A question about "TUNES"

[delling3]

So, as a newbie to "modern" engines (I know, an SN-95 isn't exactly modern, but it does have electronic controls), I find the claims of hand-held "tuners" to be interesting, but dubious.

As of now, I have a stock 2V, NPI motor, equipped with an automatic. I have limited aspirations for the car - mainly a weekend summer cruiser. I won't rule out some tweaks - and that's where the tuner thing becomes interesting. I am planning on swapping in a PI intake and cams, and maybe some 3.73 gears. I know that many prefer the 4.10's, but I would like to retain some semblance of highway manners, as I expect to take the car on some road trips.

So what about these tuners. Are they worth the expense? What kind of benefit can be expected on a stock NPI motor? I would have no issue running 91 octane if required, but can one of the "canned" tunes really deliver on the manufacturers claims?

Thanks!

 

[FinnCobra]

I say no gains, Typically they have different limiter rpms, and different transmission shift settings. They may feel faster but when you check accurately with clock/speed you may loose some acceleration. Also ecm adjusts fuel to stoich when driving, so it will learn rather same values. Some power can be taken from spark maps, but not with ready tunes.

 

[96blak54]

Turning off the pats security, raising speed and rev limits, adjusting speedo's for gear swaps, turning off read O2 sendors.....maybe a few im forgetting, but that's about it. Not worth the money untill dyno tunes come into play.

 

[01yellercobra]

Never ran a canned tune, but I've done some tweaking on my son's 98. Mostly with timing tables. It's still mild as he runs 87 octane currently. But he noticed a difference in how the car performs. I think he said mpg is better too. Of course he's faster than his friend now. Which is really what matters.

 

[AStangThang]

So, as a newbie to "modern" engines (I know, an SN-95 isn't exactly modern, but it does have electronic controls), I find the claims of hand-held "tuners" to be interesting, but dubious.

As of now, I have a stock 2V, NPI motor, equipped with an automatic. I have limited aspirations for the car - mainly a weekend summer cruiser. I won't rule out some tweaks - and that's where the tuner thing becomes interesting. I am planning on swapping in a PI intake and cams, and maybe some 3.73 gears. I know that many prefer the 4.10's, but I would like to retain some semblance of highway manners, as I expect to take the car on some road trips.

So what about these tuners. Are they worth the expense? What kind of benefit can be expected on a stock NPI motor? I would have no issue running 91 octane if required, but can one of the "canned" tunes really deliver on the manufacturers claims?

Thanks!

Hey brother. PI intake, pi cams, long tubes headers, x or h pipe, a cat-back of some sort will be a good start for you.

 

[Patientzero]

A "canned tune" won't make a great deal of difference on a stock car but eliminating the speed limiter, correcting speedometer may be worth it to some. The more mods you have the bigger difference a tune will make. A dyno tune is absolutely the best way to go but a mail order tune from Lund or Bama will make some power over being untuned. The cars tend to run pretty rich under WOT with conservative timing. If you delete cats and open up the intake/exhaust there is power to be had even from a mail order tune.

 

[delling3]

The early 4.6L cars (like mine) have analog speedo's - pretty sure a tuner isn't going to correct for a change of gear ratio. Need to replace the speedo drive gear on the tranny?

Exhaust is pretty far down on my list right now. The only mod to the stock car right now is Steeda SFC's which I had installed in the fall. I have a set of BBK lowering springs sitting in the garage, along with a set of PI Cams. I also have all the bits and pieces for the PI intake install, but haven't bought the intake yet. I am going to start with the springs, cams and intake (along with some basic maintenance) this spring, then likely will do the gears. After that, I'll think about exhaust, but not sure what I'll do there. No smog inspection here, so I can do a cat-delete, but not sure if I will.