The "4 door Z" build (4DRZ)- 13 G37S 6spd sedan
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That is weird you had issues tuning a Subaru. Was it a Cobb tune? I used Cobb Accessport on 3 Subarus and they were flawless for years.
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience too, but glad I am not the only one.
Last edited by slartibartfast; Aug 11, 2018 at 05:25 PM.
I can't vouch for the specifics of Moncef's street tuning business, but he and I go way back on the Maxima forum, and I'm confident in saying the guy is a straight shooter, thorough and honest.
Just last night, I discovered these guys here: http://www.berg-racing.com/
Some emails back and forth today, and although primarily a Mazda/Honda shop, I was told by the owner they do EcuTek tunes, so that has possibilities for me, because they're local.
Just last night, I discovered these guys here: http://www.berg-racing.com/
Some emails back and forth today, and although primarily a Mazda/Honda shop, I was told by the owner they do EcuTek tunes, so that has possibilities for me, because they're local.
Last edited by Rochester; Oct 18, 2017 at 04:47 PM.
Word of advice: don't buy a first year platform and have much hope to mod in a timely manner.
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I know about Z nationals and did not even try calling them late last week as a result. This issue has been going on most of this year.
I've always had good luck with Spencer. He seems to know his stuff, but in this situation about all he can do is try to get ahold of Jon which is useless. I left a message with Spencer 1st thing this morning for Jon to call me. I never heard anything all day so I called them 10 minutes before closing and Jon answered just by chance.
Jon told me he was looking into the data logs I sent to him this morning and said he would e-mail me the solution when he had a chance. (Usually, this means I will never hear anything back and I have to try calling every day for a week before I can talk to him for more than 3 seconds at a time) Shockingly, he called me back 10 minutes later?!? This is the first time anyone from Z1 has returned any of my calls. I think it was because I made it very clear to Jon yesterday that I was sick and tired of being ignored and wanted the tune I paid for at the start of the year to finally work!
He called to tell me that he was looking at someone else's data log earlier when he said he was looking at mine, but now had mine up and my car seemed to be running super rich. (There were lots of spots where the A/F ratio was either bottomed out at 10 or maxed out at 60- not sure which is lean and which is rich since I believe the rpm he said was ultra rich was at 10 for A/F) He said he was going to lean it out and e-mail me a new tune and actually did while I was on the phone.
Unfortunately, I was unable to flash my ECU because the "new" cable I paid full price for apparently was actually a used cable with the wrong license on it so it would not work. So I had to copy the files for the cable, e-mail them to Jon and then he e-mailed the right license to me about an hour later.
It worked and I was able to reflash my ECU. Instantly the car drove better and seemed to have a lot more power. I data logged the same 2 types of runs that put the car into limp mode and threw a CE light yesterday and it seemed to pull ok and no limp mode. However, I was unable to hit limp mode last night either so I am going to try again tomorrow morning to be sure. It did seem to drive better, but looking at the data logs still showed some 10 and 60 (max and min) readings for A/F so it may be better, but I am not sure it is fixed yet.
All in all, I count today as the first good day in this LOOOONG process as I was able to accomplish more today than in the last 6 months combined.
I've always had good luck with Spencer. He seems to know his stuff, but in this situation about all he can do is try to get ahold of Jon which is useless. I left a message with Spencer 1st thing this morning for Jon to call me. I never heard anything all day so I called them 10 minutes before closing and Jon answered just by chance.
Jon told me he was looking into the data logs I sent to him this morning and said he would e-mail me the solution when he had a chance. (Usually, this means I will never hear anything back and I have to try calling every day for a week before I can talk to him for more than 3 seconds at a time) Shockingly, he called me back 10 minutes later?!? This is the first time anyone from Z1 has returned any of my calls. I think it was because I made it very clear to Jon yesterday that I was sick and tired of being ignored and wanted the tune I paid for at the start of the year to finally work!
He called to tell me that he was looking at someone else's data log earlier when he said he was looking at mine, but now had mine up and my car seemed to be running super rich. (There were lots of spots where the A/F ratio was either bottomed out at 10 or maxed out at 60- not sure which is lean and which is rich since I believe the rpm he said was ultra rich was at 10 for A/F) He said he was going to lean it out and e-mail me a new tune and actually did while I was on the phone.
