Vidgomd

im looking for a custom tune i can get from email for my predator anyone got info??
thanks

F1Fan

Hi vidgomd,

The first thing yoiu need to know is that a tune via email is not a custom tune. A custom tune is a tune done on your vehicle using a dyno and wideband O2 sensor to optimize the tune for your particular engine combination. Anything less is a canned tune using values supplied by the handheld programer manufacture. Diablo and SCT both supply these pre-made value tables and all a tuner really has to do is punch in whatever additional mods you have installed and he will get you pretty close. A good tuner will also use his own experience and customer feedback to tweak these values slightly adding his own flavor to the tune but basically the work has already been done by Diablo or SCT and provided in they dealer or tuner software packages they bought when becoming a dealer.

Is there something wrong with the C&L tune that came with your Predator? The reason I ask is that I have a Steeda version Predator (I run a Steeda 90mm CAI with their new BIG intake tube), and initally when I first got it the handheld it had old firmware installed. I updated it once but was still not really happy with the canned 93 octane tune when the car got hot or once the car learned how to ignore the upgraded tune data tables. In April Diablo released a new version firmware, R26 for the ST prefaced programers. This solved my problems and worked much better than the original R12 tunes. Check your firmware version using the part number of you handheld and see if Diablo has an updated version to download and install. The latest versions have MUCH better tunes in them! Well worth checking it out!


Cheers/Chip

Menace

He's got a few more things done to his car, but is running the same tune for just the C&L Intake. IE he has O/R X pipe and Pullies. I'm not sure what they do to the tune to change for this, so he wants an updated tune to benefit more -- at all -- from his other mods.

F1Fan

Hi menance,

The latest C&L specific Predator version firmware is R26 and has much better tunes included in the built-in firmware. The OP should check his firmware version and update to R26 if he has an older pre-R26 version. The improvements were not trivial for the Steeda 90mm CAI tunes in my own car and I'm pretty certain the same core improvements were made for C&L and all other supported CAI kits in R26. This version lease shows a marked improvement in core understanding in the way the Ford ECU and the 3-valve motor work together.

Based on the OP's mods in his sig. I'm pretty sure the OP will not see a significant improvement over the R26 tunes for his minor bolt-ons even if he used the R26 tunes as his base tune and had a custom dyno tune. IMO he should save his money as the is almost nothing to be gained for the $350-$500 it would take to get a top custom dyno tune. The OP will see MUCH better gains from spending his money installing other bolt-on hardware. Using a $500 budget he could install a BBK 62mm throttle body, C&L Racer intake tube and a set of FRPP CMCP delete plates and pick up 10-15RWHP, better than that $500 custom dyno tune can gain when compared with the canned R26 tunes, TRUST me I've been there and done that.

If he really wanted to get the most bang for the buck the OP should install a set of Comp Stage III bumpsticks (don't let the "StageIII" name fool you, these are mild cams by any conventional measure), and a set of beehives and new retainers. O.K. so he would have to spend twice as much money but for $1,000 he would gain at least 25RWHP with a simple cam swap (O.K. maybe not so simple for the non-mechanical type but it can be done in your garage in a day with the right tools), but combined with the upgraded C&L Racer intake tube and a set of FRPP CPCP deletes 40RWHP or MORE than what he has now. This is approaching 350RWHP and that means near 400HP a the crank. Pretty good for a 4.6l motor IMO.

Forget about a custom dyno tune until you have a more potent combination to tune. Work on the core mechanicals first and when you stop and get that custom dyno tune you will get more for the money.


Cheers/Chip

Menace

When I drove his car, it didn't feel as strong as mind. Even though he had better tires, gears, and a bunch of other things I don't have. He did mention that he hadn't loaded the tune in a while, which I found out that you DO need to do this frequently or else the computer relearns itself.

RW06stang

"you DO need to do this frequently or else the computer relearns itself."


Never here that before. Is this true?

F1Fan

Hi RW06stang,

The need to reflash regularly has been eliminated by the current Diablo Predator R26 firmware. This was one of the big problems with the older firmware. Once the car had a few hundred miles on it it lost power that returned immediately with a reflash for some reason. I don't know what was changed in R26 and Diablo never reveals what was changed but when I went to R26 I got MUCH better throttle response, more power all over the rev band, minimal loss of power as ambient air temps rise and no need to reflash every couple hundred miles to keep the car's performance hot. The Predator R26 firmware makes BETTER power than my $500 custom dyno tune ever did and R26 does not have the cold start high RPM problem that SoCal Diablo never managed to fix that many people had with the early Predator firmware. As I suggested to the OP he should check his firmware revision and updatge if he does not have R26. It's FREE and has much better versions of the 93 octane tunes than what was in the earlier tunes.


Cheers/Chip

Menace

I have an SCT Tuner, and just as proof when I had my car dynoed...

I hadn't updated the tune for my Brenspeed tune in I'm not sure how long, and I only dynoed at 275RWHP/292 RWTQ on a Mustang Dyno with No cats, C&L Intake, and 93 Oct. Loaded in Evolution's tune and made 300 RWHP & 317 RWTQ. Yet Friday night at the track I loaded both tunes, ran with each of them. Got the same times, almost identical.

Vidgomd

so how do i check what version i have?

Vidgomd

bump