kroy

Hi guys, I was looking into tuning my ipl and saw a lot of mention of Visconti. I took a look at their site and they offer a package for $650 (off the shelf version + cables). Their custom tune was $850. I would just get the $650 basic one.

I also called a local tuner shop and they charged $700 including dyno. But no cables.

I'm wondering if it's better to go to my local tuner. It does cost $50 more and is missing the cable, but it's a custom tune. And I'll be able to find out a before/after dyno.

I have a stock IPL and am putting on intake before tune. Only other mod I'm thinking about is rfhc.

zer099

iTrader: (2)

Have you considered Sebastian with Specialty Z? I would contact and talk about your plans with Visconti also before making a choice. If you want to consider Seb, contact him as well. $700 for no cables seems like a lot; but I could be wrong. I picked up my cable and dongle for $100 on ebay; you really only need it if you are going to log or do e-tunes/reflashes.

If the local tuner is reputable and has done a few VQs, is good with ALL aspects of tuning our engine, and gets you dyno numbers and spends a little time street tuning your car then go with the local. Some people really want those dyno sheets, and I get that; but how much is it worth?

kroy

I just called rallinspired, which was a local tuner on the ecutek website. 700 is to custom tune my car with ecutek. Just no cables.

I looked at the link for specialty z. It looks like visconti but more expensive. They charge you for all the bells and whistles. Am I missing something? Do they have a local shop to dyno me included in that price?

Local shop actually sounding like a good deal now. I most want the cable to tune back to stock if I want later.

zer099

iTrader: (2)

It's all in who you trust and what you want done. I did a local tune for the base numbers. If I had to do it again I would go with Seb as I would get more out of the tune, and I most likely would have yielded much better numbers. I am debating driving 200 miles to SoHo Motorsports to get retuned once I swap the cams out as they have been showing good yields with their tunes as of late.

If remote tuning I would go with Seb all day long. He has yielded better numbers, he has by far the best customer service I have ever seen from anyone in this industry, and I will get the most out of ECUtek with him. They do have a local shop. I'm not extremely familiar with Cali, but I know its out there somewhere.

RALLInspired seems to have good mentions in other car circles. I'm not sure what their VQ experience is, but honestly at the end of the day I would go with who you trust your car with. It might pay also to go check out the 370z forums to get some more info on tuning as they are more versed in the tuners and getting good numbers.

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

Go with Seb at Specialtyz without a doubt. You'll definitely want the throttle hijack and EcuTek traction control. You can find a used cable, often on Ebay. Doesn't matter what car it's for, they work with every car as long as you have the cable and the USB key. So if it says it's for say a Toyota or Subaru, won't matter. It works on the G37 too.

I'd do the intake and the RHFC's before the tune as well. It'll just make things easier for you in the long run.

kroy

I'm actually scheduled to get tuned at specialty z this Thursday.

Still trying to get a cable. Prices seem a bit inflated on ebay right now.

Jonesmeister11

iTrader: (1)

I went with Visconti. Only complaint I have is John's attitude. I honestly think he's just overworking him self, as he is a solo operation; or at least he was when he tuned my car.

He's not rude, but is very rushed and just answers questions with as short of a response as he can. He's not one for small talk. As a mech engineering student, I'm very familiar with the blue type personalities that almost 100% of my classmates have, I am an exception . Usually when you inform them you are one of them, they open up a bit more. John did not.

Would I go with him again? Yes, I feel he did a good job with my tune, although have not dyned, power is def better. I am curious if Seb would have been able to get more power. I mainly wanted to sharpen throttle response, help correct afr, and 2step/launch control.

Awgd8

iTrader: (1)

I have a 2015 Q40 awd 7A/T that tuned by Visconti in 2015. I did a street tune at 500 miles . LOL! John did an awsome tune on mine, but he no longer answered my email.
My DD tune is # 4 which is the most aggressive and I've been using that for 2 years now with no problem. (93 shell gas )

If I have to do it again, I'll try Seb (Sebastian) from specialty Z. His tune comes with Throttle hijack unlike Visconti. I already have a tune from Visconti, but Seb charges $200 to retune mine if I decided to have throttle hijack. So I'll start from scratch and do some street logging.
AMNQV had both Sebastian and Visconti tune on his long gone car. He said Seb tune is night and day due to the additional throttle response via throttle hijack tune, but I believe he did have minor issue with Sebastian tune. I not sure if that was resolved.

