First let me say Hello, I am new to this Forum, I am/was on SunshineMini and NAM, but have been reading here and think I will try it out. I have a 2006 MCSa with some Bolt on Mods ATI Dampener OBX Header IE Exhaust 380cc JCW Injectors MiniMania CAI JCW Plugs 15% Pulley Basically all the common bolt on mods, I am in the market for a tune, so I will outline my plan and see what you think. Note I WELCOME comments that is why I am posting this. I recently went to the local dealership, to get the JCW tune, they put it on the car, but since it is an automatic, they could not get it to work (if you know what I need to tell them to make this work please let me know). So I am still in the market for a tune, I have been reading and looking around and I am thinking about two options; #1 - Bytetronik I like this option because I would have the option to make changes myself later (not that I think I know what I am doing, but maybe someday). Pluses: I have another ECU that they will unlock (for a fee of course), that I could use, and keep my factory one on the shelf. Can access and see the software myself, or let another tuner that knows what they are doing see the info. I can get some of the parts for the kit outside of Bytetroniks, i.e. the Innovate 3844 MTX-L AFR, so I can spread the cost of doing this out a bit. Minus: Its pretty expensive The revues are hit and miss #2 - RMW/Jan Tune Pluses: I have never heard a bad thing about his tune, he seems to be the go to guy. Some what simple to have done Minus: Have to either wait till he gets here (and that might be never) I live on the other side of the country! Have to Buy the FLASH TOOL for 315.oo, which after the tune is done is basically a paper weight, that I have to keep track of. NO access to the software myself, so changes have to be made by Jan. Sometime after the tune I do plan on getting the HOWERTON Water/Meth Mini Kit, so I WILL want to have the car re-tuned for this, even though I plan on the injection being VERY mild so as to not run into problems if I run out of water/meth
Dont waste your money on ByteTroniK... If you dont know how to use it stay away, and the lite version has no advantages over just getting a regular tune other than resetting all the CEL's it will throw. Just pony up and have Jan do it.
Looks like everyone says that, so it looks like I am going to get my gauge(s), installed and see about some Dyno Time. I am a little shocked that the tuners do not have those remote Tuning Boxes, that they could rent out for this, what do I do with that thing when I am done its locked to my Vin! _____________________ c0op3r
The ByteTroniK does have the option of letting you remote tune your car. Another words, if your not comfortable tuning it yourself at thus point, you can have them tune it. You still own your hardware, and you can still tune it, tweak it, when you want to. I use it.
Unless you are a tuner, don't mess with trying to tune your own car. Just look at the end results on these boards... The RWM flash tool is more than just a flash tool. It is also a code reader, and you can clear codes with it, so it has a bit more utility than just as a bridge to get your tune to your ECU. It also allows you to retune at any time easily (and depending on the situation, any tunes after the first may be simply be a charge for dyno time, or a steep discount once Jan has tuned your car, again it's situational--check and see if any other tuner you're considering is willing to do this, or if you're paying full price for each tune.). The support RMW is great, and my car is phenomenal, and the remote tune is extremely easy once you find a good dyno close to you. Whatever you do, don't tune your own car, and don't listen to those on the internet who offer to help you tune--from reading your first post, it's the wrong route for you, it will end badly. Get someone who knows what they're doing to get it right for you the first time, you'll be much happier--so will your wallet.
What part of the country are you in? Any clubs in your area? Jan has been known to schedule tune parties for clubs if enough people want tunes. Very happy with my RMW tune after more than 8 yrs.
Thanx, I have no intention of tuning my own car, right now or in the near future, but I would like to learn. And like so many other cars out there, I am sure that the software and ECU information will eventually open up(have you seen what they can do with a GM computer?) I would love to be able to afford that stand alone ECU (ViPec?) that Jan offers, but its out of my budget, but damn cool!
Definitely go the RMW route. He will not steer you wrong. Not sure where you live, but he comes out to different parts of the east coast every year. I have the flash tool and it's a good piece to have. No, you can't do your own tuning, but that is usually a bad idea unless you really know what you are doing. Good luck with the car!
