06 SLOW EVO

I have a 10.5 lb flywheel, exedy clutch, downpipe, and hks intake. i plan on doing a catback later. The custom tune is 475 and obviously a jester flash is cheaper. i was just wondering if the dyno tune is worth it or should i just get a flash.
thanks

4WS Tuning

iTrader: (73)

if you get a wideband... its as good as a flash as long as your monitoring your boost.

his flash's are dirt cheap...

i went that route... hes the man!

cheers!

SophieSleeps

iTrader: (19)

I say you spend 250 on a wideband and tactrix cable.
Then never pay for a tune again.

I say, if you plan on upgrading a lot in the future, then a 475 tune may be overboard for something that's temporary.

On a different note, there is nothing better than getting a tune designed for a car.
I don't believe in mail-in flashing. I think in order for it to be safe, you have to be on the extreme safe side, or rely on the car to take care of itself using timing retard features.

Mr. Evo IX

iTrader: (5)

Jestr. Get a wideband, catback, and maybe a mbc unless you want the flash to control boost. Even with the 6mos subscription service that Jestr offers your still cheaper than the custom tune.

nj1266

iTrader: (6)

I say do it yourself. It is not that hard as long as you have the proper logging equipment.

Every tuner whose maps that I have seen or who I have dealth with has shown their shortcoming.

All they care about is a quick tune even those who promise to give you a custom tune and put the car on the dyno.

No one cares about your car more than you. The tuner cares the least especially if you have a finicky car.

If I where you my plan would be as follows.

1. Get the cat-back. Turbo cars love TBE.
2. Screw the intake. It will make your car harder to tune especially since you are new at this.
3. Get a digital wideband. My favorite is the Innovate due to their customer support and open business model. I hate cloak and dagger companies.
4. READ this forum. This forum is the BEST forum on EvoM. It has the smartest and most technicals savvy people. You will figure out who they are as you read their posts.
5. Get a Tactrix cable and a logging software. Evoscan, Mitsulogger or Logworks. All of them work.
6. Log, Log, Log.
7. Read your ROM image and become familiar with how to change it.
8. Make practice timing and fuel maps. Post the results here and see what the guys tell you.
9. After you have created a safe map, then flash your ECU with it.
10. Log the car and look at the results. Make changes based on log results. Repat until you have a safe map with good power.

SophieSleeps

iTrader: (19)

I'm in total greement with you.
No one will tune your car like you will.

nj1266

iTrader: (6)

Did you ever look @ a Jestr Rom image? Here you are recommending them, but do you know what is in it? Those who have and some of them are very knowledgeable were disappointed by what they saw.

Mr. Evo IX

iTrader: (5)

Yes, I have one. I dont think everyone feels confident enough to tune their cars with little or no tuning experience. Starting with an innexpensive base map that the tuner will fine tune for you is not a bad place to start.

However, maybe a custom tune would be better for someone who just wants to tune and forget. My thought is this - You travel somewhere and get a custom tune and you assume that your car is safe but since you probably dont have a tactrix cable or a wideband or know how to datalog your car you just "hope" that whoever tuned it did a good job. At least working with Jestr or through a few image revisions you will learn how to datalog your car and if your paying attention you will know if your knock counts are high or if your AFR's are lean. I made the recommendation based on the level of customer service that I've received. Since I'm an amateur maybe I shouldnt be making recommendations though.

Eventually I hope to chalk up enough experience and knowledge to tune my own car, but right now I'm just learning.

burgers22

It would be interesting to see more than one, espescialy a tune that has been back to them more than once. Still so far the impresion is not favorable.

MB

Mr. Evo IX

iTrader: (5)

I dont want to hijack this thread but I've been reading the ECU flash forum for sometime now and the only negative comment about Jon's tuning was (1) UK based car that evidently had too aggressive of timing for the UK fuel or that's what I recall the posting stating (I have no way of substantiating this). Really, go press search and type in Jestr.. then read. If all those people are wrong and his images arent good then people should really speak up! I went with Jestr based on recomendations from people in this forum who posted favorable reviews. I like that he is responsive and answers questions and I'm certain that he's going to work with me and my car until I'm satisifed and the tune is to my liking.

I got a custom flash from a well known tuner last year but I changed some mods (changed from a catback to a turbo back and changed boost controllers) and ran into some trouble with my car (P0300 issues) and I was getting significant knock. The issue apparently ended up being injector related. I called the tuner and asked for help in figuring out what was going on and received very little if any assistance. So.. I've had a somewhat negative experience with the custom tune road. I saw some things in that image that alarmed me - combine that with poor customer service and I was ready for someone new.

Customer Service is a big factor for me. I've dealt with 3 vendors on here that I like alot. Jestr, TTP, and Marty at injected performance.

nj1266

iTrader: (6)

I have personally seen 2 maps of his and JCSBanks has seen one map of his. All three maps have similar tuning. Aggressive timing at peak torque/boost (9-10* @ 3500 rpm), maxxed out boost tables, safety features removed from the maps...I have also been e-mailed in private by a tuner from NorCal who logged a map of his that had 20 counts of knock.

We have posted about this in the thread that was closed quickly that you mention. The Thread was in the Vendor Review Forum.

I am not averse to people recommending vendors as long as they know what they are recommending.

I am not averse to getting a base map as long as you log the map and make sure that there is no serious knock in it. Also makes sure that you know how to modify the base map.

People do not speak up, because a lot of them buy the map flash it and then do not log the parameters to know what is going on.

A lot of them do not invest in a logging system that will give them a clear idea of what is going on with their engine. They do not buy a decent AFR meter, they do not buy a MAP sensor to log boost, they do not invest in a lap top.

My logging equipment has cost me $1000 and my lap top cost me $575. But it is worth it for me. Why? because I love to learn. In my book humans were put on this earth to learn. And I will invest in the best equipment possible so I can learn about tuning. And the more I learn, the more I figure out how somethings that the tuners are doing should not be done.

I used to recommend tuners, but now I recommend no one. If you want to do it right, then learn how to do it yourself. No one cares more about your car than you do. Always keep that in mind.

nj1266

iTrader: (6)

I have seen two. JCSBanks has seen one. And I have been PMed in private by a tuner from Norcal about another. That makes four so far.

Inprogress

iTrader: (30)

Jestr FTMFW!

SophieSleeps

iTrader: (19)

That is some really poor logic. All those thousands of people running pre-tuned maps do so because...they don't know how to tune themselves. I doubt they have any sort of ability to critique a map that they bought.

The reason those people bought a pre-tuned map is because they don't know what they're doing. So how can you listen to their advice?

This forum (mostly not in the ecuflash section) is full of mis-information of people giving false advice. It's almost as if every dude out here is now a "tuner" because they have mods on their car.

In the car world I come from (boosted IS300's) not a single person would EVER buy a pre-tuned map.

If all these thousands of people are driving around with pre-tuned maps, it's because they are too cheap to have someone actually tune the car, or it's because they believe that pre-tuned maps are going to be ok (which is a dumb assumption)

For $50 it's a cheap way to get rolling but you should be careful.

4WS Tuning

iTrader: (73)

i was worried at first, but i have a wideband and evoscan.

i see how lean it is, i see the knock, and i know what to check for to make sure everything is cool.

no problems here happy to say.

i highly reccomend jestr,

now on the other hand my dynoflash mailin tune that i had was super super super rich 9.8-10.2's almost all around and i was getting massive knock. the whole time i thought it was running great since i pulled off an 11.82.

if you have a tactrix cable and a logging problem you cant go wrong, so you can at least see if your knocking. you just wont be able to maximize power.

cheers!