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10-30-2012, 06:36 PM | #1 |
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Quick Z4M Tune Questions
I've been reading a lot about M tunes recently and wanted to know if I am on the right track with my information.
Three tuners offer the...tune: Active Autowerke for $499 Evolve for $679 ESS for $995 Now the ESS and Evolve involve sending the data file of your car to the tuning company? Whereas the AA is just an ECU insert? Do people find they are worth the investment? I know it won't be a miracle tune that will make a stock Z4M a 400 hp beast, but it smooths out the power band and fixes some of the quirks. Does one company focus on a specific more than another? I know with the AA it make the sport button ALWAYS on, which I am a little leery of. Does one company focus more on tunes with CAI and exhausts, while another is better for just a stock setup? Since I run on 93 octane, does one tune favor that? I had a Conforti Shark tune for my Z3M, and it was ok. It really was barely noticeable. Will the Z4M tune produce more of a difference? Thanks! |
10-30-2012, 06:55 PM | #2 |
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I went with EPIC and have been really happy. When I first flashed my ECU and took it for a spin I was impressed. I've never had the fan stay on after I shut the car down. The car just drove like a monster. I've never had that happen again, just the car felt that much better and alive I think I pushed it a little too hard in the short drive I took.
6th gear feels more useable in lower rpm. Car just felt peppier and more ready to go. Throttle response I think was a little sharper than stock and sport mode I think is the same, don't use it at all now. Get the benefit of the handheld tune, same benefits to read and clear codes via software and Randy at EPIC was really good for answering my questions. They custom setup the tune as per your bolt ons. I've never done a tune before and was skeptical of it but it is one of my favorite mods. |
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10-30-2012, 08:05 PM | #3 |
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10-30-2012, 10:20 PM | #4 |
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10-31-2012, 10:41 AM | #7 |
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Can't really comment on the tunes versus each other since I've only had experience with Evolve, but I only have a GruppeM intake and slip on mufflers and the tune did wonders for my car. Smoothed out the power delivery and really added more "kick" to the car especially in high RPM. Also made the sport button much more usable. Check my dyno graphs I posted in this section and you can see the power gains at the high end. I can only imagine how the car would feel with headers and the evolve carbon air box...
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10-31-2012, 11:03 AM | #8 |
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Active tune is customizable, as I'm sure all the other tunes are. Mine does not have sport mode always on. I don't prefer sport mode, and having it on all the time would drive me nuts.
I believe all of the tunes now have cables for "remote"/DIY tuning as an option. |
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10-31-2012, 11:30 AM | #9 |
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10-31-2012, 11:35 AM | #10 | |
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"Tune" is on my list to do one of these days, and like others, deciding on which to go with is still an open question. |
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10-31-2012, 01:40 PM | #12 |
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I'm happy with my evolve tune. But bang for the buck I'd do euro headers before tune (and possibly gearing, haven't installed mine yet but I imagine 10% torque will make a more noticeable difference than a tune).
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10-31-2012, 03:48 PM | #13 | |
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Of course a Vantage V8 looks nice too and is reasonably priced. But gotta buy some property first. My 911 options will be: 996 Turbo - can get this quicker due to lower price 997.2 C2 - with the Sport Classic Fuch wheels, white with grey stripes, retro ducktail and GT3 front bumper Some sort of high mileage GT3 |
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10-31-2012, 04:35 PM | #14 | |
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As for the AA tune's dyno, it should be under a thread I created called Active Autowerk ECU tune success. It yielded almost 30whp from tune alone. I had no muffler cannisters during baseline, but IMHO that doesn't change any power output, as most of our exhaust restrictions are in the headers, section 1, and section 2. I've yet to see another tune yield the same peak gains, but that doesn't necessarily mean AA is the best. I believe that all mail order ROM tunes are pretty much the same. It's a generic mapping to accomodate a wide range of modifications/setups. If judging by price alone, then AA is the cheapest I know of. Edit: did a quick search. Here's the link to the tune's dynos. http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=449998 Last edited by mfanatic325; 10-31-2012 at 05:12 PM.. |
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10-31-2012, 04:54 PM | #16 |
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I've been using the Active Autowerk tune since they released it back in November of 2010 (since I was the first one to get the tune done), and have done at least 15 track days since then, as well as quite a few dyno days, and the addition of probably over 25k miles. Still have yet to experience any issues.
I've not used any other tune, but ESS has been available for our cars the longest and there should be more reliability inputs from the owners of those tunes. |
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10-31-2012, 06:05 PM | #17 | |
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On a side note, interesting to see the gains of your AA/Supersprint mods vs. my Evolve/intake/exhaust combo... You yielded 295rwhp and 243rwt and I got 289rwhp and 240rwt. Wonder what I would get if I had headers/X-pipe added... |
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10-31-2012, 08:35 PM | #18 | |||
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10-31-2012, 11:11 PM | #19 | ||
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But I have since put the OE section 1 back in, so I'm sure I lost a few ponies hah Quote:
I did the search a long time ago via Google and I don't recall the site that I read over, but if anyone's interested in it, ya'll can do your own research and reach your own conclusions. After all, research is half the fun, right? But all in all, it only matters that one sticks to what he/she started with, to stay as consistent and unbiased as possible in obtaining data. And at the end of the day, we need FI for moar powerzzz lolll..le sigh. edit: just did a quick search, and I didn't see anything that resembled the site posting that I saw a couple years back. But I did find this, which essentially yields the same conclusion that I eventually adopted. This vid uses a built test car used on a DynoJet vs. DynaPack in two different boost modes, and all done in the PM time within two hours of each other supposedly. They claim that the standalone ECU they used logged temps and tried to keep everything else consistent as well. Last edited by mfanatic325; 10-31-2012 at 11:48 PM.. |
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11-01-2012, 12:09 AM | #20 |
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Every shop/tuner I've ever dealt with have ALL said chassis-dynos (like Dynapack) read higher than say, a Mustang dyno (which is generally the opposite). You can find one-off's of proof on either side, but the point is moot. Peak HP readings do nothing but help you sleep better. It's the difference between tune/no tune that's important (at least the point of this thread - to show gains from respective companies).
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11-01-2012, 12:36 AM | #21 | |
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And I also provided my before-and-after dynoes for tune-only gains with the Active Autowerk ECU flash (for the purposes of this thread) Last edited by mfanatic325; 11-01-2012 at 12:42 AM.. |
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11-01-2012, 01:17 AM | #22 | |
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But if you're still talking about PEAK hp... I'm not going to argue with what YOU think is fact. From MY experience on pretty much every current/past ride, and from professional tuners, custom engine-builders, etc... all agree with what I've said (which is why it even merits repeating). Hell, even Brown Bros (SVT Performance Division) in Vancouver who run a Dynapack at their shop admit that chassis-dyno's result in the highest #'s of the 3. But to prove my point, I'll book a couple of pulls with Wayne and compare them to the Mustang unit @ Mopac. The snowball you're talking about happened ages ago on the merits of thousands of comparisons. "Statements are detrimental" Gimme a break. |
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