FastDEW

Hi all,

I thought I would provide some feedback for others on tunes from Bama and Brenspeed. Since my powertrain is essentially stock 2010 4.6L, this is really all about the tunes.

I ran a Brenspeed 91 Tune for about 2 months. The tune made the car "feel" faster, but it also seemed to struggle on high RPM. Almost like the timing was too far advanced, but I never heard any ping. The big downside however to this Brenspeed tune was the throttle lost all semblance of being linear. The throttle was too touchy for street use and seemed to be difficult to modulate on lower RPMs. The throttle made the car jump off the line but then fell sort of flat, which was not a good feeling to me.

I went back to the Stock Ford tune for about 4 months.

Then I decided to run the Brenspeed 89 Tune, which I did for about 3 months or so. The Brenspeed 89 Tune had the same crummy throttle, which is to say it was too quick on small throttle inputs and not linear at all. The Brenspeed 89 Tune "felt" faster than stock, but also seemed to perhaps over fuel the car as my exhaust was always very sooty between washes. The Brenspeed 89 Tune also seemed to hold the cold, high idle, for too long to me. Seemed like minutes.

I went back to the Stock Ford tune again.

Then I purchased the Bama 91 Tunes (Street, Performance, Race). When I first installed the Bama 91 Street and Performance Tunes, the engine pinged over 3,000 RPM and heavy throttle pretty badly. So I returned to Stock after only a few miles. I called American Muscle and told them what was happening and Bama quickly made an adjustment to the timing at certain RPMs and throttle positions.

I then loaded the newly adjusted Bama 91 Performance Tune into my car. This is BY FAR the BEST tune I have run. The throttle is very linear, the power gain is remarkable and the fuel economy actually seemed to improve (although I have not accurately counted the fuel). The Bama 91P Tune feels far better than stock and is exactly what I was looking for. Further, the exhaust stays relatively clean now and the cold start only idles up for a short period more like stock.

In summary, the Bama/American Muscle Customer Service is terrific. The Bama Tune is WAY better than the Brenspeed Tune for many reasons, such as linear throttle response, power gain, cold high idle time, soot in the exhaust.

I hope this helps others with stock cars looking for a nice tune to wake it up a little.

Bama Tune FTW!

bluovalguy

I had the same "touchy" throttle with the brenspeed tunes. Hated it! I emailed brenspeed and told them the issue I was having and they emailed me a new trio of tunes in about a day. Problem solved and loved the tune and the service.

Now I just gotta get the new car tuned.

jsnyng

I have the exact opposite experience and opinion on my '11 5.0. Bama is mushy/boggy and Brenspeed is a beast. I'm on my 3rd set of tunes from Bama.

Both companies have provided excellent service. I'm sure I'll eventually get my Bama tunes straightened out, but right now for me it's Brenspeed all the way.

FastDEW

This is interesting stuff. I guess what it really shows is that email tunes are trial and error.

I am going to eventually upgrade to a Roush M90 and some FRPP cams. When I do that, I will definately get a dyno tune.

Rubrignitz

I tried brenspeed once and didn't like their tune. Very rich. You could smell it. Doug wrote me a tune when he was Bama and I had him write me another tune his first week with american muscle. That tune was spot on..awsome tune.

However, I recently had AM write me a set of three tunes and I've only tried the street so far. It was very rich as well. Didn't like it so I went back to the original tune they wrote me.

Haven't tried the performance and race tunes they gave me. I may give those a shot next week. You just never know what you're going to get anymore...

jsnyng

I wear 104 octane race fuel for cologne. I love that smell!











I'm also full of crap.

Rubrignitz

I had some FRPP 'hotrod' cams in my car for about a year. Everyone that got in the car mentioned the smell. It 'smelled' like a hotrod alright!

FastDEW

Are you saying it was the cams or the tune?

I would think you could run clean with the FRPP cams, if the tune were right.

Vader GT

I've only tried the Brenspeed tune & I love it. My 08 is pretty much stock like yours, only perf mods are a C&L racer w/a Brenspeed 92 tune. Love it, power is linear, no pinging.

I did have the car dynoed & the line could not be more linear! It does run a little on the lean side, but again, NEVER had any ping or problem.

I'm glad it worked out for your car, I think you can't go wrong with either company.

pdonket

I'm currently waiting on my SCT and Bama custom tunes and couldn't be more excited

Hopefully the Bama tunes go well for me!