Tune+: Tuning Review and Information Thread

[jeff]

My AP arrives Thursday! Gonna log stock for a bit. Then run the OTS stage 3 (have the mods) for logging, THENNN have Adam tune... And log again. Just cuz I hate spending the dollars if it don't make sense

Hey did you ever do the above? I'd love to see the results....

 

[jeff]

A quick addition to this thread...I've had my Tune+ tune for a few months now and have enjoyed it. But I got a neat perspective today.

So, my A/C compressor died so for the last 4 days it was at F.O.R.D. getting replaced under warranty. To make sure there was no need for a cage match, I put the stage 0 tune back on the car before handing it over to the Ford people. Got the car back yesterday and drove it about 30 miles before putting Adam's tune back on today.

This process helped me remember how the car operates stock as compared to my optimized "stage 2" tune. During those 30 miles I thought "Dang, this car feels quick but is not really going anywhere". And, there is no punch above 4,500rpm or so. Then I flashed my tune back....and I thought "Wow, what a difference...now the car is quite torquey, truly fast, smoother, has good power to redline, and punches you in the gut every time you floor it." With the stock tune, I noticed in 4th when I floored it about nothing happened. With my Tune+ tune, no need to downshift in 3rd or 4th or 5th - power is there for the using.

So there we are. Great job Mr. Brunson.

 

[LilPartyBox]

Hey did you ever do the above? I'd love to see the results....

Wellllll, like a kid on xmas i flashed the stg 1 tune the moment i got it and never locked back! lol I DID log stg 1 with the stock IC though. I'm running stg 3 now with the Depo IC and will be logging it a bunch for the next couple of weeks b4 contacting Adam. I like the stg 3 OTS for the most part. But there is hesitation when WOT & shifting fast. The logs should show wtf is going on but i'm hearing that timing may be pulled during shifting? Let's see if i can actually wait the two weeks b4 Tune+

 

[jeff]

Wellllll, like a kid on xmas i flashed the stg 1 tune the moment i got it and never locked back! lol I DID log stg 1 with the stock IC though. I'm running stg 3 now with the Depo IC and will be logging it a bunch for the next couple of weeks b4 contacting Adam. I like the stg 3 OTS for the most part. But there is hesitation when WOT & shifting fast. The logs should show wtf is going on but i'm hearing that timing may be pulled during shifting? Let's see if i can actually wait the two weeks b4 Tune+

That is great man. Great to hear when people are happy with their cars.

I will say this - and I have not flashed stage 3 OTS like you, only stage 2. But there is only a +7hp/+15tq difference between the two. Anyhow.....stage 2 was very nice, I was quite happy. But Adam's tune is a greater thing still and a different animal. For me it was sort of like this - the difference between Adam and stage 2 OTS felt about the same as the difference between stage 2 OTS and stock.

Question: How did you feel about the difference between OTS stage 1 versus OTS stage 3?

 

[MPA]

I've been Adam tuned since mid-November, and am very happy with the results, and his communication - he usually gets back to me within 24 hours after sending him a new log, or a question. The gobs of torque down low makes the car a lot of fun!

I'm only tuned for 93, but I need to start working on an e30 tune.

 

[Tune+]

Thank you for sharing guys!

 

[Azov]

Adam did you completely drop work on the exhaust crackle addition? I know you solstice fiesta because of the mustang, but I was curious if it would be something you could toy with.

 

[AzNightmare]

How much more power should I expect if I'm on oem turbo, stage 2. and I get an IWG and a tune? Or is the IWG necessary in this case?
I only have 93 octane in my area though, so no ethanol.

I don't have a DP, and Adam says no to DP anyway.
I don't have an exhaust either. Trying to save up.

But for the price of less than an exhaust, I can get Adam Tune instead, plus IWG if that makes a difference..

 

[Rhinopolis]

How much more power should I expect if I'm on oem turbo, stage 2. and I get an IWG and a tune? Or is the IWG necessary in this case?
I only have 93 octane in my area though, so no ethanol.

I don't have a DP, and Adam says no to DP anyway.
I don't have an exhaust either. Trying to save up.

But for the price of less than an exhaust, I can get Adam Tune instead, plus IWG if that makes a difference..

I would expect anywhere between 190-200 whp peak, and between 260-280 lbs trq depending on how quickly your turbo spools. Peak torque isn't going to make much of a difference in feel because the small turbo puts the big torque number up so low in the rev range, and with the pro tune you will notice that your torque curve flattens out and maintains a good "torque number" for longer.

