Has anyone here tuned their car? (vehicle, AWD, tires, chip)

[rbohm]

Originally Posted by turf3

Well, to old farts like me, "tune" means adjusting idle mixture and the second stage linkage, points, condenser, plugs, and maybe wires, and timing. Synchronizing carburetors if you have multiple. Adjusting the needle position on SU carbs. New air filter, maybe fuel filter.

Modifying the engine in any number of ways is "hopping up" the engine or "hot rodding" it.

Blueprinting is one thing that can be done in the course of hot rodding an engine; balancing is another. Porting and polishing are two more.

All these things have specific meanings, not generic ones.

If you twiddle with the electronic engine controls, you're going to be giving something up.

tuning can also mean, for us old school guys, especially those of us that raced, swapping cams, intakes, exhaust headers, along with changing jets, adjusting the barrel valve(mechanical fuel injection), changing springs in various bypass valves to change the fuel curve, even changing fuel pumps to get the needed fuel flow for track conditions.


and beyond that we also tune the chassis as well, setting suspension preloads, tire pressures, wheelie bar tensions for drag racers, spring pressures on the multi disc clutches, and even in the modern era setting tha mechanical clutch timers for funny cars and dragsters, and even pro stock cars, changing trans and rear gears to match track conditions, changing suspension alignment settings again to match track conditions.


the point here is that "tuning" can mean many different things to different people.

[don1945]

Originally Posted by Matthew_MI

Just curious, how you liked the results...

Not sure what you are asking. Sure, I have tuned up my own cars for 60 years. It used to entail things like changing and gapping the sparkplugs, replacing points (that went away with the advent of electronic ignition ), sometimes changing plug wires, resetting the timing, etc.

With newer cars, there is not a lot you can do, the computer does most of it. All you can do is change plugs and any worn parts these days.

[burdell]

Originally Posted by cebuan

I used to change my points and plugs.

In a way I kinda miss those days when you did that and the car ran noticeably better. Then again, these days when a car goes tens of thousands of miles running the same aren't too shabby either.

[turf3]

Originally Posted by burdell

In a way I kinda miss those days when you did that and the car ran noticeably better. Then again, these days when a car goes tens of thousands of miles running the same aren't too shabby either.

I miss those days until I remember standing under the hood in the freezing cold or flaming heat trying to figure out what to change so the damn thing would keep running; and then I am very thankful for computer-controlled ignition and fuel mixture controls.

[don1945]

I'm old school, I like lotsa carburetors and a distributor, but I have to admit, my newer cars fire up instantly with fuel injection and pull a lot smoother. But when a problem comes up, I find it hard to diagnose where to start looking. With a carburetor and distributor, it is easy to narrow down......it is either a fuel or spark problem.

[LesLucid]

I had a mild, canned SCT tune done on my, otherwise stock, Panoz. According to the accelerometer I have, I picked up a couple HP.

Edit: oh, and a lower temp thermostat.

[Gatopescado]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

built up over 100 early 1970's BMW 2002 engines … carb'ed, naturally aspirated, and in a modest stage of tune from the factory when new.

we usually installed higher compression Mahle pistons (.5 pt to 1.5 pts higher compression) with Deeves piston rings, several different "improved" cam profiles, larger diameter intake valves, and a tii distributor with electronic ignition instead of the points set-up. Intake manifolds were changed over from the 1-bbl carb to a 2-bbl carb (various Weber downdrafts, or for an extreme set-up, two each weber sidedraft carbs, along with the better flowing years of OE exhaust manifolds.

Hey, this is my set-up! I'm running between 5-7000ft altitude, and the twin Weber's got a wicked stumble right around 3500 rpm.

Trying to tune those beasts could run me into the poor-house! Got any suggestions?

[burdell]

Originally Posted by turf3

I miss those days until I remember standing under the hood in the freezing cold or flaming heat trying to figure out what to change so the damn thing would keep running; and then I am very thankful for computer-controlled ignition and fuel mixture controls.

Yeh, none of us are getting any younger, eh?

[earthisle]

Yes I had a Mustang and I got a custom tune from Bama and flashed it myself with the OBD device. It didn't increase power much but it improved throttle response by reducing the built in lag.

I'm planning to get a "stage 1" tune for my Golf Alltrack because stock it only has 170hp

[burdell]

Originally Posted by don1945

I'm old school, I like lotsa carburetors and a distributor, but I have to admit, my newer cars fire up instantly with fuel injection and pull a lot smoother. But when a problem comes up, I find it hard to diagnose where to start looking. With a carburetor and distributor, it is easy to narrow down......it is either a fuel or spark problem.

I'm curious because the newer stuff has me fixing fewer things. I worked for a manufacturer at one time and they had something called a pin-out box that plugged into the ECU connector and allowed you check things like the continuity, resistance, voltage, etc. of various components at the box rather than having to locate/access each individual component. Is there anything in the aftermarket giving similar convenience on multiple brands?