To bama tune or not?
 

Hi Everyone,

So I have been hearing alot of people talk about a specified tune to the coyote engine mustangs to help improve the response of the car. My question to y'all, how much of an improvement does it really make and how much do they usually cost. So far I am only familiar with the chip on the older mustangs but I know its a bit different now with the coyote engines. Typically my goal is to have 3 different tunes that I can easily select.

The following are
-Daily Driving (Gas Saver)
-Sport Driving (Confort Driving but with some kick)
-Full Race (Taking it to the track and saying...woah baby!:drool2:)

Now I also heard of other possible tunes that I can go with other than BAMA but I want to get everyone's expertise on this one. Keep in mind that this will be for a car with an automatic transmission.
(Yes I know manual is the way to go but I heard some pros in having an automatic transmission).

ALL OF YOUR IMPUT IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!.

If you know of a great place and price of where I can get a tune, I would also be appreciative. I am a working professional DJ who has worked at radio stations such as CBS radio and will return the favor with a mix of songs of your choice of course. :)

I was also thinking of adding some 3:73 gears to get a sharp response on the car but I keep going back and forth between the tune and gears.

I'll also be contributing more to the forum as I will be videotaping an install of some HID fog lights on a CS 2011 mustang. I have not been able to find one on youtube so I figured I put one out there for everyone to see.

Thanks again everyone and I look forward in reading everyone's response.

http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/v...906_161515.jpg

http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/v...906_161240.jpg

I haven't actually heard a negative comment about a BAMA tune but, I do hear people claim that a dyno tune would be more "precise" to your engine. I'm still trying to figure out that one since these (and all other mass produced engines) are built on assembly lines so tolerances, clearances, materials, factory specs would all be the same across the entire engine build. Anyway again, I have neither but, have heard that a custom tune is the way to go but, nothing wrong with BAMA. Custom tunes from a shop normally run about $500.

-Alex

Haven't heard anything bad about Bama tunes? Guess you don't read much. Bama is know to be the worst of the mail tunes out there. Like 29deg of timing bad

When I get a tune it will be AED Lund or Kevin

Kevin?, more info please.

I have been looking around too lately and AED and Lund both seem to have pretty good track records.

I have read around and well, some say its good and others talk about other types of tunes, and of course I also hear about the shop tune. Then I come across the Ford Racing Boss Power pack, where you get the tune, air intake, and the boss manifold to increase the hp to about 50-60 hp. So I figured I ask the experts and see what your guys take was on it. Its hard to really make the decision but thanks to your feedback I will begin further research on custom tune with a shop. I mean even American Muscle stated that they will provide free tunes for life on the Bama tune so it got me thinking.

Sounds to me that this is one to get further research since the Power Pack runs about 1k so I wanted to see if I should get the tune, inake manifold, and air intake seperately or all in one pack.

If anyone has done a tune, let us know what you though of it and share your experience.

Oh wow! I didn't see that. Also keep in mind, since I am not looking to tune so I am not searching for information on that either. So the information I have seen hasn't been negative regarding BAMA. I don't imagine their tunes are that off across the board though. But that's enough to deter me from trying once, yikes. Don't suppose you might have a link to that particular thread would you?

-Alex

From what I have read, Lund is the best.

-Alex

Each of us that has a tune will swear that company is the best and that's why we went with it. There are several good ones out there without a nickel's difference between them.

Since you have an automatic I recommend not changing the rear gear ratio from factory. The transmission gearing for your first two gears are plenty low already. Ford made an impressive set-up with the auto trans system.

I do not have a Coyote based Mustang, so take this with a grain of salt.

Any tune is only as good as the customer service and after-sale support.

When making this decision, there is no such thing as too much information.

My experiences with mail order tunes is exactly why I appreciate my relationship with local shops!! Strongly consider fostering a relationship with a local entity before you go mail order.

But if you insist on using a mail order tune: VMP > Lund.
This is primarily due to BJ's level of customer support.

Opinions and attitudes towards Bama will change depending on who you talk to. These cars used to have issues with cylinder eight taking a shit. Some say in the earlier days of the coyote that people with Bama tunes had an increased likelihood of this issue and the tunes could cause other issues as well. Others will say the number eight issue was because of a shitty factory tune that could cause a too lean condition in cylinder eight and an aftermarket tune would correct the problem. So there are a lot of mixed opinions on the matter. I don't care because Bama now stands behind their tune with a warranty. If and when I go forced induction I'll change to someone with more experience with FI but for now I have no issues with my Bama tune.

Ive had a Bama tune for quite sometime and no problems. If you just have simple boltons a mail order tune is just IMO.

My car runs fine on my bama tune. I'm going to do some data logging on my car but I'm not getting bent out of shape on all timing comments.