Unfortunately, I was unable to flash my ECU because the "new" cable I paid full price for apparently was actually a used cable with the wrong license on it so it would not work. So I had to copy the files for the cable, e-mail them to Jon and then he e-mailed the right license to me about an hour later.
It worked and I was able to reflash my ECU. Instantly the car drove better and seemed to have a lot more power. I data logged the same 2 types of runs that put the car into limp mode and threw a CE light yesterday and it seemed to pull ok and no limp mode. However, I was unable to hit limp mode last night either so I am going to try again tomorrow morning to be sure. It did seem to drive better, but looking at the data logs still showed some 10 and 60 (max and min) readings for A/F so it may be better, but I am not sure it is fixed yet.
All in all, I count today as the first good day in this LOOOONG process as I was able to accomplish more today than in the last 6 months combined.
Last edited by slartibartfast; Aug 11, 2018 at 05:27 PM.
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I sent Jon a data log today and he sent me another tune. Apparently it is really easy for him to alter a tune- which is a great thing. So we are making progress.
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Well, Jon has sent me 3 different tunes for my car so far, but probably only because I hound him about it. I will e-mail him a data log, but I never hear anything back unless I leave him a few messages and finally get through to him on the phone.
I am glad we are making some progress and the car seems to be driving well, but I wish Jon would at least call me back or offer to do something extra for all the trouble. I understand if you are busy, but at least make an attempt at effort or have someone else from Z1 reach out to me.
So lesson learned the hard way- if any of you get the Z1 400hp package- DO NOT get their mail-in tune. Get it tuned locally on a dyno.
I am glad we are making some progress and the car seems to be driving well, but I wish Jon would at least call me back or offer to do something extra for all the trouble. I understand if you are busy, but at least make an attempt at effort or have someone else from Z1 reach out to me.
So lesson learned the hard way- if any of you get the Z1 400hp package- DO NOT get their mail-in tune. Get it tuned locally on a dyno.
I think there are pluses and minuses to both approaches; dyno tune vs remote tuning. Both can be a fun project, the dyno tune happens all on the same day, and the remote tune gets you personally involved in the process, with incremental progress, making for more of a hobby event. Of course, you need a laptop for the remote tune, and mine is from the Stone Age. Or you could go full Bluetooth into a smartphone or tablet, but that's pretty darn expensive.
I'm trying to learn as much as I can about this stuff the closer I get to next Spring.
Last edited by Rochester; Oct 23, 2017 at 04:17 PM.
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You also have to pay $225 for a cable to hook up your lap top to the car. You might be able to plug it into a tablet that is not an ipad, but definitely not a smart phone. Even if you could, you would have a really tough time reading the data logs on a cell phone. Then you have to download all the software and familiarize yourself with how everything works so you don't mess up your ECU- not too difficult to do, but some people will struggle with this.
Then you have to account for all the time and gas wasted it takes to get a good data log without traffic- not to mention trying to be safe while taking your eyes off the road when you are close to redline merging with traffic trying to stop the data log or start it in traffic.
There is also all the time wasted trying to send data logs and tunes back and forth via e-mail and trying to get ahold of the tuner. Here I am a week later and we are "close" to getting the car tuned, but not there yet.
Quite a pain compared to working with Cobb tunes via their Accessport. You just got the parts to go with whatever stage tune you wanted. You hooked up the Accessport and picked the tune you wanted and 2 minutes later you were ready to rock. It was super simple and reliable. I did this to 3 different Subarus that I raced for over a decade and never had one issue. A dyno tune would not be quite that easy, but it would sure beat the 10 months worth of B.S. I have been going through with Z1 just to get their one tune to work.
Sorry for the rant Rochester, but I wanted to give you some perspective so you see what all is involved vs. a dyno tune.
Then you have to account for all the time and gas wasted it takes to get a good data log without traffic- not to mention trying to be safe while taking your eyes off the road when you are close to redline merging with traffic trying to stop the data log or start it in traffic.
There is also all the time wasted trying to send data logs and tunes back and forth via e-mail and trying to get ahold of the tuner. Here I am a week later and we are "close" to getting the car tuned, but not there yet.
Quite a pain compared to working with Cobb tunes via their Accessport. You just got the parts to go with whatever stage tune you wanted. You hooked up the Accessport and picked the tune you wanted and 2 minutes later you were ready to rock. It was super simple and reliable. I did this to 3 different Subarus that I raced for over a decade and never had one issue. A dyno tune would not be quite that easy, but it would sure beat the 10 months worth of B.S. I have been going through with Z1 just to get their one tune to work.
