Where to get car tuned?

[jorgo90]

Hoping to get recommendations and feedback on where people have got their cars tuned. Also feedback on how much it cost would be great.

Tried to look up previous threads, JEM and Jez DVS seem to be common, but those were fairly old threads.

I have a Nissan R34 GTT 1998 Manual, apexi power-fc, hypergear tubro located in Hornsby NSW.

Originally tuned by Trojan in ACT (previous owner), 265kw at wheels, but is running a little rich. Thinking of just getting a full re-tune instead of a fix up.

[GTSBoy]

48 minutes ago, jorgo90 said:

 just getting a full re-tune instead of a fix up.

There's not really any difference.  A retune of a working install only fixes what needs fixing.

Both those recommendations for tuners would still stand.

[r32-25t]

I use dvs tuning (Jez) very happy with the tune 

[SiR_RB]

Been using dvs tuning for over 6 years

cant recommend him highly enough ?

[Super Drager]

Unigroup engineering

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

I wouldn't get a retune to "fix" it running rich. Blow $1200 for no reason to be honest.

Also it may be tuned rich for a reason, generally with thise high flow turbos, the rear housings are small (because they're OEM) and you often have heaps of exhaust back pressure as you can Only get so much air out versus in due to the upgraded compressor wheels. 

Now if you were to have a ruler flat instagrammable AFR reading you might find your car will knock or have sky high EGTs due to the low timing. So to combat this, tuners or mechanics turned tuners dump in heaps of fuel to combat knock.

Anyhow if you feel like getting it "re-tuned" I suggest you reset the PowerFC so they at least have to copy and paste another tune on and touch it up.

[RR34GTT]

Going to jump in here instead of creating a new thread, if anyone has reccomendations for tuners in Tas while they're at it, let us know! 

[jorgo90]

Not so worried about the running rich part in terms of wasted money etc... The only reason why it bothers me is it spits out smoke and gets oil burn/marks on the rear bumper.

Any other solutions or ideas appreciated.

[GTSBoy]

Put it on the dyno and find out what the mixtures and timing actually are across the load/rev range, then decide if it needs tuning or if you should go back to the drawing board wrt turbo selection, etc, as per Johnny's post.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

1 hour ago, jorgo90 said:

Not so worried about the running rich part in terms of wasted money etc... The only reason why it bothers me is it spits out smoke and gets oil burn/marks on the rear bumper.

Any other solutions or ideas appreciated.

does your car run a cat?

[jorgo90]

4 hours ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

does your car run a cat?

This is embaressing, I feel like I know everything else about the car other than that lol. My get feel is that it does not.

What are your thoughts on it with or without though?

[KiwiRS4T]

Well in Australia its simple ...compliant catalytic converter legally required so people wanting to lose the cat usually compromise by

1. putting in a free flowing although not necessarily compliant cat or

2. gutting the cat (so hard to tell from the outside)

3. installing a "test pipe" which may or may not resemble a cat.

Or they just lose it altogether...easy to spot by looking under the car.

I would be more interested to know why it is making only 265kw. What model Hypergear have you got and what injectors,  intercooler, exhaust etc?

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Generally Hypergear high flows (back then, no experience with his newer high flows) made around the 250-270kW on a roller dyno.

Tao's test rig often read a bit higher as it was always dynoed on a hub dyno.

[jorgo90]

10 hours ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

Generally Hypergear high flows (back then, no experience with his newer high flows) made around the 250-270kW on a roller dyno.

Tao's test rig often read a bit higher as it was always dynoed on a hub dyno.

 

10 hours ago, KiwiRS4T said:

Well in Australia its simple ...compliant catalytic converter legally required so people wanting to lose the cat usually compromise by

1. putting in a free flowing although not necessarily compliant cat or

2. gutting the cat (so hard to tell from the outside)

3. installing a "test pipe" which may or may not resemble a cat.

Or they just lose it altogether...easy to spot by looking under the car.

I would be more interested to know why it is making only 265kw. What model Hypergear have you got and what injectors,  intercooler, exhaust etc?

 

Hi Guys,

The engine was rebuilt just before I bought it in late 2016, about 10,000KMS ago (Total bill was 15K, i believe that included a new turbo at the time, engine mounts, new suspension and full dyno etc) - previous owner was a stickler for doing things right, and yes I saw the receipts and spoke to the guys that did it.

The car has Hypergear G3 highflow turbo, spitfire coilpacks, SARD 650cc injectors. Z32 AFM, Walbro 255 Fuel Pump. Exhaust brand is unknown and unknown if it is turbo back or cat back, or gutted cat back etc.

[Kinkstaah]

The easiest way is to get under the car and check and see re: cats.

Yes, without a cat you know about it. If people following you get headaches in the hills, you have no cat. It is possible to have a really rich tune and have rear bar discoloration etc with a cat, so ideally you'd be checking both the tune and the state of your exhuast.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

G3, relatively old design compared to his more recent & modern turbos.

That result is pretty decent!

Jack up your car, unbolt your car, have a look if it's hollowed out or not!

And if you're really keen on getting a re-tune and burning cash take it to Mark @ MRC Dyno in Castle Hill. He would be my pick if I had to choose a tuner. I've seen his timing maps/tunes and compared to others they're much better.

[Old man 32 GTR]

+1 for Jez, go see him for a chat

[Taha]

Jem

[silviaz]

On 9/24/2018 at 8:23 AM, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

I wouldn't get a retune to "fix" it running rich. Blow $1200 for no reason to be honest.

Also it may be tuned rich for a reason, generally with thise high flow turbos, the rear housings are small (because they're OEM) and you often have heaps of exhaust back pressure as you can Only get so much air out versus in due to the upgraded compressor wheels. 

Now if you were to have a ruler flat instagrammable AFR reading you might find your car will knock or have sky high EGTs due to the low timing. So to combat this, tuners or mechanics turned tuners dump in heaps of fuel to combat knock.

Anyhow if you feel like getting it "re-tuned" I suggest you reset the PowerFC so they at least have to copy and paste another tune on and touch it up.

I'd love to do a fix up but a tuner I went to says he doesn't do that, and it's easier just to do it from scratch because if they fix one parameter it could negatively impact another. I was trying to avoid spending $1k+, is this common with tuners?

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

3 minutes ago, silviaz said:

is this common with tuners?

Yes, here's a scenario.

Say your original tune by Tuner A has been done, with the wrong injector data, wrong sensor scaling, base timing not synced properly. Tuner B then hops on, fixes up the cock ups and now realises the fuel table & timing tables are pretty much invalid.

Easier for them to copy and paste a known working tune from a similar car they've done in the past with similar mods, then tune/calibrate accordingly