You will definitely notice more power through the pull and up to and perhaps slightly past 6k before the stock turbo has petered out. This might not sound like much, but it feels strong and will hopefully keep you satisfied until you decide if you want to go to an uprated/upgraded turbo. Adam sells the Pumaspeed X37 for when that day comes...lol

PS: My recommendation is to get the upgraded WGA with the correct "stiffer spring" for WHEN you go to a higher performance turbo...lol. Even on stock turbo, the upgraded WGA will allow Adam to dial in and your car to hold more boost for longer in the rev range. It's a win win for not a lot of coin.

 

[AzNightmare]

I would expect anywhere between 190-200 whp peak, and between 260-280 lbs trq depending on how quickly your turbo spools. Peak torque isn't going to make much of a difference in feel because the small turbo puts the big torque number up so low in the rev range, and with the pro tune you will notice that your torque curve flattens out and maintains a good "torque number" for longer.

You will definitely notice more power through the pull and up to and perhaps slightly past 6k before the stock turbo has petered out. This might not sound like much, but it feels strong and will hopefully keep you satisfied until you decide if you want to go to an uprated/upgraded turbo. Adam sells the Pumaspeed X37 for when that day comes...lol

PS: My recommendation is to get the upgraded WGA with the correct "stiffer spring" for WHEN you go to a higher performance turbo...lol. Even on stock turbo, the upgraded WGA will allow Adam to dial in and your car to hold more boost for longer in the rev range. It's a win win for not a lot of coin.

I'm still quite new to tuning/performance upgrading. I remember people talking about IWG and Tune+. In this context, is the "IWG" being referred HERE as the same as the "WGA"?
http://adamtuned.myshopify.com/coll...-st/products/tune-upgraded-wastegate-actuator
And I'm not sure what you mean by correct "stiffer spring". Does Adam not sell the WGA with the proper spring?

I don't really foresee myself going BT or X37 any time soon, so at this point, seems like the best way to squeeze out any remaining performance I can from my oem turbo is going this route? And what about the spark plugs?

 

[Rhinopolis]

I'm still quite new to tuning/performance upgrading. I remember people talking about IWG and Tune+. In this context, is the "IWG" being referred HERE as the same as the "WGA"?
http://adamtuned.myshopify.com/coll...-st/products/tune-upgraded-wastegate-actuator
And I'm not sure what you mean by correct "stiffer spring". Does Adam not sell the WGA with the proper spring?

I don't really foresee myself going BT or X37 any time soon, so at this point, seems like the best way to squeeze out any remaining performance I can from my oem turbo is going this route? And what about the spark plugs?

Our car comes from Ford with an internal wastegate as opposed to an external one, and the wastegate actuator (with upgraded stiffer spring) is what people replace so that the car can be dialed in (via Adam) to hold a little more boost pressure throughout a wide open throttle pull. Adam will ask that you let him know that you have the upgraded WGA when you are asking for a tune as the upgraded WGA requires a different tune than if you were running the factory set WGA.

The stock/factory spring in the stock WGA is weak and can release boost prematurely which is why we replace it. As far as needing to replace spark plugs, a "performance gap" is common in tuning but is custom for the car and type of tune. A more narrow gap can allow for more timing (advance) to be added in to the tune, which should allow for better performance. Let Adam guide you here, and ask his thoughts on spark plugs before you start working with him.

Some versions of the upgraded WGA that were sold had a weaker spring than what was intended, and from what I understand this issue has been corrected.

PS: I am no expert and learn from those on this forum who are more knowledgeable than me every day. The forum is a great resource with some very helpful and knowledgeable people, and hopefully I described the above correctly. Have fun!

Ryan

 

[jeff]

I'm still quite new to tuning/performance upgrading. I remember people talking about IWG and Tune+. In this context, is the "IWG" being referred HERE as the same as the "WGA"?
http://adamtuned.myshopify.com/coll...-st/products/tune-upgraded-wastegate-actuator
And I'm not sure what you mean by correct "stiffer spring". Does Adam not sell the WGA with the proper spring?

I don't really foresee myself going BT or X37 any time soon, so at this point, seems like the best way to squeeze out any remaining performance I can from my oem turbo is going this route? And what about the spark plugs?

Our car comes from Ford with an internal wastegate as opposed to an external one, and the wastegate actuator (with upgraded stiffer spring) is what people replace so that the car can be dialed in (via Adam) to hold a little more boost pressure throughout a wide open throttle pull. Adam will ask that you let him know that you have the upgraded WGA when you are asking for a tune as the upgraded WGA requires a different tune than if you were running the factory set WGA.

The stock/factory spring in the stock WGA is weak and can release boost prematurely which is why we replace it. As far as needing to replace spark plugs, a "performance gap" is common in tuning but is custom for the car and type of tune. A more narrow gap can allow for more timing (advance) to be added in to the tune, which should allow for better performance. Let Adam guide you here, and ask his thoughts on spark plugs before you start working with him.

