Trust a tuner more than a mechanic?

I have notorious bad luck with mechanics. Seems like if they work on cars and collect money for it they usually learn to lie without even knowing they are doing it. I know not all of them are like this, but my experience is that most of them are. So how about tuners? They work on cars and collect money for it, and we can't even see the areas that they touch. Are they just as likely to be liars? I know there are good ones, but what about bad ones, proportionally are there as many bad tuners as there are bad mechanics? Would they straight up refuse a job they weren't capable of, or are they like mechanics in that they would get you to pay for them to learn how to do something on your car. Anyone have any experience with bad tuners?

Plenty of inexperienced tuners out there that will tell you they can tune a coyote, but don't have the first clue the intricacies of it... "I tuned a carburated small block chevy so ya I can tune your car" LOL

Everyone has to get their start on tuning modern cars somehow, but....

Can't go wrong with a big name tuner on this forum.

What you have to watch out for are the GM tuning shops, or shops that don't have experience tuning Coyote's. Sadly, a lot of small tuning shops are in this bracket.

The Copperhead and Tricore ECMs are awesome, you can make a lot of power with out ever needing to go with an aftermarket set up. They do how ever work a lot different than other ECMs and the standard logic that applies to GM vehicles does not carry over to the Copperhead/Tricore.

So just be careful of who tunes your car. if it's not one of the commonly used tuners(see below) then do your research. There are tuners out there who can tune our cars just as good as any of the remote tuners who advertise up and down the internet too, it's all about doing your research and asking your tuner questions. They are not all the same and many tune using different methods in order to achieve the same results too, so given the same vehicle configuration and a knowledgable tuner you will have the same gains with whom ever you choose.

In no particular order:

- Rob Shoemaker(Auto Mafia),
- Sean Perry(AED),
- Alejandro(YDBT)
- Lund (although Lund Racing has a few tuners who might end up doing your specific car, it's not always Lund that does it)
- VMP
- Ken Bjones(Palm Beach Dyno)

^Alejandro actually works for VMP now

depends on the tuner, if your using lund with us. your in great hands, but there are some hacks out there on the tuning side too

I went with Lund for this reason. Well known and good reputation, whereas going with a local dyno tuner could be hit or miss, not willing to take that chance. I spoke with a mustang specific shop a bit ago and they confirmed they turn off the knock sensors completely, no thanks.

Good tuner should have a demo car. Either a shop car or customer they sponsor to cut through the learning curve. When in doubt just ask about their experience.

If you are ever really worried about the tune you can always perform before/after datalogs to verify the changes. If you can't read the datalogs you can post them up to the forum and others can read the logs for you.

To perform the datalogs you will need a tuning device like the SCT or similar and connect it to your laptop with the relevant software. There are complete how-to videos specific to your car and tuning device available on YouTube.

Very happy with my Rob Shoemaker tune.

Grimace427 said:

If you are ever really worried about the tune you can always perform before/after datalogs to verify the changes. If you can't read the datalogs you can post them up to the forum and others can read the logs for you.

To perform the datalogs you will need a tuning device like the SCT or similar and connect it to your laptop with the relevant software. There are complete how-to videos specific to your car and tuning device available on YouTube.

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^^ That right there. I usually don't mind looking at datalogs for people, I've even gone out and datalogged with locals who have issues with tunes they get from local dyno shops. Doesn't cost us anything but time to look over a log.

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. Sounds like it's important to find someone experienced in coyote tuning. Is it tough for someone who tunes chevy's and Dodge's to do Fords, or is it just a preference do you suppose? I would think anyone who tunes knows what their trying to achieve, is it just a learning curve thing or is it more tricky to tune the coyote?

Draklia said:

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. Sounds like it's important to find someone experienced in coyote tuning. Is it tough for someone who tunes chevy's and Dodge's to do Fords, or is it just a preference do you suppose? I would think anyone who tunes knows what their trying to achieve, is it just a learning curve thing or is it more tricky to tune the coyote?

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Where do you live? Someone on this forum may have a good local tuner if you decide to go local.

I found a place that specializes in Mustangs on the internet less than 2 hours from me. When I googled them I saw their rep on SVT forum was great They did my PP2 install in two hours, dealer wanted 3.5 minimum.

Local ASE certified speed shop near me charged 1 hour labor. Pretty reasonable in my opinion.