I’ve been driving on the tune for 3-4 days now. Tune is 91-Octane; 91-92 is most common in my area. If I want to go out of my way, I can get 93, but needless to say I don’t want to go out of my way.
Observations: Improved throttle response, pulls harder, accelerates quicker, better gas mileage.
I’ve noticed better acceleration and passing performance since installing the tune. Merging into traffic from my street is significantly easier with the better pickup. RPMs continue past the normal shift point and seem to top out between 4500-5000 between shifts under hard accel.
Gas mileage has been observed to be at least 5% better. A short trip that usually nets me 20mpg is now getting slightly over 21mpg.
Other mods that may affect performance (these were in place prior to the ECU tune so the only difference is the tune): airbox Zingo-mod with K&N filter, lightweight crank pulley, 18X8 wheels and tires (instead of the stock 17").
Most of these observations have been in “D”. I have not used tip yet, but briefly had it in “S” today and the difference was even more pronounced. Plus, I did not notice the usual loss of MPG in “S”. It seemed to remain pretty consistent, however I’ll need to do more experimenting.
My wife doesn’t like it. The car is no longer as sedate as she liked. It is more in line with what I like. Oh, well. She’ll get used to it.
I do not yet have the TCU tune. It’s on my list, but exhaust first (DPs most importantly), then some suspension work (new control arms up front, sway bar in the back and coilovers all around).
So, while I realize I am probably preaching to the choir, the JHM tune is completely worth it. On top of which, they worked with me and kept me up to date on the tune and issues (the original ECU I sent was second hand, they were unwilling to override the immobilization software. I appreciate that. My wife appreciates it more. So I had to pull the actual unit and overnight it). Keaton was courteous and helpful as were the other blokes I talked to there. I don’t think anyone should hesitate to deal with them. They ARE busy. It took a day and a half for them to return my initial call to buy the tune, but they did call me back. Just be patient.
That said, I feel like I have ants in my pants waiting for the automatic/generic down pipes.
Thanks, JHM. Good job on the tune!