A tuner 101.
Dec 18, 2009, 11:15 AM
#1
A tuner 101.
WARNING: First off this is a very prideful and difficult topic. I hope we can keep this neutral and constructive to help everyone. Please refrain from drama. Thank you!
In the past few months I have seen across various forums and local scenes a large debate about tuners. The end result is the Tuners themselves get the shaft from customers and damaged future cliental. Tuners are rare breed. They eat breath sleep cars. Constantly researching and learning. Tuners take the brunt of any failure as if it was their own. I can recall many of times being woken up 2 AM or later do to some failure on a customer’s car. I am sure every other tuner can relate.
The BAD list in order:
1 Driver errors - Over revving, common sense, non proper maintenance and lots of abuse.
2 Mechanical failures- They happen at the limit a lot! Owners can prevent this best by avoiding #1
3 Tuning – Rushing a tune, not taking advice from tuner, Once in a while it is just a tuners fault too.
Many times customers forget this order and rely on their tuner to post blame or fault. It’s an easy way out and not fair. Customers don’t realize a majority of their cars responsibility care and maintenance is on them. A tuner can extract the best results from the cars best cared for!
A GOOD TUNERS GOALS:
Most Tuners would agree the first goal of any tuner should and always be SAFETY! Safety to the tune, the owner, the car Ect. Ect. I.E If the car has a fuel leak it should wait to be tuned. It’s the tuners reputation on the line; most of them don’t want to push a car too close to the limit. A good Tuner can find the edge of safety without the sacrifice of the tune. Most Factory Cars such as the EVO and WRX/STI are not very safe from the factory, either high injector duty cycles or way to aggressive timing for USA fuel.
After a car is tuned it should:
1 Be safer than prior to the tune
2 Have better performance
TUNER'S FEES:
These do not reflect capabilities, reliability or effectiveness of a Tuner! A lot of the time this is overhead cost, whether its travel, computers, cables, sensors, dyno , time Ect. Ect. Price should never be your number one concern when it comes to a good tune. We as tuners are not rich from tunes. Most of us are just making it by. Plan on at least two tunes annually. Every 6 months; weather conditions, wear on mechanical parts, new or change mods, ect ect all effect a tune. Know after a fix boost leak or new spark plugs, air filter, or mods of any kind can and have big effects on tunes. The smallest change could mean you need a retune. Take this into account that two times may not be adequate in a year period. Pay in referrals too!
A GAME PLAN:
A good tuner will know every mod on your car. Your goals for future mods. Also know the exact use of the vehicle (Drag, Road, Street, DD, and a mix) you need to find a tuner who makes a game plan for your car with you. The tuners theories and concepts should not be taken lightly; they should know what parts and brands will produce the best results. Mix matching parts can lead to poor results.
EXAMPLE: Buscher Racing OR AMS Performance.
These shops engineer their parts to work well within their own brand and produce excellent results time and time again. Mixing these parts with eBay knock offs or other vendor parts CAN and often do lead to poor and unstable results. Following each shops own game plan will produce reliable and powerful results a majority of the time.
Going to forums to “let the internet build your car” should be avoided. Many customers think because a shop or other tuner does something and produces good results that it’s a great idea. I.E (Aluminum Rods) the fine print will show it more work than it’s worth sometimes for your setup. If you see something you like, consult your tuner to get a more in depth answer as to why the mod you see, will or will not benefit you now or in the long run. Listening to your chosen tuner will save you money in the long run, grief, and down time.
PICKING THE RIGHT ONE FOR YOU:
Before choosing a tuner you need to know everything about them, shop around. Pick 3 you have interest in and consult with each one before you choose. There aren’t many certificates available to be called a “Tuner” Many are self proclaimed tuners who come then go. Makes sure yours has a good track record. Customer referrals are how this business is driven. Make sure you do your part after having a good experience and tell a friend!
