So - I went and installed the Steeda CAI and tune from Brenspeed this weekend - car drives much better! I'm still on the 87 octane tune, but yes, better and more even power, throttle feels better too.
But a couple of follow up questions -
1) Do the Brenspeed tunes turn off the adaptive learning, or am I still going to have to retrain her every now and then?
2) When I ordered the tunes, I specified 91 as the highest octane around here. But since then I noticed some stations selling 92. Would this be ok to use? I realize that you never ever want to use a lower octane than the tune is built for, but what about a higher octane? My brain is telling me that since a higher octane would be even less prone to detonation that running 92 octane on a 91 tune should be ok, even though I may not be getting the most out of the 92 gas.
You can run 92 on the 91.. you won't get the full benefit of it, but as long as you're not running 89 on a 91 tune you'll be fine... as far as adaptive learning... no clue... wait for howarmat to answer.. he seems to know a lot about tuning
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06 GT Premium Vert - 5 speed - Tungsten Metallic Gray - Red Leather Interior, IUP - CDC light bar - Sequential Taillights - FRPP Stingers - Steeda CAI w/ Brenspeed 93 Tune - Shorty Antenna (that took .37 seconds off my qtr mile)
1. with brenspeed tunes you just upload once and never have to reload again...
2. I don't see why you couldn't run one octane point higher than your tune is for (running one or more lower could be a quick ticket to kablammo-ville)...it's just that you won't get any gain out of running the 92 over the 91...you could always spend the $75 on a brenspeed 92 tune, but then you'd have to make damn sure that you have easy access to the 92 octane in your area...
I am not sure about that....i have read reports both ways....IT seems that some people have problems with the car relearning your driving while others dont...With dougs tune I cant say it ever loses its pep...i didnt run the brenspeed for more than 1.5 weeks so i am not sure about that.....my suggestion is to email brent.
I have the Brenspeed tune and my experience has been that it relearns. It never goes back to stock, but it does become a bit sluggish. I just periodically reload the tune. Fixes her right up. Curious what Brenspeed says about it. I know a lot of us have been reloading the tune.
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2006 Premium V6 Vista Blue Mustang, Pony Package, AVIC-Z1, Shaker 500 speakers, Light Graphite Leather Seats, Flowmaster American Thunder Exhaust, Steeda CAI, Brenspeed 93 Tune
That seems to be the consensus - a lower octane gas is going to be more prone to detonation/pinging, so a tune optimized for 91 may be running the motor harder than the lower octane can handle.
I also emailed that question to Brenspeed to get thier take on it.