Bama tune worth it for a stock car

[Shameer K]

Naturally Aspirated

Got it! now the post makes sense to me. Once again a very educational post from Pentalab. I learned more about mod in these last 20 posts than i ever have scouring the internet.

 

[Juice]

Im a fan of high flow air filters. I run a K&N in several vehicles. Have not tried a dry type high flow yet.

 

[xeninworx]

Got it! now the post makes sense to me. Once again a very educational post from Pentalab. I learned more about mod in these last 20 posts than i ever have scouring the internet.

yep. Very informative. I’ve been wondering myself which are the better devices and tuners.

 

[skwerl]

Why would you buy a VMP tune from a third party vendor? www.vmpperformance.com Go directly to the source.

Agreed a CAI is strictly for looks. The stock airbox flows plenty of air up to 400hp or so. When you see remarks about a CAI and tune adding xx horsepower, it is all in the tune.

 

[GriffX]

I know only BAMA tunes, got the first before it was sold to AM, I rely only on my own measurements

acceleration (80-120 kmh) 3rd gear:
Stock config 4,5 s
Tune 93 Stock filter 4.3 s
FRCAI Tune 93 3.8s

What I don't like is the throttle response, its sometimes erratic. The carburator accel pump simulation is difficult to understand.

 

[Juice]

.7 second improvement with a BAMA tune and CAI? sorry, that is a little optimistic.

 

[Moostang313]

I bought bama because of tunes for life. I recently purchased a bama rev x. It takes 2 dam weeks to get a new tune. They barely answer email. With my new bama tune my 05’ shifts so hard that I expect to be picking my rear end gears up off the street soon. I emailed about the excessive hard shifting and sticking high idle to try and adjust the tune and all I hear is crickets. I started with the jlt and tuner combo. I’m still waiting on a tune for the off road pipe I requested on 9/9.. I’m hoping the next tune will clear those issues. That’s just my short personal experience with bama. Good luck!

 

[Doug Huggard]

Lito has done wonders on all levels of my mods on my 05. I’m not familiar with VPM tunes, but on a 2005, you will have to add a O2 wideband sensor. So figure that into price. CAI will not do much.

Lito has got my car dialed as well. I have a vmp 1.9L, 5r55s with Circle D 3c and a 35 shot running on pump 91+boostane and just ran a 10.6 ET and the trans is holding so far on a Lito tune. He is quick and very helpful with answering any questions you have along the way.

 

[07 Boss]

I know only BAMA tunes, got the first before it was sold to AM, I rely only on my own measurements

acceleration (80-120 kmh) 3rd gear:
Stock config 4,5 s
Tune 93 Stock filter 4.3 s
FRCAI Tune 93 3.8s

What I don't like is the throttle response, its sometimes erratic. The carburator accel pump simulation is difficult to understand.

BAMA was a reputable tuner when Doug owned it. I ran his tunes before AM got a hold of it. Great tunes and great service. Now not so great, in fact mediocre.

 

[dark steed]

BAMA was a reputable tuner when Doug owned it. I ran his tunes before AM got a hold of it. Great tunes and great service. Now not so great, in fact mediocre.

Same here, I got the Doug BAMA tune through AM when I first got my Cai and tuner. When I added 3.73 gears later (post-Doug) they revised the tune and it wasn’t nearly as good and very jerky on cold start up driving.
Lito cured that for me when I got his NA tune


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[Pentalab]

I bought bama because of tunes for life. I recently purchased a bama rev x. It takes 2 dam weeks to get a new tune. They barely answer email. With my new bama tune my 05’ shifts so hard that I expect to be picking my rear end gears up off the street soon. I emailed about the excessive hard shifting and sticking high idle to try and adjust the tune and all I hear is crickets. I started with the jlt and tuner combo. I’m still waiting on a tune for the off road pipe I requested on 9/9.. I’m hoping the next tune will clear those issues. That’s just my short personal experience with bama. Good luck!

With my VMP tune for my 2010 automatic with the 5r55s, the shifts are smooth as silk. And that's with a Roush M90, LT's, twin 62mm TB, 94 tune. 392 rwhp / 380 rwtq. I bought the X3 directly from VMP..and it came with the software tune already loaded. Simple plug and play. VMP has UN locked the X3, so I can do all sorts of tweaks, like change shift points, and also increase /decrease the firmness and speed of shifts....on an individual basis. IE: 1-2....2-3...3-4...4-5 th. I can also adjust the IDLE rpm. I can also adjust the REV limiter. I can also tweak AFR..and a ton of other stuff. The only tweak I have had to do is reduce the REV limiter from 6500...down to 6250 RPM. Shift points are at 6k rpm ( gas mashed, blower on full boost). I can also factor in rear tire diameter, rear gear ratio's..and the list goes on and on and on. VMP nails it with their tune the 1st time....and all the adjustable stuff mentioned above is for rare cases, where some fine tweaking MIGHT be required..for SPECIFIC cases.

