[1self]

It's a 15 minute video. Vinny Ten is a VERY famous tuner in the U.S. This video ought to be an eye opener for ANYONE wanting to get more out of his/her car & giving it to a tuner.


http://www.thatvideomagazine.com/new...nny-ten-racing

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by 1self

It's a 15 minute video. Vinny Ten is a VERY famous tuner in the U.S. This video ought to be an eye opener for ANYONE wanting to get more out of his/her car & giving it to a tuner.


http://www.thatvideomagazine.com/new...nny-ten-racing

Fantastic clip. Thanks for posting. Very revealing indeed.

Now coming to India, who are the reputed tuning guys, apart from Pete's? And how reliable are they? I've heard of Racetronics, but not sure of the reliability of their products.

As regards Pete's box, the reliable review I got from a Laura owner is that it helps only in reducing turbolag, but is of no use on the highway.

I am not sure of Pete's engine remap though. Let the comments flow.

[MYB]

Awesome video. I loved the way he spoke - calling a spade a spade. We always end up blaming others for what we get done to our cars while it is actually our responsibility to do a due diligence before handing over our dream machines to those for whom it may be a just another machine.

Bottomline - Find a guy who will handle your machine like it is his own and you will not repent.

[Honda Monk]

Boy I am flattered by the video.
Who posted this video!?! Thanks & Kudos
How amazingly true! Time for introspection.
So many , so many workshops in the city some have specialization on a certain kind of cars and some on the other. Most of the people only count the number (of cars) that garage is working on. Not bothered what kind of work is most of the time done.
A guy preparing racing jeep, gypsy and rally vehicle may not be efficient on your civic or accord performance drifts.
Its not only the case of tuning or building a car but even in general engine and performance works we can go to a cheaper (who may be is incompetent) garage to get work done over and over again but avoid going to an experienced and competent one to something on labor charges. Even I have done this.
I am not saying every expensive and high charging garage is good!
But the video stands perfectly true!

[IshaanIan]

Tune O Tronics I hear is really good. Here's a thread on the forum: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...xperience.html

[1self]

Guys, let's keep this discussion to 'due diligence' shall we?
It is only through knowledge of one's own car that you can see what the tuner is doing. It is perfectly OK to ask a LOT of questions to the tuner & he is bound to answer them to your satisfaction. Also, DO NOT cheap out on aftermarket parts. After all, you get what you pay for. Building & tuning budgets are generally bound to be exceeded, so have some spare cash for such exigencies.

[1self]

The BIGGEST mistake enthusiasts like us make is to think that OEM's engineers are fools & do not know how to tune. THAT, friends is VERY far from the truth. The kind of resources & money they spend is VASTLY beyond anyting you and your tuner could afford. It's just that they work under far more constraning & often opposing requirments, like noise emmision, pollutants, smoothness of performance, transient response (on-throttle, off throttle), in-cabin-noise etc. They also make the car as people friendly as possible. This means increased oil change intervals, increased milage between servicing etc.

When you go to get more out of your car, you invariably compromising on SOME factor which the OEM engineers did not have the luxury of having.

Having said that, tuning can be a very satisfying experience if done right. BUTTT, getting it done right is a tedious & expensive process which takes a LOT of time & money. In fact, engine tuning in modern cars is VERY tough. You think a single dyno session is enough to get you a car which is fast, smooth, has good transient response, can be driven in ALL weather conditions (hot, freezing, altitude etc)? This, when OEM engineers spend THOUSANDS of man hours tuning the engine in the car you buy? Think again. In fact most of the stories that DO NOT come out on these forums is that MOST people sell off, or otherwise go back to OEM, after a year or two of having these highly modified cars. Why?

I believe the answer is:
1. Stressed engine parts cannot take the stress & fail prematurely.
2. There is a lot of upkeep required with oil & filter change intervals & other parts.
3. The initial tuning of the piggyback was done more for horsepower than overall power accross the rev range. Chasing hero horsepower like this results in a power-band that looks like a mountain side. It is very steep. This affects driving very badly indeed. That car will be a rocket in a 500-1000 rpm band, & a pig to drive everywhere else.

So, the key to good tuning is to keep it reasonable.