LX200

I just spent a bunch of time reading Alternative Autos website. They seem to have a good approach to tuning, where they want to maintain driveability and reliability. They do take some shots at other un-named tuners who might overtune your car, and cause you to blow and engine or suffer some other failure. Don't know if by that he means some kid who works at your local Auto Zone, or if he is referring to some of the other big players in this area....

That's all well and good, but I can't use Alternative Auto because I don't live near them and they do not sell tunes by mail.

So.. that leaves me with Evolution, Brenspeed, Bamachips....

So my question becomes this. Which of the above tuners (or all perhaps) has a similar approach to tuning? I want to get some better performance out of my '05 V6, but I do still have to drive it in rush hour traffic occassionally, and I certain don't want so much performance that I put my engine at risk.

Are the simple CAI and higher Octane tunes that I might get from these guys all so mild that I don't really have to worry about driveability and reliability? Perhaps only superchargers and turbo folks really need to worry about this?

I really am just wracking my brain over this. As an engineer, I want data. But there is just no real data upon which to base the choice of a tuner. It's all so subjective. I mean, I can find a bunch of people who support all the above mentioned folks... so maybe I just tell my wife to pick a number from 1 to 3, and pick my tuner that way?

I live one hour from Evolution, perhaps that is how I should make the decision??? ARGGGHHHHHH!!!!

Mike 83 GLX

Talk to Doug at Bamachips. He can change whatever parameters you ask for. If you have an automatic, he can quicken/firm up the shifts. If you want to keep 87 octane, he can write a mild tune to optimize performance using that gas. If you are willing to spend more on 93 (or whatever's available near you), he can get you a few more horses. If you want a fuel economy tune, he can do that too. Email him and he will explain what he can change and what info he needs from you.

I have the Xcal2 from him for my '01 Explorer with the 4.0L SOHC and 5R55E, very similar to the S197 V6s, and I noticed a decent gain from my 87 program. The "93 octane Torque" program I have is the most fun though. Alot quicker off the line. Smooth, quick shifts, and a nice amount of power increase with no decrease in reliability or drivability. The only other mods are a cat-back and CAI.

Hambone

Lidio *does* sell a tuner loaded with tunes via mail (okay, UPS).

In fact, I sent my tuner that purchased elsewhere (with worthless tunes!) to him and he loaded his tunes in it, and sent it back.

What they mean in their webpages is that they don't email the tunes to you so you can load them into your own tuner.

Their tunes work WONDERFULLY!!

Goliath

Doug is used to fine tune Explorer Express super charger tunes, he kept the AF ratio at 10.9 which is very conservative and was looking for max life out of the car. I don't have his tunes, because I don't see the point in upgrading to an Xcal2 right now from the Predator w/out getting the discount of bundling it with some sort of forced induction.