Hello everyone. After months of waiting, all of my back-ordered mods have come in. I had my ark exhaust put on yesterday, and I have a CAÍ, test pipes, and headers sitting in my garage. Now I just need to decide how and who should tune my car. I live in Dallas, and I know that jotech is local. However, they advertise they use Uprev to tune Vq’s, and I am pretty sold on Ecutek specifically for the mobile app. As far as I know AdminTuning in Houston is the closest ecutek tuner for these cars.
Regardless of the tuner I want to get my car dynoed, but I don't know if it's worth driving to Houston just to get an ecutek tune.

If anyone has been tuned by either of these tuners(or another one in the DTX area), i’d like to know how your tuning session went, what software was used, what your performance gains were, and how your G has held up after the tune. Is there a significant difference between an uprev and ecutek tune? Are there any other mods I should consider before pulling the plug on a tune? Thanks.

 

If you're staying n/a nothing wrong with uprev .they may even have more features.
if going FI then definitely need ECUTEK

 

You're only a 4 hour drive from an in-house dyno tune at AdminTuning. Schedule an appointment, reserve a room nearby for an overnight (or two), throw your parts in the trunk, and make an event out of it. Seems to me you've got a great opportunity right in front of you.

 

I tuned with Limp Mode Tuning in Portland, ME. They did a great job with my car. My mods engine wise were: ISR Resonate Test Pipes, Invidia Catback Exhaust, aFE Pro Dry-S Filters, and Z1 Intake Tubes.

I was sold on Ecutek because of the phone app. It meant that you could change maps while driving, view live engine data, data log (great for re-tunes or e-tuning), and read diagnostic codes on the fly. That was something that Uprev does not offer (at least that I know of).

Talking with them, they told me that it was down to preference as results will generally be the same unless with you were running FI.

Attached are my gains:

 

Update: First off, thank you all for your responses. I got my test pipes in a few days ago, and I was almost ready to go get tuned. Just needed to find a tuner.
However, I had a gut feeling I should do a compression test before I try to push my engine. So I did, and it's not looking great IMO. When I pulled my spark plugs,
(changed at 70K, 85K on odo now) all of them had some black build-up on the threads and around the electrodes. Areas on the threads, and electrodes where the was no build-up
were a light brownish color, and reddish color respectively. I tested each cylinder 3 times, cranking the engine while warm and at WOT. Not sure how much life my motor has left in
it, not sure if I'm overreacting, but hopefully I will be able to sort this out soon.

The FSM shows that the minimum PSI is 178, and the standard range is 242-341.

Average PSI per cylinder:
1: 200
2: 212
3: 197
4: 213
5: 201
6: 205

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the standard range. There are a few was to go about testing compression as when I did mine I think I was in the 150 to 157 range. I don't really know what you mean by testing it at WOT. Depends on gauge also.
I believe when you are checking compression you should look more if the number (psi)if relatively close across the board .you have a 16 psi difference in cylinder 3 and 4. Honestly if it was my car its nothing I would worry about.Everthing looks good if testing was done the same on all cylinders.

If still worried about it just drop in some new plugs as your cars a/f might of been slightly off from previous mods before testpipes.Not sure what you have.

 

Wouldn’t a lower compression result be a sign of worn piston rings though? I guess it could something like out of spec cams not letting in enough air, dirty valves letting air out, or the gauge like you said, but the deposits on the spark plug threads look like oil fouling to me. I didn’t expect to get perfect results, but based on the numbers I think I’d be walking on thin ice if I get tuned without knowing the state of the cylinders. As for mods on the car that might affect A/F I only have my cat back installed.

Compression testing with the throttle pedal fully depressed is what the FSM recommends. My throttle bodies were off during the test and I tested bank 1 without going WOT by mistake. I redid the test at WOT and the compression increased 15-20 PSI per cylinder.

 

Yes on worn rings effect the compression but I dont believe that is the issue here.
I doubt the cams are out of spec but you can always do a leak down test to show the valves are seating (sealing)properly
I dont see the exhaust valves affecting the compression too much as the power stroke already happened (compression) before air is released.

As far as oil this engine makes quite a bit of vacuum especially high rpm. So your intake manifolds may be saturated in oil (extremely probable)hence the spark plug issue.

I asked about the WOT because it sounds like your engine was running. Maybe try a different method like a cold compression with a tablespoon/teaspoon of oil on top of pistons to make sure you get a good seal.3 to 4 revolution should be good.

Catback wont affect a/f ratio.The computer can compensate for that.

So maybe a leak down test if you really want to be sure.but like I said as long As it's good across the board. My compression was low and I'm now pushing over 700 whp. I had the same thoughts as you.

Leak down test is your best bet I believe.

 

Thanks for the insight. I'll be sure to run the tests you mentioned and check my intake.
Oil levels haven't fallen since my oil change 2 weeks ago but if my engine was burning excessive oil would there be any notable signs of that in my stock catback?
I took it off about 2 weeks ago but not sure what to look for and if it would be pointless to check considering the soot that has built up over the years.

Off-topic but I'm curious as to what you've done to be pushing 700WHP. Do you have a build thread?

 

No it wouldn't show up in your catback as everything should be burned off. It's not necessarily a issue or excessive oil consumption as that is what this setup is meant to do.but running the car at higher rpms more often than not will but more oil residue into your intake manifolds.

No build tread sorry, but the rotrex supercharger had alot to do with it.