BAMA tune dyno tested!

Beernuts

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I set the tunes for 26.5 peak and allow the knock sensors to add up to 3 degrees at high RPM. That would be 29.5 *IF* the knock sensors are allowing it.

Where are all the arm chair tuners that said 28* was too much?? With good fuel and no knocking 28* is completely safe and now you have proof from the almighty. :coolman:
 

dirtyd88

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Where are all the arm chair tuners that said 28* was too much?? With good fuel and no knocking 28* is completely safe and now you have proof from the almighty. :coolman:

Adding timing is okay. Many Bama tunes have found to be commanding 28° or more before KS take effect, and then the KS pull additional timing to bring total timing to 30° or so.
 

Stang Lover

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Ok I'm a noob at understanding tunes but can someone break down KS and timing for me and what makes a tune safe? Just a tune in general. I didn't want to make a thread but it might be good for people like to so they can understand better.

Thanks.
 

hoodley

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Ok I'm a noob at understanding tunes but can someone break down KS and timing for me and what makes a tune safe? Just a tune in general. I didn't want to make a thread but it might be good for people like to so they can understand better.

Thanks.

you picked wrong thread for a decent answer.
all you will get is
BAMA is bad and unsafe , everyone else is better, and AED Is the best, end all enuff said. that is all you will ever need to know.
TUNIING IS hard to learn in all seriousness though. I went with Mike R. and my car is badass BTW
 

Beernuts

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Adding timing is okay. Many Bama tunes have found to be commanding 28° or more before KS take effect, and then the KS pull additional timing to bring total timing to 30° or so.

Funny how it goes from 28* is "too high" and "find a new tuner", to some story about a knock sensor pulling timing which somehow results in 30* "or so."

Let me guess what's happening here. You read something on a forum about a Bama tune log with a negative knock value and timing in the high 20's? Maybe 28-29? And then went on to assume that the negative knock PID meant the car was pulling timing? A negative knock value means the tune is ADDING timing, not pulling timing...
 
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Cowboytk

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Funny how it goes from 28* is "too high" and "find a new tuner", to some story about a knock sensor pulling timing which somehow results in 30* "or so."

Let me guess what's happening here. You read something on a forum about a Bama tune log with a negative knock value and timing in the high 20's? Maybe 28-29? And then went on to assume that the negative knock PID meant the car was pulling timing? A negative knock value means the tune is ADDING timing, not pulling timing...

actually I posted my datalog that showed 29.5 degrees of timing and a 1.04 afr and no ks activity. this was after a revision so god only knows what it was before.
 

Cowboytk

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Ok I'm a noob at understanding tunes but can someone break down KS and timing for me and what makes a tune safe? Just a tune in general. I didn't want to make a thread but it might be good for people like to so they can understand better.


from what I have read 26.5 is the commanded safe limit with knock sensor sensitivity left alone and an afr of .85 would be perfect. now the ks (knock sensors) can add timing on top of the commanded tune and most allow up to 3 degrees. but anything over 30 is dangerous from what I understand on 93 octane.
 
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dirtyd88

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Funny how it goes from 28* is "too high" and "find a new tuner", to some story about a knock sensor pulling timing which somehow results in 30* "or so."

Let me guess what's happening here. You read something on a forum about a Bama tune log with a negative knock value and timing in the high 20's? Maybe 28-29? And then went on to assume that the negative knock PID meant the car was pulling timing? A negative knock value means the tune is ADDING timing, not pulling timing...

Dammit. I keep getting it backwards. :cuss: My bad.

I've seen 2 logs from local 5.0 owners with 29° commanded with an addition 1.5° being pulled.
 

