Don’t have stock tune, bought car used, don't have tuner.

[Mrjfk65]

I bought a 2008 Mustang GT Convertible in November 2018 from a used car dealer.The car has 67,000 miles on it and is very clean. The car has Steeda cold air kit and a SLP cat back exhaust system.

The car did not coem with any documentation as to wether it has a tune. I tried reaching out to the prior owner for the tuner he used, but no return email or calls.

I’m not 100% certain he even performed a tune in the car, as with both mods you could technically get away without doing anything and the car would run.

What do I do now? Is there a way to tell if I have a stock tune on the car or modified? I’m assuming the dealer can return the car to stock or provide the stock tune, right?

Any idea as to what that costs or is that even necessary if I'm only going to modify the car anyway?

I would like to add Hot Rod Cams, Long Tube Headers, and a catted x pipe. Of course after I do those mods I want to tune the car, hence my question above.

 

[Racer47]

if it runs good now, leave the tune alone.

if/when you do cams, etc. then you will need an xcal4 and tune. so worry about it then.

 

[bl817]

Welcome! Yes, the dealership can flash your comp back to stock if you want, not sure on price. the Steeda CAI "should" need a tune unless there is a sleeve in it reducing the cross section of the intake tube where the MAF is. if your car is running fine and no CEL, then I wouldn't worry about what tune it has on it. the worse case is you've lost the stock tune NBD. since you plan on upgrading things that are going to need tuned, just start with what you have and go from there. just remember in the future, if you plan on going back to what it is now to sell, it will need the tune it has now and the Steeda CAI (if its even tuned at all). the axle back mufflers don't need a tune. as far as checking to see if your car has a factory tune or not, not sure there is a "shade tree" way of checking. a tuner will save whats in your ecm as "stock" file and flash the new file to the ecm. again welcome and good luck!

 

[bujeezus]

a tuner will save whats in your ecm as "stock" file and flash the new file to the ecm.

Are you certain of this? I'm curious because I've got a VMP tune currently on my car but unfortunately lost the X4 tuner during a move. I'd like to run some long tube headers eventually and maybe some cams but wondered if I'd run into any issues since I no longer have the stock tune available.

 

[skwerl]

Are you certain of this? I'm curious because I've got a VMP tune currently on my car but unfortunately lost the X4 tuner during a move. I'd like to run some long tube headers eventually and maybe some cams but wondered if I'd run into any issues since I no longer have the stock tune available.

You're never going to run it in the stock configuration again so why do you need the stock tune? With your mods it wouldn't run anyways.

You can contact VMP and get another tuner with your current tunes on it. The next time you upgrade you can simply save the current tune as the 'stock' tune and go on with your life.

If for some inconceivable reason the car ever gets returned to stock, any dealer can reflash the computer with the Ford stock tune (blech).

 

[nfrizell]

Just had mine SC GT done by Torrie at Unleashed. He came recommended by a respected local tuner that doesn't do 3v. I paid the local guy to data log and work with Torrie to get the best possible outcome. Money and time well spent.

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[bujeezus]

I've always wondered if it would screw something up with the initial marrying of the tuner for the car. Does it actually look for a "stock" tune or does it see the tune currently on the car as a stock tune. They should rename that process and name it as such. Hell, I don't understand any of that shit. Lol!

 

[01yellerCobra]

Are you certain of this? I'm curious because I've got a VMP tune currently on my car but unfortunately lost the X4 tuner during a move. I'd like to run some long tube headers eventually and maybe some cams but wondered if I'd run into any issues since I no longer have the stock tune available.

Yes. At least with SCT. Whatever tune is currently in your car will be saved in the spot reserved for the stock tune. Went through that with my Cobra as the car came with a Bama tune and the previous owner could never find the hand held.

Diablosport is another story though. If there's an aftermarket tune it won't load a new one. It takes some finagling. Two of my friends went through that.

 

[bujeezus]

Cool, thanks for clearing that up everybody.

 

[nfrizell]

It is good to save your stock setup, but for an experienced tuner it's not a big deal if you dont have it. My tuner had a stock tune for my Roushcharged mustang even though I did not. The tune in my car was way out in left field. I'm guessing he started with the stock tune and modified it for my non stock items. My base tune before logging was damn near spot on. The drivability is stock in feel but he was still able to take advantage of my big ass intake and throttle body.

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[bujeezus]

I did save the stock tune to my laptop. Then it shit the bricks, hard drive failure.

 

[Mrjfk65]

Thanks everyone, I'm new to the car, and have heard many things regarding the "marriage" of the tuner to the car. However, I can pretty much say I will never retrun the car to "stock" so whatever tune is on the car now is what I would return the car too if I sold the car.

Now the big question, what tuner to buy? More of a rhetorical question, I will search the page to see what everyone is using.

 

[nfrizell]

Just remember that your tuner is a person not a magic box. Ultimately your outcome is contingent on his skill and your relationship with him. The box is just a way to facilitate this.

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[06 T-RED S/C GT]

Thanks everyone, I'm new to the car, and have heard many things regarding the "marriage" of the tuner to the car. However, I can pretty much say I will never retrun the car to "stock" so whatever tune is on the car now is what I would return the car too if I sold the car.

Now the big question, what tuner to buy? More of a rhetorical question, I will search the page to see what everyone is using.

What you've heard regarding "marriage" of the tuning programmer is accurate. This means once you've re-flashed your vehicle's ECM, the programmer stores the vehicle's factory calibration in the programmer's internal memory. This is intended by the manufacturer which requires returning the vehicle back to the factory calibration before being used on another vehicle for reflashing, hence the term "marriage" of the tuner to the car.