That is some great feedback guys. All information is greatly appreciated and that is the reason we have forums. To get the experience from one another and help each other out. So here is a simple video explaining the bama tune and the Boss Intake. I'll try to see the information regarding the tune but I like all information posted here. I think it will be helpful for those who will be or are thinking of pulling the trigger on the tune.

What vid?

Youtube video
 

HERE IS A LINK TO THE YOUTUBE VIDEO DESCRIBING A TUNE WITH A BOSS INTAKE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIoPXtMrq0g

I looked all over and the mph for all tunes is damn near the same. SO really just take your pick.

So I guess I am still debating if I should start out with a tune or just wait and get the whole package with boss intake, tune, and JLT intake. We will see. :challenge:

The boss intake isnt worth the cost unless you plan on upgrading a few other things. WBT on here had a great writeup.

I would not go with a Boss manifold.

Cobra jet > Stock > Boss.

-Alex

It depends on what you want to do.

Boss Manifold > stock manifold if you will be doing heavy road racing, because you will live in the upper RPMs. Same goes for a Cobra jet manifold, except for drag racing.

Stock manifold is great for an all around fun car that will see a mix of everything.

This. Boss intake is not made for drag racing. I will be doing the boss eventually for this very reason

From what I understand, Doug, who started Bama is now tuning for C&L.

Shot you a pm brother, skip the Bama tune

Why? I did a AFR on mine and its sopt on, maybe even a tad rich. It not worth the extra cash (right now) with bolt ons to get a dyno tune.

There's more to a tune than AFR.

This...

Check your timing...

Omg Jesus. I've been running it for close to 15k miles now. No issues. I pointed out afr because not long ago, there was a post about the afr being to lean. I've tuned plenty of my own cars including my rx7 which had split timing. Now that's a bitch. If you can squeeze out 5more hp and better drivability then is that worth 500? I consider the drive ability on mine to be pretty good.

The logic about timing numbers seems a bit odd to me. The knock sensors are on with the bama tune so if they see knock they will cut timing until it stops. This is standard on all cars. As there Is no set "safe" timing number. You could have a target of 25 degrees timing but if you get bad fuel this number becomes "unsafe" If the fuel is good enough like e85 you can increase timing allot because the fuel has a very high octane. So if we see 29 degrees of timing and the knock sensors are not pulling timing how is this not ok? The fuel seems to handle that much timing or the knock sensors would pick it up. If the knock sensors do see knock they pull timing. So if they pull timing and the timing is still at 29 degrees that means they pulled timing until it stopped. So how is this senario not ok? Running quality 93 with knock sensors just seems a bit far fetched that a current tune ruined your engine. This is all assuming your AF ratio is correct. Where the cyl 8 problems with melting the piston or cracking it? I've heard both. Also from my understating some tuners including bama were turning off knock sensors in their early tunes. Which would explain cyl 8 failures from pre detention.

Darkhelmet, Yagermister recently datalogged another member's car of which was tuned by Bama. He was commanding 29° of timing on his car, and the knock sensors were pulling 4-5° on top of that timing. That's NOOOOOOOO bueno.

My point was an email tune will not ever be that precise without sending data logs. Yes the tune on the situation above needs to be tweaked but that's why we have knock sensors. As long as they are doing their job his engine should be fine.

I would rather not have to depend on the sensors to make sure my motor stays alive plus i don't want a tune in which my motor "should be fine".

I say "should" only because nothing is ever certain with cars. And your engine does depend on sensors to stay alive. It's ok the use all the other sensors but not the knock sensors?

All these guys on here I've had failures and I've hear bad things about every tuner. I mean EVERY tuner.

Please tell me where you're spending 500 for a tune? VMP's tune is 100 dollars and are a bit more efficient than AM's without running 30 degrees of timing. If you've tuned your own car in the past and on split timing why aren't you doing it to your Mustang? Tuning one car is pretty similar to tuning another, with all your experience I don't have to tell you how bad BAMA tunes are and you should be able identify more than "my afr was spot on".

What software and hardware were you using for tuning your Mazda?

Haltec e6k. Kinda old but it was a steep curve for me. I only paid 700 for it 6 years ago. lol Tuning a rotary and then a piston is pretty difficult switch. I had more time back then to learn the ins and outs of the RX7 and the rotary. Doing it with the stang is possible but like I said is it really worth just a few extra ponies? I dont see Bama tunes as being bad. Thats the thing. I see others and see bad publicity on there tunes as well. I believe that they are all about the same and really comes down to servce. Now if I were to put a blower on my car I would most def learn the Coyote. Im just to lazy and busy to do so right now.

Because MOST of the people running Bama tunes have no idea whatsoever about how motors and tuning works. They just drive their cars.

This is true but judging by their rep, you dont see many failures. Ive seen failuers associated with every tune out there. BEing that BAma sells more 3-1 compared to their closet rival, it would stand to reason that it would seem they have had more failures when they havent. Hell the stock tune fails lol.