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need a dyno in sydney...check out these quotes!!

firebladejr

By firebladejr,
in Engines & Forced Induction

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firebladejr Collaborator

firebladejr

Posted
Posted

I need ur recommendations on a workshop to tune my safc.

I've called a few places and the prices vary heaps, some are ridiculous!

This is what I've asked for when calling:

I have a R33 GTS-T, 3" turbo back exhaust, 12psi, and a different filter. I would like a price for tuning an already installed Apexi SAFC on the dyno please. (there's my scripting for the day :) )

So far my quotes are:

Hills Motorsport $600 ---- WTF????

Croydon $400-450--- another WTF????

BD4s $135-145 (not too bad..)

Obviously Hills and Croydon have no idea what they're talking about.

Can anyone recommend somewhere else in sydney? I'm from Parra area but can travel to Penrith or East no problems.

Thanks in advance.

predator Grand Master

predator

Posted
Posted

Same as melbourne.. there is places that will charge you $400 (not mentioning names) to do what another would charge you $100 for. Pays to shop around, but I'd say that last one seems best if you ask me.

I've had a really expensive tune, and a cheaper one - noticed no difference in the end results.

mose Contributor

mose

Posted
Posted

Spare a thought for us canberrens, Nobody here can touch any HKS / Apexi / Jap stuff confidently.. Only Microtech / Digitech..

Go with Silverwater or BD4's - I hear good things about them.. Bd4's quoted me 250 - 1000, (and possibly a week) to fully tune My HKS F-CON V Pro... (Still havent got around to it)

firebladejr Collaborator

firebladejr

Posted
  • Author
Posted
But the different quotes *must* be for different amounts of work, right?

Well I hope not! I have asked all of the companies the same questions. I didn't add or take from the job mentioned above, that way I can compare quotes for the same amount of work. I suppose some of them are either dumb ie. don't know what an safc is and are too afraid to ask so they over quote to get rid of me, or they're just plain rip-offs!

Thanks T0nyGTSt, I called Unigroup first as they're only 5mins from my house, but no one was there so I left a msg. Meanwhile ProCar at DeeWhy (yes, it's a fair hike) called me back and gave me a reasonable quote of $125 or under. The guy on the phone was nice and seemed to know what he was talking about compared to the other companies mentioned above (except for BD4s) so i booked in for saturday after next :rofl:

Sydneykid Grand Master

Sydneykid

Posted
Posted

Hi firebladejr, in Sydney dyno time is around $120 per hour. So, using your $145 quote, if you allow for loading, tie down, sensor fitting, dyno parameter set up, unloading etc there is only around 40 to 45 minutes available to tune the SAFC. Now if you know what you are doing you can tune the SAFC pretty well in that time. But I wouldn't expect anything else, no time to do stuff like check the fuel pressure, adjust the ignition timing, check the boost stability, check to make sure there is no problems with the A/F ratios in excessively hot or cold conditions, hot start, cruise fule economy, idle stability with a/c on etc etc.

Pay $145 to tune the SAFC and that is exactly what you will get, not one thing more. But, personally, I would want to optimise the performance available from the correct A/F ratios achieved by fitting the SAFC. I would want them to check if I could sneak a bit more boost, if I could advance the ignition timing, if there was a fuel pressure problem (pump failing), if the boost controller was holding stable under all conditions etc etc. I would also want to make sure there was not going to be any problems under a wide range of conditions.

So maybe the low quote was ONLY for tuning the SAFC, nothing else and the higher quotes were allowing for a (what I would consider reasonable) level of care and improved performance above that.

I'd like a dollar for every time someone has told me to ONLY do "X", and then come back when "Y" fails and ask me why I didn't check that as well.

Maybe you should ask them a few more questions.

silver33 Contributor

silver33

Posted
Posted

Firebladejr,

I'm very interested to read your comments on how you go with getting your S-AFC tuned. I'll be getting an S-AFC II in about a month. I'll be looking for someone to fit and tune the thing for me.

I've dealt with Rick Shaw in the past. The service was good and the prices were very reasonable. I'm just not sure how much they know about Apexi products or tuning them correctly.

I have also dealt with BD4's as well. The service was so-so but they were abit pricier than Rick Shaw. Again...how well do they know Apexi products? I know they use alot of HKS products though.

gtr fan Experienced

gtr fan

Posted
Posted

I've always heard good things about BD4's and $145 sounds like a good price, seeing as they have tuned some serious cars previously.

Wouldn't recommend hills motorsports though,ESPECIALLY AT $600! pm for further details if interested.

JimX Grand Master

JimX

Posted
Posted

I paid $150 for my S-AFC tune at Hills a couple of months back. It took around 2 hours (he did have to leave the job for a few minutes every now and then to tend to other stuff though) and it involved adjusting the timing. Are you sure they didn't think you were referring to a PowerFC tune? I understand that they can cost upwards of $500. Also, the last time I got a quote from CRD they quoted me $200 or so. But that was almost a year ago.

MRK25T Experienced

MRK25T

Posted
Posted

Firebladejr,

I got my powerFC tuned at Procar in Dee Why. They set up my fuel system (I had a fuel pump and regulator installed a few days prior to the tune).

The guy who tuned it took about 4 hours on the dyno whilst I sat in the passenger seat watching the engine check light for him while he did his maths and explained what he was doing.

After he was happy with the tune he reduced the timing by 2 and set a safety net somehow so if the powerfc notices very very unlikely readings it will handle things so the engine doesn't blow.

I requested that the tune had to be on the safe side becuase I havent got the $$ to buy another engine in 6 months time. He told me he does this to every job.

bbenny is another to ask on the forums about procar. He has a HKS powered R32 and has used procar for a dyno run. I think he was getting a safc tuned there are well.

Mark

BOOSTD Mentor

BOOSTD

Posted
Posted
Originally posted by MRK25T

Firebladejr,

After he was happy with the tune he reduced the timing by 2 and set a safety net somehow so if the powerfc notices very very unlikely readings it will handle things so the engine doesn't blow.

I would like to know what this is since I was under the impression the PFC doesn't have any Detenation controlled timing retard....

MRK25T Experienced

MRK25T

Posted
Posted
Originally posted by BOOSTD
Originally posted by MRK25T

Firebladejr,

After he was happy with the tune he reduced the timing by 2 and set a safety net somehow so if the powerfc notices very very unlikely readings it will handle things so the engine doesn't blow.

I would like to know what this is since I was under the impression the PFC doesn't have any Detenation controlled timing retard....

Thats what he told me, i've got no idea if its true or false - it sounded safe to me so I was happy.

Mark

KamikazeR33 Grand Master

KamikazeR33

Posted
Posted

i got my safc tuned on the road by my mech.. $10

to me i feel being tuned on the road is a little more realistic as there are things like cold air etc etc....

also they way u drive it

im happy with my $10 spent

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