So I had an awesome Christmas, and wound up with a Steeda CAI 
Here's a pic of it installed:
Dropped by AED to see Shaun about a tune for it, as I was running the BBR tune I bought on LRS' website to get me there. I drove about 500 miles on the BBR tune, and it seemed pretty decently done.
Although peak power and torque were roughly similar between the two tunes, the one I got from AED had a bit better average power and torque, and the lines were smoother throughout the run. The bonus to having an actual custom tune done by someone who can see how the car runs on the dyno, is that they can tweak the little settings in the tunes to match your car exactly.
Shaun was really excellent throughout the entire process, letting me know what he was adjusting and where and why; I love information like that, and I was definitely eating it up. He has some really excellent knowledge on how to tune these cars, AND knows his way around the TiVCT and how to use it to grab more power in the midrange while not sacrificing reliability or drivability on the tune. If you're in the area (or even if you're not; I drove a few hundred miles to get there, and I'll be back for more, it's worth the trip!) I really can't say great enough things about my experience there. Hell, the car show in the garage alone is worth the trip
I drove the rest of the way home (about 900 miles) on the AED tune. One of the first things I noticed about the tune from AED is that the car seemed to be happier on cruise control; on the BBR tune, it seemed a little...poppy at cruise, like it wanted to constantly go faster, and was tugging a little bit to see if it could convince me to consent. I'd ignored it during the 500-mile drive up to AED, but over the next 900 miles, I'm pretty sure that would have bugged me. Not necessarily a bad thing, if you're a speed demon, but I like my freedom so the most I ever set the cruise control to is 8mph over. Having the car capable of being happy at cruise is definitely a good thing for long road trip-going folks like myself.
Acceleration is a bit more linear on the AED tune; the BBR one felt like it was ratcheting in power in stacks rather than calmly climbing in power levels. Drag-launching the car down an on-ramp is a lot more predictable for my driving style with the AED tune; I'll love to see what the actual numbers on a track show when the strips up here re-open.
Engine braking seems to have suffered ever since I installed the CAI (and loaded the BBR tune); this didn't change with the AED tune, but I'll still send both of them an email and see if it's something to expect or if there is a correction available. The previous-to-CAI behavior was that it would hold revs for a few seconds and then started pulling the power off which resulted in deceleration; the issue I have is that it is either not pulling enough power off, or is not doing it aggressively enough. Before the CAI if I was cruising down a 6% grade and wanted to maintain 70mph, I'd shift to 5th and let off the accelerator; the revs would come down to about 3500 and I could feel the engine stopping further acceleration downhill. If I happened to be above 70, it would slow the car to 70.
On my way down the grapevine, when I had the BBR tune loaded, I tried to see if I perhaps wasn't waiting long enough for the engine braking to kick in, so I accelerated to 80, shifted to 5th, and let out the clutch. The speedometer dropped to 75ish during the clutching, then slowly started *climbing*. After 2 miles I was cresting 80 and the uptick was increasing in speed.
Similar test, only instead of the grapevine, it was in the mountains along the CA/OR border on I5, and running the AED tune. Accelerate to 80mph, shift to 5th, let out the clutch. 75mph, and holding for about a mile, then an uptick to 76, then 77mph by the time two miles had passed.
Like I've said, the two different tunes both did this, so it might be an after-effect of the CAI rather than anything tune-specific. I'll update this post with any new information as it comes about.
BIG thanks to AED and Shaun for the help with the car, and I look forward to seeing you guys in the future!
Here's a pic of it installed:
Dropped by AED to see Shaun about a tune for it, as I was running the BBR tune I bought on LRS' website to get me there. I drove about 500 miles on the BBR tune, and it seemed pretty decently done.
Although peak power and torque were roughly similar between the two tunes, the one I got from AED had a bit better average power and torque, and the lines were smoother throughout the run. The bonus to having an actual custom tune done by someone who can see how the car runs on the dyno, is that they can tweak the little settings in the tunes to match your car exactly.
Shaun was really excellent throughout the entire process, letting me know what he was adjusting and where and why; I love information like that, and I was definitely eating it up. He has some really excellent knowledge on how to tune these cars, AND knows his way around the TiVCT and how to use it to grab more power in the midrange while not sacrificing reliability or drivability on the tune. If you're in the area (or even if you're not; I drove a few hundred miles to get there, and I'll be back for more, it's worth the trip!) I really can't say great enough things about my experience there. Hell, the car show in the garage alone is worth the trip
I drove the rest of the way home (about 900 miles) on the AED tune. One of the first things I noticed about the tune from AED is that the car seemed to be happier on cruise control; on the BBR tune, it seemed a little...poppy at cruise, like it wanted to constantly go faster, and was tugging a little bit to see if it could convince me to consent. I'd ignored it during the 500-mile drive up to AED, but over the next 900 miles, I'm pretty sure that would have bugged me. Not necessarily a bad thing, if you're a speed demon, but I like my freedom so the most I ever set the cruise control to is 8mph over. Having the car capable of being happy at cruise is definitely a good thing for long road trip-going folks like myself.
Acceleration is a bit more linear on the AED tune; the BBR one felt like it was ratcheting in power in stacks rather than calmly climbing in power levels. Drag-launching the car down an on-ramp is a lot more predictable for my driving style with the AED tune; I'll love to see what the actual numbers on a track show when the strips up here re-open.
Engine braking seems to have suffered ever since I installed the CAI (and loaded the BBR tune); this didn't change with the AED tune, but I'll still send both of them an email and see if it's something to expect or if there is a correction available. The previous-to-CAI behavior was that it would hold revs for a few seconds and then started pulling the power off which resulted in deceleration; the issue I have is that it is either not pulling enough power off, or is not doing it aggressively enough. Before the CAI if I was cruising down a 6% grade and wanted to maintain 70mph, I'd shift to 5th and let off the accelerator; the revs would come down to about 3500 and I could feel the engine stopping further acceleration downhill. If I happened to be above 70, it would slow the car to 70.
On my way down the grapevine, when I had the BBR tune loaded, I tried to see if I perhaps wasn't waiting long enough for the engine braking to kick in, so I accelerated to 80, shifted to 5th, and let out the clutch. The speedometer dropped to 75ish during the clutching, then slowly started *climbing*. After 2 miles I was cresting 80 and the uptick was increasing in speed.
Similar test, only instead of the grapevine, it was in the mountains along the CA/OR border on I5, and running the AED tune. Accelerate to 80mph, shift to 5th, let out the clutch. 75mph, and holding for about a mile, then an uptick to 76, then 77mph by the time two miles had passed.
Like I've said, the two different tunes both did this, so it might be an after-effect of the CAI rather than anything tune-specific. I'll update this post with any new information as it comes about.
BIG thanks to AED and Shaun for the help with the car, and I look forward to seeing you guys in the future!
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