A tuner doesn’t need to know every EMS on the market to be able to give you what you need or want. A Good tuner does however need a deep knowledge of basic mechanics, fuel injection, and ignition systems. He should have wisdom in building cars the parts to be used or avoided. A basic understanding of: Knock, detonation, deflagration and mixtures both Lambda and AFR. Knowledge of Fuel sources Ethanol, Gasoline, Methanol, and mixtures of all. Also have personal hands on experience with building and experimenting with personal cars. A good tuner will always be learning growing and trying new things but not forgetting what has worked in the past.
DRAMA FOR YO MAMMA:
Stop it! Creating drama by stating one tuner is better than another is non professional and non productive. Talk positively of the good tunes you receive and what you liked about them. If when switching tuners and results improve DO NOT degrade the past tuner, talk of your new success. It may have meant his ideas concepts and theories did not work for you. Mostly I see people who degrade other tuners without ever seeing their work or giving them a chance. It’s ignorant, you never know that tuner may just be the right one for you! We have a lot of competition and word of mouth can make or break us as tuners fast!
Remember there is mechanical, fuel and air limit of every car. Tuners can only achieve so much on given mods. There are so many factors, give the benefit of the doubt to the tuner. They want the best for your car as it reflects back on them and can produce more cliental. Tuners don’t know everything and may learn a thing or two on your car. It’s not rocket science to tune so be skeptical of tuners claiming near impossible gains/results. Mechanical limits will always win. Choose someone who is consistent with their concepts and results. In the end be slow to choose a tuner, mods and results, a “right now” attitude can be expensive and mean poor results.
IN CLOSING:
I want to thank all the many customers and competition tuners out there. I love my job and have gained many friends due to it. I hope this will help clear up some drama and help some make the decisions they been wanting to make. I also hope this will be found as neutral and productive post. I'm not a vendor so please no post regarding my services. Be safe out there!
If this is not in the right section please move!
Evan Smith
In the past few months I have seen across various forums and local scenes a large debate about tuners. The end result is the Tuners themselves get the shaft from customers and damaged future cliental. Tuners are rare breed. They eat breath sleep cars. Constantly researching and learning. Tuners take the brunt of any failure as if it was their own. I can recall many of times being woken up 2 AM or later do to some failure on a customer’s car. I am sure every other tuner can relate.
The BAD list in order:
1 Driver errors - Over revving, common sense, non proper maintenance and lots of abuse.
2 Mechanical failures- They happen at the limit a lot! Owners can prevent this best by avoiding #1
3 Tuning – Rushing a tune, not taking advice from tuner, Once in a while it is just a tuners fault too.
Many times customers forget this order and rely on their tuner to post blame or fault. It’s an easy way out and not fair. Customers don’t realize a majority of their cars responsibility care and maintenance is on them. A tuner can extract the best results from the cars best cared for!
A GOOD TUNERS GOALS:
Most Tuners would agree the first goal of any tuner should and always be SAFETY! Safety to the tune, the owner, the car Ect. Ect. I.E If the car has a fuel leak it should wait to be tuned. It’s the tuners reputation on the line; most of them don’t want to push a car too close to the limit. A good Tuner can find the edge of safety without the sacrifice of the tune. Most Factory Cars such as the EVO and WRX/STI are not very safe from the factory, either high injector duty cycles or way to aggressive timing for USA fuel.
After a car is tuned it should:
1 Be safer than prior to the tune
2 Have better performance
TUNER'S FEES:
These do not reflect capabilities, reliability or effectiveness of a Tuner! A lot of the time this is overhead cost, whether its travel, computers, cables, sensors, dyno , time Ect. Ect. Price should never be your number one concern when it comes to a good tune. We as tuners are not rich from tunes. Most of us are just making it by. Plan on at least two tunes annually. Every 6 months; weather conditions, wear on mechanical parts, new or change mods, ect ect all effect a tune. Know after a fix boost leak or new spark plugs, air filter, or mods of any kind can and have big effects on tunes. The smallest change could mean you need a retune. Take this into account that two times may not be adequate in a year period. Pay in referrals too!