Beernuts

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Cowboytk

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From this thread? http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?1010966-Bama-Tuning

Your AFR is not 1.04, thats your STFT which should be as close to 1 as possible. AED allows up to 29.5* of timing so I'm not sure where the concern is with Bama doing the same.
shaun allows the ks to add it up to 29.5 not commanding that.as for the afr I misread that I thought I highlighted measured afr for the sample pic not stft. honest mistake...also just noticed the ks were adding .50 degrees as well. either way two tuners said it didnt look good and im happy with what I have now. pulls way harder and driveability is much better.
 
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Beernuts

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shaun allows the ks to add it up to 29.5 not commanding that.as for the afr I misread that I thought I highlighted measured afr for the sample pic not stft. honest mistake

I realize that. The snapshot you posted tells us absolutely nothing about what the Bama tune was doing. Post a CSV file with the proper PID's logged at WOT and we can go from there. Otherwise, all you are doing is spreading misinformation.
 

GearsNBeers

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Cowboy after looking at your sig I was curious about something. What mods were used in your best bama tune pass?

Based off if you had the OR pipe or not knocking almost 5 tenths off your quarter mile with a bama tune isn't bad at all considering the price and free revisions. Heck the tunes are practically free if you buy them bundled with a mod. Shawn is well known for being a good tuner but being realistic how much more would he get? Couple more tenths for 250$? Worth to me but maybe people aren't that hardcore. Plus he charges for revisions and I mod slow. It would be the icing on the cake at the end.

If the bama tune is still your personal best how is your new performance tune "pulling harder"? Feels like its pulling harder? You can adjust the pedal to feel like you just roped a great white if you want. Doesn't mean its actually putting down faster numbers.

The only thing I ever noticed with bama was after you datalog you need to bug the crap out of them to get revisions. Also they tend to run slower than other tunes. With that being said its a decent step up from stock. All and all you get what you payed for. They are NOT going to blow up your car contrary to popular belief, but tuners like Shawn just outclass them. If people are using the base map tune and not revising it that's a big issue. How can one tune work for all the mustangs with the same mods. To much else going on. My problem with them is the exact opposite they are to conservative. Running a tad rich = slower and inconsistent when you are trying to go rounds in an all day race. They used to be WAY better in the past. Like Doug Stoddard past.

You can tell they are trying to cover up gains on the GT's. They never did a baseline track test followed by tune for our cars. They even turned off comments on their 2011 mustang gt bama tune video (EDIT: Its open for comment again. After so long maybe they figured nobody cares anymore). To many people were bitching about there not being a followup video. I think they were embarrassed. There was one for the v6 auto 2011 mustang but not GT. It only shows worthless dyno gain information followed by "Can't wait to take it to the track." Oh really?

Where great tuners are an open book
http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-to/tech-qa/1402-remote-tuning-with-the-sct-live-link-gen-2/

The tuner witch hunt gets real old.
 
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Cowboytk

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Cowboy after looking at your sig I was curious about something. What mods were used in your best bama tune pass?

Based off if you had the OR pipe or not knocking almost 5 tenths off your quarter mile with a bama tune isn't bad at all considering the price and free revisions. Heck the tunes are practically free if you buy them bundled with a mod. Shawn is well known for being a good tuner but being realistic how much more would he get? Couple more tenths for 250$? Worth to me but maybe people aren't that hardcore. Plus he charges for revisions and I mod slow. It would be the icing on the cake at the end.

If the bama tune is still your personal best how is your new performance tune "pulling harder"? Feels like its pulling harder? You can adjust the pedal to feel like you just roped a great white if you want. Doesn't mean its actually putting down.

yes that best time was with the o/r pipe. my current best with mikes tune was in far worse conditions d.a wise (1800-1900) and very poor track prep (12.7 fully loaded full tank of fuel). now I know it pulls harder because below 3500rpm on my bama tune it was lethargic worse than stock to be honest. above that range it was fine but after 5k it pulled hard. plus the transmission shift times and firmness was all out of whack. they told me that it was as good as it gets. the 250 I spent for mikes tune wasnt a requirement for me as much due to power but reliability and driveability. as soon as the track and air is similar ill run again. but with mikes tune it has way more grunt down low. Also ill strap it on a dyno to compare when I have the $$ to do so
 
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Sick_Mustang

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I am not even going to get into it....but BEERNUTS my friend don't spread misinformation. First of all, Shaun doesn't charge for small revisions, however if you add nitrous, boost,change fuel, of course there are costs associated.

