Blitz

iTrader: (11)

First some background. If the wall of text freaks you out, skip down to the bold font for the actual review. For whatever reason, my car has never seemed to put out the numbers it "should". This was apparent from the beginning of my modding journey. Everyone said a IX with boost controller, catless TBE and custom tune should break 300 whp on AMS's Dynojet no problem. My car did 293. Fast forward a few years and a lot more money spent, everyone said a IX with a BBK Full, GSC S2s, and full supporting mods should hit 400 whp on CBRD's Mustang dyno no problem. My car did 376.

This is not to say that there is anything wrong with my car (I hope not!), just that I'm the last guy you'll ever see foaming at the mouth about how super easy it is to make big numbers with our cars. It's not so easy sometimes. So in reading this review, keep in mind that it's not the numbers I ended up with that make Tom a great tuner. Moving on.

After getting my nice, shiny, new CBRD tune, I immediately proceeded to have a little accident that damaged my intercooler. Insurance covered replacing the core with a different/better one. I also decided to swap my o2 dump for a regular o2 housing. These mods meant I needed a new tune and doing another 10 hour road trip was out of the question. I had a local "tuner" touch up my tune and ended up with the blue line here...



I told the tuner I didn't want to see over 30 psi. He made the car spike 36. Worse yet is the AFR curve. I believe someone on EvoM compared the AFR to a dirt bike track. Needless to say, I didn't feel comfortable at all running this "tune" on my daily driver. I was also pretty bummed about throwing out a few hundred dollars on a tune I couldn't use. Tom/tscompusa very generously offered to retune my car, starting clean, for a discount given the circumstances. Having never done a remote tune, I was nervous but decided to give it a shot.

* Actual review starts here *

If you're debating between a remote tune and a dyno tune, the first thing you need to know is that the remote tune is not a fast process. At least it wasn't for me. We started in June and due to schedule conflicts and the fact that my car seems knock-prone/generally picky as hell, Tom was still shooting me new maps to try as late as October. All together Tom sent no fewer than 11 maps NOT COUNTING a bunch of other maps just to fine tune the knock sensor.

Throughout this time I was constantly asking questions and learning, which I feel is one of the main benefits of going with a remote tune. You don't just rely on someone else to make the car right. You have to go out and log , ask questions, decide what you want the car to do. Given Tom's workload, it's understandable that he doesn't always answer questions right away but it's nice knowing there's someone with his expertise on your side.

But the really amazing part is that it's now almost January and Tom is still willing to iron out any imperfections in the tune. I have noticed my knock CEL flashing occasionally and want to know if it's real or false knock. Given the time that has elapsed since my payment, it would be totally reasonable for Tom to demand more money to keep working on my car. But he hasn't. You truly get a sense that he loves doing this and wants to make sure his reputation is safe with each and every car he touches.

Anyway, here is what we ended up with for the time being. The car could make more torque but I'm afraid of anything over 400 wtq grenading the stock block. Notice it is now spiking around 30 psi and lost no power compared to the freak tune from the local guy. And the AFR curve no longer looks like a dirt bike track!

Thanks Tom.

localtoys73

iTrader: (24)

You see more and more threads just like this. He does great work and will not stop until perfection.

tscompusa

iTrader: (31)

Thanks for the review Damian. Typically the tune doesn't take that long.. every situation is different though, and if the customer needs to delay things im perfectly fine with it.

Thanks AG.. ya, kinda like being tuned 2x for the price of one in some cases. like how im letting you add mods and retuning for pennies

Also here's 2 of the runs you sent me tonight Blitz. The red line is one of the cleaner runs with
no knock, the blue line pulled timing, so power got pulled with it.



we can finalize and clean everything up within the next few days then you can share the final results
if you like. ill be leaning out the rich dip, bringing down the boost downlow and from there it will be
smooth sailing.. car is very strong though for 93oct.

My graph goes against your actual review though LOL.. the tq is higher then ever at the moment, and the
boost is 33psi. I will drop the torque so its around 380-400 by lowering the boost spike and then i will
lean out that rich dip we have at the moment..

shouldn't take more then 1hr tops

rom already sent to your email.

Blitz

iTrader: (11)

475 on pump gas? Wow. Good looking out man!

This is what I'm talking about guys. Tune was pretty close to done in late summer for a VERY reasonable price. Did a few logs in the winter and tune could use some adjustments. What does Tom do? Sends me a new map at 4 AM the night before Christmas Eve. Fairly certain he's actually a machine at this point, not a real person.

Also Merry Christmas everyone.

tscompusa

iTrader: (31)

LOL! you're not the first person who asked if i was a machine. that's funny.