SCT's, whose do you reccomend?

rickf · Jun 10, 2017

I was browsing through here today and I saw a couple threads where Bama was being slammed pretty good. I was going to buy a tuner from AM but now I am wondering if that is a good idea. Money is not easy to come by for someone on a fixed income like me so I want to get it right the first time. As some of you know I have been chasing a hesitation issue for months now and I have diagnosed and data logged until I am blue in the face. I have replaced damn near everything electronic. I figure I am just going to get the tuner and let them data log and see if they can set me up. This may well be an issue with the ECM that they can tune out. (I hope) I want to go with a company that has people that know what they are doing. I find it hard to believe that in today's times that any company would hire tuners that didn't.

JUSTA3V · Jun 10, 2017

Email or message lito he is a vendor on this board. He can tune a 3v while eating a chicken sandwich in one hand and making poutine with the other.

Your money will not be better spent listening to him.

01yellerCobra · Jun 10, 2017

Look around the market sections for an unlocked hand held device. You can usually find them decently priced. Then you can find a tuner to get tunes from. I've recommended Lito to a couple people and they've been happy. I have a Lund "canned" tune in our 06 and no complaints.

However, just remember a tune won't fix a mechanical issue.

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rickf · Jun 10, 2017

I fully understand about the mechanical issue but the problem seems to be electronic and none of the data logging I have been able to do with my Actron or Torque pro has turned up anything but normal values so I was hoping for a company that sold a SCT with tunes for life that would be able to datalog on that device and possibly find something I am missing. Unfortunately it seems that what I need to see is only going to be visible on a diagnostic unit capable of getting into the proprietary Ford data. And they and the places that have them are EXPENSIVE!

06 T-RED S/C GT · Jun 10, 2017

rickf said:
I was browsing through here today and I saw a couple threads where Bama was being slammed pretty good. I was going to buy a tuner from AM but now I am wondering if that is a good idea. Money is not easy to come by for someone on a fixed income like me so I want to get it right the first time. As some of you know I have been chasing a hesitation issue for months now and I have diagnosed and data logged until I am blue in the face. I have replaced damn near everything electronic. I figure I am just going to get the tuner and let them data log and see if they can set me up. This may well be an issue with the ECM that they can tune out. (I hope) I want to go with a company that has people that know what they are doing. I find it hard to believe that in today's times that any company would hire tuners that didn't.

If your concerned about hesitation issues, then even more reason not to buy a tuner from Bama/AM and here's why.. Bama is the worst when it comes to their preloaded tuners along with their mail order tune files and I know this thru personal experience, as I went thru 3 different tune revisions due to my air/fuel being off.. For example, my car would always sputter and bog on cold starts and wouldn't stop until 15 min later when it finally reached normal operating temps.. Needless to say when I finally switched over to Brenspeed, I was told the reason was due to the fuel trims or whatever it's called wasn't calibrated correctly.. All I know is when I uploaded the Brenspeed tune, it got rid of my cold start issues and they haven't come back in over 2 years later.. Anyhow Bama performance used to be second to none when they were formally known as Bamachips owned by original founder and tuner Doug Studdard..
Unfortunately after he sold Bama to American Muscle, the quality in their tunes have never been the same in which Bama pretty much uses a generic SCT tuning file and adds your car's PCM calibration code along with which ever mod upgrades you've done to your car and then calls it a custom mail order tune :laughlots:

When Doug still owned Bama, he personally wrote each individual tune file based upon that car's specific PCM in addition to any other mod upgrades that were added by the customer.. And just FYI, Bama does not do any remote tuning via datalogging nor do they offer any type of custom dyno tuning for customer vehicles whatsoever either.. At any rate, I would stay as far away from Bama as you possibly can and would recommend either Steeda, Brenspeed, JDM engineering, Lund Racing, VMP performance and also Lito as others have mentioned.. As each all have over 20 years experience in the performance/tuning industry and IMHO are considered as very reputable as far as I'm concerned..

rickf · Jun 11, 2017

06 T-RED S/C GT said:
If your concerned about hesitation issues, then even more reason not to buy a tuner from Bama/AM and here's why.. Bama is the worst when it comes to their preloaded tuners along with their mail order tune files and I know this thru personal experience, as I went thru 3 different tune revisions due to my air/fuel being off.. For example, my car would always sputter and bog on cold starts and wouldn't stop until 15 min later when it finally reached normal operating temps.. Needless to say when I finally switched over to Brenspeed, I was told the reason was due to the fuel trims or whatever it's called wasn't calibrated correctly.. All I know is when I uploaded the Brenspeed tune, it got rid of my cold start issues and they haven't come back in over 2 years later.. Anyhow Bama performance used to be second to none when they were formally known as Bamachips owned by original founder and tuner Doug Studdard..
Unfortunately after he sold Bama to American Muscle, the quality in their tunes have never been the same in which Bama pretty much uses a generic SCT tuning file and adds your car's PCM calibration code along with which ever mod upgrades you've done to your car and then calls it a custom mail order tune When Doug still owned Bama, he personally wrote each individual tune file based upon that car's specific PCM in addition to any other mod upgrades that were added by the customer.. And just FYI, Bama does not do any remote tuning via datalogging nor do they offer any type of custom dyno tuning for customer vehicles whatsoever either.. At any rate, I would stay as far away from Bama as you possibly can and would recommend either Steeda, Brenspeed, JDM engineering, Lund Racing, VMP performance and also Lito as others have mentioned.. As each all have over 20 years experience in the performance/tuning industry and IMHO are considered as very reputable as far as I'm concerned..

