Is this a fair price?

[yukonblizzard]

I am looking for a place to dyno tune my car. I am located in metro Detroit Michigan. I installed a 2.3l intercooled Whipple supercharger.

I contacted Livernois Motorsports and they quoted me $850 for dyno tune and drivability calibration. I feel like that is a lot. What have you guys paid for dyno tunes?

Thanks

 

[Torched S197]

I paid 250 and haven't had a problem one with my tunes

 

[Franchi]

That is quite a bit although Livernois does have a good rep. I had my car dyno tuned by Brenspeed and it was right around $350 I believe.

 

[Bullitt3478]

500 for mine. 850 seems a little high from what I have seen guys pay on here. But this is an area where its very important to do it right the first time.

 

[yukonblizzard]

Thanks guys, I'm glad I am not the only one that thought that was rather high. I just email Brenspeed. Might be worth the 4hr drive.

 

[stkjock]

850 is high

$500 is about the most I've seen - 350-400 is more typical

 

[Grabber]

I paid 750 for my tune, however, that included an XCal 3, and 3 different tunes.

The Tim Barth spent about 6 hours tuning my car, fixing any issues, driving it, and make sure everything was spot on before handing me the keys.

I sure hope that 850 has a tuner included. If not, yeah.....

 

[stkjock]

good point Chris - not as bad if the Xcal3 is included in that price. still a bit high but not crazy

 

[yukonblizzard]

No it's not with a tuning device.

 

[Powered by Ford]

I am looking for a place to dyno tune my car. I am located in metro Detroit Michigan. I installed a 2.3l intercooled Whipple supercharger.

I contacted Livernois Motorsports and they quoted me $850 for dyno tune and drivability calibration. I feel like that is a lot. What have you guys paid for dyno tunes?

Thanks

Have you tried contacting anyone else? I'd recommend Don Walsch Jr from the MI area. Tunes out of the back of D&D performance.

 

[Grabber]

No it's not with a tuning device.

That is just outrageous then.

I would either work out a deal with them to include one for that price, or go somewhere else.

That would mean a Custom tune from then with a Tuner is over $1,000.

Sorry, Livernois is GREAT at what they do, but not THAT great. No offense.

I noticed you were in detroit.

If you are willing to drive down, I would HIGHLY suggest going to Tim Barth @ Norm's Garage. Formerly Modular Powerhouse from Atlanta.

I was a bit nervous going, after having Kurgan and Post tune my cars prior. However, his tune is the best I have had, and this guy is not in it for the money. While the prices are mid-high range compared to other tuners, he takes absolute pride in what he does, and will give you so much info.

Shoot me a PM if you are interested.

 

[Seer]

It's a bit high, but theyre including drivability into this. A lot of dyno tuners just do wot runs on the dyno, record from there and make their adjustments.

 

[stkjock]

The better tuners always work on drivability in addition to WOT

 

[Grabber]

It's a bit high, but theyre including drivability into this. A lot of dyno tuners just do wot runs on the dyno, record from there and make their adjustments.

I agree.

That is why I said Tim Barth, since he drove my car for about 45 minutes, data logging, and if something was off after driving, it went back on the dyno.

 

[JimC]

Have you checked on Lidio over at Alternative Auto in Chesterfield? I can't remember how much it was for my dyno tuning when I had the nitrous, but I know it wasn't as much as you were quoted, and a lot less than he said he'd do my Xcharger

 

[yukonblizzard]

Have you tried contacting anyone else? I'd recommend Don Walsch Jr from the MI area. Tunes out of the back of D&D performance.

No I have not really contacted anyone else besides Livernois. I did contact JPC racing because he tuned it last time, but they are located in Connecticut, so thats not realistic. I have yet to hear back from Brenspeed.

That is just outrageous then.

I would either work out a deal with them to include one for that price, or go somewhere else.

That would mean a Custom tune from then with a Tuner is over $1,000.

Sorry, Livernois is GREAT at what they do, but not THAT great. No offense.

I noticed you were in detroit.

If you are willing to drive down, I would HIGHLY suggest going to Tim Barth @ Norm's Garage. Formerly Modular Powerhouse from Atlanta.

I was a bit nervous going, after having Kurgan and Post tune my cars prior. However, his tune is the best I have had, and this guy is not in it for the money. While the prices are mid-high range compared to other tuners, he takes absolute pride in what he does, and will give you so much info.

Shoot me a PM if you are interested.

PM'ed you.

Have you checked on Lidio over at Alternative Auto in Chesterfield? I can't remember how much it was for my dyno tuning when I had the nitrous, but I know it wasn't as much as you were quoted, and a lot less than he said he'd do my Xcharger

I heard great things about them, I will call them later today as they don't have an email on their site that I can find.

 

[Irishman]

i paid around $500 with brenspeed and they also did Drivabilty tuning aswell.

 

[Seer]

That is just outrageous then.

I would either work out a deal with them to include one for that price, or go somewhere else.

That would mean a Custom tune from then with a Tuner is over $1,000.

Sorry, Livernois is GREAT at what they do, but not THAT great. No offense.

I noticed you were in detroit.

If you are willing to drive down, I would HIGHLY suggest going to Tim Barth @ Norm's Garage. Formerly Modular Powerhouse from Atlanta.

I was a bit nervous going, after having Kurgan and Post tune my cars prior. However, his tune is the best I have had, and this guy is not in it for the money. While the prices are mid-high range compared to other tuners, he takes absolute pride in what he does, and will give you so much info.

Shoot me a PM if you are interested.

yep, livernois is a bit high, but you will get a quality product from them. They do need to bring those prices down though.

 

[Torched S197]

I'd check around before paying that much though, my tuner was a certified ASE ford mechanic for 17 years. We spent 5 hours on my car data logging then working with it on the dyno. We probably did 15 or so dyno runs

 

[Andy@Livernois]

One thing that must be remembered when we are performing calibration work is we do not just spend 3 or 4 hours on a tune. We devote multiple days into a calibration to ensure the best possible tuning and drivability. This, unlike many other places, includes unlimited dyno runs, where many put a limit on it. We will never be the cheapest, and I will admit we are more than others, but I feel the last thing to cheap out on is calibration. It is the single most important aspect of any build, but its the first one people will undervalue. The fact that we have literally zero engine failures on any customer's 3v cars we have tuned I think speaks the most to why we charge what we charge.

Also, other aspects need to be taken into account on tunes like this, 95% of the dyno tunes we do for outside customers need some mechanical attention, so we will usually need to have some mechanic's time allotted for tuning. We make cars right, not just tune around problems and ship them out the door (not saying that anyone mentioned in this thread does that, but I have personally been victim to that in my life before working here).