Bama gives a reason to not use them

[stang99x]

ive used, and defended for that matter, bama since I bought their product two years ago from AM. I just added long tubes and submitted a revision request. Then I got this email;
"My name is Xxxx and I will be writing your custom Bama tunes.

At this moment in time, and continuing for the foreseeable future, we will not offer off-road exhaust tuning that involves deleting the rear O2 sensors. This is so we can stay lawful in our operations and proceed to offer the best tunes available for Mustangs on the market. Before I continue with writing your tunes, I'd like your approval on whether or not to go forward. Feel equally free to message us with any further questions. Thanks, and talk to you soon!"

I responded quite unfavorably and let them know I'd be moving to a new tuner and would not speak favorably of them due to their decision not to tune as requested.

 

[R.D.P.]

Did you tell them it's a trailer-ed track only car? Of course they probably would have replied with "I doubt that's true or you would know better than to use us for your tunes".

 

[Russo]

sounds like they got in trouble with a state governmental agency due to one of their customers whining about it so they are cutting everyone off...

 

[ZYBORG]

Cant fault them for protecting their operation.

 

[StrayBullitt]

I responded quite unfavorably and let them know I'd be moving to a new tuner and would not speak favorably of them due to their decision not to tune as requested.

I could be mistaken, but I think Unless they are locking out your tune (which they might be), then you should be able to go in and disable the rear O2's yourself. If they are locking, I could see being upset about that. Perhaps you can request the tune to not be locked.

that said.. I would not, under any circumstance, be upset with or speak poorly of a company for being unwilling to break the law or risk fines ect. for my behalf.

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

Ive seen a few things lately that leads me to believe this is being cracked down on, I dont think they have a lot of choice

 

[96gt02]

OP what kind of car do you have? if its an 11+ they shouldnt be shutting off your rear o2 sensors regardless of cats or not as they help your front widebands stay accurate. Even if you delete the cats, your tuner should leave the rear 02s on just have them not throw codes.

Here is a link to the thread that describes what im talking about
https://www.svtperformance.com/foru...-or-not-the-definitive-answer-inside.1122899/

 

[stang99x]

OP what kind of car do you have? if its an 11+ they shouldnt be shutting off your rear o2 sensors regardless of cats or not as they help your front widebands stay accurate. Even if you delete the cats, your tuner should leave the rear 02s on just have them not throw codes.

Here is a link to the thread that describes what im talking about
https://www.svtperformance.com/foru...-or-not-the-definitive-answer-inside.1122899/

I've been running "offroad" for two years with no issue. I have a tune that was written by bama to turn them on once a year to pass emissions. I use flow restrictors in order to pass when they are on. While this isn't a hugely detrimental issue for me, I paid for a service "for lifetime tunes" and when I bought it they offered this option. Now they decided not to offer the service which they had previously sold under the lifetime service label. The point is, you can' sell someone something and then down the road decide you don't want to do it anymore. It's called a grandfather clause, and it should have been offered to those who wanted it instead of a simple email rejection of request. Had I known they were going to do this, I would have had the tune revision done prior to the change. In the end, it's not relevant to me as I'm about to go FI and was going to change tuners anyway for that purpose. But since I defended their service for the two years I had it, I find it reasonable to post something in the order of I'm no longer defending them against the horrible reputation they have in the mustang community since they just decided to stick me with their decision with no notice and no choice.

Also, not that I am disagreeing with the link you posted, but in man things in life you'll find this year an expert says this, and next year another expert says the exact opposite. Coffee is good for you today, bad tomorrow. Alcohol is good today, ok tomorrow in moderation, and just plain bad for you next week. Point is, there is an expert in every field to disagree with another expert of the same field study. While I am by no means an expert, or even somewhat knowledgeable in the field of tuning, there is nothing that leads me to want to believe one guy over another in relation to this particular topic. And I change my O2's pretty regularly anyway so I don't see it making much difference to me in the long run.

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

you do realize the problem here is the EPA/Federal Government right? Bama and all the other tuners had no real way of knowing that they were going to finally crack down on this issue. Im pretty sure Ive seen posts from VMP's people mentioning not messing cats/egr deletes on tune. When the feds tell you stop doing something, you better knock it off...not send out a notice to all your customers saying "hey if you want us to break any federal emissions laws for you we gotta do it quick before they really come after us".

I wouldnt be surprised if its suddenly very difficult to buy offroad midpipes soon

 

[Coosawjack]

Cats don't really hurt performance on "StreetCars"......lack of them just makes more noise and stench!!

Newer vehicles run so lean that the STENCH is a killer for me...therefore I have "Performance Cats" that work fine and will pass most emissions testing where visual inspection is not necessary....and yes they are a little louder!!!

BAMA has done fine by me but my tunes are over a year old.....

 

[stang99x]

you do realize the problem here is the EPA/Federal Government right? Bama and all the other tuners had no real way of knowing that they were going to finally crack down on this issue. Im pretty sure Ive seen posts from VMP's people mentioning not messing cats/egr deletes on tune. When the feds tell you stop doing something, you better knock it off...not send out a notice to all your customers saying "hey if you want us to break any federal emissions laws for you we gotta do it quick before they really come after us".

I wouldnt be surprised if its suddenly very difficult to buy offroad midpipes soon

The EPA and Feds are issues in all walks of life. Given the current president I highly doubt the EPA suddenly decided to get stringent on such a small segment. If we are lucky we will get 8 years of trump and CAFE will be eliminated putting Detroit back on the fast track to performance. (While I wouldn't mind that, I was being facetious)

And I might not even mind having high flow cats, however since bama didn't bother to let its customers know about the change I just bought an off-road X and installed it. It's a matter of principle really, and since I spent time defending them it sort of irks the hell out of me.

 

[96gt02]

OP you have every right to be mad about this no doubt, but at least this change will force you into getting some quality tunes now

 

[96gt02]

Here is a great video discussing this exact topic from another popular tuner

 

[DHG1078]

BAMA never said they wouldn't honor your lifetime tunes. They said they wouldn't violate Federal law and risk spending time in jail.

 

[StrayBullitt]

Can't you go in and disable them yourself? Like I said, I can understand them no longer being able to do it, however it's still a function on your hand held right? just curious . .

 

[DHG1078]

MIL eliminators might also work.

 

[StrayBullitt]

Cats don't really hurt performance on "StreetCars"..

This ^... I wonder.

Cannot say that I have ever seen dyno comparison between catted and non catted exhaust, I would love to.

 

[DHG1078]

This ^... I wonder.

Cannot say that I have ever seen dyno comparison between catted and non catted exhaust, I would love to.

While the difference is debatable, they do reduce performance. Restricting airflow is never good unless you want really high back pressure.

 

[StrayBullitt]

While the difference is debatable, they do reduce performance. Restricting airflow is never good unless you want really high back pressure.

Do you have any proof of really high back pressure and reduced performance?

I want proof.

 

[DHG1078]

Do you have any proof of really high back pressure and reduced performance?

I want proof.

"really high" was meant to be relative. Its simple physics, if you restrict airflow, back pressure increases. Which could be beneficial to low end torque, to an extent. It will hurt top end power.