Sigh . . . I am actually in Orlando and was working on a tune party, I spoke with Jan about this and laid out plans, I was unable to get a date out of him to try and promote it with the local club, and put it all together (basically cause he did not want to do something in Dec). So without going into the details I was not going to spend my time putting it all together, taking deposits, I already had the Dyno lined up and a discount agreed upon if we took the whole day and making plans for him if I could not get a date. So I scrubbed that mission . . . so you now see why I am a little worried about being locked into one tuner.
I can understand his reluctance if he didn't feel comfortable with a particular time, but is there a club around that could take over the promotion/scheduling?
Are you near Orlando at all? If so I'd recommend that you pop over to Volvo and Mini Cooper Service and Repair by Maitland Importers - Volvo and Mini Cooper Repair Orlando Florida and have a chat with Ian. He can also help with Tuning Party scheduling. Just so you know, he is an RMW disciple. So much so that he is often the hot shoe in Jan's cars.
A tune party at Maitland would be awesome... Jan is incredibly busy--but if you can't get a tune party together, remote tuning is easy (for him) once you get the dyno time. I would have liked a tuning party too, but it wasn't happening anytime near the time I wanted to get my car done, and the remote tune worked out great. I was worried about not doing it live, but it really turned out to be no big deal, it's the same process, just takes a little longer sending files back and forth.
Well I would only recommend RMW / Jan and I will not even talk about the "other guys" I have had and RMW tune for years and I am a very satisfied customer. I would absolutely go over an talk with Ian Stewart at Maitland Importers Motorsports.....Call the Office at 407-425-0545. Volvo Service by Maitland Importers
Yep been there, Ian/Phil did all the work on my car since the day I got it ( I did not get it new). I would love nothing more than to put that together, but like I said I could not get a date from Jan. Ian was on board, he is the one that told me about Real Sport Performance, which is who was going to let us rent their Dyno. We can not actually have it at Ian's aka Maitland Importers as he does not have a Dyno, but he was going to be there for the tuning. BUT . . . like I said I was not able to get a date, no date no promot'ing, no promote, no No customers for Jan, Not enough Customers for Jan, no Tuning Party! So all this aside as I am trying to keep this from turning into me bitching about, my trying to do the work to setup a tuning party and not being able to get a commitment from the tuner . . SNIP . . . That is why I will be ONLY looking at Remote Tuning Options, as there is no need to talk to the local (or semi-local club) as I had three people locked down that wanted the tune, and several others that wanted more info. At that point I would of posted it everywhere and talked to everyone, just like I did at Mickey & Mini 9. So if I do this I am going to do it on my own, I will set it all up prep the car and get it on the Dyno for a remote tuning.
That's cool and I understand about the lack of date can be a PITA. Remote tune is the way to go if you have a local dyno you can get on for a few data logging runs for Jan to tweak. Good luck on your tune it will be worth the wait.
Frankly, with that pretty common setup (15%/intake/exhaust/header/380's), Jan may be able to get you a "safe" remote tune based on the auto tunes he's done before, that won't be quite as aggressive as he'd be able to go on the dyno, but would be sooooooo much better than your stock tune that you'd be a happy camper until you got a dyno lined up or got to a tuning day at some point. Talk with him about that and see if its an option.
^^^That. My car had a heck of a lot more done to it than yours; Jan put the first map in to begin with, and it only took a few pulls on the dyno to tweak it--he's done so many of these, he'll get you close before you even put the car on the dyno. We'd all prefer a live tune, but now that I've done the remote, I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, if, say, I did another major change, which I probably will.
Not sure about this coming year but the past few years he has been at the MOTD and could put a "canned" tune as mentioned above on your ECU and probably without you having to buy the Tuning Tool. Granted you got what you got at that point no fine tuning with the tool down the road but that is how we all did it to start with.
Now See that is something I can get behind, never even thought to ask about that. I will order the Remote Programmer and see about having him put a 'canned tune on it.
c0op3r, a lot more civil over here ( inside joke fellows). Jan tuned my Coupe and I couldn't be happier with the results. I agree with Dave, forget about the others and figure out a way to go RMW.