A GAME PLAN:
A good tuner will know every mod on your car. Your goals for future mods. Also know the exact use of the vehicle (Drag, Road, Street, DD, and a mix) you need to find a tuner who makes a game plan for your car with you. The tuners theories and concepts should not be taken lightly; they should know what parts and brands will produce the best results. Mix matching parts can lead to poor results.
EXAMPLE: Buscher Racing OR AMS Performance.
These shops engineer their parts to work well within their own brand and produce excellent results time and time again. Mixing these parts with eBay knock offs or other vendor parts CAN and often do lead to poor and unstable results. Following each shops own game plan will produce reliable and powerful results a majority of the time.
Going to forums to “let the internet build your car” should be avoided. Many customers think because a shop or other tuner does something and produces good results that it’s a great idea. I.E (Aluminum Rods) the fine print will show it more work than it’s worth sometimes for your setup. If you see something you like, consult your tuner to get a more in depth answer as to why the mod you see, will or will not benefit you now or in the long run. Listening to your chosen tuner will save you money in the long run, grief, and down time.
PICKING THE RIGHT ONE FOR YOU:
Before choosing a tuner you need to know everything about them, shop around. Pick 3 you have interest in and consult with each one before you choose. There aren’t many certificates available to be called a “Tuner” Many are self proclaimed tuners who come then go. Makes sure yours has a good track record. Customer referrals are how this business is driven. Make sure you do your part after having a good experience and tell a friend!
A tuner doesn’t need to know every EMS on the market to be able to give you what you need or want. A Good tuner does however need a deep knowledge of basic mechanics, fuel injection, and ignition systems. He should have wisdom in building cars the parts to be used or avoided. A basic understanding of: Knock, detonation, deflagration and mixtures both Lambda and AFR. Knowledge of Fuel sources Ethanol, Gasoline, Methanol, and mixtures of all. Also have personal hands on experience with building and experimenting with personal cars. A good tuner will always be learning growing and trying new things but not forgetting what has worked in the past.
DRAMA FOR YO MAMMA:
Stop it! Creating drama by stating one tuner is better than another is non professional and non productive. Talk positively of the good tunes you receive and what you liked about them. If when switching tuners and results improve DO NOT degrade the past tuner, talk of your new success. It may have meant his ideas concepts and theories did not work for you. Mostly I see people who degrade other tuners without ever seeing their work or giving them a chance. It’s ignorant, you never know that tuner may just be the right one for you! We have a lot of competition and word of mouth can make or break us as tuners fast!
Remember there is mechanical, fuel and air limit of every car. Tuners can only achieve so much on given mods. There are so many factors, give the benefit of the doubt to the tuner. They want the best for your car as it reflects back on them and can produce more cliental. Tuners don’t know everything and may learn a thing or two on your car. It’s not rocket science to tune so be skeptical of tuners claiming near impossible gains/results. Mechanical limits will always win. Choose someone who is consistent with their concepts and results. In the end be slow to choose a tuner, mods and results, a “right now” attitude can be expensive and mean poor results.
IN CLOSING:
I want to thank all the many customers and competition tuners out there. I love my job and have gained many friends due to it. I hope this will help clear up some drama and help some make the decisions they been wanting to make. I also hope this will be found as neutral and productive post. I'm not a vendor so please no post regarding my services. Be safe out there!
If this is not in the right section please move!
Evan Smith
Last edited by MR Turco; Dec 20, 2009 at 06:46 AM.
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Lots of good info here IMO.
Dec 18, 2009, 03:32 PM
#14
^^^ If it helps I'm all for it.
I want people to be wise when they do this. Picking a tuner is like picking a bride, its a lot of work but after the fun wears off (first tune, mods ect) your kinda stuck to them so make sure it was the right choice! lol
Evan Smith
I want people to be wise when they do this. Picking a tuner is like picking a bride, its a lot of work but after the fun wears off (first tune, mods ect) your kinda stuck to them so make sure it was the right choice! lol
Evan Smith
