A few questions on Tuning

[HoneybadgerPSZ]

I have been steadily working on some bolt on Modifications on my 25' Performance 6 Speed. Just completed the first oil change at 2500 miles and I had a couple of tuning questions.

First question;

My modifications are as follows;

AMS Cold Air Intake - Installed
AMS Street Catted Down Pipes - Installed
Borla exhaust - Came on the car - Installed
AMS Heat Exchanger - On back Order

So question 1 - Do I need to wait for the heat exchanger to move forward with my tune. Understanding it will greatly help with heat soak with ringing the car out but will it affect

tuning it now?

Question 2 - I live in St Augustine Florida. I am not familiar if I have local shops or even shops that are near to tune the car and get it on a dyno. A friend of mine with a GTR suggested I see his tuner Cicio Performance in Tampa. I may reach out to them and see what options they have for me. However, I am considering an easier route and doing a remote Sonic tune. Is this the right choice? Just go online answer the questions buy it and then schedule it and work remotely with them? I would likely still try to get it on a dyno as I kind of want to know what I have accomplished ref WHP.

And again thank you for answering my questions. I've never dealt with Computer tuning nor Turbo cars so I am learning as I go.

 

[SleepyD7]

Heya Badger. Sonic is a good choice. I've heard several tuners (Racebox comes to mind) that claim that an in-shop dyno tune should net some more power and torque (average of +5 to +15 on 93 and twice that on ethanol and even more with upgraded turbos).

Alternatively, an OTS tune is going to be well established, very safe, "one-size-fits-all" solution. Another option local to us would be ZFever Performance also in Tampa has in-shop dyno tuning.

A heat exchanger with FBO and tune is not essential but highly recommended. Without a upgraded heat exchanger, in central FL summer, if you do back to back redline pulls: the timing pulled amounts to a noticeable -20 whp per pull. Keep on thrashing in the heat and the car will feel very sluggish as your ECU plays referee. If you drive normally however, without excessive redline pulls, the stock rad and oil cooler holds up alright.

IMO Get your tune, have fun in moderation until your HE arrives.

 

[KrackaC8]

The heat exchanger will be make the tuning much quicker/easier in a hot climate due to improved consistency between runs and less need for cool down time. I also personally suggest a bottle of Redline Water Wetter be added to the system during install.

There's a few FL guys on here that will have some good local suggestions. Sonic & RaceBox are both great remote tuning options, as well. I'm dyno-tuned by RaceBox since they're local to me (~10 mins from my office) so they were the easy choice here.

 

[FSUZ33]

These other guys know more than me about tuning, but are your AMS DPs FULL Street or Street LOWER DPs?
If FULL, I suggest a tune now.
If LOWER, it’s not AS important. I’d follow the experts here on advice for that setup.

 

[Tranzor Z]

These other guys know more than me about tuning, but are your AMS DPs FULL Street or Street LOWER DPs?
If FULL, I suggest a tune now.
If LOWER, it’s not AS important. I’d follow the experts here on advice for that setup.

Thanks for your input, ma'am!!

 

[KrackaC8]

Thanks for your input, ma'am!!

EXPERT #1!!!

 

[FSUZ33]

Thanks for your input, ma'am!!

Dude, you’re like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I don’t know that story, but I think one was really knowledgable and helpful about cars and the other was a 9 year old.

 

[HoneybadgerPSZ]

Heya Badger. Sonic is a good choice. I've heard several tuners (Racebox comes to mind) that claim that an in-shop dyno tune should net some more power and torque (average of +5 to +15 on 93 and twice that on ethanol and even more with upgraded turbos).

Alternatively, an OTS tune is going to be well established, very safe, "one-size-fits-all" solution. Another option local to us would be ZFever Performance also in Tampa has in-shop dyno tuning.

A heat exchanger with FBO and tune is not essential but highly recommended. Without a upgraded heat exchanger, in central FL summer, if you do back to back redline pulls: the timing pulled amounts to a noticeable -20 whp per pull. Keep on thrashing in the heat and the car will feel very sluggish as your ECU plays referee. If you drive normally however, without excessive redline pulls, the stock rad and oil cooler holds up alright.

