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To tune, or not to tune?!

Zero

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Hey boys,

Let me first kick off this thread by touching on how excited I am to be a part of the group! I picked up my Mustang a little over a month ago, and so far, I'm thoroughly enjoying what this car has to offer for the $$$. However,like many people on the forum, I already find myself caught in the dichotomy of enjoying what I have - yet unable to resist the notion of making things even better! So here's my question to you fine folks:

Even in stock form, the V6 is a great car. My only real complaint is that it feels as though Ford purposefully detuned the V6. After doing a bit of digging, I'm clearly not the only one who feels this way. There also seems to be a universal consensus that the most cost-effective way to realize the performance envelope of the V6 is to go with a tune. So my question is: What about long-term reliability?

For what it's worth, I'm not the kind of person to trade-in a car every couple years. Sure, the GT is nice, but unless Ford pulls a magic rabbit outta its hat and improves the GT in the areas that I care about - the plan is to hold onto the V6 for quite some time. I know a tune will "unlock" what I feel is being held back on the base V6 model. The only problem is, the very notion of doing so makes me nervous. Why?

Because I have this (farcical?) idea that Ford made this car knowing it would be used and abused - particularly in rental car fleets. Thus, I suspect that Ford built this car to withstand abuse over long periods of time. Naturally the best way to do that is to make sure the parts in your car have enough bandwidth to routinely handle said abuse. Because tunes change the way a vehicle functions - at least on a macro level - I can't help but wonder if these changes will ultimately dig into the cars long-term survivability.

So boys - whats been your experience so far? Am I over analyzing the situation? Should I just enjoy the car as is, or should I just shut the hell up and get the MPT tune (93px in particular) already?

Note: My driving style has more in common with Miss Daisy than Schumacher. I don't have any decent (unpoliced) roads that'll allow myself to be a hooligan, nor is there a track close by that's worth a sh!$#. I just want a better throttle input response and to enjoy the thoroughbred that I know this car can be.
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V6junkie

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Tune it... you won't be disappointed with the MPT 93prx
 

Stormtrooper5.0

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If you don't tune then go buy a throttle response controller make your car feel like it has a violent 300hp.
 

tj@steeda

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The Steeda tune is proven to be safe, reliable & powerful!

The tunes we write for our Steeda Performance Vehicles are the same tunes we write for our customers ... the Steeda vehicles are sold through a select group of Ford Dealers & must be safe.

You are in good hands with Steeda.

Best Regards,

TJ
 

MIIPILOT

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Call MPT now, you will love it. These tunes could only increase the longevity of your car. Now that being said, if you abuse the car on a daily basis then your going to hurt the reliability. This can be done just as easily on a car without a tune. My Brother was a programmer for Ford diesel trucks way back when they first started putting computers on Mustangs. Just about everybody he worked with had removable Proms and tuned their own cars because they knew the stock programming was hampered by emission and gas mileage constraints. Now these were the same guys that were programming the stock tunes! My brother had 4 mustangs and never had an issue with them. They all ran so much better when they were tuned. I love my MPT tune and after driving it for a week with the tune I can tell you that they did their homework. Take care of your car and it will take care of you and remember that a Mustang needs to be exercised occasionally.
 

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Jon|3.7

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Call MPT now, you will love it. These tunes could only increase the longevity of your car. Now that being said, if you abuse the car on a daily basis then your going to hurt the reliability. This can be done just as easily on a car without a tune. My Brother was a programmer for Ford diesel trucks way back when they first started putting computers on Mustangs. Just about everybody he worked with had removable Proms and tuned their own cars because they knew the stock programming was hampered by emission and gas mileage constraints. Now these were the same guys that were programming the stock tunes! My brother had 4 mustangs and never had an issue with them. They all ran so much better when they were tuned. I love my MPT tune and after driving it for a week with the tune I can tell you that they did their homework. Take care of your car and it will take care of you and remember that a Mustang needs to be exercised occasionally.
hi

if i tune my car, what kind of extra maintenance will i have to do? and what to look out for to check everything is running right? and type of gas? and what engine upgrades should i do? i only have a borla atak catback and getting a bbk throttle soon

i am completely new to this so i am basically like a child trying to learn right now

thank you
 

MIIPILOT

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Maintain it as normal and gas depends on what tune you have. Right now I have the 87-89 octane PRX tune and I run 89 octane in it. I only have a K&N drop in filter right now. You don't have to do any upgrades unless you choose to. The only upgrades I am going to do eventually are long tube headers, BBK throttle body and 170 thermostat in the summer.
 