Sorry for the rant Rochester, but I wanted to give you some perspective so you see what all is involved vs. a dyno tune.
No apologies necessary. It's just more to take in as I assess this mod, so it's all good. I'm not moving on this until next Spring, so I've got all Winter to keep poking at it.
It's my understanding that Bluetooth is a new feature for EcuTek, but it's much more expensive for that convenience. Probably best for people who are going to personally tweak things, instead of simply use the components to upload maps from a remote tuner. Anyway, you're right: cost of the cable, cost of the license, and cost of the service. It can add up to where the remote tune is no bargain over the dyno tune.
Gas wasted... LOL
You kill me.
[edit]
Just realized that Moncef's remote tune is UpRev, not EcuTek. And he's asking $300 for the process.
http://www.administrationtuning.com/
It's my understanding that Bluetooth is a new feature for EcuTek, but it's much more expensive for that convenience. Probably best for people who are going to personally tweak things, instead of simply use the components to upload maps from a remote tuner. Anyway, you're right: cost of the cable, cost of the license, and cost of the service. It can add up to where the remote tune is no bargain over the dyno tune.
Gas wasted... LOL
You kill me.[edit]
Just realized that Moncef's remote tune is UpRev, not EcuTek. And he's asking $300 for the process.
http://www.administrationtuning.com/
Last edited by Rochester; Oct 24, 2017 at 09:17 AM.
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Anyway, you're right: cost of the cable, cost of the license, and cost of the service. It can add up to where the remote tune is no bargain over the dyno tune.
Gas wasted... LOL You kill me.
[edit]
Just realized that Moncef's remote tune is UpRev, not EcuTek. And he's asking $300 for the process.
AdminTuning || Tuning Services || 370Z, G37 Intakes || 350Z, G35 Intakes || Oil Catch Can Solutions
Gas wasted... LOL
You kill me.[edit]
Just realized that Moncef's remote tune is UpRev, not EcuTek. And he's asking $300 for the process.
AdminTuning || Tuning Services || 370Z, G37 Intakes || 350Z, G35 Intakes || Oil Catch Can Solutions
Gas does become an issue because I get about 3mpg at full throttle in 3rd gear. Trying to hit redline puts me way over the speed limit here so I also need to be weary of police as well as not causing an accident as everyone here merges onto the highway a good 30mph below the speed limit?!? And my car was going into limp mode a lot more readily in the morning when there is a lot more traffic so it was almost impossible to get a good data log. I must have done 15 pulls one night when there was not much traffic trying to hit limp mode. I have almost gone through a tank of gas already and only send out a few dyno logs. I would imagine it would take a lot more if you started tuning this way. Hopefully, I don't have to go through this whole process to get the 93 octane map that was supposed to be sent along originally, but I still don't have.
This has been an almost 11 month process so far just trying to dial in one tune and it shows no signs of ending. I would much rather pay double or triple to do it all in one day on a dyno. Trust me, not worth it.
I almost forgot. I also sent in my ecu to be reflashed originally so my car was down for over a week while I sent in the ecu and waited for the tune and for it to be sent back. Maybe they can do everything via the $225 cable now, but that really sucked too since this is my only car.
It dropped about 30-40 degrees here in the last week so I wonder how that will affect the data logs now. The other issue is that I am dangerously close to needing to swap over to winter tires due to our low temps. That will make it nearly impossible to get a good run because I will be so traction limited.
I almost forgot. I also sent in my ecu to be reflashed originally so my car was down for over a week while I sent in the ecu and waited for the tune and for it to be sent back. Maybe they can do everything via the $225 cable now, but that really sucked too since this is my only car
I didn't know you did that. Quite a leap of faith, dismantling your ECU and shipping it cross the country. Is "hands-on" access to the ECU a requirement of the UpRev tune only, or both? Because I don't think Specialty-Z (using EcuTek) does this round-trip thing with your ECU.Tomorrow I visit the local race shop who said they can apply an EcuTek tune, analyzing runs on their dyno. I'm just meeting with the owner and his tuning technician, to check out their shop... gathering info for next Spring. And along those lines, I'm processing your experience here, weighing Remote vs. Dyno Tunes. In other words, your rants aren't wasted on me, although I think they are probably tainted by Z1's poor service.