What is up with Bama turning off knock sensors?!

[Tron84]

I'm sure some of the other big name tuners will chime in and either confirm or deny the ability to tune for knock "per cylinder"
This is the first I've heard of it too.

 

[mastwolf]

I'm sure some of the other big name tuners will chime in and either confirm or deny the ability to tune for knock "per cylinder"
This is the first I've heard of it too.

It is true... its there

But This is not a very good way to do remote tunes. Why you ask? Because one can not monitor the knock sensors with basic software like livelink. They may have access to tools at there premises but when sending out tunes, and with more and more customers being able to datalog there own tunes I dont think this is a good choice. As we can see the end users are getting savvy and data logging there own tunes and they have questions.

 

[Tuffnuts23]

This has been common practice since 2005 when the switch was introduced into Ford's PCM's. Nobody noticed on 05-10 3V Mustangs because all it reported was knock sensor voltage, not an actual value. There's alot of things about tuning that unfortunately people don't understand but are spreading around because of availability of easy access to datalogging, etc. In this case, pulling individually allows you to make more power and still maintain safe, reliable tunes because you command comfortable numbers and still let the knock sensors do their thing just like Ford intended in either set of logic.

Our latest Street and Performance tunes are set up to pull timing globally. Our 91 and 93 Race tune is set up to pull timing individually. We advertise our Race tune as for track use only. Even major OEM's such as Ford and General Motors modify or even remove completely (ie. Super Cobra Jet) the knock sensors for their track calibrations. We're leaving the functionality completely stock and just letting them pull from a problematic area and in turn make more power, safely.

People forget that even the factory tune can and often does audibly knock. Not saying that it's a good thing or that it should occur, but from the factory these things are pulling timing. This isn't necessarily the nature of an "overly aggressive tune", but the logic used to control spark within these cars. Unfortunately, people are hopping on a "Bama is aggressive" band-wagon when in reality they've tested and their customers have tested their tunes against multiple competitors with better results, identical results and close results. This is why you can find threads where "Bama is too conservative", because they missed a competitor by 5 horsepower. In the same sub-forum you'll find that Bama is crazy and commanding way too much timing (incorrectly) like this.

Bama's experience allows them to build safe and reliable tunes. They've got more tuned Mustangs under their belt than any other company. Members of their team have worked with OEM's, Ford Racing and top names in the industry. Trust that they are working hard EVERY DAY to continue to build quality tunes to make their customers happy and make safe horsepower. I promise you they're accomplishing it. If you're running an older version of the Bama tunes, make sure to update to the latest so that you're getting our completely new and revamped files that are proving themselves all around.

Well, this should stir some shit up! Thanks for posting!

 

[Justin81]

First time I heard a "Public service announcement" From the Bama camp. I suppose the bad image they have is wearing thin on them. I always thought it would be a great idea for American Muscle to put together a racing division where they can get out on the track and put parts to the test and get Bama attached to something competitive. Not just an 11 second car full of aftermarket MMD gadgets.

 

[Tron84]

It is true... its there

But This is not a very good way to do remote tunes. Why you ask? Because one can not monitor the knock sensors with basic software like livelink. They may have access to tools at there premises but when sending out tunes, and with more and more customers being able to datalog there own tunes I dont think this is a good choice. As we can see the end users are getting savvy and data logging there own tunes and they have questions.

so why then would only 4 of the 8 cylinders have a value of 1? Is that just the knock sensor ID? one of them is named "0" the other "1"?

I still have serious doubts of the ability to monitor knock on individual cylinders. Each bank? yes.

 

[mastwolf]

so why then would only 4 of the 8 cylinders have a value of 1? Is that just the knock sensor ID? one of them is named "0" the other "1"?

I still have serious doubts of the ability to monitor knock on individual cylinders. Each bank? yes.

What you see there is the pcm assigning each cylinder to a knock sensor.

 

[mastwolf]

The pcm can tell what cylinder the knock is coming from by knowing the position of each cylinder in the combustion cycle.

 

[scott_0]

Chris Rose from AM used to be quite active a few years ago, not sure if maybe AM/Bama put him under a "gag order" haven't heard much from them since then. but as I said, I'm fairly confident they do not touch the knock sensors on their tunes, wouldn't doubt they desensitized them early on, but no longer I'm sure, I mean do you honestly think they'd offer that warranty and do that dumb shit? sure good idea to offer a warranty, shut off the KS, kill lots of motors and pay out $8k, sounds like a great business model. and I'm NOT tuned by Bama, so I have no dog in this fight, just get tired of a bunch of "know it alls" spouting off, there are but a very small handful of members that actually know what they're talking about, and I've only seen one of them post in this thread (mastwolf) the rest of us are just spectators........

 

[twistedneck]

I think i'm at 30 degrees now, but that's e85.

 

[Holovacko]

I believe Rose addressed this issue on a different forum. He stated that Bama does NOT turn knock sensors off... He then challenged people to the track to compare Bama e-mail tunes against all competitors e-mail tunes. He was willing to back it up. I give him respect for that (and I'm not Bama tuned) He was even willing to compare against Dyno tunes, provided he could datalog and make 1 or 2 revisions, if needed. Others bashed him for making the call outs. I don't know why, people bash the Bama tunes, but then won't accept the challenge though. Probably because, if he proves to be correct, they'd have nothing to complain about.

