Rookie Evo X MR Tuning question and opinons

[El_Stig]

*Mods if this is the wrong place, apologies, please move (thought is was kind of Evo X General)*


Ok guys,

Rookie Evo X MR owner here, thought id be satisfied with the power i have, but after reading about how many owners cars are not only more powerful, but also get better fuel economy after a tune, im seriously considering it!

Questions:

1.) What the chances of a tune having an adverse effect on the car. Does the tune in any case majorly effect reliability?

2.) How much hassle can/should i expect from my dealer if i take it in for warranty work?

3.) What type of tune should i be looking for (i use mine as a DD and reliability is HUGE for me), also what gains and positives are there for each 'type of tune'.

4.) Any shops in the South East have a great reputation for helping rookies and willing to spend time to explain things!?

5.) General cost?

[Mendo]

Well IMO for a DD that is trying to keep reliability/warranty intact, I think the Cobb AP is the best option. You can easily un-marry the Cobb AP before taking it for service and they will never be able to tell it was there. On the power gains subject, its like day and night difference. Car definitely feels more alive with a tune.

Will say one down side of the AP is that it is a bit pricey.

[mrMTB]

Originally Posted by El_Stig

1.) What the chances of a tune having an adverse effect on the car. Does the tune in any case majorly effect reliability?

Not really. Provided you have a conservative off the shelf tune (like an Access Port), or a good custom tune, you should not experience any difficulties with reliability.

Originally Posted by El_Stig

2.) How much hassle can/should i expect from my dealer if i take it in for warranty work?

From just a tune, practically none. As the previous poster mentioned, though, if you are paranoid and go with the AP, you can always unmarry it before going into the dealer. When they see it, your car will be completely stock.

Originally Posted by El_Stig

3.) What type of tune should i be looking for (i use mine as a DD and reliability is HUGE for me), also what gains and positives are there for each 'type of tune'.

Both off the shelf and custom will give you better power, response, mileage, etc... The custom tune will give you more performance, as it is set up specifically for your vehicle, gas, climate, etc. The off the shelf tunes will be less than the custom tune as they are generic for your type of vehicle, but not specifically how yours performs.

Cobb's website shows something like a 14% whp and wtq improvement on their stage 1 OTS map - completely stock car. I have seen some custom tunes that Cobb did on a "stage 1" car that wrung out a few more %.

Originally Posted by El_Stig

5.) General cost?

Option 1:
$695 for an Access Port w/ their OTS maps (less if you buy used)

Option 2:
$3-400 for a tuner to do a custom tune of your vehicle

Option 3:
$200 for a Tactrix cable, and you find and download some starter maps off the internet.

As others have said, the AP has a higher entry point, but if you do not plan on doing much modding, or plan on modding within the stages for which they offer OTS maps, it can easily make up for its cost in convenience and availability of free maps.

[El_Stig]

Thank you very much!

So i can buy this AP, press a pre programmed button, if im stock, and it will give me 19 hp gains and better fuel economy, then if i ever take it to the delaer, press it again, and it reflashes to stock and is undetectable to the dealer that i have had it flashed. On top of this if i make future basic mods (air filter) then i can just download the maps from the website and plug it in and press a button and it will tune it for that mod?

I know this is probably basic, but really appreciate people taking the time to educate a newbie!

[mrMTB]

More or less that is correct. Though you should see something on the order of 40-50 whp improvement with an off the shelf map.

Here's Cobb's page with the AP for the Evo X: http://www.cobbtuning.com/products/?id=3942

At their dyno day, I saw an otherwise stock X MR make 286 whp / 288 wtq on their Mustang dyno with just a drop in filter and stage 1 off the shelf map.

[El_Stig]

Originally Posted by mrMTB

More or less that is correct. Though you should see something on the order of 40-50 whp improvement with an off the shelf map.

Here's Cobb's page with the AP for the Evo X: http://www.cobbtuning.com/products/?id=3942

At their dyno day, I saw an otherwise stock X MR make 286 whp / 288 wtq on their Mustang dyno with just a drop in filter and stage 1 off the shelf map.

WOW

What air filter would you suggest?

it seems to me, that this is a no brainer judging by what your saying!

Thanks again!

[mrMTB]

I stuck with the stock filter until 10k when it needed to be changed. I have had good luck with K&N in the past, though the choice of air filter often devolves into a religious debate... There's plenty of reading material on EvoM to help you make an informed decision on that front. Do be aware that the Stage I map for AP is intended to be used with the stock air filter.

[lodifreefly]

Right now I'm running a Cobb AP Stage 2 map with the cobb intake, ETS 3.5" intercooler, high flow cat and catback exhaust. O2/downpipe is going to be installed soon, and I am trying to schedule a custom tune with GST. At that point I'll post some #s but so far the car has never seen a dyno. It definitely feels WAY more powerful than when I got it though.

Absolutely no reliability issues at all, and I've done all the mods myself to this point (this is the first car I've modded, so for me that's exciting) The only issue I've had with the car is I melted the diffuser a bit by installing the exhaust crooked and not noticing until I smelled burning plastic lol

As far as warranty goes, not sure what to tell you I haven't had any issues and haven't returned my car to stock before taking it in. I honestly think it probably depends on what goes wrong with your car. Minor issue is probably going to be fixed without many questions. If you blow a motor, or melt your clutches, then be ready for a fight. From what I've read though, that can happen even with a totally stock mitsu.

The cobb AP definitely improved my fuel economy, but for what you're looking for it might make more sense to get a custom tune since the fuel economy numbers i've seen from those are better on average, and I imagine if you talked to your tuner about your goals they would be able to help you accordingly.

Hope this helps.

[Clipse3GT]

AP tunes are still pig rich, they are meant to make safe, reliable, power.

[mrMTB]

Originally Posted by Clipse3GT

AP tunes are still pig rich, they are meant to make safe, reliable, power.

Well, you're half right... They are meant to make safe reliable power. By necessity of having to work on practically any Evo anywhere in the country they will be richer than a custom tune, but pig rich is an overstatement. (What would you call the stock tune, elephant rich?) My AFRs briefly touched 11.1, and were mostly 11.5 - 12.3. Nowhere near the generally in the 10's and touching into the 9's that the stock tune runs.

What is the case is that with a custom tune your car can be leaned out more and run (safely) much closer to the margin.

Where we can agree is that whichever direction you take, it is a game of tradeoffs.

[Clipse3GT]

Originally Posted by mrMTB

Well, you're half right... They are meant to make safe reliable power. By necessity of having to work on practically any Evo anywhere in the country they will be richer than a custom tune, but pig rich is an overstatement. (What would you call the stock tune, elephant rich?) My AFRs briefly touched 11.1, and were mostly 11.5 - 12.3. Nowhere near the generally in the 10's and touching into the 9's that the stock tune runs.

What is the case is that with a custom tune your car can be leaned out more and run (safely) much closer to the margin.

Where we can agree is that whichever direction you take, it is a game of tradeoffs.

The stage 1 fuel map is still very rich... and stage 2 even more so. So yes they are still pig rich, so they are safe at all conditions. The stock fuel map is very very rich.

A custom tune provides much leaner fuel trims and is designed for each particular car.