Jon|3.7

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Maintain it as normal and gas depends on what tune you have. Right now I have the 87-89 octane PRX tune and I run 89 octane in it. I only have a K&N drop in filter right now. You don't have to do any upgrades unless you choose to. The only upgrades I am going to do eventually are long tube headers, BBK throttle body and 170 thermostat in the summer.

thanks! i plan on getting the bbk throttle and a cai as well, not sure what the thermostat is (also want to add an h pipe but ive been told most need headers and im new to that as well)

so its basically just use the gas it needs and thats it?

i hear 93 a lot, is that harder on the car and more hp and tq?

is it that gas people refer to "corn"? i dont see that yelllow gas nozzle when i go to gas stations
 
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Zero

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Thanks boys!

I appreciate it. Will pull the trigger soon. Pumped!!
 

Fuse

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E85 is corn which I haven't seen in my area. 93 as in the gas octane, normally most people call it supreme as opposed to regular or plus. 93 octane burns easier than lower grades which is helpful for old engines so it shouldn't be hard on the engine.

If you are worried about warranty get a throttle enhancer. Either or improves the drivability of the car.
 

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Jon|3.7

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E85 is corn which I haven't seen in my area. 93 as in the gas octane, normally most people call it supreme as opposed to regular or plus. 93 octane burns easier than lower grades which is helpful for old engines so it shouldn't be hard on the engine.

If you are worried about warranty get a throttle enhancer. Either or improves the drivability of the car.
thanks! definitely getting a tune now! mpt one seems good and the steeda one sounds interesting
 

tj@steeda

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Happy to put you in contact with one of our tuning experts & this is the type of experience you get with our tunes:

James G.
Lead Tuner and Calibrator



James has over 15 years of experience professionally tuning Fords - mainly the Mustang, Focus, Fusion and F-series. He was previously employed by SCT and trained many of their top tuners! James takes pride in providing quality, conservative tunes that you will feel confident in loading onto your daily driver. Reliability while providing tremendous gains are at the core of our tuning values.
You can email me at [email protected].

Happy to help!

Best Regards,

TJ
 

racinreddy

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As a fellow V6 owner, I can say MPT 93Prx is the best. Go for it, u will never turn back. ;)
I have taken out stock GT auto with my MPT 93 tuned stang.
 

s550v6

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E85 is corn which I haven't seen in my area. 93 as in the gas octane, normally most people call it supreme as opposed to regular or plus. 93 octane burns easier than lower grades which is helpful for old engines so it shouldn't be hard on the engine.

If you are worried about warranty get a throttle enhancer. Either or improves the drivability of the car.
Why does 93 burn easier? I think octane rating is just a rating of how much pressure gas can take before sponsniously combusting. That's why everyone tells me not to put 93 in a car that calls for 87, because the gas wont fully combust. If you put 87 in a car that calls for 93 the gas will combust before the spark and cause knocking(pre-detonation) in the engine. You need to tune your car to run optimally on a certain type of gas.
 

s550v6

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Hey boys,

Let me first kick off this thread by touching on how excited I am to be a part of the group! I picked up my Mustang a little over a month ago, and so far, I'm thoroughly enjoying what this car has to offer for the $$$. However,like many people on the forum, I already find myself caught in the dichotomy of enjoying what I have - yet unable to resist the notion of making things even better! So here's my question to you fine folks:

Even in stock form, the V6 is a great car. My only real complaint is that it feels as though Ford purposefully detuned the V6. After doing a bit of digging, I'm clearly not the only one who feels this way. There also seems to be a universal consensus that the most cost-effective way to realize the performance envelope of the V6 is to go with a tune. So my question is: What about long-term reliability?

For what it's worth, I'm not the kind of person to trade-in a car every couple years. Sure, the GT is nice, but unless Ford pulls a magic rabbit outta its hat and improves the GT in the areas that I care about - the plan is to hold onto the V6 for quite some time. I know a tune will "unlock" what I feel is being held back on the base V6 model. The only problem is, the very notion of doing so makes me nervous. Why?

Because I have this (farcical?) idea that Ford made this car knowing it would be used and abused - particularly in rental car fleets. Thus, I suspect that Ford built this car to withstand abuse over long periods of time. Naturally the best way to do that is to make sure the parts in your car have enough bandwidth to routinely handle said abuse. Because tunes change the way a vehicle functions - at least on a macro level - I can't help but wonder if these changes will ultimately dig into the cars long-term survivability.

So boys - whats been your experience so far? Am I over analyzing the situation? Should I just enjoy the car as is, or should I just shut the hell up and get the MPT tune (93px in particular) already?

Note: My driving style has more in common with Miss Daisy than Schumacher. I don't have any decent (unpoliced) roads that'll allow myself to be a hooligan, nor is there a track close by that's worth a sh!$#. I just want a better throttle input response and to enjoy the thoroughbred that I know this car can be.
Just to add to the actual post, I will tune as soon as I'm off warranty and will use MPT. I've looked at all options and besides a custom dino tune at a reputable mustang tuner, MPT is the way to go. I'm going to use their 93 tune.
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