Tough tuneing decision?

Ok heres my story...
I got my car tuned at APE when i had just bolt ons hearers,lid,cutout, ect.
I now have the mods in my sig which include MTI x1 cam and a LS6 intake. When i got mytune from APE i paid $535 and dident seam to have any problems with them besides the tuner showing up about an hour late which dident realy matter too much, but as of late I have not heard any thing good about APE. For a retune at APE it is $300 or so. So my question is should I go back to APE and get my car tuned because it will be cheeper than going somewhere eles or not take a chance and spend more cash and go somewhere else.

honestly i have yet to find any shop that hasn't had their flaws and it seems many are on a who you know basis which is alot of b.s. for those like yourself who might not hangout there everyday. i personally would take it out of state to one of the premier tuners, but that is a huge option to weigh. you would think for $535 they would allow a few reburn/flashes whathave you before asking for more money but everyone is different. if it's been along time i'd say that a little more is reasonable but if this was last year and you only changed a few things you would think they would do it for less. Programming/tunning is a major pita in michigan, if they will guarantee that it's right before you pay the $300 i'd do it and be done.

Ok heres my story...
I got my car tuned at APE when i had just bolt ons hearers,lid,cutout, ect.
I now have the mods in my sig which include MTI x1 cam and a LS6 intake. When i got mytune from APE i paid $535 and dident seam to have any problems with them besides the tuner showing up about an hour late which dident realy matter too much, but as of late I have not heard any thing good about APE. For a retune at APE it is $300 or so. So my question is should I go back to APE and get my car tuned because it will be cheeper than going somewhere eles or not take a chance and spend more cash and go somewhere else.

I would not go to APE. Yes I am a former customer and not on the I hate APE bandwagon. I am very sorry I ever went there.
I would recommend Wheel 2 Wheel. IMO they are the best shop in Michigan.

Dane,

If I had liscensing for your year I'd try and help you out. But unfortunately its for other years. I think Tom only has his year also. $300 is kind of steep for a re-tune, when imo I bet much isn't needed in your situation.

What exactly did you have on the car when you had it tuned, and what does it have now? Include cam specs if you can. Is anything wrong with it like idle quality, part throttle ect?

I'd go back to APE. That way you can see exactly (on the same dyno) how much you gained from your new mods. Thats why I am going back there. Just drop your car off and don't wait around. I had an appointment at 8 am and he showed up at 11:30. Plus took the day off of work. I won't wait around again!!!

I'd go back to APE. That way you can see exactly (on the same dyno) how much you gained from your new mods. Thats why I am going back there. Just drop your car off and don't wait around. I had an appointment at 8 am and he showed up at 11:30. Plus took the day off of work. I won't wait around again!!!
Read this (http://www.motownmuscle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11094) before you make the mistake of sending anyone there....

Im an ex-sponsored car, and that was my worst automotive decision to ever go there. Plus they are notorious for sick rich tunes up top in the RPM range, that never maximize your HP possibilities. Kirk has a head the size of Texas, and could care less about the customer, thats the reason he is never on time, and IMHO doesnt take the time on each individual vehicle he needs to. Head to Livernois, call Rick tell him Andy sent you AND Stay away from APE, read about them across the web currently.

Good Luck
Andy

Im an ex-sponsored car, and that was my worst automotive decision to ever go there. Plus they are notorious for sick rich tunes up top in the RPM range, that never maximize your HP possibilities. Kirk has a head the size of Texas, and could care less about the customer, thats the reason he is never on time, and IMHO doesnt take the time on each individual vehicle he needs to. Head to Livernois, call Rick tell him Andy sent you AND Stay away from APE, read about them across the web currently.

Good Luck
Andy

I"m gonna 2nd Andy on this one. I was in the exact same situation he was..I dunno about the head the size of texas part because that stuff is after I was there.... I think your car and mine shared some garage space there for a longgggg time.

I"m gonna 2nd Andy on this one. I was in the exact same situation he was..I dunno about the head the size of texas part because that stuff is after I was there.... I think your car and mine shared some garage space there for a longgggg time.

And isn't your car pig rich too lol!

Dane,

If I had liscensing for your year I'd try and help you out. But unfortunately its for other years. I think Tom only has his year also. $300 is kind of steep for a re-tune, when imo I bet much isn't needed in your situation.

What exactly did you have on the car when you had it tuned, and what does it have now? Include cam specs if you can. Is anything wrong with it like idle quality, part throttle ect?
The car had FLP headers, a cutout, ported MAF and a lid and it did 334Hp and 326tq I think he made about 3 or 4 total runs on the dyno and siad it was running real lean befor because of the ported maf.
The car now has those same mods plus a MTI X1 cam 230/227 .591/.571 114LSA, LS6 intake and i will prob get a ASP pully and ported TB befor the tune.
The Car idles fine but some time stalls randomly at stop lights and in the driveway every once in a while. Its starts surging real low like down to 300-400 rpms and than dies.

where did that guy that tuned at dsw go? i know he was at livernois but left there, anyone know where he is now? he was supposed to be an excellent tuner!
otherwise i would just check out livernois.

mike

My car runs really really rich and im not happy about it. I'm going to livernois after a few more mods, and hopefully they will get it taken care of. On the bright side, I know I'm not going to burn anything up running so rich!

yea i guess way rich is better than way lean.

I find it hard to believe that your stock tune was really lean. I guess it depends on how unrestricted the maf was. Stock tunes are PIG rich because they need to be so you dont burn up the cats. With the bigger cam you have now, you might be on the lean side, and yes you do need a re-tune. I thought you had a cam in it when you got it tuned the first time. There are some adjustments that need to be made to make it idle also.

There are also some deceleration fuel cutoff functions that can be played with (DFCO). It will help with the way the car coasts when you let off the gas. I'm not sure Kirk messes with that though :(

Dane,

If I had liscensing for your year I'd try and help you out. But unfortunately its for other years. I think Tom only has his year also. $300 is kind of steep for a re-tune, when imo I bet much isn't needed in your situation.


I have 01/02 support. If I had 99 support I would offer to tune it.

Yeah you hit the nail on the head their Nick, we definantly had 2 spots taken up at APE for way too long, and pig rich is an understatement in my case.

Also as an update, APE blew my ALDL port for the 2nd time, the most recent being when I picked it up there in the fall, and just found out it was dead yesterday at Livernois, great job breaking something I paid to have fixed because they didnt know how to fix it after they smoked it the first time. At least I have a place now that knows how to repair something instead of telling me I need to take it to a dealership! :mad:
Andy

I head that yesterday from Rick , that sucks!!! You'll have to let me know when you and Dana come down, we'll grab some food or something.. My car is like knight rider, it's got the smoke screen behind me so that no one can chase me..

I had a very good experience with Livernois. With my car being an LT-1, I think I'm going to give Jim Moran at LS1 Speed a shot at tuning it if I need any more done. For me living by Kalamazoo, it's the same distance to Chicago as it is to Detroit.

Sounds good Nick, have Rick let you know when its done and we all can grab a bite after we pick it up.
Andy