I'm interseted in a custom tune for my 2010 Mustang GT. I've read that the factory CAI is a pretty good one , and that buying an aftermarket one is a waste of money. I'm not much into performance modding since my car is my dd. I just want better throttle response, also I have an auto , so I'm hopping that a tune will help shift a little better (not that i'ts bad now). Can anyone recommend a good plug & play handheld tuner.

 

It's not the handheld; it's the tune itself. And yes, just a tune will help ANY car. The CAI simply adds a little more kick, even on the '10.

Buy from Brenspeed or AM. Their tunes put the canned tunes to shame.

 

hey Nuke what happened to the "search" response?

 

Get a custom tune from Brenspeed or AM. They will come with the tunes loaded on the handheld. Plug and play.

Unless you know exactly what you are doing, I wouldn't buy a handheld just to change settings.

 

On rare occasions I don't feel like harassing folks. I must be ill...

 

there's a first for everything.

 

I was also wondering if you can back and forth between the stock tune and custom tune. I read in other posts that when you take your car for service they will sometimes flash the car's computer and screw with your tune. So I would like to know if it's simple to switch to the stock tune before getting service and when I get home go back to the custom tune. Also will tuning the car affect the warranty.

 

There's no need to return to stock. Google "Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act".

Returning to stock requires you to re-install the stock airbox. No big deal but it's an uneccessary pain. The dealer can't refuse warranty work unless he can prove that the failed part was caused by the tune. Unless you wet your panties right thru to your skirt most dealers won't care. The closest I came on several occasions where my car was in for warranty work was "Sweet intake".

 

Should you ever need to switch from the custom tune to the stock tune, it is very easy to switch between the two. The programmer will automatically save your stock tune, so you don't have to worry about losing it somehow or being up a creek if you should need it.

If you do take your Mustang in for service and don't return it to the stock tune, make sure you let the service writer or tech know. If the computer is re-flashed while the custom tune is installed, things will become much more complicated (and expensive) from there. The computer doesn't usually get touched, but if there's an update available, some dealerships will install it while performing the normal service for you.

As a side note, some dealerships aren't very mod-friendly. There are a lot of great, laid-back dealerships where they're happy to talk about modding with you, but there are also dealerships where the techs get worried when they see so much as an aftermarket CAI. It's a good idea to feel out which kind of dealership you're working with, so you know which approach to take when you're there for service.

 

My car is out or warranty now so if anything goes wrong I'd take it to a shop anyways. Should I worry about a shop reflashing or is that just the dealer?

Also if they resetted the computer back to stock tunes can't you just plug your handheld in and just upload the tune again?