 

[AMChrisRose]

Chris Rose from AM used to be quite active a few years ago, not sure if maybe AM/Bama put him under a "gag order" haven't heard much from them since then. but as I said, I'm fairly confident they do not touch the knock sensors on their tunes, wouldn't doubt they desensitized them early on, but no longer I'm sure, I mean do you honestly think they'd offer that warranty and do that dumb shit? sure good idea to offer a warranty, shut off the KS, kill lots of motors and pay out $8k, sounds like a great business model. and I'm NOT tuned by Bama, so I have no dog in this fight, just get tired of a bunch of "know it alls" spouting off, there are but a very small handful of members that actually know what they're talking about, and I've only seen one of them post in this thread (mastwolf) the rest of us are just spectators........

Hey Scott, how have you been? Definitely not under a "gag order" haha. We're one of the most honest and transparent companies in the industry. I've simply been extremely busy with other areas of the company and our biggest event of the year was Saturday and that was a huge undertaking. Good news was that our car show had over 2,700 Mustangs and 10,000 people! We're all absolutely beat, but we had a great time! Hope you made it out...

The Bama team absolutely does not shut off the knock sensors nor limit their ability to do their job in any way. As Holovacko said in his post below, I've challenged people to put their tunes up against Bama's (and I plan to call more people out), but no takers yet. There's definitely a little bit of that "something to complain about"-syndrome going on. We can prove at the track and on the dyno that Bama's latest tunes stack up to the competitors and then some.

Thanks for standing up for us in your posts above. We really do appreciate it. It's alot easier just to jump on-board with everyone else and say "Bama sucks" without any information at all. People will see over the next 6 months or so that Bama is going to continue to dominate the tuning world and are working on some innovative new projects.

I believe Rose addressed this issue on a different forum. He stated that Bama does NOT turn knock sensors off... He then challenged people to the track to compare Bama e-mail tunes against all competitors e-mail tunes. He was willing to back it up. I give him respect for that (and I'm not Bama tuned) He was even willing to compare against Dyno tunes, provided he could datalog and make 1 or 2 revisions, if needed. Others bashed him for making the call outs. I don't know why, people bash the Bama tunes, but then won't accept the challenge though. Probably because, if he proves to be correct, they'd have nothing to complain about.

I'm still willing to run Bama files against their competitors tunes on any customer car. At the track, on the dyno. If anyone is willing to make a trip out to the Philadelphia area before it gets too cold here in October, let's do it! I'm not calling individual shops out and actually don't even want to know / care whose tune it is. I'm not interested in starting a war. I'm interested in proving that Bama tunes can meet or beat any competitor's mail-order, remote or dyno tune.

It is true... its there

But This is not a very good way to do remote tunes. Why you ask? Because one can not monitor the knock sensors with basic software like livelink. They may have access to tools at there premises but when sending out tunes, and with more and more customers being able to datalog there own tunes I dont think this is a good choice. As we can see the end users are getting savvy and data logging there own tunes and they have questions.

Thanks for the additional screen shot to confirm!

When Bama makes revisions to a customers file and works with them to datalog, of course they would use the global logic to make sure that there aren't any symptoms of knock using the customers datalogging software. And again, in their newest tunes, only the 91 and 93 Race tunes are going to be using this logic. All of the rest of their tunes are going to show when using the global KS PID to datalog.

Hope this helps!

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Guys, at the end of the day alot of smaller tuning shops are saying things to get customers to switch to their tunes and in the process telling Bama customers things like this that aren't true. We're open and honest about everything we do and Bama has a great product. They've revamped their tuning process, the quality of their files, hired talented people and are going to really crank things up in the next few months. They're ready if people want to call them out. They're going to share more data about what they do and how they do it than most competitors you'll find. That should give you peace of mind...

 

[AMChrisRose]

First time I heard a "Public service announcement" From the Bama camp. I suppose the bad image they have is wearing thin on them. I always thought it would be a great idea for American Muscle to put together a racing division where they can get out on the track and put parts to the test and get Bama attached to something competitive. Not just an 11 second car full of aftermarket MMD gadgets.

Bama is working on some fun projects that fit the exact bill that you're talking about. Nothing but powerful, purpose-built cars in their fleet!

https://www.facebook.com/bamaperfor...9447699848338/552341764892264/?type=1&theater

Probably going to hear alot of crap from the Bama team for leaking this, but...

- 1/4 Mile 03-04 Cobra
- Ridiculous Turbo 2014 GT500
- Supercharged SVT Raptor

Coming soon.

 

[scott_0]

good to hear from you Chris, it's been awhile since we've seen you on the boards, as I said I'm no longer tuned by Bama, but I get tired of all the trash talking from members that really don't have a clue what they're spewing.

 

[2014gttrackpack]

Sounds like BAMA has the latest technology!!!! Great info. from the AM/BAMA guys. The other tuners don't the same abilities that BAMA does obviously, so they just make up shit because of their own ignorance!

 

[HEMI LOL]

BAMA tuned. knock sensors active.

 

[scotmach]

The other tuners don't the same abilities that BAMA does obviously, so they just make up shit because of their own ignorance!

Seriously?

 

[2014gttrackpack]

Why do you think Bama has tuned more cars than most other tuners?

 

[Smacked_in_ATL]

Wow. Bama tunes are horrible. I walk all over a couple Bama 5.0s. AED tuned cars are on another whole level. I'd stay away from them.

 

[scotmach]

Why do you think Bama has tuned more cars than most other tuners?

Who says they have?

 

[daustin]

Why do you think Bama has tuned more cars than most other tuners?

Who says quantity trumps quality? I had a Bama tune briefly on my '12. Briefly; had major shifting issues with the auto, had idle issues, surging issues and just generally didn't feel right. My AED on my '14 is is on a whole different level.