My First Impressions of the JHM tune
I’m not going to lie, when I finally received my ECU via FedEx from JHM, I was giddy as a catholic school girl after Passover from all the hype.
The stock tune on the B6 S4 is fun during the first few weeks of ownership but then you get the “there’s gotta be more to this”. Unlike my stg 2+ B5 S4, the B6 S4 didn’t have that instaneous kick until well after 3000rpms and that gradual power climb was annoyingly slow.
After I reinstalled the ECU and tightened a few things down, I took the Avant out for a test drive up and down the street. The very first thing I noticed was the instant throttle response. I barely touched my throttle and the car was already revving above 1500 making the first few feet of my drive an odd experience, kinda like my first time driving stick.
I drove down the street to the end of it, made a U-turn and came back up the street, up the hill. On the stock tune, going up this hill would be slow and boring but on the JHM tune, you can feel the Avant power up the hill effortlessly and a chance to see the improved midrange of the powerband. I think instead of waiting for 4000, you would fly up that hill at 2500-2700rpms.
On my way to work, I did a rolling launch from about 1100, the instant throttle response with instant power kick between 2500-4000 sent me flying down the highway and since I was crossing over into the county I work in, I didn’t want to push my luck to the point where I couldn’t get out of trouble. The instant kick from the tune reminded me of what I had in my old S and I can honestly say my Avant could take her on.
For the moment, I am quite happy with my JHM tune. I have not tested the launch assist program yet and since this is my daily, I’m pretty sure I’ll get a chance at some point in time but until then, I will feed the hype.
FOLLOW-UP (12/26/14):
Installed @59xxxx
Current Mileage @99500
From day one of install to current day, I have about placed about 40K miles on and it continues to be THE “as advertised” product that other drivers rave about. The throttle and engine response from first to sixth ALWAYS gives me a smile ESPECIALLY during the third AND fourth gear runs that happen on random spirited highway drives. First and Second is not as touchy as some have stated but maybe thats because I’ve adapted to its sensitivity or figured out where the engagement points are for normal non-spirited launches. As for the launch assist, I’ve only used this three times considering the age of my stock clutch/pp but when used, its 100% better than attempting a violent and explosive launch on your own as a novice; be advised, LA “makes” first and second REALLY short so make sure you punch them out or be prepared to hear the bouncing redline. Once I break in my the new clutch/pp, I will head to the track again to utilize the LA for some much needed practice on the track.
The ONLY con that I can think of is the random blip of the engine at idle. Its not really a con just more of an annoyance to me but it MIGHT trick someone into thinking the timing is off on the engine, which is not the case. I don’t know the science behind the blip but I’m sure it has to do something with more airflow/fuel mixture into engine.
