Ive been talking to a guy near my area that tunes cars and does a very good job doing it. He told me in an e-mail that in order to tune my car i will need a wideband o2 sensor if my car does not already have one factory. I still learning when it comes to cars but do i need a wideband o2 sensor? I havent read anything on here yet about people having to purchase one before a tune.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

yea, you need one. it will tell your air/fuel ratios. if he is smart and knows how to read the program you shouldnt need one, but it really does help. aem wideband

 

I thought a tuning shop would moniter that for you... but its a good investment to have anyway.

 

yes, it's very important to have a wideband when tuning. a wideband tells you your air to fuel ratio, which is extremely important. cars need to run withing certain limits. if you run too lean (too much air) you can have some big problems, worst case scenario is your engine will pop. if you don't have a way to monitor the air-fuel ratio, it's pretty risky. the guy that said he won't do it without a wideband is looking out for you, he just doesn't want your car to blow up. (not saying that it will blow up if you tune just that you need a way to monitor what's happening so the tuner can make adjustments as needed.)

the tuner may be able to monitor it while tuning, but what about afterwards? majority of good tuners won't tune if you don't have a wideband. if they do, they'll probably make you sign a waiver saying that they're not responsible for what happens to your car. the people that would tune your car without the proper monitoring tools are the ones that could care less what happens to you, they just want your money.

 

do you NEED it? no. but its a really good idea to have one. for example i dont have one on my car and its been tuned. but the guy that tunes my car would prefer if i had one and has stated that 1. he could get more power out of my car if i had one because he is playing it safe with the tune and 2. that if i mod my car any more then it is he wants a wideband on it before he tunes it again.

also, one of the reasons he tuned my car without the wideband was because he was able to drive around in my car for several hours with hp tuners hooked up to keep track of what it was doing.

 

thanks guys. yea the person that is going to be tuning my car is a very respectable person. I have heard nothing but extremely good reviews about him. So the aem wideband is the way to go with it?

 

innovate LC-1 kit is also a good way to go for logging for $199, you can pick up a gauge that connects to it for about $100 more. Definitely Innovate LC-1 or AEM UEGO are the way to go.

 

I would second the Innovate LC-1 kit, you can get the X16 Gauge or one of the other digital gauges that they offer. It's top notch and the one I will be going with plus they say it fits in typical gauge pods. The AEM is extra large and people have trouble fitting into a standard gauge pod without modifications, plus I have heard it tends to break down over time.

 

Ya i have heard bad things about aem, i was going to get one but some people on this site have told me they are not very accurate, so i probally get the Innovate LC-1 kit.