Andy_H

I have a question about tuning. I understand about tuning with the SCT handheld tuners and chips and stuff like that. But I was wondering about the other kind.
We bought my car from a dealership a couple of months ago. The previous owner traded it in but before she traded it in, she took off an Accufab Throttlebody and plenum, as well as other external mods like some different rims and tires. Anyways I just found out a week or two ago that she also had a "full complete tune from EFT Tuning", which is apparently for 93 octane gas. So what exactly would that tune do (besides the fact that I put 93 octane gas in it now, lol)? Is it strictly better fuel economy or would I get more horsepower too? Where would you get something like that done? And since there is no longer an aftermarket tb and plenum on the car, would I need to get it tuned again for optimum performance? Is it even worth having the 93 octane tune if there are not any aftermarket parts on it anymore? I'd definitely have to take the car somewhere to get tuned after modding the exhaust though, right?
Sorry for all the questions, I'm just kind of confused. Thanks!

devongarver

Well, I would tend to think she had it tuned because she wanted more performance, hence the TB/Plenum she had. Basically, the difference between the tune from EFT Tuning, and the "canned" tunes you get that come preloaded on the tuners is the "accuracy" for lack of a better term. The canned tunes are broad, generic tunes, that will only be able to get pretty close to right on where as the custom tuning from a shop using a dyno will give you exact, dead nuts cant be better type of tuning. Basically, as a rule of thumb, a canned tune will be slightly richer for safety purposes, while a custom tune can be taken a bit leaner to edge some more power out of it, since the tuner can safely see what the AF ratio is and how the engine is reacting.


As for the tune that is in there...I hope you have a handheld tuner that came with the car...otherwise...your kinda screwed. You will need to have the PCM flashed back to factory from ford and start over...

Andy_H

Thanks. Nope, I don't have the handheld tuner, and I dont think she ever had it, I guess she just took the car to the place and they did their work. So without the tb and plenum on the car, should I take it to ford and get them to flash it back to factory and then start over? Or is it fine to run this tune even though there isnt the tb and plenum on there anymore?


Edit: And another thing, say I do start over and get a custom tune from somewhere. Then there would be no reason to get the SCT Eliminator chip or handheld tuner down the road because I already have the custom tune right?

devongarver

Um. Well that doesnt make sense to me. I mean you need some way of loading the tune onto the vehicles PCM. This is usually done with a handheld via the OBDII Port...something isn't adding up here. I have never heard of a shop where they loaded a tune on and sent the customer on their way without having a tuner in hand. I mean normally the tuners, especially SCT tuners, are VIN locked to a specific vehicle. It stores the factory tune on the handheld, so that it cannot be used to tune another vehicle...weird. You need to get a hold of the person who had the car before, and find out wtf is going on.

Andy_H

Ah, okay lol. I guess it would make sense if she had the tuner or whatever but just never mentioned it to me. She talked about the tune itself and how she liked it but never said anything about a tuner, just that she took the car to EFT. I'll try to figure out what's going on...

cliffyk

I have not heard of any significant tuning tool vendor named EFT Tuning, is it some local shop? If so. they likely used SCT stuff...

There is a trade school named EFI Tuning?

Andy_H

cliffy - could be a local shop. I don't know... We went to Tampa to get the car but we live near St. Augustine.



Okay. So, say I get my car flashed back to stock.

Now, where do I take it to get a new tune? What do I need to have with me and about how much will it all cost?

And is it possible for them to set up 2 tunes since my car is a daily driver? Say, one for regular gas just commuting back and forth and another tune for using the 93 octane and getting the most horsepower possible. Or would I have to choose one?

devongarver

You will need a handheld tuner. That can can be around 300-400$. The shop you go to, will tell you which company they use for tuning. SCT is very popular, Diablosport is common as well. They will charge you somewhere around 300$ for a good long tuning session, and they can give you different tunes as well. Most handhelds hold a few tunes, 3 usually.

cliffyk

I drive about 20k/year now, at a very consistent 21.5 mpg. so that's 930 gallons of gas a year.


The difference between 87 and 93 is 30¢ a gallon--so if I ran 87 instead of 93 I would save $280/year or whopping $5.36 a week--or just a bit more than a 6-pack of a domestic beer...

For that I'd much rather drive with the performance tune...