Very good info, I was not aware of that. I was originally going to go with Steeda but when I called them for some advice about my hesitation issue and told them that I wanted to solve it before buying one of their tuners their answer was "You will need to check it out with a handheld device". Period, that was it. I had sent them a ton of info with all of the fuel trims and MAF info and fuel pressures both actual and indicated. And that was the answer they gave me so I figured they had no interest in selling a tuner to me. I bought a set of Steeda rear shocks and front struts figuring on their name brand and I am not happy with them at all. A good dip in the road and the rear bottoms out hard. I want to but a tuner and CAI at the same time since you can usually get a good deal on the package.

Brandon08GT · Jun 11, 2017

You can buy the tuner and CAI from AM then just email Lito and have him tune your car. Steeda is an overpriced name that doesn't have any decent quality to back up their price in my opinion. When it comes to tuning, that's one place you really do not want to take a chance with because of price. I ended up rebuilding my motor after a bama tune. Never again. $150 for life isn't worth $6500 in a motor.

BruceH · Jun 11, 2017

A good tuner will update your tunes for free provided you haven't done anything that requires a new tune. With that said keep in mind that I can't speak for whoever you decide to go with.

I'd send lito a pm and just ask what he would do. I know he is a Calibrator rated tuner by SCT. I don't know if he is also an SCT vendor but I would start with a pm to him or an email to [email protected]

He understands English so don't be intimidated by the Spanish (language for Venezuela) on the tudyno website.

rickf · Jun 11, 2017

I have sent Lito a PM and will wait for his reply and see what he recommends.

JUSTA3V · Jun 11, 2017

Lito sold me my SCT

06 T-RED S/C GT · Jun 11, 2017

rickf said:
Very good info, I was not aware of that. I was originally going to go with Steeda but when I called them for some advice about my hesitation issue and told them that I wanted to solve it before buying one of their tuners their answer was "You will need to check it out with a handheld device". Period, that was it. I had sent them a ton of info with all of the fuel trims and MAF info and fuel pressures both actual and indicated. And that was the answer they gave me so I figured they had no interest in selling a tuner to me. I bought a set of Steeda rear shocks and front struts figuring on their name brand and I am not happy with them at all. A good dip in the road and the rear bottoms out hard. I want to but a tuner and CAI at the same time since you can usually get a good deal on the package.

Steeda was just one of the other tuners I recommended to you.. I also suggested Brenspeed, JDM engineering, Lund Racing, VMP performance and also Lito as others have posted.. Personally I have no personal experience with Steeda other than purchasing their CAI and underdrive pulley for my previous 05 GT in which I had no negative issues with whatsoever.. At any rate, I really don't think you'll be disappointed with any of the tuners I've mentioned including Lito !

rickf · Jun 11, 2017

Thanks, I will check out the others while I wait for Lito's reply. It is interesting that none of those names come up in a Google search for "2006 Mustang parts".

skwerl · Jun 11, 2017

Google doesn't necessarily know all. VMP has done all the tuning on 3 vehicles for me over the last 6 years. I've watched them grow into a top tier company. And Justin is the one who sold Lito his SCT package in order to be able to do tuning. Lito is top notch as well.

slackinoff · Jun 11, 2017

skwerl said:
Google doesn't necessarily know all. VMP has done all the tuning on 3 vehicles for me over the last 6 years. I've watched them grow into a top tier company. And Justin is the one who sold Lito his SCT package in order to be able to do tuning. Lito is top notch as well.

Good info Swerl. I recently had them (VMP) do my basic bolt ons Bullitt. Very nice tuners and they work hard to get you what you want. My previous tune east a Bama 93.....VMP destroys that tune in every category. It feels like a new car. I can't wait for them to do my DOB kit.

Rm

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06 T-RED S/C GT · Jun 12, 2017

rickf said:
Thanks, I will check out the others while I wait for Lito's reply. It is interesting that none of those names come up in a Google search for "2006 Mustang parts".

When doing a google search, type in 2005-09 Mustang performance parts or custom tuning..

