What tunes?

['08GTcaRED]

Just curious what the 197s are running? I know most of the names out there, but no experience with any. I did a search, but nothing comes up. Well for 197s anyways :p

I"m sure most of them are close to the same so how is customer service, turn around time, etc?

I wanted to stick with the Diablo I already have. I know not many tuners tune with it, but there are a few. Brooksspeed does as well as ST Motorsports so there are some options, unless you can convince e to go mainstream with SCT. I have also thought of Delta Force, but have any 197s done this? I have not encountered any so far and I might have to start a trend eventually...

[900hpBLURRRR]

I know GTR Motorsports in Rancho Cucamonga tune with SCT and I believe Greg @ RET also tunes with SCT. I havent heard of any 197's doing the Delta Force tune

['08GTcaRED]

Quick sir, you are quick, but then 900hp does that... I had looked at GTR, but I wanted more of a 'Mustang only' tuner. I know it's not entirely possible :p Wanted to head that route first nonetheless. Does RET do email tunes, know offhand? Don't have any big mods yet that need dyno work, just something to bump it up a bit...

[900hpBLURRRR]

I dont think greg does email tunes but he'll make your tune as safe/productive as possible to boost up your 3v. Actually Gonzalo and the guys at GTR have an outside tuner who does only Ford with SCT come in and tune on their dyno. Greg does it all though, my best advice would be have greg hook you up with a tune, you'll be happy

['08GTcaRED]

Kind of what I figured with GTR, still not bad though to have a dedicated tech like that.

I might just get an email from ST for now and then hit up Greg for a dyno once I start the major stuff. Thank you 900! A lot of help you were

[900hpBLURRRR]

anytime man, i'm here for everybody. I'm just converting over to ford from chevy lol

[Jose]

I don't know what GTR tunes, but I know Adam@ST goes to GTR and helps them on certain tunes for customers.

Greg@Ret can chime in re email tunes.

Look in our money pit section, we have a few s197 money pits for you to look at. Some of those members are local and use the tuner's mentioned.

Re Diablo vs Sct that's a topic that will never end. Talk with some tuners and see their customer cars. Even get a ride in a customers car with a tune, and get a feel for the drivability etc

A tune completes any/all the hard earned money you have invested into your mustang.

Some tuners tune for numbers others for drivability others will push it to the brink. It all depends on what the customer needs. Here we have 91, and if you only have a few mods a safe tune should work out fine for you.

I also run Diablo and I know Ret as of right now is not tuning with Diablo.

Adam tunes sct or diablo and I took my cobra to Adam for tuning.

We have a lot of local setups with our local tuners on site. I'm sure you will find one to help you tune your setup.

Good luck

['08GTcaRED]

Good idea! Thanks Jose I never would have thought to look in the Money Pit. I will take a look in there later, but for now it's time to hit the rack

[Powershift03]

I used Diablo when I first got the Whipple installed, and Swansons tuned it. But, when I wanted Greg at RET to re-tune my car, I made the switch to SCT. I don't know that SCT is any better than Diablo (it may be though, not sure).. but, you may have to switch depending on the tuner you want to use. With basic, non forced induction, tunes.. an Emailed / canned tune should be fine. But, dyno tunes are ALWAYS better.. and highly recommended... for FI set ups.

['08GTcaRED]

Thanks power for the info. From what I have seen the SCT and Predator are realistically the same. There are some minor differences, but nothing that would make it better over the other.

+1 on dyno tune! I agree 100% that it is the best for the car, but all I have right now are muffler deletes and only in the ricer world would they be worth anything over 1 hp... So for now an email is fine. Probably not until cams will I get it dynoed, but if I get a good deal I might

[Greg]

I dont do email tunes. I like everything to be perfect so unless its in front of me I wont do it.

['08GTcaRED]

So Greg is there a cheap way for my ECU info to be in front of you? :thumbsup: Kidding. I have a diablo already so it would be a really, really expensive tune because I would have to switch over and then dyno time etc. One day though...

Thanks for the reply. It's good to see that the vendors actually support this forum and read what's on it!

[Powershift03]

When I made the switch from Diablo to SCT with Greg... it was dyno time plus a $250 SCT chip he burned for me. It wasn't all that bad. On my next round of mods (LTs and -8 fuel line) for the Cobra I will be buying an Xcal3 for it though.

