Went to local Dyno shop today to ask about a custom tune on 06 GT. In my mind I was thinking about $150-200 bucks. The guy hits me with a $450 quote. I was surprized at that number. Then he goes on to say I would have to buy an SCT tuner also for about $350.00. Not sure why I need a tuner when he has one? Add in a CAI price and I'm looking at close to $1100 to but in a CAI with tune. Seems really high to me, but I have never had work done on the car before. Someone let me know if this guy is trying to rape me and should I go somewhere else. I'm scared of canned tunes with all the problems people talk about with them. Also want to maximize my bolt-ons.
my local dyno guy charges $90/hour for tuning. you do need to have your own handheld tuner to upload your tunes. a cheaper alternative may be to get a tune from one of the big names out there, then have a baseline dyno, and adjust as necessary.
$300-$400 is the going rate for shops around me. I believe you need the sct tuner because the way the programer works in storing the stock tune, but I might be off.
You are correct. When you get a tuner it saves your stock tune so that if you sell it you can put it back on. Or if you have to bring it to the dealer you don't risk them knowing about it.
Unless you have forced induction, there is no way in hell i'd ever pay 400+ for a custom tune. You do need xcal, but most tuners i've seen charge 50-150 an hour for just bolt-on cars.
For $379, you can get a SCT from Brenspeed with 3 canned tunes. I put my car on the dyno and the hp/tq curve was perfect and the A/F at 12.5. The dyno operator said the tune was spot on and not much else left there to be had. Make it a total of $569 and you will get the intake kit with it. With just the intake and tuner I resulted in 290rwhp and 311tq.
It's all been said, but just know most the tuners "lock" to your car when used. That's why he's saying you need your own. They can be unlocked once it's unmarried. Still, just get the Brenspeed SCT package. Dead simple, one of the best tunes out there.
