so Madz28 tuned my computer and telling me i should see 15 whp gain. So i put it to the test considering i got it dyno'd last week and i was at 275.7 Whp/ 312 ft.lbs . I put the tuned pcm in and wow i got a whopping 279whp/ and 304 ft.lbs. Seems a little odd to me. I had the dyno guy make me a graph of the differences before and after runs. you guys tell me what you think.The link to the graph will be up later.

 

Those are pretty good numbers for your mods.You did get a gain.I would of took the money you spent on the dyno and did more mods.You would of been better off.

 

Did you dyno the PCM's back to back? As in made a dyno run with the stock PCM, immediately pulled it and put the tuned one in and made another run..... I don't see why people bother tuning their PCM's before they do any internal work anyway.

 

Not everyone wants internal work done.

 

Before all the supporters come flaming in let me say that I wouldnt be that upset over it. The numbers arent bad. If your a/f is good and the car runs good then no worries.

 

The last mod i did to my car was the tuned PCM, i ran the dyno 2 fridays ago and i was at 275.7 whp/ 312 Ft lbs and this morning dyno'd with the tuned Pcm was 279.2 whp./ 304 ft lbs. I didnt reach the 279.2 till 5400 rpms. Ill post the link to the graph in a lil bit it should be way more.

 

True, but I would argue that with just bolt ons getting a mail order tune isn't really worth it- as evidenced by this guy only picking up 4 rwhp and losing 8 ft lbs at the wheels. It might be worth it if you want to delete EGR, AIR or whatever, but I'm thinking performance-wise it's not going to be what most people expect.

 

My car was running rich Before the tune and still running rich after the tune but not as bad for the eye burning sensation. I think im going to do my plugs. Would i feel a misfire on my car or not

 

Misfires are pretty obvious.

 

Did you contact Ion for a retune? Did you send him the graph along with some data logs to ensure all is well and to help you get the best tune? I hate mail order tunes but some of us dont have much of a choice so the least we can do is give them as much info (good datalogs, dyno graphs, etc) to help make it easier and better on eachother. I had my own mail order tuning issues but one thing I did my best to not do was reveal names and get negative because it wont help. I say give Ion a chance to make it better before getting pissed. I'm almost posotive he will get you right.

I say why not. Some people may gain more than others, some may gain nothing. I would at least want to know everything is optimal. Would I get a tune when I only have basic bolt ons? Mabey not but it's not that expensive and you have I belive a 60 day re-tune period so if you get more mods they can be tuned in. I couldnt see myself waiting until an internal rebuild to get a tune. I just cant understand that. I can think of 50 reasons why that doesnt make sence to me.

 

That's why I'm not doing the mail order tune right now. I've been flamed about going with a handheld tuner instead of a mail order tune, but after my gears and 160 stat I just wanna make the proper adjustments for the gears and adjust the shift points.

I don't think, at this point in time, a mail order tune is absolutely necessary, being that I just have a CAI and then gears.

 

Sounds like you have a problem with the car and not the tune. A tune can't bandaid anything mechanically wrong with the car (its obvious you have something wrong because you mentioned that it was burning your eyes) None of your modifications would do this..


Having said that, I'm really happy with the difference I can make on a stock car.. I think its the best bang for the buck you can do. I totally think a tune on a stock or bolt on car is worth it.

 

A handheld tuner is capable of less adjustment and costs more so they are always a poor decision. If that is all you want a custom tuner to change tell him that.

On the case at hand this is obviously not a normal case as most are more than happy with a tune on a stockish car be it from Ion Bryan or most of the other tuners out there. If the car was that rich before and still is after there may be an issue behind it, blaming Ion at this point is irresponsible especially without giving him a chance to rework things a little first. Mailorder tuning is not as good as in person but it better than stock and cost a whole lot less than dyno time so it definetely has it's uses. As far as those that say no tune before internal mods, with 94-5 cars you can pay just a little more and get free updates for life and besides power a tune can aid drivability so saying only after internal mods is foolish because doing it now means it is paid for already later when you have those internal mods.
The shift point and lockup tweak on an A4 are worth it without the power aspect and on an M6 you still get rid of CAGS, you can get rid of the troublesome AIR system too. There are a lot of advantages besides the power gains MOST people experiance, heck some guys even see milage gains, maybe not enough to actually pay for the tune but if it gets you a little milage plus some drivability and track time it is worth every penny.

 

Exactly!!! Too many people expect a dyno or mail order tune to correct various problems in their cars. If you are unhappy with your tune, go to Ion directly. There are countless members on this board, including myself, that are happy with his work. Even if you only gained a few hp at the wheels, it is still a gain and for the price, you can't beat that.

 

Mechanically my car shows its running fine on the dyno graph and Yes Ion did my tune. i Dont remember his user name though