Bren of BrenTuning, A++ Would Tune Again!

I paid a visit to Bren last night with my STi. Before I get to that though, big kudos go to his room mate Tuan for banging off all of my original, rusted to hell heat shield bolts and installing my HKS downpipe. He did the job I couldn't man up to do (one downpipe install in a lifetime is enough for me thank-you very much).

 

After Tuan got the downpipe on Bren started doing his magic. Before we got started he explained a misfire he was seeing in cylinder 3 which was most likely due to a bad plug. After warming up the issue largely went away but he still recommended I get new, 1 step colder plugs. We did a few pulls, he adjusted the map, did a few more pulls, adjusted the map and again did a few more pulls and adjusted the map one last time (maybe there was a fourth pull in there, I don't remember, I was too busy keeping my face from being pealed off). Each time he put a new map on the differences were noticeable. I have kind of an oddball AEM intake that the P.O. had put on the car but Bren sorted it right out. During the entire process Bren explained what he was doing, the noises we were hearing and attributes he was modifying to perfect the map.

 

Even with a conservative tune the car pulls hard. More importantly though it is much, MUCH smoother both at WOT and around town. Rev matching gears and smooth shifts are easy as pie now.

 

Bottom line, Bren is the man. He knows his way around Subarus like the back of his hand. You can tell he does this because he loves it, not because he has a dyno to pay for or a shop to make profitable. He takes his time with your tune, puts up with your stupid questions and delivers results.

 

Thanks Bren!

where is Bren located? does he have a website?

he is in worc. i was thinking about having him do my car

i didn't know we had tuners in worcester. what was the cost for your tune rabydanimal?

he just tunes with his laptop. its like 150-200

Yes, the cost of your tune varies based on your mods though that price range is accurate. He uses open source tuning tools and a wideband sensor to road tune. It was well worth the drive from Lowell for me. He has a placeholder webiste, brentuning.com and is a vendor on a few different sites (newenglandsubarus.com and yuppieracing.net come to mind). I would shoot him an email @ brentuning@gmail.com if you have any questions. Tell him I sent ya.

 

FWIW, I have had tunes from Franz at KTR and TDC tuning on various cars and this is definitely on par (if not better) than those.

150-200 isn't that cheap mike from tuning alliance does a dyno tune for about 200 he has tuned my car a few times.

I would bring your car to Bren and see what he thinks of Tuning Alliance's tune. Chances are it's ok but could be better. I bet he would check your tune for a minimal cost (if not for free). He told me some pretty bad horror stories of tunes he has seen from big shops. If anything I would prefer Bren over other tuners for the sheer amount of time he spends with you and your car. He can incorporate any requests you have like custom throttle response mapping, amount of boost, etc.

ive asked around and talked to bren this week. im meeting up with him as soon as i get my up and dp

150-200 isn't that cheap mike from tuning alliance does a dyno tune for about 200 he has tuned my car a few times.

 

Brad,

 

You get what you pay for. Not sure how that is possible as my last email from ESP, tuners get a direct rate of $120/hr AWD. Given the tune taking 2 hours, to strap/unstrap in. TA just gave the ESP $40 to tune your car.

 

I've seen some decent and some really poor tuning and consultation on the tuners part in my time doing this over the time I've been doing this.

I would bring your car to Bren and see what he thinks of Tuning Alliance's tune. Chances are it's ok but could be better. I bet he would check your tune for a minimal cost (if not for free). He told me some pretty bad horror stories of tunes he has seen from big shops. If anything I would prefer Bren over other tuners for the sheer amount of time he spends with you and your car. He can incorporate any requests you have like custom throttle response mapping, amount of boost, etc.

 

As mentioned above -I'll give anyone a free look into how their car is liking their tune. I'll leave it unbiased and if it looks good no harm done.

 

Thanks for the kind words as well. I go above and beyond and incorporate a few things into these vehicles that I have not seen any of the local tuners do.

i didn't mean to start argurments on the fourm i'm just saying what i got and tune is strong. they do not charge for set up and take down time only once your car is hooked up.