DYNO VS. STREET TUNE, discuss....
 

So I have been waiting for my tuner to tune me for over 6 months now. I waited that long because he is a proven tuner god in STL, this is undisputed....period. Unfortunately he has had some things come up in his life, as they do, and he has not been able to get ti me. While I understand this completely, I am tired of waiting and it is beginning to get cold.

That said, I am considering taking it to a local shop who is also highly recommended for dyno tunes. This shop has done other work for me, I have been extremely happy with the service and work, and the shop is held in high regard around here as well. That means I am not sweating what the quality of the tune would be, but I want to hear from you guys to see what the real facts are from tuners, drivers, and those "in the know" about this kind of thing.


Ready, set, educate me..........

you don't drive around on a dyno do you? get it running on one, dial it in on the street.

^this

Good point. So what about these email tunes and shit people keep talking about? What if I get it running on the dyno and see if I can somehow do the data logging and send my shit in to them?

How do you guys feel about that? Is it as good as an actual stret tune. Sounds like it would be the same thing but just me driving instead of them.

im currently being email tuned by zzp. i purchased a stage kit, went with a 2.7" pulley, 60lb injectors and their intake. they sent me a tune, i loaded it in and went for a drive while data logging. idle showed high fuel trims (lean), but full throttle was rich and safe. i sent them the log right away, the next morning i had another file to try. idle was fixed, cruise fuel trims were perfect, full throttle was cleaned up. i have sent another couple logs in, i have a little bit of a rolling idle during warm up that developed after the first revision, and my fuel trims during deceleration before fuel cut kicks in are high.

there is no reason an email tune isnt as good as a street tune, the only difference is the tuner can be across the country instead of in the passenger seat, he looks at the same data. it will help when you can tell exactly whats going on. i go through my logs before i send them off, list off any points im concerned about, send a detailed report of how the car feels and what im concerned about, and it gets worked on.

myself, id recommend the guys at zzp. the fuel trims on my car have never been so close as they are now, the car pulls harder than i expected, and it still looks safe. im very happy with mine, even with it not quite perfect yet, but its getting worked on.

Both...

/thread

Lol on thread. Every tuners different..... I tune via street the. if my customer wants to dyno ill dyno tune off needed

i street tuned, got it running mint, and when i dynoed i logged it and it was fine

U mean street logged lol^^

oops .. yea ^ ha

lmao

Thank you for this post. It was actually just what I was looking to hear. I'm wondering though... what equipment did you use for data logging? How do you send them that data?

hptuners

yes you will need your own copy of hp tuners. id recommend the pro version, it allows you to easily data log a wideband o2 sensor, something else i consider a must when tuning. all you do is save the log, send it to them in an email, and they will email you another flash.

I am currently street tuned by a great tuner. I have also done work in tuning, Im not quite great at it lol, still learning. I am telling you this because you should never ever beat on your car, email the file, and expect one back because if you do not know how to monitor the car to keep from destroying it then you will destroy it just trying to get a data log.

I strongly suggest getting the car mapped and driveable by street tuning.
Changes for fuel mixtures (winter or summer), maf calibration, etc can be done on the street.

Once the car is drive able, then you drive it to a dyno. Once the car is on the dyno, they can access TONS of areas of the different maps that you will NEVER be able to see on the street. If you tune for STL and then need to drive to Colorado, and you have no parts of those maps filled out i.e. you arent tuned for it. You will destroy your car.

Now, after all of that is said and done, the dyno still wont see everything, there will small areas that you will access where there are small drive-ability issues. At this point a tuner will again "street" tune you by making very minor adjustments to level out the drive-ability.

hope this helps,

l8r,
PD

ps- there arent any tuning gods lol, just ppl that are good/great at it, the more you do the better you can get it, any one who says they are a tuning god, completely avoid them, your car will end up in pieces

He doesn't ever call himself that, just the people he has tuned.

I really think a car should be street tuned over dyno tuned bc you get real world effects on the car. Wind, friction, proper cooling, temps... I think the only thing where the dyno is handy is if you're tryng to stay at a certain power level. Can't get that from a street tune. Furthermore, dynos are EXPENSIVE and the car just sits there and soaks up heat. I've yet to see a shop with anywhere close to street cooling capabilities.

I've been dyno tuned once and street tuned several (different cars). I'll probably never get dyno tuned again other than maybe a final detail dial in for power desires.

Ok, well I hope he is as good as they say, just remember to learn everything that you can.

As I stated, there are tons of things that you will rarely see on the street. If you have ever datalogged a car with HP Tuners, take a look at your histograms and see how long you would need to drive to hit ALL of them. It will take an inconceivable amount of time. Now take the same car, put it on a dyno and watch what you can do by varying load and getting the car to stay at a set RPM. You can cover every cell repeatedly. That is a tool that cannot be matched on the street.

l8r,
PD

SO what you are really saying is that both are necessary to get the full potential out of the car.

Tons of things? Name 5.

:)

lol YOU can put any load on a car while street tuning. You dont need a dyno to tune or to get all the cells, in fact Dyno tuning to begin is the dumbest thing ever. Youll have way more heat soak, youll have Less cells hit in areas where you woulda hit before on the stret like low end cells.. (So im sorry to say this comment is nonsense.. Oh yeah to datalogg correctly youl need to datalog for at least 20-30 mins at least .. yOU CAN DO 15 MINS WHICH IS FINE BUT IT DEPENDS ON CAR....... LNFS require time to be driven because the Knock sensors are sorta frisky on first statup and also the heat soak. LSJs get it to 172 coolant temps reset fuel trims and start logging... Every cars different.

:twothumbs

Wish i knew someone with HPTuners so my car could pass emissions...expired tags are cool! Haha

lol my inspection and emission are from last year fuck it if i get pulled over i just play stupid and get a fix it at most not like theyre gonna give me some crazy fine or nothin just keep ur insurance and registration up to date chances are cop aint gonna look at inspection if ur other shit checks

Absolutely! If you cant afford tuning on a dyno then street tuning will do what you need it to do. Just if you get an opportunity then please put it on the dyno. Good luck with everything and if you feel something isnt right then please shoot me a PM and get HP Tuners so you can log and I'll help in every way possible.

l8r,
PD

Wow thanks man, I really appreciate that. I really dont want to blow up my engine and I also dont want to spend a fortune...lol.

Here is what I have planned after many many pm's and the responses to this thread. Im going to get it dyno tuned first at the same time they install my 60"s and my interceptor, then, there is a local guy on here who has agreed to let me use his HPTuners, Im going to get the necessary stuff logged, and send the file to CobaltSS3 on here and he has agreed to work with me online...... sounds like a win. If I ever get the chance I will purchase HPTuners myself too. This website is FULL OF WIN. Thanks you CobaltSS.net members. (no homo)