeda.com if you haven't already done so.
Email it to gus@steeda.com if you haven't already done so.
10-25-2013, 03:22 PM
#7
Gentleman's Relish
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: AZ
Posts: 13,090
Yeah Steeda CA looks like nothing like the Steeda we all know!
http://www.steeda.com/ vs https://www.steeda.ca/
HUGE difference. The Steeda CA is hard to navigate and not very clear....OP retitle your thread!
http://www.steeda.com/ vs https://www.steeda.ca/
HUGE difference. The Steeda CA is hard to navigate and not very clear....OP retitle your thread!
10-30-2013, 02:23 PM
#8
Well...This is nothing like the experience I've had between Steeda or AM or BAMA.
Or SCT...
If you're using a tune from Canada??? Maybe they have different Emmisions standards??? Who knows...
But you definitely Need to tweak the header for this thread.... I was thinking it was our boys in Florida dropping the ball.... And its really some posers in CANADA.
Or SCT...
If you're using a tune from Canada??? Maybe they have different Emmisions standards??? Who knows...
But you definitely Need to tweak the header for this thread.... I was thinking it was our boys in Florida dropping the ball.... And its really some posers in CANADA.
11-01-2013, 09:57 AM
#9
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location:
Posts: 31
I've had nothing but 100% from Steeda in customer service. I was just there yesterday getting a shortshifter/bracket installed and had some questions about the tune and Gus took the time to go for a test ride and review a few things.
11-01-2013, 10:05 AM
#10
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2005
Location:
Posts: 160
So far support has been top notch... Gus also contacted me to follow-up on my issue and has been very helpfull so far.
Since the first post I have received a revised tune from Steeda.ca and now everything seems fine.. Still have to look at the datalog but in terms of drivability issue it's night and day. The issue was that the original tune sent to me with the CAI wasn't programed for the proper intake tube.
So I have to say that now with proper tuning, the Steeda CAI seems to do the job as advertised and once I have a better look at the data I will give you more feedback
Since the first post I have received a revised tune from Steeda.ca and now everything seems fine.. Still have to look at the datalog but in terms of drivability issue it's night and day. The issue was that the original tune sent to me with the CAI wasn't programed for the proper intake tube.
So I have to say that now with proper tuning, the Steeda CAI seems to do the job as advertised and once I have a better look at the data I will give you more feedback
