Well I know that you can rent a dyno and do your own tuning. I was thinking about trying my hand at this because I just like doing things myself on my car. Can anybody direct me to some good resources to get started learning about this? Maybe recommend some good software as well? Thanks

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51et0tH0CVL._SS500_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Engine-Management-Advanced-Greg-Banish/dp/1932494421/ref=pd_sim_b_img_3


If you're going to order one, go ahead and order me one too. I need it. ;)

there is a good book on tunning it is called how to tune engine mangemintsistems it is vary detaled and indepth http://www.amazon.com/Modify-Management-Systems-Motorbooks-Workshop/dp/0760315825 and if you whant you can buy this book and the one above for i think it said 35 bucks not bad but its up to you i recomend this book

Snipertuning.com

Thats what I use. I love the software and haven't had any issues with it. There are two different packages, the Special Forces and Commando. SF allows you to make quite a few adjustments to many parameters (much more than any handheld on the market) and the Commando gives 100% user adjustability to all the PCM tables, scalars, and functions. Both come with a flash box which can hold up to 6 tunes including the stock file and top notch datalogging/diagnostic software. Sniper also has awesome customer sevice and a great user forum if you have any questions about tuning your car. Oh, and you can tune as many cars as you want with it. The packages come with the ability to tune 2 different cars without any additional cost. If you want to tune more cars, then you can buy "bullets" for about 150 bucks per additional car.

I just did a writeup on megasquirt. Not saying it's for you, but it's an option & for under $200 for a standalone (assuming you do it) you really can't beat the price.

http://www.mustangforums.com/m_5028810/tm.htm

http://www.moates.net/product_info.php?products_id=75

Software is free and pretty robust. You do need to get the little chip writer hardware to plug on to your module but all in all its still a cheap effective way to tune/data log/monitor your car.

Seems like from looking around I'm also going to need to invest in a wideband system as well. Any recommendations?

If you are still renting a dyno and putting it on their rollers, a lot of the time the rental includes access to their wideband setup. But, if you want to be able to adjust on the fly without a dyno then yes you will need a wideband. The site I recommended before has Wideband products as well. They sell whole kits to get you up and running. http://www.moates.net/index.php?cPath=48

Greg's book is good. It explains a good amount, not to detailed though. I would suggest it to help get a better understanding.

The Sniper software works great! As tbird stated, they have great customer service. Here is a link to our site with some inf oyou can read up on..........

Sniper (http://haneymotorsport.com/Sniper%20Tuning%20Software.htm)

Casey

ORIGINAL: FoxGT

I just did a writeup on megasquirt. Not saying it's for you, but it's an option & for under $200 for a standalone (assuming you do it) you really can't beat the price.

http://www.mustangforums.com/m_5028810/tm.htm



Megasquirt FTW! its great, but you DO have to do your hmwk, im still studying up as well, ordering one soon!

awesome, checking into these for sure

ORIGINAL: chevyman95
Seems like from looking around I'm also going to need to invest in a wideband system as well. Any recommendations?

I'd recommend either aem 6 in 1 off of ebay or summit's wideband which uses the lc-1 controller.
The summit one cost about $260 but unlik ethe lc-1 kit from them directly it comes with a digital gauge aswell.

They use two analog outputs, one is calibrated for the gauge the other you can calibrate yourself for a standalone or ems you decide to run.

here is summits (http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=SUM%2DG2995&N=700 +4294925228+4294925227+400304+115&autoview=sku)

here is the 6 in 1 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_Car-Truck-Parts-Accessories__AEM-6-IN-1-GAUGE-TYPE-UEGO-CONTROLLER_W0QQitemZ190221963648QQadnZCarQ20Q26Q20 TruckQ20PartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQadiZ2865QQcmdZV iewItem?hash=item190221963648&)

both work pretty well identical & both use the bosch sensor which are pretty cheap to replace compared to other ones.

Here is a pic of the summit one I installed on my friends 5.0 along with a megasquirt standalone. It reads 22.4 when the sensor is completely heated up before the car is on, like in this case.




http://www.mustangforums.com/upfiles/1583/90A3A2D9366448A988EC2D23134F5AC5.jpg

http://www.mustangforums.com/upfiles/1583/CA9AFC599447465F90938D3917D50DF0.jpg

Dynojet wideband commader. Datalogs with out without the use of a laptop. Allows for additional 2 inputs for datalogging purposes so you can see real time MAF voltage, throttle position, or pretty much whatever you want. Comes with a gauge (autometer), sensor, all necesarry wiring and excellent instructions. Gauge is made by autometer and matches their Phantom series perfectly in case you want to get a boost gauge or another one to match.

ORIGINAL: tbirdscwd
Dynojet wideband commader. Datalogs with out without the use of a laptop. Allows for additional 2 inputs for datalogging purposes so you can see real time MAF voltage, throttle position, or pretty much whatever you want. Comes with a gauge (autometer), sensor, all necesarry wiring and excellent instructions. Gauge is made by autometer and matches their Phantom series perfectly in case you want to get a boost gauge or another one to match.

Innovate has a logger to go along with it if you don't have a laptop. I bought an old $30 laptop for my tuning & logging. I almost always take the laptop though. Only reason I go with most of the products I do is because of cost, most of the people I build s/c & turbo kits for generally dont want to spend loads of money so I recommend things like that.

