i was just wondering if anyone has run their car with cams prior to a tune... i just bought some comp xe270ah cams and are putting them in with some new springs, i also have bbk shorty headers, slp highflow x-pipe, and slp loudmouth 2 cat back, accufab 70mm tb and plenum, jlt cold air intake, and 3:73 gears. i was wondering how bad my car will run without a tune.... should be another month or two before i can get a tune on it. Is my car going to be drivable? i tried to search the forum but couldn't really find anything, sorry if this is a repeat thread.

 

I don't have cams yet (i will very soon though) but from what i've personally seen, you will have drivability/idle issues without a tune...especially with larger cams like the xe270ah!

If it was my car i wouldn't drive it any more than i had to, before it was tuned!

Maybe some of the others who have actually done it will chime in.

 

I have... ran around for about 1000 miles before my tune. the car stalled a lot coming up to stop signs. It was way rich on the bottom and leaned out on top. I picked up around 25rwhp with the tune if that tells you anything.

Moral of the story... yes you can do it, but it's annoying and I wouldn't beat on the car too hard.

 

I wouldnt do it if i were you. Just get the money somehow and just get it tuned right after install just because of the fact you might break something in the process or burn something up. Plus having the tune done will tell you if you did everything right or not. cus if youre not making the power you should be or something is off, you will know it.

 

In modern cars, everything is controlled by the computer... if you change things the computer needs to be changed as well. It is that simple. If you don't bad things will happen. I admit that I have done tones of things without changing my cars computer, but each time you dick with things and the whole time that you are driving on a non tuned car, it is a risk. Just tune it asap.

 

yeah, i don't plan on driving it very long at all without a tune... it should be running in about a week, then i'm bringing it to the body shop to get a few dents and scratches fixed and to get my top fixed... some cool kids decided to vandalize my car... so it'll be in the body shop for about another week maybe a little less. so i figure i should be driving it around 3rd week of july, then i'll be getting some money the second week of august for a summer job i work and will be able to get the tune and maybe a chip then. i don't plan on beating it up over that 2-3 week period and i can deal with some idle issues. thanks for the help.

 

untuned car + body shop = bad...you know they are going to thrash the **** out of your car

 

good thread i was gona ask the same thing.. how much were your cams btw?

 

This seems like no brainer. Don't install your cams untill you have money for a tune also. Its that easy!

 

Well it's not going to ruin anything. It won't run very well. You'll probably have some idle issues. But you're not going to damage anything as long as they were installed right.

Think about it. Your engine is spinning, the only thing larger cams are doing is allowing more air in/out. If they're big cams, the computer will be confused cause the fuel won't be adjusted and the A/F ratio will be ****ed up, but the car should be driveable. You'll just have to give it some gas at stop lights to keep it from stalling.

Everyone saying you're gonna break **** and burn something up doesn't know what they're talking about. How is the computer gonna magically going to make the cams safe? It won't. All a tune will do is make it run at it's best.

I'm not saying don't get a tune, I'm just saying that the car will run and be driveable without one.