Road Tune?

Should I get a road tune or just stick with a dyno tune? Was gonna get a dyno tune but then some local tuners recommended a road tune instead. The Road tuner guy is well known and highly recommended by locals. Which tune would you go for?

I wouldnt make this decision without more information on the reputations of the tuners, and then I would still probably prefer a Dyno tune... although I would take a road tune from a good tuner over a shitty tune on a Dyno. your question is basically saying X+Y=30... what is the value of X?

I agree about knowing the reputation of the tuner and how agressive they are with timing.

 

That being said, I would take aroad tuned car any day because the load seen on a dyno is not really reproduced on the street. You should also end up with better driveability because you can work on load transitions.

 

A dyno tune is great for getting the last bit of power out of the engine or if you plan on drag racing.

 

Bottom line is either will work as long as you trust the tuner.

Go with the road tune since the tuner is highly recommended. You can't beat real load with real airflow, and you can do things you can't do on a dyno, like tune out shift knock.

Yeah, I just talked to another tuner with a dyno and he'll tune it on the dyno 1st then do a road tune after. So it should be great having both done.

Should I get a road tune or just stick with a dyno tune? Was gonna get a dyno tune but then some local tuners recommended a road tune instead. The Road tuner guy is well known and highly recommended by locals. Which tune would you go for?

 

Assuming both tuners are EXACTLY the same, if it was a DD or a street car I would always, always roadtune it. If it was approaching 500whp or a pure trackcar or a show car, obviously a dyno. I see no reason to tune a streetcar in an environment it will not be driven in but there are arguments for both sides.

 

Really Lee you need to meet up with some locals and see how their cars have turned out, who tuned them and what problems if any they have had.

 

Or get an Infamous1 etune.

Speaking from personal experience getting a road tune to cover each and every possible load point in a map is damn near impossible. Nothing beats a good loaded dyno for covering every possible scenario. That said, it really depends on your mod level. If your mildly modded then a road tune might cover everything you need for a safe tune.

If you have an adjustable wastegate you can set it at the lowest setting and run in through wot and all rpm points. Then increase it to the next load column and do the same thing over again. This will give you almost full coverage

^And with an MBC it's even easier.

Regardless, road vs. dyno is like Craftsman vs

Snap-on. It's the tuner that matters, not the tools.

Some might even say road puts a more realistic load on the car then dyno...

trouble is, finding a road that is so flat and conditions consistent to measure output. the best way to measure a change of one variable(output) is to the keep the other constant. many tuners perform a dyno tune and then smooth it out with a follow-up road session (quick) to ensure all driveability aspect are there. road tunes are cool and all but IMHO they leave power that could've been had from a consistent environment measuring standpont. Finding MBT can be tough sometimes when road tuning

Um, what is your hardware setup? I wouldn't spend the extra cash on a dyno tune unless I was running a much larger than stock turbo. As others have stated, a road tune usually nets you a more driveable car. The dyno, as stated, is essential for wringing that last bit out of your hardware and that can't really be done on the road. Having said that, getting the highest possible number from say a stock VF-40 is kind of like having the fastest moped in town. It's pointless, still slow, and nobody cares.

Also as stated, tune from good tuner > tune from poor tuner, regardless of the location it's done.

Oh forgot to mention the whole safety factor.. Again from personal experience tuning on a dyno is MUCH safer....for you, your car, and others around you.

The "right" way, is to tune on the dyno, refine on the road.

 

You'll spend DAYS trying to do on the road what you can do on the dyno in half an hour. And you'll spend DAYS trying to do on the dyno what you can do on the road in 10 minutes.

 

Any tuner that JUST puts the car on the dyno and doesn't clean it up (or at least check it) on the street, isn't doing a complete job.

 

That's been my experience, anyway.

The "right" way, is to tune on the dyno, refine on the road.

 

You'll spend DAYS trying to do on the road what you can do on the dyno in half an hour. And you'll spend DAYS trying to do on the dyno what you can do on the road in 10 minutes.

 

Any tuner that JUST puts the car on the dyno and doesn't clean it up (or at least check it) on the street, isn't doing a complete job.

 

That's been my experience, anyway.

 

 

thisssss. and in most cases, road tunes that last an hr or two leave power untapped since output measurements are essentially impossibru aside from the buttock dyno.

Finding MBT can be tough sometimes when road tuning

 

True but for straight pump gas tunes, that only matters at very low levels of boost. With more than a few psi, the motor starts knocking before you reach MBT. That right there is the main reason that I'm content to tune without a dyno.

 

That and the fact that when I've had my car on a dyno, there was a lot of variation from run to run. Maybe they try harder when they're actually tuning rather than just doing pulls to see what numbers pop out, but I wasn't at all impressed with the repeatability that I saw.

True but for straight pump gas tunes, that only matters at very low levels of boost. With more than a few psi, the motor starts knocking before you reach MBT. That right there is the main reason that I'm content to tune without a dyno.

 

That and the fact that when I've had my car on a dyno, there was a lot of variation from run to run. Maybe they try harder when they're actually tuning rather than just doing pulls to see what numbers pop out, but I wasn't at all impressed with the repeatability that I saw.

 

Just curious but what type of dyno?

 

Dave

road tunes that last an hr or two leave power untapped since output measurements are essentially impossibru aside from the buttock dyno.

Tools like Virtual Dyno are extremely useful IF you know how to use them. While total numbers are probably less definitive than even a dyno, it's good enough to see performance changes between runs if you are methodical.

Just curious but what type of dyno?

 

Dave

 

First a Dynojet, then a Dynocom.

First a Dynojet, then a Dynocom.

 

It must have been the operator or the conditions (not enough air blowing). Dynojets are pretty repeatable. The one down the street will spit out the same numbers until the car changes (temps rise or whatever).

 

Personally, I like Dynapak dynos. They seem to be the most consistent, and most versatile dynos.

dynamics uses weather station and compensates for them so that the readings are always consistent

They use a weather station inside the building?

 

That's why I like dynapaks. Direct measurement of output. It doesn't get much more accurate or consistent.