jthorn9

Don't need new tires, they are brand spanking new on the car. Ford put new tires on the car as well as new brake pads, and a few other things.

drboyd

Adding a sub is pretty straightforward. zenclosures.com makes a box that goes in the trunk corner, and then throw in an amp and a woofer and use some kind of active LOC to tap into the rear speakers and you're thumpin' and bumpin'.

Mikes_BLK_GT

FI shouldn't cost gas mileage unless your like me and cant keep your foot out of it, 3,73's cost me a little less than 1mpg but trust me they are worth every penny. As far as longevity if you dont go wild with it and keep up on the oil changes and use a high quality synthetic the motor should hold up well even with FI IMHO. No they dont use chips you'll need a hand held programmer like the X3 or Xcal 2. If you didn't get a tuner with the car then what you have will be considered your stock tune by any programmer you plug into it.

jthorn9

OK, I've dug all over the car for a tuner, I'm gonna see if it was hidden in the spare tire compartment tomorrow.

Well in any since, while I have more than enough money to boost the crap out this car (think a nice Kenne Bell) I'm not doing so. I've already ruined one car off of F/I because of one minor error during the install, I'm not doing it again, or at least on anything that's a daily driver.

OK, so the sub install will be similar to that of a Mach 460 to aftermarket/Mach 1000, I can do that.

Thanks for the responses guys. Getting used to this thing is gonna take a while, just adapting to the smoother and easier to throw out clutch is taking some getting used to, not used to it being this easy.

Roush05

You do realize that tuners plug into the port under the steering wheel, load the tune, and then are unplugged? The tuner won't be physically present.

Blacksmoke

If you buy a used tuner you may end up spending almost as much money or as much money if it is not already unlocked.

You can't use the handheld tuner if the previous owner did not turn his or her car back to stock and unlock the tuner. You might wanna just buy a new one.
And yes these cars are tuned with handhelds not chips.
You wont find a chip with this car.

jthorn9

Umm.....yeah.....I have used a tuner just a "few" times. I know that sometimes people will hide them in their car upon sale so the shop/dealer doesn't take them and sell them.

The only thing that I'm wondering is if it is tuned and the person traded the car in and kept the tuner without loading the stock tune back on (to keep the thing running right) then wouldn't that cause issues if I get a new tuner?

Roush05

Depending on the tuner probably. with the x3 i have and a lot of other s197 owners have, it would only mean you would lose the actual stock tune(the tune currently on the car would become your stock tune during the tune upload process). I'm pretty sure you can contact a dealership or someone similar and have them flash it to stock. It may cost a little bit but it shouldn't be much.

Blacksmoke

If the stock tune was not on there I would definitely have the dealership flash the stock tune on there for you.

But dont go driving it that way.
Wait until you have your SCT hand held tuner and take it with you.
Pay a little to have them flash it back to stock, don't drive the car, but just hook up the SCT because it will ask you to save the stock tune on there.

It will backup your stock tune on the SCT. Then load your new tune you get when you buy the SCT from AM or Brenspeed or where ever.

That way if you ever wish to return the car to stock you have.
Also the tuner might not like a tune not being a stock tune backing up on the SCT as the stock tune, though I cannot say this for sure. But then again it might so better to be safe than sorry on making the hand held tuner mad lol.

But if you sell it to a private buyer later and that person wishes to go back to stock, you already have the tune for them and they won't raise any eyebrows at you.

I'd definitely buy a handheld and get a new tune just so you KNOW it has been tuned. Be sure to tell them ALL the details of the mods that have been done on the car.

Nuke

I had the same thought. It would be best to discuss the possibility that it currently has a custom or canned tune with the tech guyz at Brenspeed or AM. Either one can tell you how to handle it. If they're aware of the possibility, they can be set-up to help you better in the event it's the case. But they CAN work thru it. Also be sure to let them know about the TB (which, btw, is doing nothing for you unless you have other air-breathing mods like cams, LT's, heads...).