BAMA never popped a motor? LOL, please I could dig up old threads of customers who suddenly went silent after their motor popped hatin g on BAMA, even with the warranty one dude got left with half the bill. Bama admitted early tunes were sketchy. When the platform first came out not all tuners had a handle on what was going on which resulted in #8's, even some of the best tuners popped motors.

Fact of the matter, you have erratic BAMA tunes, I have seen safe tunes from then them and also crazy tunes from them, someone recently posted a log of commanded 31! Yes commanded, and it was knocking, of course. Why have the damn tune on the ragged edge? Why risk detonation? Why have the extra timing if it doesnt even provide more power? Which leads me to many other aspects of tuning, but we wont go there.

I know I had a sketchy BAMA tune, personal experience. BAMA is not on par with any of the more popular tuners. Can BAMA mess with clutch protection? ; )

Its funny how the BAMA people always point fingers at people who left "free" Bama tunes. I guess when everyone says how much better their car drives and how much faster it feels with their new tune is a liar. Its all a conspiracy. Not to mention how much more safe and reliable the tune is.


I will wait for the day this happens:

BAMA car Stock motor, Stock manifolds, Stock Intake Manifold, Stock CAI, goes 10's..............
 

Beernuts

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I am not even going to get into it....but BEERNUTS my friend don't spread misinformation...

Sorry, what misinformation am I spreading? I am simply pointing out that many of the people who think they have an issue with their tune dont know how to interpret what they are looking at. Regardless if its Bama or not. I've already pointed it out twice in this thread. I'm sure Shaun deals with it on a daily basis.

I didnt mention anything about blowing motors or charging for tune modifications so I dont know where you are even coming up with that nonsense.
 

GearsNBeers

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yes that best time was with the o/r pipe. my current best with mikes tune was in far worse conditions d.a wise (1800-1900) and very poor track prep (12.7 fully loaded full tank of fuel). now I know it pulls harder because below 3500rpm on my bama tune it was lethargic worse than stock to be honest. above that range it was fine but after 5k it pulled hard. plus the transmission shift times and firmness was all out of whack. they told me that it was as good as it gets. the 250 I spent for mikes tune wasnt a requirement for me as much due to power but reliability and driveability. as soon as the track and air is similar ill run again. but with mikes tune it has way more grunt down low. Also ill strap it on a dyno to compare when I have the $$ to do so

Yea I was curious about your times because when you had your other tune our cars seemed similar. I am in the midwest with a little more D.A. I had cai/tune/ 28" radials and would go 12.50's at around 112. Stock it ran 13 somethings around 107mph. Was always curious how much e.t. was shaved by radials, and how much from tune.
 
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Cowboytk

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Yea I was curious about your times because when you had your other tune our cars seemed similar. I am in the midwest with a little more D.A. I had cai/tune/ 28" radials and would go 12.50's at around 112. Stock it ran 13 somethings around 107mph. Was always curious how much e.t. was shaved by radials, and how much from tune.

I do not have drag radials. I am on all season tires. I upgraded the 235s to a 255 for aesthetics but I believe as it sits with a good track and good da 12.2's are possible. but these are the months when 1800+ d.a is the best of the night
 

Cowboytk

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I realize that. The snapshot you posted tells us absolutely nothing about what the Bama tune was doing. Post a CSV file with the proper PID's logged at WOT and we can go from there. Otherwise, all you are doing is spreading misinformation.

spreading misinformation? really? how is it spreading misinformation if I have personally spoken to other tuners and they have seen how bad the tune was, and as I said in many previous posts this was the revision that means it was supposed to be an improvement....
 

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