['08GTcaRED]

197= no chip! Handhelds only and since I already have one...well I might as well just use that money for a MGW shifter :D

[Jose]

197= no chip! Handhelds only and since I already have one...well I might as well just use that money for a MGW shifter :D

MGW FTW

[Pharoe]

This is a good thread. So my questions are:

1) Would it benifit best to Mod the car first before buying a handheld tuner?
2)Is it Best to just buy the tuner and retune as you mod the car?
3)Are email tunes safe?Or is it best to take to a Pro Like Greg mentioned and have it done on the spot?
4)The HIGHEST octane of gas here in my part of Alaska is 90..is it even worth my time buying a tuner?

[900hpBLURRRR]

these are just my opinions:
1.Yes, each mod can benefit from having the new tune but stuff like (cams,heads,etc.) are mods ESSENTIAL with a tuner
2.Yes
3.I dont like email tunes(have done them with the camaro), I'd rather take it to a tuner so they have it right there in front to tune.
4.Yes, with 90 it wont gain much..but bolt-ons will respond well with a tuner

[Pharoe]

these are just my opinions:
1.Yes, each mod can benefit from having the new tune but stuff like (cams,heads,etc.) are mods ESSENTIAL with a tuner
2.Yes
3.I dont like email tunes(have done them with the camaro), I'd rather take it to a tuner so they have it right there in front to tune.
4.Yes, with 90 it wont gain much..but bolt-ons will respond well with a tuner

Thanks Matt. I guess I will just wait because I don't believe there are any tuners here. I just want to make sure I'm not missing out on anything, but I like the idea of taking it to someone and letting them take care of it on the spot rather than via email.

[03CENTGT]

I dont have a 3V but Ricardo @ GTR dynotuned my 2V with my Diablo tuner. They usually use Diablo tuners and I have a couple of buddies with 3Vs who are using the Diablo tuner and are running 12s all day with minor bolt ons and stock driveability. After my dynotune my 2V drives perfect and sometimes I feel like its still stock until I floor it lol...and at the dragstrip, I think I have one of the fastest bolt on 2V's around L.A. for full weight daily driver... I say if you have the Diablosport tuner go ahead and stick with it, in the end they all do the same thing and benefit your car's driveability!

['08GTcaRED]

I agree, SCT=Diablo in most respects. I think SCt might just be easier for shops to tune with so they stick with that.

Pharoe: IMO, I would suggest an email tune for you. I just used the canned one on the Predator that I have and picked up 7rwhp and 2mpg city and 6! on the highway. That is with a completely stock car and 87 octane. I bumped it up to the 91 octane canned tune and picked up more hp in the upper rpms(didn't test this one so don't know how much), but lost some highway mpg(getting like +3 over stock now). So all in all not bad. Is it worth the 400$ you are going to pay for it? Probably not, but I got rid of the annoying throttle lag that our cars have, picked up better gas milage and now when I do get a dyno tune, I will have the handheld already or if I put on some other mods I can tune for them.

Now all of that to say that I have had good luck with email tunes in the past, but again they are not perfect, only dyno tunes are!! Keep an eye out for a used handheld and then get an email tune, if you don't like it then change it back :p I know I am going to get one as soon as this day is over and I can talk to Adam at ST...

[gmantheman]

Unless you are cammed or s/c I would just do an email tune. Eric Brooks from brooksspeed is one of the best tuners. I have his email tune and I am 100% satisfied with it. Other companies that do email tunes for the diablo are www.powerhouserp.com actually Eric Brooks does a lot of the tuning for this company as well also there is modular depot at www.modulardepot.com

[GrabberOrange1]

I have the sctII with Brenspeed tunes, with a JLT cai. Huge difference in performance and throttle lag. Good service, I believe lifetime tunes with them too.

[BrianGT]

ive talked a lot with adam at st and plan to start working with him soon and from what he know and talks about he is damn good and if i were to get one id sell my sct and go diablo... he is really good and getting it right on the money fast and is very safe with the way he tunes cars. and fyi a tune even on a basic stock car did a lot i had an intake and mufflers on my auto and went from 260 to 279 hp and track time droped a half a second

['08GTcaRED]

Yes that is my experience as well. I sent Adam an email asking for a tune so we will see what happens. :D

[Pharoe]

Yep, From Jose and reading a lot of the threads on here Adam is the man. So Adam only Tunes using the Diablo Tuner?

['08GTcaRED]

No he does both Diablo and SCT, but he is one of the best at Predator tunes for 197s at least. Eric at Brooksspeed is as well, but he tunes for safety(which is important!) unless you specifically tell him otherwise. Since Adam is closeer though I'm getting one from him