what piggy back to tune with.

[infamous@crew]

Hey guys i am going to be doing a t25 setup soon right now I have an apexi safc. I was wondering if that would be ok to tune off of or if I should invest in anouther more up to date tuner. And eventualy I would like to upgrade my turbo so im thinking about the future as well.

Let me know what u guys recommend
Thanks

[cotbu]

Ask the person, company etc. that will be tuning the car/engine!

[omgRWDgoodness!]

Sell it and put the money towards a standalone, or at least a ROM tune.

[Superaison]

Sell it and put the money towards a standalone, or at least a ROM tune.

Couldn't have said it better!

[ultimateirving]

People dont really use SAFC to "tune" with becasue you cant adjust timing. And if ur going tobe turboing that KA then you need to be able to adj the timing if you want to keep ur engine from going boom.

[Croustibat]

you cant tune with a piggyback . at best you can adjust fueling. Turboing a car requires a lot of timing tuning. Get your car to someone who knows how to tune (and i mean a pro you have hear of from quite some sources, not your brother's friend's cousin). If you dont know how to tune, either learn how an engine works before buying anything or dont try.

[infamous@crew]

Ok that makes perfect sence about the timing. And I know a good bit about motors. What is a decent standalone that wont break the bank.

[Croustibat]

Knowing how to assemble / select parts is not knowing how an engine works, esp a turbo one; You would not have asked these questions if you knew ;)

I am not posting this to make you angry, this is just to prevent you from making the mistake of buying a lot of expensive stuff and ending blowing your engine - or give up and go to a tuner after realizing it is more complex and dangerous than you think. Know that if you go the path of tuning your engine, you will be on your own. Tuners make that for a living, they wont help you. You will get help from internet gurus that have never used the maps they will give, and when you tell them it did not work, they will answer it was just some theoretical maps and they never tested them ( that actually happened to me, i was lucky not to kill my engine on that one).


Anyway, besides the tuning software/hardware itself, you will need:
- wideband AFR sensor
- EGT sensor
- datalogging unit
- good knock sensing device if using standard fuel (i am using e85, so not needed)
- virtual dyno software / real dyno

doing it yourself will cost more than having someone else do it ... unless you plan to change your engine setup often, and tune it as often.

That being said, i usually go with a nistune board. But i dont know if it exists for the KA. It is not a standalone EMS; it is a daughterboard that fits in your OEM ECU and allows you to tune everything in it (it replaces the chip). It is the cheapest route i know, and not the most difficult; but you still need all those sensors, which are not exactly free.

You could get a complete standalone system, but these are usually expensive and come with various nice features (launch control, flat shifting, antilag, nitrous control and so on).

[cotbu]

Ask the person, company etc. that will be tuning the car/engine!
I love quoting myself! call jtune, call jays performance, call verocious motorsports! ask them about tuning and tuning equipment and what they can get you. Then call jtune again and ask about their dyno, get tuning hours.
PM me for a better deal on your tune. If you can't, afford paying for the ems/nistune and the tune, at the same damn time!

Your crew would then go down in infamy!