Q - WHATS BETTER A PROTUNE OR E-TUNE?

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A - Oh, I love seeing this question pop up on facebook groups. First, a "protune" is a term created by cobb to signify that the tune is created by an authorized Cobb Protuner (someone they have vetted as professional and knowledgeable and trust to calibrate customer cars). I dont recommend talking to anyone that's a part of a different vehicle platform/community if they were "protuned," you will likely be laughed at.  What protune is typically misunderstood as, is a DYNO tune. A dyno tune is where the car is strapped to a chassis dynamometer (or hub in some cases) and the tuner completes the tuning process in a safe environment where its easy to put load on the engine/or keep it at a steady state to target certain parts of the map! There are a lot of downsides to dyno-tuning as most dyno cells have floor dryer fans pointed at the car to cool it down (very inefficient and doesn't replicate real world, you would need a multi-million dollar wind tunnel for that), the perfectly smooth and balanced rollers also don't mimic real world roads either. Dyno tuning is safer, yes, but 90% of the time if a car is tuned on the dyno, the customer/tuner will test the vehicle on the street after the tune to verify everything. E-tuning is the EXACT same process, taking logs, adjusting based on logs and repeating the process until tune is complete. The benefits here are plentiful, real world conditions, real aerodynamic drag, you're the one driving in the environment and atmospheric conditions the car will see almost its entire life! The e-tuning process may be a little longer than a few hours on a dyno, but the ending result is the same if not better than dyno tuning. This changes a bit with high powered cars as tuning on the road can be extremely unsafe and high g's can make staring and focusing on a laptop a bit harder, so the dyno is a great tool there. The main downside from e-tuning is if you have a mechanical issue that is hard to find the cause in the logs and the car isn't already sitting in a performance shop equipped to diagnose! This explanation can go on and on, but that's the meat and potatoes!

 

Q - CAN I ORDER A DYNO OR STREET TUNE?

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A - Yes and no. I am focusing primarily on e-tuning for the next few months due to a recent knee injury requiring some extensive surgeries. I will be upgrading my dyno during this time as well to help provide even higher quality in-person tuning to those that are local! Street tuning can be arranged for vehicles that cannot be e-tuned. Contact us via e-mail for more information!

 

Q - HOW CAN I TUNE FOR ETHANOL WITHOUT A FLEX FUEL KIT?

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A - Essentially the flex fuel kit is just a sensor and module which relays the ethanol content from the sensor (in hertz) and converts to a voltage a connection to the ecu, which the calibration will automatically adjust between the 93 and High Ethanol parts of the tune (that contains high and low ethanol maps) for your measured ethanol content! This is still relatively new technology, before the flex fuel capability you just needed a calibration to run E85. In having separate tunes for gasoline and ethanol, the only difference is you have to manually reflash the correct fuel map on your accessport when you switch fuels, which takes less than a minute at the pump and very easy to do!

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Q - MY 15+ WRX IDLES LIKE CRAP/RPMS JUMPING ALL OVER FOR A MINUTE OR SO THEN NORMALIZES

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A - For FA powered vehicles this is called Stratified Warm-Up! Stratified warm up is designed by the Subaru engineers to make the car idle like crap (extremely retarded timing and wonky AFRs) in hopes to help break up carbon deposits caused by the direct injection system. It will do it for a minute or two, but throttle input should stop it. The cobb green speed update eliminated the ability to disable that function, but honestly its a good thing just in the chance it does limit carbon build-up, will increase power and reliability!

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Q - MY CAR HAS AN EMISSION PART DELETED, CAN YOU TUNE IT?

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A - I only tune EPA and emission ready vehicles. High flow catted pipes throw codes but do not throw the car into limp mode, TGV/EGR/Air Pump deletes can cause issues for tuning - sometimes limp modes. It is your responsibility to know the laws and abide by them. With e-tuning i cannot physically see the car and tune based on what you tell us is on the car! (all aftermarket downpipes/jpipes tune the same way)

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Q - MY 15+ WRX HAS OVER 30,000 MILES, DO I NEED WALNUT BLASTING AND SPARK PLUGS?

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A - Although it is EXTREMELY recommended, you don't HAVE to have these done. If your car has a significant amount of carbon build up on valves or spark plugs aren't in great condition, we will be able to tell when it comes down to the power that it makes in the end. It will typically require a richer fuel mixture, reduced timing and sometimes lower boost levels as well so the car is reliable. You can see anywhere from 5-20% more power with these two maintenance items done! 

 

Q - HOW LONG DOES THE E-TUNING PROCESS TAKE?

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A - We cannot always accurately estimate how long it will take, but how many revisions. E-tuning is great for people to not only save a few dollars but work around hectic schedules. The length of time required to complete a tune varies based on the car, the mods, the type of tune, any issues that may arise, along with how available you are to datalog. E-tunes have generally consisted of anywhere from 4-10 revisions.

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Q - WHAT HAPPENS IF I HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS POST-TUNE?

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A - A good part of my job is to be your tuner, that means more than just calibrate the ECU. It means im available for questions, advise, address any concerns and pretty much be there for guide and reference (almost) whenever needed.

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Q - I HAVE FEEDBACK KNOCK OF -1.41 or MY DAM HAS DROPPED!! PART OUT?

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A - No, no part out.. Most of these tune or gauge related instances can be answered with the word document that is sent out before the tuning process. It has useful information from basic questions to maintenance and common issues. Knock is inevitable, dam drops are inevitable as consistent fuel cannot be guaranteed. Read through a recent post i made on facebook that explains DAM and what it does!

https://www.facebook.com/MIGTUNED/posts/pfbid0249RfVMKswzngpVahaT4UfkZWZDWPjuhKjgVjRENmxRK1dCQok4zwgMerRq4jZBZkl

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Q - IF I ADD A NEW PART MID E-TUNE WILL IT REQUIRE A RE-TUNE?

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A - Yes, and/or no. It depends on the part, any added parts will typically induce a small fee for calibration changes but usually these things are discussed pre-tune.

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Q - WHEN WILL I GET MY BASEMAP/FIRST REVISION?

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A - As of right now, basemaps are sent out first/second business day depending on time of order. Instructions will be included on the type of datalogging we need to do in order to get started. To add, it is EXTREMELY frowned upon and not recommended to start doing pulls before instructed.

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Q - HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TUNING?

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A - I have been tuning for roughly 5 years, with 2020 being the year I started the official business. I have been a Subaru world record holder in my past and an extensive history working in the performance industry.

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