Mail-Order Tune vs Dyno Tune
 

Alright, I know that a Dyno Tune is always better, or at-least that what I have been told, then a mail-order tune.

If the dyno-tune is so much better, then why does it seem everyone is getting the mail-order tunes from AM and Brenspeed? I was on a local message board and there is a local guy here who is AMAZING, from what I have been told, at dyno-tuning our cars.

I understand that it saves money with the mail-order tunes, but how much more can a dyno-tune get compared to a mail-order tune? I do like the idea of free tunes for life.

I live in Colorado and so the high-altitude can get tricky to deal with. I just want to make sure that when I chose a tune option, I get the best I can get.

Email tunes are more convenient, and much cheaper too. There is a lot to sacrifice when buying an email tune, max "safe" power being one of them. You will have good results from a good email tune, but for max results, it would require air/fuel ratio to be closely monitored while tuning on a dyno (or street).

There was no comparison between my "email" tune and proper dialed in tune using the wideband in my Shelby. If you want maximum performance, get a dyno tune. If you want better performance than stock and can't afford a dyno tune, get an email tune.

These cars have personality. Not all of them run just the same. As a baseline, mail order tunes are fine.

But when you put it on the Dyno, every little facet of performance niches and variables come out.

I've been meaning to take the 2 hour drive to Brenspeed (only good thing about living in Indiana) to have mine done, but I have no idea if I'll make it anytime soon.

When in doubt, dyno it all out

Unless you do serious racing, an e-mail tune can be close enough that you won't notice a few RWHP. Some heavily modded cars can benefit from the dyno tune's abilitiy to zero-in on each mod but for most of our NA cars with a few minor mods, the e-mail tune is cost effective and convenient. There have been a few cases where guys felt that they LOST power with a dyno tune but I assume it was dyno'd by inexperience people.

^^ Either that or the dyno tune gave them more power in the upper ranges, but at the cost of some low end grunt.

I think people put too much stock in their butt dynos.

I had a CAI with this M90 so the Roush tune was lean, I went with a dyno tune and got 421 at the wheels without the upgraded pulley, I really don't think I could have gotten that from an email tune...just sayin.

Email tunes are great from reputable shops, plain and simple. But they can't account perfectly for everything over the phone or the internet, so they can only get so close to the max.

Dyno tunes can push the limits of the car exactly to where the most power can be gotten, and can be really safe because of the monitored A/F ratio.

With either case, you need to have someone reputable do it or you could have craptastic results. Aka #8 cylinder failure in the 5.0 for example (potentially caused by a bad tune). And I'm sure there have been dyno tunes done poorly by shops that have little or no experience and are just trying to start out

To tell you the truth a dyno tune being better is usually the case because all car's are a "little" different from each other and how they act with a tune.
PLUS you can actually see the A/F ratio's etc. to make SURE the engine is running correctly and that you are not running rich or lean etc, which can damage the engine.

However that being said,
All tunes are made by humans. Given that fact a person that makes your dyno tune can make a tune that is NOT as good as a mail order tune if the dyno tuner is not as good at tuning. But he does have more info about how your engine is running hooked up to that equipment so he has the better tools to dial in your Mustang to it's specific needs that in turn make the tune better.

And while Chris Rose at AM makes EXCELLENT tunes, (cannot say enough about that guy. He is TOP NOTCH),
I am the type of guy that wants to make sure my engines A/F ratio etc. is dialed in right.
Usually AM's ARE, however I want to MAKE SURE. Some people might even call me paranoid and although I am about many things, (just look at my nickname below my username), this is one thing you really can't call me paranoid for in all legitimacy.

I dynoed my car yesterday and was told that yes, email tunes do work but every car is different. An email tune will work and not hurt the car if its good, but you are not getting the most out of your car because they cant tune every little thing without the car being infront of them. I know a guy who had a brenspeed tune with his vortech and gained 40rwhp when he got a dyno tune last week. If your getting a blower I suggest a dyno tune, but if your staying with just a cai and some exhaust mods an email tune will be fine

Very well said! Like others also said, not all cars are exactly the same. For a relatively stock or minor bolt on car, a mail tune will do just fine. I ran an email tune on my 08 & it was great. When I went FI then I had it dyno tuned. A dyno tune with real live data logging is the best "insurance policy" for a medium to wild modded car.