I'v got a 06 V6er and have recently decided to put some money out for a tuner, and began to do a little research.

All i have done to the car is put a borla stinger and roush intake on.

I do not understand some terms such as locked and unlocked concerning the tuners. Also, how do i know if i need to purchase additional tunes if i buy a tuner, used or new? What is the difference between the sct xcal2 and xcal3?

is this the tuner i should be looking at?
http://www.americanmuscle.com/sct-x3...ash-tuner.html

what tuner should i be looking at?
and what gains should i be expecting from the tune.

Thanks a lot, i appreciate all help and tips

Shawn

 

for exampleee help me distinguish between the pros and cons of getting one of these 5 tuners on posts i found on craigslist

http://houston.craigslist.org/pts/1248225330.html
http://houston.craigslist.org/pts/1238895500.html
http://houston.craigslist.org/pts/1220080300.html
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/pts/1252581856.html
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/pts/1223933466.html

which ones need me to do another tune? do all of them work for my car?

 

Well the first decision you should make is which company you want to tune your car. You can buy a preowned tuner, but you have to make sure your tuning company (such as brenspeed or bamachips) uses a software that is supported by that tuner. I just did a quick check andboth brenspeed and bama sell and support the SCT so purchasing one of those off of craigslist would be fine. The difference between buying one that is locked or unlocked is an unlocked one is ready to be retuned. if you buy one that is locked then you will have to call tech support, get a return authorization, and pay an unlocking fee of $150. Don't buy a used tuner and use the same tune as the previous owner, purchase a new tune specific for your car from a professional tuner (like the previous mentioned ones). It's not that expensive for just one tune and they are also sold in bundles. The gains you will get from a tune depend on what kind of octane you are getting tuned for and the type of tune (race, torque, performance...), but I believe an average of 15 horsepower should be expected. I hope that wasn't too long winded and if you have any more questions feel free to ask here or even email a tuning company directly, although i know they are very busy lately since it's "tuning season" so it may take some time to get a response

 

Staggolee is right, you want a tune went for your specfic mods and your driving tendancies. In addition to what stag said, once you use a tuner on your vehicle it stores your factory tune. That makes it locked. If you put your factory tune back on your car that makes it unlocked. That is to prevent me from buying the tuner and tunes, putting them on my car, then letting my friend use it on his car. You have to put your factory tune back on your car before you can let somebody else use it. If you purchase one from craigslist or other private seller you may end up getting a tuner that you can't even use.