SlowHand

Gents, I just bought an '07 GT/CS and had a K & N CAI installed,a Magnaflow exhaust tune, and the same shop lowered and stiffened the suspension. The work was good, the enhanced performanceis significant, and so far, thanks to the cozy relationship between this performance shop and my Ford dealer/service center, there will probably be no unpleasant surprises as far as the warranty is concerned.

On Thursday I am returning to the shop to get a Che K-member brace and torque limiters installed to eliminate or at least reduce drastically the well-documented problem with transmission binding and a very stubborn second to third gear upshift under high revs.

The only other aspect of this car that irks me a little is the throttle lag. The drive-by-wire system that I've read about produces a little power "overspill" on lifting off the throttle, which feels sloppy and quite unlike how a sports car with a manual transmission should behave. I'd like to discuss this with the performance tech when I get the Che mods installed but it would be really great if I can seem to know what I'm talking about in terms of a solution. So if any of you could elighten me by tomorrow night I'd be grateful. Here are my questions:

- I've read here that a tune can fix this problem. Can it? Is it a standard aftermarket procedure, or some kind of voodoo?

- Is the tune entirely electronic or also mechanical?

- Are there any other benefits or deficits that I should be aware of?

- Is it reversible to the original settings?

- What exactly is the relationship between the CAI install, that did not require a tune, and any kind of post-CAI tune to address throttle lag?

- Roughly what shouldI expect it to cost?

- Will it require higher-octane gas and is it potentially ruinous to the engine's health?

-Will the regular service techs run screaming from the car after they see evidence of this mod?

- Does this procedure have to be carried out by licensed Ford techs or some such? After all, the chip has to be proprietary.

So I guess what I'm asking here is: How big of a deal is this modification, how commonplace is it in the world of modern Mustangs, is it safe, is it sensible, is it advisable and how much will it cost? I can still live with a downside -- i.e. gas might cost more, engine parts may be more stressed -- as long as I can balance the pros against the cons and know that I'm not looking to do something outlandish here. I want to dial out that throttle lag but not inherit a bunch of other problems that I was not aware of.

As always, I'm grateful for the collective wisdom of this board.

StowesStang

I will respond on the throttle lag just because I was enlightened on a previous post......................please check out this post and you will get some great information on the "throttle lag" dilema!!

https://mustangforums.com/m_2523615/tm.htm

SlowHand

Yes, that's a useful thread, many thanks, but it becomes something of a technical debate; I'm more interested in the subject from a consumer's perspective.

07AlloyGT

well from my (consumer's) perspective, getting a tuner with custom tunes was the best thing i could have done to my car beyond adding a supercharger. it totally eliminated the throttle-lag that was persistant since the moment i test drove my car. that's the ONE thing i hated. it felt like my car bogged down when i jammed on the accelerator then took off. now, the second i apply pressure, the car is gone.

i love it and you should seriously get your car tuned by either an expert with a dyno or buy the tuner with the tunes from someplace like brenspeed.com.

vsop

I was sooo happy when I installed my CAI & tune... The throttle lag was gone and I could bark even thrid with it at the track.

SlowHand

Thanks 07. I just talked to the tech, who said they do a kind of "package" tune, i.e. (from what I understand, anyway) they buy a program that tweaks all the car's performance parameters and helps with shifting, RPMs etc., etc. This guys says it'll set me back $500. Hmm. My problem here is that I'm not a complete ignoramus but I'm no expert either. It's encouraging to know that it eliminated your throttle lag. At $500 I'm going to have to ponder it very carefully, though. The tech says he'll demonstrate the process for me on Thursday but any further comment from you all between now and then would be most helpful.

hammeron

interesting question.....

imo, ford engineered the mustang for the general populous....i believe only
a small percentage of mustang enthusiasts have an issue with the throttle lag.
the aftermarket tune(s) will remedy the situation....

07AlloyGT

trust me, it's very easy to add your own tune with a handheld tuner from a shop. buy the tuner with custom tunes from a website, plug the tuner into the port underneath the dash on the drivers side, and follow the instructions through the handheld device. very simple and i'd never even done this before.

you can get the tuner plus tunes for less than $500 from websites on here.

07GT

The tune is reversible.

vsop

Get an XCAL2 from one the big tuners.

Justin at VMPTuning can take care of you