Iceman62 · Jun 13, 2017

I'm pretty pleased w/Brenspeed...bought their SCT/CAI pkg w/three tune files (89/91/93 octane) and Bullitt purrs like a kitten...until you hit the throttle. Now, I don't have a ton of aftermarket/motor performance upgrades, nor will I...the Bullitt brings me back to youth when I owned '69 Mach-1 & '70 Boss. Simple cruz'n works for my tuning taste.

Cheers!

06 T-RED S/C GT · Jun 13, 2017

I've had no complaints with my Brenspeed tunes either :waytogo:

redfirepearlgt · Jun 13, 2017

As long as it doesn't get complex brand "B"'s database of canned tunes will do you okay. They are conservative and tend to run rich from my personal experience on my 05 years ago. There are worse tunes out there in a basic tune, but there are better as well. As for getting complex such as going beyond a simple power adder package and then adding cams, long tubes, off road pipe, E85, etc., they start fading quickly. Want them to revisit the tune from datalogs at the track to maximize performance ...again best of luck. I give them a C - C+ rating on basic tuning. Custom or remote tune? Look elsewhere. Good luck.

06 T-RED S/C GT · Jun 13, 2017

redfirepearlgt said:
As long as it doesn't get complex brand "B"'s database of canned tunes will do you okay. They are conservative and tend to run rich from my personal experience on my 05 years ago. There are worse tunes out there in a basic tune, but there are better as well. As for getting complex such as going beyond a simple power adder package and then adding cams, long tubes, off road pipe, E85, etc., they start fading quickly. Want them to revisit the tune from datalogs at the track to maximize performance ...again best of luck. I give them a C - C+ rating on basic tuning. Custom or remote tune? Look elsewhere. Good luck.

I'll put it in this context.. When it comes to any type of mail order/canned tune is concerned, both brand B and brand V or any others for that matter are all going to be tuned on the conservative side and run rich as a safety precaution for both the tuner and for the customer's vehicle..

For my particular application, I consider running FI as far more complex than just a simple power adder package and although I totally agree the best options are to either have a car custom tuned on the dyno or go the remote tuning option via data logging, I've experienced no negative issues with brand "B"s mail order tune files and the reason I went with their tunes is they've custom tuned at least several hundred Mustangs if not more that were all equipped with Saleen VI blowers.. It was through their many years of experience in the tuning industry and also thru many hours of R&D testing on their test mule vehicles that convinced me to give the folks over at brand "B" a shot.. In addition, I also had the brand "B" tune verified and checked by a local tuner on the dyno in which every parameter including A/F were all dialed in as both safe and reliable with no revision or adjustments being necessary whatsoever..

That being said, in the over 2 years I've been running brand "B"s FI canned tunes, there's been no fading away in neither performance nor reliability..

redfirepearlgt · Jun 13, 2017

06 T-RED S/C GT said:
I'll put it in this context.. When it comes to any type of mail order/canned tune is concerned, both brand B and brand V or any others for that matter are all going to be tuned on the conservative side and run rich as a safety precaution for both the tuner and for the customer's vehicle..

For my particular application, I consider running FI as far more complex than just a simple power adder package and although I totally agree the best options are to either have a car custom tuned on the dyno or go the remote tuning option via data logging, I've experienced no negative issues with brand "B"s mail order tune files and the reason I went with their tunes is they've custom tuned at least several hundred Mustangs if not more that were all equipped with Saleen VI blowers.. It was through their many years of experience in the tuning industry and also thru many hours of R&D testing on their test mule vehicles that convinced me to give the folks over at brand "B" a shot.. In addition, I also had the brand "B" tune verified and checked by a local tuner on the dyno in which every parameter including A/F were all dialed in as both safe and reliable with no revision or adjustments being necessary whatsoever..

That being said, in the over 2 years I've been running brand "B"s FI canned tunes, there's been no fading away in neither performance nor reliability..

A Saleen package like yours is exactly what I started with at Brand "B". Like I said with JUST the SC package the car drove fine. Re-tuning for an SC package is nowhere as complex as when adding other changes such as cams LT's and so forth. Each modification addition adds another level of complexity when doing the tuning.

There is plenty of extensive mud slinging I could go into with regard to how I was mishandled by Brand "B" when things aside from the tune became issues...one larger issue of which required towing the car back to them 4 weeks after it was there for 9 psi pulley, KB BAP, Exedy Mch 500 Clutch, Steel FW, cams, LT's and OR X-pipe. I don't expect special attention for spending my hard earned money with a service provider, but I do expect them to hold up to their end when they fall short. I give praise where praise is earned. I don't give praise for the simple purpose of stroking someone's ego. We're in the same generation. Like you I never received a trophy for participation, only winning.

SCT's, whose do you reccomend?

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