Some versions of the upgraded WGA that were sold had a weaker spring than what was intended, and from what I understand this issue has been corrected.

PS: I am no expert and learn from those on this forum who are more knowledgeable than me every day. The forum is a great resource with some very helpful and knowledgeable people, and hopefully I described the above correctly. Have fun!

Ryan

If you want to maximize every bit you can out of the car, get whatever downpipe/exhaust and the WGA. The downpipe does add power, Adam even verifies this, just not power where we want it, which I believe is why he does not recommend it, as it causes a loss of power in the higher rev range. That said, those mods are going to cost $1000 or more not to mention labor. HP and TQ gains are minimal from all of this, we're talking maybe a few from the exhaust and actuator each, maybe 15 total. For 15hp I would not spend all that money but to each his own. Without these mods but with a FMIC and intake or panel filter and a custom tune, Adam's tune in this case, you are probably getting >90% out of the stock turbo. I could be wrong there but I am sure that it is definitely a high percentage.

This was my thinking in my mod path. So you spend $400 on Accessport, $300 on FMIC, $50 on a panel filter, and $150 on a Tune+ tune and you have 90% percent of available power increases for $900, install all that yourself very easily. Then you spend another $1000+ plus labor if you can't do it yourself and get that last 10ish% of the possible power out of the stock turbo. For me, the law of diminishing returns stopped short of the WGA and exhaust. With Adam's tune I'm around 220hp/295tq on the V-dyno which means nothing but it does give us something to compare with other V-dyno charts. And I'm in the Georgia heat. My AP has estimated torque at 284 though I have not kept it floored in 4th gear to redline ever. Were I to do that I bet both the AP torque estimates and my V-dyno numbers would exceed what I've listed above.

Anyhow that's my thinking, just my opinion, hope it helps. Either way the custom tune, in this case Adam's tune, is a whole new experience and I highly recommend it. I'm quite happy with my car as it is. Now I just need to figure out how to get a Focus ST steering wheel in my FiST, I experienced one last weekend and no longer like my steering wheel.

 

[V_2]

Just finished setting up my DHM quick spool kit with Adam and I'd just like to reiterate what a great service he provides. And the tune is money. The car is still very responsive, much less of a compromise for top end than I was expecting.

Looking forward to getting back in touch when I'm able to work out a more efficient intercooler setup!

 

[Tune+]

Thank you all for stopping by and leaving a review! Greatly appreciate it.

 

[In8tuner]

Just put in my order for life tune map Fmic wga and plugs already have map intake and ap. How long do the intercoolers take to come in?

 

[airjor13]

I just finished up a big turbo tune with Adam over the course of this week. This was my 2nd set of tunes from Adam, the 1st set was tuning when I was still on the stock turbo. As everyone already know his customer service and response time are first-class. Always within 12 hours of sending over logs, I would get a revision back. For my initial big turbo tune, I had some concerns with its performance on my particular car and setup. I approached Adam, having had a very positive experience with him tuning me on the stock turbo. Adam went out of his way to help get my car to a point where I am extremely satisfied with the results. The power delivery is outstanding, all critical parameters are good and I am in love with my car again. Can?t really say enough good things about the lifetime tune package from Tune+, worth every $ and it includes revisions for big turbo if you for example go from fully bolted-on stock turbo to X39. Thanks Adam!

 

[Tune+]

Thank you for the feedback! It is called the X37 btw haha.

 

[airjor13]

Thank you for the feedback! It is called the X37 btw haha.

LOL my bad! x39 that next level ish that's not even out yet

 

[BlueBullet]

I had Randy and got a few modifications and decided to give Adam a chance and am very happy with his service. He goes out of his way to explain technical details and give realistic expectations on different build options for your car. My only complaint is he sometimes overlooks questions in emails and I have to ask him a second time. But when you get a reply sometimes within the hour this is hardly something to be concerned by.

As for the tune Adam's is much smoother throughout without the part throttle surging I was experiencing on Randy's tune. Adam's drives like it is stock but when you step on it, his pulls much harder.

 

[Pat B.]

I too recently have started working with adam and I'm on the second revision of my 93oct tune. The accelerator pedal position, engine rpm, and boost pressure seem way more correlated than the stock tune and the cobb ots. The turbo seems to wind back as rpms grow in an everyday driving scenario which is gloriously smooth compared to the other tunes I mentioned. The power feels great lol Soo much more power than the ots maps from whatever to redline. My timing is much more consistent and boost is BOOST lol unlike with the ots. Not slamming the ots cause they opened my eyes to what a tune can do and I'm still new to the whole thing. But a custom tune is awesome and I'm super happy so far. Also, very quick to respond and responded to an email I sent asking questions before I even made the purchase. Lifetime tune+ customer here. Cant wait for the E30.