Tuning questions

[Ericlp]

Hey so sort of a stupid question but I can't find anywhere in forums answering this. I'm completely new to buying and loading tubes. I am going to be swapping a 2018 manifold and 47# Injectors on to my 2017 gt and run an e85/flex fuel tune. I plan on having vmp tune the car but should I buy the tune before or after installing all my parts? I'm assuming when I fill out their forum they will send me a custom tune that will work with everything I will install? I've always had older cars so I'm completely new to tuning.

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[larr12]

DM @Wengerd Performance and he will take care of you. Great tuner and excellent customer service.

 

[Wengerd Performance]

Buy the tune and have it ready. Load it to the car to make sure all goes smoothly and install the parts after loading

 

[tdstuart]

You want to buy the tune beforehand as it can take a little bit for them to get back to you.

You also need whatever tuning device your tuner needs. Usually RTD for most tuners. Ngauge for Lund and a few others, although they also support RTD.

The hptuners rtd tuning device requires credits. Credits basically just link their tuning software to your account and car. Basically think of it as paying for the software (credits) and the hardware (rtd device). You then need to pay your tuner to make your tune.

Not going to go into specifics on tuners, but I wouldn't use vmp unless I had their supercharger kit. Use a reputable tuner that has dealt with lots of those setups, Lund, Palm beach, etc...

Lots of negative and positive things from many people about different tuners, so do your research and find a tuner that YOU like, every tuner has people that hate them and people that worship them like Jesus' long-lost brother. I just wouldn't use vmp because they probably don't have much experience tuning your setup.

If you have any more questions let me know, it sounds complicated at first, but it's fairly easy to do.

 

[Ericlp]

Buy the tune and have it ready. Load it to the car to make sure all goes smoothly and install the parts after loading

Ok so I'm assuming whoever I go with on the tune will have a base tune to load. Also how do e85 tunes work?

 

[Wengerd Performance]

Yes. The RTD saves your stock tune and that gets sent to your tuner.

After the tune is made it gets sent back to you to datalog and verify everything checks out.

We offer 93, E85 and flex.

Flex can run any fuel or mixture of fuels

Example half e85 have 93 ect.

The others are dedicated fuel tunes

 

[Ericlp]

Yes. The RTD saves your stock tune and that gets sent to your tuner.

After the tune is made it gets sent back to you to datalog and verify everything checks out.

We offer 93, E85 and flex.

Flex can run any fuel or mixture of fuels

Example half e85 have 93 ect.

The others are dedicated fuel tunes

Nice. Looked you guys up and will probably go with you through tuning. Do you recommend doing a 170 thermostat and using lockouts on the intake manifold? I was also going to just use a stock 2018 air intake when I upgrade

 

[Wengerd Performance]

Lockouts are not required but 170 is never a bad choice

 

[Stephen@lethal]

As others have stated, buying the tune initially to have it ready isn't a bad idea but most tuners will have your file ready within 24 hours or less either way. I've never been waiting more than a day or two for a revision or base file. The stock 2018 intake will work well enough however I would make one suggestion, make sure you do a ported 18 manifold since you're going that route anyway, its worth the price added on to get the manifold ported. If you have any questions about porting or tuning, feel free to shoot me a message anytime.

https://www.lethalperformance.com/1...d-ported-2018-mustang-gt-intake-manifold.html

 

[ypena02]

It sounds like tuners modify the stock tune file with the rtd device, can anyone confirm?

With other tuning devices like SCT and Ngauge, it is common practice for tuners to change the ecu strategy as they reuse the same tune files. I ask because I've personally experienced issues with my obd2 monitors not completing when using a different ecu strategy. As soon as my tuner sent me a tune file using the factory ecu strategy, the monitors completed in less than 100 miles.

 

[Ericlp]

Lockouts are not required but 170 is never a bad choice

Can I buy a rtd+ and then order a tune from you guys separately? They are showing backordered on your site.

 

[tdstuart]

Can I buy a rtd+ and then order a tune from you guys separately? They are showing backordered on your site.

You can buy it from hptuners directly. I would just call and see if they have it in stock. You can also buy credits directly through hptuners.

