youngfalcon

I have a 2005 GT manual. It is stock except for Pypes muffler delete axle backs and a K & N CAI. I'm not interested in racing or real hard driving so don't need much extra HP but would like to improve the throttle response. It seems to want to be at about 3000 rpm before I really feel the engine's power. Would like that to come much earlier.

I've read much about tunes and, the more I read, the more I realize what I don't know. So my question is: what would be the easiest way to improve the throttle response with a bit of extra HP?

There is a local shop in the KC area (LSXKILR) that has good reviews. The advertise the following tuning rates: Break-in/Base Tune - $150, NA Street Tune - $300, NA Dyno Tune - $350. They use SCT software.

I would not want to try this on my own so they would be the option I would go with.

Is a base tune all I need or is that the first step to the street tune? Do I need to have the car dyno'd? Obviously I don't know anything about this.

Any education info. and/or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

iMuf

I would buy a tuner and tune it yourself. You can get a tuner from americanmuscle.com for $400 and that gets you free tunes for life so if you ever mod your car with say cams or anything else that needs tuned you can hit american muscle up and have new tunes made for free. You will get 3 tunes out of the box. I think most people do an 87 octane street tune, an 89 octane performance tune, and a 91 or 93 octane race tune. Then you can try all of them and see which one you like the most. The tuner plugs into your OBDII port and literally talks you through it. As long as you follow the directions there is no way to mess up.

You aren't actually tuning the car. You will answer questions about what mods are done to the car and they make the tune, then they send the tuner with the tunes already downloaded and all you have to do is plug it up and download the tunes into the car.

youngfalcon

Thanks for reply but, as I said in the first post, I do not want to do this myself. Anyone who would answer my questions in the first post will be greatly appreciated.

tbar

I would think you'd need the NA street tune. IMO you'd be better off getting a different CAI then get the tune, you'll see a bigger differance. Not sure why you don't want to load a tune yourself. It's just a matter of plugging it in. For the mods on your car ,like iMuf said a CAI-tuner package with the tunes is your best bet. I would think you still have to have a SCT tuner anyway to use the tunes from local shop there.

Derf00

Not sure why you are reluctant to do it yourself? It's about as hard as doing your K&N filter and definitely easier than the Pypes exhaust you have.

If you let a shop tune the car, there is no changing or updating it if/when you change something in your car engine performance wise. It's a one-and-done thing. So that $100 or $150 you saved by having a shop do it. Will be wasted when you have to go back and ask them to tune it again.

outceltj

Call brenspeed they are very reputable tuners. You wont be tuning the car yourself and the sct hand held tuner will come with tunes made for your car from brenspeed. All you have to do is upload the tune, very easy to do the handheld will walk you through step by step. you can even watch youtube videos to see how easy it is. So as was mentioned you call brenspeed or who ever you pic. Tell them what mods you have and they will upload there files to the handheld and you just upload it to your car.

Its very easy. You don't necessarily need a CAI u can just get the handheld and see how you like the feel of the car.

bl817

the reason you don't feel power till about 3000 rpms is that the charge motion plates don't open until then. most ppl get charge motion delete plates. they are butterfly flaps in the aluminum plates under the intake, (I made my own) and you need a handheld tuner to turn them off in the computer. look on your local CL or get an sct s3 3015 or equivalent. they are a breeze to use and you can change several parameters for engine, trans, exhaust, recalibrate for tires..etc. also as stated above you can invest in a good CAI and with the tuner that will wake up your GT and make it more fun to drive. good luck

AMWill

Hey Young, to be completely honest, Imuf hit the nail right on the head but I wanted to jump in and elaborate for you as the thought of tuning is definitely a confusing one!

The one main thing that I want to make sure is clear is that the handheld tuner like the Bama SF4/X4 Power Flash Tuner and the tunes that are loaded onto the tuner are two completely different things. I view the handheld tuner as a "bridge" that allows the custom tunes to be fed to the car. "Tuning" the car is not something that even I could do! It is something that is left to professionals and that is what the Bama Performance team is here for.

When you purchase a tuner, you then fill out a 19 question questionnaire about your vehicle. It asks simple questions like what mods are done to the car? Or what kind of gas do you run? Things like that, nothing that you wouldn't know.

After you fill out the questionnaire, the tuning specialists do the magic. They will take all of your info that you provided and write you three custom tunes for your car. They will then load the tunes onto the tuner for you and send you a nice shiny new handheld tuner (the "bridge") in the mail.


Once you receive it, all that you need to do is plug it in to your obII port, push a few buttons and you're burning rubber! It is truly that simple.



Check out this video! It should help with some of the confusion.





I hope this helps and please feel free to reach out if you have any questions! Also, the Bama Performance tuning specialists are here in the building Monday-Friday from 9AM-5:30PM EST and Saturday 10AM-3PM EST. You can hit them up directly at 888.226.9764 if you want to ask them anything or take a look at their Frequently Asked Questions Center.



-Will

youngfalcon

Thanks for all the replies!

Nuke

+1 on a Brenspeed or Bama/AM tune with a CAI. Both have good CAI & tune combos which will improve your throttle response, add in the range of 20-25 RWHP to your GT and improve overall driveability. Even an 87 octane custom tune runs circles around the stock 87 tune.