Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Forced Induction TIME to Tune the turbo mystique

OK well things are getting better for me econimically and I think its time to ditch my SAFC and get it professionally tuned. There is no SCT tuner in my state except one at a dealer and they can't do what I want because I called this morning. There was a sct tuner device that I saw a few weeks ago for $500 and it included unlimited new tunes via email for 6 months. Just send in the dyno plots after running the new programs and they will continue to tweek it as much as you want. Anyone know what I am talking about or have a better suggestion besides driving 6 hours one way.

who cares how long the drive is to get it tuned RIGHT.

im gonna drive 2200 miles each way to have ADC tune my car when i get the turbo kit fabricated. why? because they are the best. period. and it will be a fun drive home

ok long story short I don't want to go quite that far because I have work to do and such, plus I would need to bring a lady friend with me to make it worthwhile.

I drove 20hrs to get my car tuned and the engine blew on the dyno so 6hrs sounds like a breeze.

I'm leary about mail order chips, even from SCT, if anything is messed up with the tune things can go real wrong, real quick. When I finally got back from ADC and installed another engine and got the final program we tuned, the car didn't run, wouldn't even start. Took three mail backs to finally get the right program on the chip. They burned the wrong binary a few times and if I wasn't super alert checking my timing with the OBDII scanner the engine would have blown again.

Make sure you tell SCT everything you have on the engine, especially the MAF. That's where ADC had a hard time doing my car. Personally I think that MAF you have is too big. A standard Mustang GT MAF would be better. Let them know off what kind of vehicle you got it from and what size your injectors are and all that good stuff.

When you finally do get the chip with program installed, check your timing with a OBDII scanner. In 3rd gear flooring it under boost, your timing should be around 7-10* advanced at 3000rpms going up to 15-19* by the redline. May seem low, but one Focus guy is running 12psi and 6* advanced at 3000rpms. Make sure your midrange timing is good and that your tip in throttle fuel and timing response is quick and your cruise timing is stock and you're good to go. But that is the hard part.

Hey thanks that is some really good info I appreciate it.

OK if anyone can specify any thing else to pay attention to ie timing values ect once I install the chip/reprogram the computer, I would greatly appreciate it.

Most people here are V6 oriented. ECT is a good thing to mention, if you've got a colder thermosate that's good, but you'll need to reprogram the fan come on temp to make full use of it. When my dad first turbo'd his Focus with the stock thermostate he was seeing 220F at idle and 200F at highway speeds at 90F+ days. That was way hot. He bought a 180 thermo and had the settings in the ECU changed and the temps came down quite a bit.

Also I'd shoot for mid to high 11:1 AF ratio under boost. You might be able to lean it up in the higher rpms where there's less time for it to detonate, but in the mid range, keep it safe and rich. I wouldn't run 12:1 AF without race gas or water injection.