 

[tdstuart]

Nice. Looked you guys up and will probably go with you through tuning. Do you recommend doing a 170 thermostat and using lockouts on the intake manifold? I was also going to just use a stock 2018 air intake when I upgrade

Like lethal suggested might as well port the intake. The stock air box isn't a bad choice and many people recommend it, you also shouldn't have to deal with weird maf issues that can arise with aftermarket intakes.

Also, the routing of the vacuum lines for the 2018 intake manifold can get confusing, message me, and ill help you out with it. It's something anyone can do but there is a lot of conflicting info online about it.

What's your power goal and modification goal?

FBO (full-bolt-on: headers, Intake manifold, cai, tune) running e85 is a solid combo on the 2015-2017.
If you have the auto I can personally tell you that you will be slightly faster than a stock 2018-2022 10r80 gt with that combo.

If you are just looking to wake the car up and don't want to deal with any BS the ported 2018 intake manifold, new airbox, and tune will make a noticeable difference.

Also, Wengerd is more known for their supercharger tuning, especially ESS. The ESS supercahrger kits are a good bang for the buck if you are trying to make some good power.

 

[Ericlp]

Like lethal suggested might as well port the intake. The stock air box isn't a bad choice and many people recommend it, you also shouldn't have to deal with weird maf issues that can arise with aftermarket intakes.

Also, the routing of the vacuum lines for the 2018 intake manifold can get confusing, message me, and ill help you out with it. It's something anyone can do but there is a lot of conflicting info online about it.

What's your power goal and modification goal?

FBO (full-bolt-on: headers, Intake manifold, cai, tune) running e85 is a solid combo on the 2015-2017.
If you have the auto I can personally tell you that you will be slightly faster than a stock 2018-2022 10r80 gt with that combo.

If you are just looking to wake the car up and don't want to deal with any BS the ported 2018 intake manifold, new airbox, and tune will make a noticeable difference.

Also, Wengerd is more known for their supercharger tuning, especially ESS. The ESS supercahrger kits are a good bang for the buck if you are trying to make some good power.

My goal is fbo then get a vmp blower on it. Just trying to figure out who to have tune it. Lund I've heard is great just seems to be very expensive.

 

[tdstuart]

My goal is fbo then get a vmp blower on it. Just trying to figure out who to have tune it. Lund I've heard is great just seems to be very expensive.

I used Wengerd. I did get frustrated at times with email response times, but I also ask a shit ton of questions, probably way more than a normal person.

With Wengerd, I did have a transmission shifting problem when going from 3rd to 4th only in paddle shifting mode. But they said they have never seen that issue before and couldn't reproduce it. Could have been my car.

I also had issues with a JTL cai I installed on the car. Wengerd couldn't get the fuel trims happy. I found a minor leak, and fixed it, but it changed nothing. Again could totally be something wrong with the intake that I can't find.

Before the jlt the car was FBO e85 with a ported 2018 IM and 47lb injectors (stock intake box). The car ran good besides the weird shifting issue when using paddle shifters from 3rd to 4th gear.

I felt like Wengerd did try to help me, but I got frustrated with them. My car is currently down (no fault of Wengerd). I plan on switching to Lund when my car is finished.

Wengerd is one of the cheapest tuners out there, that is why I initially got them as well.

In no way am I saying not to use Wengerd, and I am not saying that they couldn't tune the JLT intake or that their tune was the cause of the issues with my car. Wengerd did go out of their way to try to make a tune to make more burbles for me. Totally custom and they did it for free.

People have lots of mixed feedback with tuners. Some people love Lund, others hate them. There are lots of people who recommend Wengerd and have only had positive experiences. Some people swear by their neighborhood tuners, and others have directly blamed their engine failures on bad neighborhood tuners. My recommendation is to talk to Wengerd, talk to Lund, talk to other tuners, and choose whoever you like the most and would feel better about. Also read the reviews about different tuners. Lund has negative reviews, and so does every tuner out there.

I chose Lund because I talked to Alex @ Lund and liked what he was saying. I have also been messaging Lund Support throughout my build so I can make sure it is all set for them and that they think the combination will work good. Lund Support has been very helpful to me.

Tuning is one of the most important parts of these cars. Do your research so you can feel confident in your tuner. Take everyone's feedback with a grain of salt, even mine. And if you are going to purchase a $10k+ supercharger setup, I don't think you should worry about the cost of the tuner.

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