Also, the reason why he tried Seb after Visconti tuned his car was Visconti's tuned is a bit conservative on the higher RPM. It pulls back the timing and not utilizing it's potential. Also the throttle hijack is a must!

Sadly, AMNVQ moved to the dark side. ( BMW 335)

Jonesmeister11

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I have the same issues with John Visconti. He won't reply to emails. Oddly enough, about two days after I posted this he emailed me asking how my car was. I replied with just small talk. He replied. I replied asking for a revision of the tune allowing emissions to be ready, no response. Not surprised.

How do you change your maps? Is it through the steering wheel or do you have to grab a laptop and reflash? Also what is the throttle hijack?

Awgd8

iTrader: (1)

You can toggle maps by using the cruise control button on the steering wheel.

I have an issue with Valet map (tachometer toggle at 7500 RPM)that's why I never used the valet map. Sometimes I select map quickly and instead of choosing RPM 4k (map4) I accidentally pick the 7.5k rpm (valet)

Here is the bad thing with my valet. It gets stuck all the time. I have a hard time getting out of it even if I do the mapping sequence to go to another map.
It's a trial and error. One time I was 50 miles away from home and accidentally hit the valey map and I had to toggle the cruise control button 20x !
The only way to find out if I'm still in valet mode is thr rpm will not go anbove 5k rpm when you hit the gas pedal while park or in neutral.

Also, scary on the hwy since it can't go more than 50mph when you are in 5th gear... getting rearended is waiting to happen.

Throttle hijack removed the throttle restriction on lower RPM such as when you are off the line. When you floor the gas without throttle hijack, the ECu puts restriction on how much the throttle plate opens in a given speed. Eg 5-10Mph throttle plate of 50% open (even though you floor the gas pedal) etc.

If you have the throttle hijack, just by releasing the brake pedal, the throttle response is noticeable, some say it is a bit scary if you don't pay attention and rear ended the car in front of you. I don't have the throttle hijack in my tune so I just heard it from some member here with that tune.

Jonesmeister11

iTrader: (1)

I'm a 6 speed, will throttle hijack make a difference? Is this the A/T solution to launch control/2step?

Also, how do you switch maps? I have to plug my PC in and use tuner assist to switch maps from "stage 1" file to stock. I don't even think I have valet map

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

Getting stuck in valet mode is a corrupt map. Your tuner will have to redo the map and send you a new one. I had this issue as well and it's basically an issue between EcuTek software and your ECU version. Once he fixed mine, I'v not had an issue since.

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

With your cruise control off, you can hit the cancel button (up) until the tach moves with the car running but in park. You'll see the tach needle move from 1K to 2K to 3K to 4K to valet. I believe it's four maps tops which is what I have.

Throttle hijack will be noticeable on a 6-speed manual or auto. Doesn't matter. I don't have launch control but it was my understanding it's a manual-only option.

Jonesmeister11

iTrader: (1)

Well I tried valet mode, cool feature! It'd be even cooler if John had given me more than just my "stage 1" flash and valet mode. It would be even COOLER if I was not stuck in valet mode now.

Anyway to get it out of valet mode until John responds to my email with the uncorrupt file? I assume I can reflash my stage 1 file?

Ape Factory

iTrader: (3)

Yep, just reload the map.

Edit: I have four maps but mostly because I requested it from Seb. I basically have two hot weather and two cooler weather maps with the transition point at 95 degrees Fahrenheit. For the two cooler and two hot weather, I have a different degree of throttle hijack, one more abrupt than the other. It's taken me a while to get used to the most severe throttle setting but it's what I drive on most of the time now. The throttle hijack also isn't a "global" setting so it requires custom maps for each throttle hijack map.