13 years later, thoughts on Tuners

[Svashtar]

Just some thoughts on tuning as my driving habits have changed over the years. Your input is welcome. I started with the Superchips 1725. Took off the top speed limiter, told it about the 4:10 gears, and it was a great addition. Really woke the car up.

Wanted a "better" race tune, so bought the SCT 9100 from DR pretty much at the end of it's life cycle, just before all the Xcal and other tuners were coming out. Dennis offered to exchange it, but I made the purchase decision and it wasn't on him to take any kind of a loss on it. Paid $425 for the tuner and $75 for a computer download cable I've used once.

That first tune lasted 3-4 years, but I was never super happy with it. Was great balls out, but had some dead spots in conjunction with the Stallion TC, and around town it was a bit jerky in spots. Dennis sent me an upgrade tune via email a few years later that was much better all around, a very good general tune, that really kicked in when you jumped on it. Still, I didn't consider it a "daily driver" tune.

Three years ago I started being hard on the car for the first time because I took a job just 1.5 miles from my house. The race tune just didn't work of course, that's not what it's for, and I was getting 9 MPG with my mods as the car never came off choke.

I put the stock tune back on, MPG went up, but with the TC it's really spongy at low speeds, and of course my speedo is off because of the gears.

What I need is a "mid-level" tune between the balls out DR and the weak stock tune. And that's the 1725! Of course like an idiot I sold mine here when I got the 9100.

If anyone knows where I can get a 1725 or the equivalent "around town" tune, please let me know.

Thanks!

Norm

[Mr. Man]

Marty at Mo's Speed shop will hook you up. He's a vendor here and his tune is the tits.

[RubberCtyRauder]

Get a Mo's speed shop tune, the 1725 is super outdated. member martyo, cbeck the vendor section for theur forum which he is on daily.

[martyo]

I'd be happy to help you.

Feel free to message me.

[Svashtar]

Thanks Marty. I sent you an email but will PM you as well. I know the 1725 is ancient (hell, the 9100 is too for that matter), but it was a good boost over the OEM tune, and between it and the balls out DR tune was a decent compromise.

I'll be in touch, thanks.

[RubberCtyRauder]

DR is gone and made a lot of enemies here by cheating them out of services, money, parts, motors.
Marty's tune is in so many marauders now, couldn't even count the number. Marty stands by his tune and it can be customized per your liking and he is reachable 7 days a week. You'll be glad you work with Marty.

[chief455]

+10
After you drive with Marty's tune, you'll know you have jumped ahead a decade. Work with him until it's just how you like, it's worth the few emails.

[BAD MERC]

I still have my XCAL2 and think it hunts for upshifts way too early. I only used mine to raise shift pressure and accommodate for gears. When I do my JMod I may or may not need to adjust my trans shift settings.

I'm still on the quest for forced induction so I can't rule out anything just yet.

[Shinker]

Interesting. I would like to get an appropriate tune for my 03 as well. More power always good. I was in Ontario a month ago and picked up a set of stage 1 reground cams from Sean Hyland Motorsport I'm hoping to install this winter. Do I need a custom tune when changing to stage 1 cams?

[martyo]

Interesting. I would like to get an appropriate tune for my 03 as well. More power always good. I was in Ontario a month ago and picked up a set of stage 1 reground cams from Sean Hyland Motorsport I'm hoping to install this winter. Do I need a custom tune when changing to stage 1 cams?

Yes, cams will require tuning.

If you need a hand with the tuning, let me know.

[sailsmen]

DR is gone ............

Kaput!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RF Overlord]

Norm, you seem to be confusing the hardware (1725, 9100, XCal) with the tune. You'll likely not get anyone to write a tune for your 1725 or 9100 flash programmers as they are way obsolete. Get a new X4 and tune from Marty and rock on with your bad self.

BTW, welcome back...long time no see!

[Svashtar]

Thank RF, good to see you guys! I didn't know about DR, and had bought a ton of stuff from him. I did have a couple of minor issues with the wrong parts being sent, but we got it straight and he treated me fairly as far as I know, at least I felt like he was straight with me.

He could be a bit of a gruff SOB sometimes, but he never shafted me. (Autometer gauges, Densos, MMX drive shaft and loop, pro guard, Meziere WP, 4:10 gears, stud & girdle kit, rear engine cooling mod, Carr deep pan and Level II rebuild kit, PI3000, Granatelli solid coil connectors, tune and tuner, all DR, and some free advice on the phone which was helpful during install.)

I heard later there was some dissension among guys here with DR who were doing there own tunes, but never got into that.

I called Lidio in 2010 asking for his tune, but once he heard I was running a DR tune, had done the tranny rebuild, PI 3000 and cooling mod, he was very vehement about not wanting to do a tune for me; said those mods weren't a good match for his tune.

I had heard great things about the drivability of his tune, but ended the call when he went on a bit of a rant about DR and another forumite here who had just started out offering his own tunes (not MO). He made some allegations but I won't pass them on; let's just say he was really mad about both parties and the conversation wasn't going anywhere positive so I ended it. Competition being what it is I can see people getting hurt and having strong opinions.

And no, I understand your point, but I'm not confusing the hardware with the tune. The old Superchips 1725 had a decent simple canned tune that firmed up shifts, recognized the 4:10's, and could remove the limiter, and I have a couple of different 91 Octane tunes on the old SCT 9100.

From what I know the Xcal 4 is just a vehicle for transferring the tune, so I was thinking it might even be possible to save that tune off without buying the Xcal using the old 9100 file extension, but Marty says not. I'll have to research the tuner and see what it can do beyond just transferring the tune.

I appreciate the endorsements on Marty, and will follow up with him. That means a lot here. I know Marty from buying two sets of fender badges from him back in the day, but didn't know he had a performance shop.

Just wanted something in between the mushy Grand Marquis stock tune, and the low mileage hard shifting high revving DR tune, that makes the best of my mods.

Best,

Norm


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[sailsmen]

For Old Tunes try AutoLogic.

[ByronRACE]

Tune it yourself. www.moates.net has everything needed. I use that stuff now for my own vehicles.