Same story with that summit gauge. I told the person i wouldn't build his roots s/c kit & tune it without one because I didn't want to be responsible if he blew the engine under boost conditions.
You can tune an n/a car with a narrowband, but it makes things alot easier to have a wb. As far as forced induction you pretty well have to have the wb. I wont tune a car with a kit i build without one.

ORIGINAL: FoxGT

ORIGINAL: tbirdscwd
Dynojet wideband commader. Datalogs with out without the use of a laptop. Allows for additional 2 inputs for datalogging purposes so you can see real time MAF voltage, throttle position, or pretty much whatever you want. Comes with a gauge (autometer), sensor, all necesarry wiring and excellent instructions. Gauge is made by autometer and matches their Phantom series perfectly in case you want to get a boost gauge or another one to match.

Innovate has a logger to go along with it if you don't have a laptop. I bought an old $30 laptop for my tuning & logging. I almost always take the laptop though. Only reason I go with most of the products I do is because of cost, most of the people I build s/c & turbo kits for generally dont want to spend loads of money so I recommend things like that.

Same story with that summit gauge. I told the person i wouldn't build his roots s/c kit & tune it without one because I didn't want to be responsible if he blew the engine under boost conditions.
You can tune an n/a car with a narrowband, but it makes things alot easier to have a wb. As far as forced induction you pretty well have to have the wb. I wont tune a car with a kit i build without one.



I always bring my laptop with me when tuning or datalogging. In fact all my datalogging is through my Sniper Recon software which records everything including fuel trims, maf voltage, rpm, mph, iat, fuel press, ect, etc...I don't really datalog using the wideband kit except when I need to adjust the Maf transfer rate.

ORIGINAL: tbirdscwd
I always bring my laptop with me when tuning or datalogging. In fact all my datalogging is through my Sniper Recon software which records everything including fuel trims, maf voltage, rpm, mph, iat, fuel press, ect, etc...I don't really datalog using the wideband kit except when I need to adjust the Maf transfer rate.

Ah... I got rid of the maf meter as soon as the ms was hooked up. I don't log from the wideband kit either. I log off of the megasquirt with includes the a/f ratio along with it. You just push record & it records what all the sensors are reading for you to playback in realtime or faster if desired later. Then you tune accordingly. I'd imagine yours is probably set up the same way.

I went with this because it's very versatile & has tons of upgrades for it that you can buy that are very easy to wire in. & at the cost of $180 + a little time I really couldn't find a better choice for my applications.

really considering sniper special forces right now. Ebay has it for $370 shipped.

Megasquirt is something I am still looking into but it looks much more complicated.

It's fairly straight forward. The sniper may be better suited for your needs though. From what was said i'm guessing the sniper is used as a piggy back so it may be easier to get a starting point with it.

The megasquirt you pretty well have to start from the ground up. Start with setting it to what kind of ignition you have on the car & idle valve (fast idle for most fords (iac)). Then you have to adjust the fuel to get it to at least idle (has a calculator built in to get it close). After it's running you log & use the ve calculator & it makes a base tune for you. Then you adjust the ve, a/f ratio, & ignition maps for max power (or whatever you're going for) either while the car is running (they use a 3d model & you go to where you want to adjust & move it up or down) or adjust it from the log with 2d maps.

So like I said, it takes a little bit of playing around to get used to. It took me about 10 minutes of playing around to get the hang of it, but even now i'm still to this day discovering more features of it & i've been messing around with it for quite a long time. I just like it for cost & ease of tuning. + I like building new things & that they sold kits to where you can put the ms together interested me, but not really much to it. Their instructions are incredibly detailed & make it like putting some lego's together.

see thats really the only problem I think I would have a hard time building the actual unit because I've never done stuff like that before. I have found a used unlocked Special Forces kit for $250 and am probably going to buy that. Later on down the road I might make the switch to megasquirt but I think sniper will help me get acquainted with all the basics before I dive in too hardcore.

Just out of curiosity though if you were going to tune a 2001 gt that will soon have a vortech kit on it what megasquirt components would you buy? There appears to be many options.

ORIGINAL: chevyman95
see thats really the only problem I think I would have a hard time building the actual unit because I've never done stuff like that before. I have found a used unlocked Special Forces kit for $250 and am probably going to buy that. Later on down the road I might make the switch to megasquirt but I think sniper will help me get acquainted with all the basics before I dive in too hardcore.

Just out of curiosity though if you were going to tune a 2001 gt that will soon have a vortech kit on it what megasquirt components would you buy? There appears to be many options.

They make assembled ones aswell. If you can solder you can build it. For your needs if you're not wanting to dive into all of that now the sniper may be the better choice.

I would buy the megasquirt I v3.0 & load megasquirtnspark-extra firmware on it. But as far as coming 100% ready to tune, I would probably go with the msII v3.0. As long as you're not going above 21psi the stock map sensor in the megasquirt will work. if going higher than 21psi, that's the only thing i would change.

well just bought that $250 sniper kit. I'll update once I get everything going.

Thanks for all the help.

Probably going with the 6 in 1 wideband as well

ORIGINAL: chevyman95
well just bought that $250 sniper kit. I'll update once I get everything going.

Thanks for all the help.

Probably going with the 6 in 1 wideband as well

Good to hear :)
let us know how it works.