was going to order the set of 3 canned tunes + CAI from bama.

im going to get a race tune, but was wondering for cross country driving, and stuff like that, is the 87 performance any better than stock? Ive seen some people say its actually worse. Now, I do have a automatic - so maybe just what he does with shift points and such would make it worthwhile?

Is the 87 performance noticable, and can you tell a difference in mpg?

 

The "custom" tunes (not canned) from Bama, Brenpseed, VMP and others are hands-down superior to the 87 stock tune. Matter of fact, the difference between the stock 87 tune and the custom 87 tune is more significant than the difference between the custom 87 and custom 93 tune (typically). There are 87 octane tunes written for specific purposes that may be worse performance wise but provide better fuel economy but you'd have to have them written specifically for that. I think if you buy a Stang and then get an economy tune you need your head examined.

I usually recommend including an 87 custom tune to go with any CAI since I travel a lot and have had a few occasions where I could only find 87 octane while on the road. 2 additional minutes at the gas station to load the 87 tune and I was on my way.

 

Killed the duplicate post.... Weird.

 

I don't think you see a change in MPG with an 87 tune. I might be wrong but I believe I read that from the factory to get the car to run on 87 octane they retard the timing making you lose hp over if they had just made everyone use 91 octane like most other performance and many luxury cars require. Basically the engine was built for 91.. I can't believe you couldn't find 91 octane at some place? even out here in backwater montucky i can find 91 everywhere i go..

(I did get an 87 tune for my car. but have never used it)

 

Opps, forgot to address the mileage question...

Some people report a slight gain, some a slight loss. Personally, I haven't seen much change myself, perhaps a tad of a drop, I keep strict hand-calculated records and it may have been 1/2 to 1 mpg drop. But that may be attributed to my driving style becoming a bit more aggressive since the car is so much more responsive.

All the automatic owners report better shift points. Another plus is better throttle response. The custom tunes do more than just make timing changes. It's a complete reprogram of the operating characteristics.

The handheld tuner also allows you to make your own changes for minor things like adjusting for different tire sizes, different gears, etc..

 

My 1st 87 Perf tune from Bama resulted in a 30-50% reduction in gas mileage (vs stock) and a huge drop-off in torque. Don't know how they got the tune so off.

My 2nd 87 Per tune from Bama resulted in a 5% reduction in gas mileage (vs stock) and the butt dyno that best case it might have performed as well as stock.

Since then, I ran 93 race for a while and later added LT headers w/ 93 Race - and in both of those cases my mpg is still 5% worse than stock but the car definitely runs faster than stock.

 

I thought it would be interesting that I have read through HotRod Mag & Popular Hot Rodding that the S197 stangs will gain 5 horsepower with just adding 93 premium fuel to your stock stang. Due to the VCT and knock sensors. I know for sure I read the article but have not been able to find it for some reason. I would appreciate your feedback on this fellow ford fanatics.

 

So i'm a bit confused, how much hp will you get from a cai + 87 tune as compared to a cai+91 or 93 tune?

 

I dynoned my car with Bama's 87 tune, 91 race and 91 tq all on the same day. At the time I had 91 octane in the tank, so that may have made a difference. These numbers are SAE corrected. With the 87 tune, I dynoed 293.75 RWHP and 305.60 RWTQ. The 91 race and 91 tq were both around 298 RWHP, 308 RWTQ. With just steeda UDP, I dynoned 278 RWHP and 282 RWTQ. My guess stock I would have dynoed 272 RWHP and 275 RWTQ.

Stock 272RWHP, 275RWTQ
Bama 87 293RWHP and 306RWTQ.

 

Damn, still having a problem with the bama tunes?