IMO, I would not mess with BAMA. With the other tuner's.....and doing mods piecemeal..... IMO, doing a bunch of mods at once, then get the new tune that factor's in all those mods.

 

[Nuke]

I have a Brenspeed CAI and tunes; 87, 89 and 91 octane (from 2007); on my '07 GT and even the 87 octane custom tune runs circles around the stock tune. My 87 tune is a great street tune, most responsive in the lower rpm range. The 91 tune is a dog in town but excels on the track in the upper rpm range. The 89 is a good compromise of the 2 and i run that 99% of the time.

A good tune not only will adjust for your preference in octane choice but a good tune will also affect shift points.

 

[Laga]

I have a Brenspeed CAI and tunes; 87, 89 and 91 octane (from 2007); on my '07 GT and even the 87 octane custom tune runs circles around the stock tune. My 87 tune is a great street tune, most responsive in the lower rpm range. The 91 tune is a dog in town but excels on the track in the upper rpm range. The 89 is a good compromise of the 2 and i run that 99% of the time.

A good tune not only will adjust for your preference in octane choice but a good tune will also affect shift points.

I had a Brenspeed tune after buying my E-force, headers, and cam from them. It was crap. I LITERALLY had to let it idle 10 minutes before I could back it out of the garage without dying. It was so rich, the exhaust would burn your eyes. Once Lito tuned it, not only did it run smooth, it was noticeably faster.

 

[stkjock]

I have a Brenspeed CAI and tunes; 87, 89 and 91 octane (from 2007); on my '07 GT and even the 87 octane custom tune runs circles around the stock tune. My 87 tune is a great street tune, most responsive in the lower rpm range. The 91 tune is a dog in town but excels on the track in the upper rpm range. The 89 is a good compromise of the 2 and i run that 99% of the time.

A good tune not only will adjust for your preference in octane choice but a good tune will also affect shift points.

Wasn’t it still Doug’s company then and not part of AM?

 

[Shameer K]

I am gonna take the car down to a mustang shop in my city and have them inspect the car especially the transmission before getting the tune. I spoke to VMP already over email and they told me what I would need. I just wanna make sure my 15 year old transmission is still up to the task.

BTW i don't know if this thread is a good place to ask, but recently my accelerations feels sluggish. especially on stop and go. I am NYC and traffic is heavy here. So lot of stop and go situations even on highways almost all the time of the day. I noticed on stop when i hit gas again the car hesitates for almost a sec and then picks up. I recently cleaned TB, changed Fuel Filter and spark plugs. I also changed the transmission oil about 3k miles ago ( at 57k ). Could it be a transmission issue ? it is afterall a 15 year old 5r55s

 

[stkjock]

Where are you taking it?

could be the torque converter or first gear slipping

 

[Shameer K]

Where are you taking it?

could be the torque converter or first gear slipping

There is a place called mustang magic in long Island. Great people took my car there once. But mostly to do routine stuff like oil change. I was thinking about taking it there this saturday and have them diagnose it. BTW the hesitation gets worse the longer you drive( each session ).

 

[RED09GT]

I'm not in the same camp as some of the others over a CAI.

I like hearing the car and there is no disadvantage to to having one, as long as you don't change the size of the MAF tube and do not tune for it.
The less restriction for the airflow, the better.

I don't see it as a waste of money as they are always easy to sell used so you can recover most of your money if you go to a power adder later on.

When my car was new, I ran 13.8@101 mph box stock. I then did Roush UDP, a steeda CAI, and an Eric Brooks custom tune, the car went [email protected] the following week at the track. I was happy.

 

[skwerl]

How long since you changed the transmission fluid? Most people don't think of it because the manual says something crazy like 100K mile intervals but IMO most transmissions last longer with fluid changes every 50K or so using a good synthetic fluid.

 

[Shameer K]

How long since you changed the transmission fluid? Most people don't think of it because the manual says something crazy like 100K mile intervals but IMO most transmissions last longer with fluid changes every 50K or so using a good synthetic fluid.

I did a change at 57k car is close to 61k now. I think the dealer did merchon V ATF.