IMO Get your tune, have fun in moderation until your HE arrives.

Sounds reasonable - I will check out Z Fever while I wait to hear back from Cicio.

These other guys know more than me about tuning, but are your AMS DPs FULL Street or Street LOWER DPs?
If FULL, I suggest a tune now.
If LOWER, it’s not AS important. I’d follow the experts here on advice for that setup.

street Ldp’s, catted. Sounds great now with the Borla and I’ve been running the piss out of it and it doesn’t seem to mind. (Back tires care a little). Every bolt on makes me like the car a bit more. AMS needs to get my Heat Exchanger shipped so I can get it installed and get this thing tuned.

 

[HoneybadgerPSZ]

The heat exchanger will be make the tuning much quicker/easier in a hot climate due to improved consistency between runs and less need for cool down time. I also personally suggest a bottle of Redline Water Wetter be added to the system during install.

There's a few FL guys on here that will have some good local suggestions. Sonic & RaceBox are both great remote tuning options, as well. I'm dyno-tuned by RaceBox since they're local to me (~10 mins from my office) so they were the easy choice here.

I’m gonna hit up AMS to see where my heat exchanger is and wait until I get that installed. I Just heard back from Cicio and I am going to chat with them on Monday about doing my tune. My buddy with the GTR speaks highly of them. Ya’ll are very helpful. Many thanks.

 

[KrackaC8]

I’m gonna hit up AMS to see where my heat exchanger is and wait until I get that installed. I Just heard back from Cicio and I am going to chat with them on Monday about doing my tune. My buddy with the GTR speaks highly of them. Ya’ll are very helpful. Many thanks.

They're big and highly respected in the C8 community too...but IMO I'd rather go to a VR30 specialist.

 

[Gadgetech]

I’m gonna hit up AMS to see where my heat exchanger is and wait until I get that installed. I Just heard back from Cicio and I am going to chat with them on Monday about doing my tune. My buddy with the GTR speaks highly of them. Ya’ll are very helpful. Many thanks.

My PPF installer recommended the Cicio in Alpharetta. The only Nissan they list is the GT-R. If they’re doing anything with Z’s, it isn’t obvious. I’ll be curious to see what they tell you.

 

[HoneybadgerPSZ]

My PPF installer recommended the Cicio in Alpharetta. The only Nissan they list is the GT-R. If they’re doing anything with Z’s, it isn’t obvious. I’ll be curious to see what they tell you.

I’ll keep ya’ll posted after I speak with them Monday. They emailed me saying they do in fact tune the new Z And would happy to take care of me.

We shall see. I have some time to decide as I am going to wait for my heat exchanger as that seems like the right course. I may seek an alternative to AMS if they cannot produce something in the next couple weeks.

 

[thesilverbullet]

I’m gonna hit up AMS to see where my heat exchanger is and wait until I get that installed. I Just heard back from Cicio and I am going to chat with them on Monday about doing my tune. My buddy with the GTR speaks highly of them. Ya’ll are very helpful. Many thanks.

you can search ecutek for a master tuner in your area, three in Jacksonville and four in Orlando. Like kracka said, pick one that specializes in VR30-TT engines. Also, it‘s much better / faster to have it tuned on the dyno. Will only take 2-3 hours tops. the guys I’m talking to will have me in & out in less than 2 hours. I’m in the same boat - waiting on the AMS HX.

 

[Kludos]

You don't need a heat exchanger for your tune. They shouldn't be doing repeated pulls to heat soak.

You should do a heat exchanger for when you are beating on it.

I just did a remote tune from Sydney Australia with Sonictuned, it was a very smooth process and the car feels phenomenal now. The VR30 platform is pretty unknown here, and while there are good tuners locally, it's much better to go with someone that knows the platform (IMO).

Side note: I ran catted FDPs without a tune or CEL for a number of weeks before my tune arrived.