Custom tuning: when and why?

[r.camlin]

I have a few things planned for my 2019 CVT Hatchback Sport. Nothing crazy for now, just an intercooler and an intake. My question is, with bolt-ons and drop-ins, when should you consider (or need) a custom tune? How would one go about that? Is it equipment specific? I see a lot of people talking about tunes for specific parts or manufacturers and I have no idea where to begin, or if I'd be putting my transmission or engine at risk by running any mods without appropriate tuning.

I'm currently on Stage 1, 93 octane, all stock parts. But I know I can't leave well enough alone and will be molesting a whole lot of that engine bay over the life of the car lol.

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[caspar21]

intercooler only needed if you are seeing hi intake air temps.
intake is for sound? bang per buck a tune is way better than an intake for power.

ktuner comes with maps for a few different bolt on parts so i would start with the ktuner and add on after that.

last point. ktuner is capable of pushing your cvt beyond its limits without any bolt ons using a custom tune. so unless you want sound changes or to fix high temps, then it is only really worth getting the ktuner(or hondata).

 

[2tone]

I have a few things planned for my 2019 CVT Hatchback Sport. Nothing crazy for now, just an intercooler and an intake. My question is, with bolt-ons and drop-ins, when should you consider (or need) a custom tune? How would one go about that? Is it equipment specific? I see a lot of people talking about tunes for specific parts or manufacturers and I have no idea where to begin, or if I'd be putting my transmission or engine at risk by running any mods without appropriate tuning.

I'm currently on Stage 1, 93 octane, all stock parts. But I know I can't leave well enough alone and will be molesting a whole lot of that engine bay over the life of the car lol.

You don’t really need a custom tune for any bolt ons. Custom tunes are really nice tho but you can wait til you’ve got your fill on mods to get the custom tune. Intake is probably the only thing that may need tuning but only manufactures that require tuning are Map and injen i believe.

 

[Benster]

You don’t really need a custom tune for any bolt ons. Custom tunes are really nice tho but you can wait til you’ve got your fill on mods to get the custom tune. Intake is probably the only thing that may need tuning but only manufactures that require tuning are Map and injen i believe.

Not true for all bolt-ons, but for most of them. In your case, a custom tune would reduce the amount of torque generated at low rpms to save your CVT. Another reason for a custom tune is that the standard tunes are safe tunes for all cars, which means it's not optimized for your particular vehicle, area and driving habits. Lastly, parts that would require a custom tune would be: PRL CAI with race maf, any aftermarket down pipe if you go catless(or catted if you want that extra 10-15hp on top of the gains from the part itself) and bigger turbo. For now I believe that's it until people start building those engines more and more and pushing 400whp. From a post I read yesterday, the limit for our sport model seems to be around 290-300whp with the fuel system, which, IMO, is more than enough for a FWD car.

Sorry for the tangent, as for your planned mods, I would suggest a ktuner first, then maybe an intake but if you don't go to the cobra CAI, I would just go for their stage 1 intake as the rest of them doesn't give a lot of gains. The stage 1 gives you a bit more engine noise and a wooshing noise when the turbo spools, you don't hear the blow off sound but at least you hear the turbo working. The intercooler is only really useful if you plan to track the car or do a lot of spirited driving in hot weather. The stock one is decent enough for just getting on it a few times during a ride, as long as you don't do back to back pulls you won't feel the heat soak too much. The downpipe/front pipe is the next biggest hp gains for price, some seeing as much as 35whp increase with added sound. Go catted if you don't like to hear a bunch of angry bees in a tin can, both catted and catless have almost the same power figures with catless being 1-3hp more.

 

[calvin13386]

Not true for all bolt-ons, but for most of them. In your case, a custom tune would reduce the amount of torque generated at low rpms to save your CVT. Another reason for a custom tune is that the standard tunes are safe tunes for all cars, which means it's not optimized for your particular vehicle, area and driving habits. Lastly, parts that would require a custom tune would be: PRL CAI with race maf, any aftermarket down pipe if you go catless(or catted if you want that extra 10-15hp on top of the gains from the part itself) and bigger turbo. For now I believe that's it until people start building those engines more and more and pushing 400whp. From a post I read yesterday, the limit for our sport model seems to be around 290-300whp with the fuel system, which, IMO, is more than enough for a FWD car.

Sorry for the tangent, as for your planned mods, I would suggest a ktuner first, then maybe an intake but if you don't go to the cobra CAI, I would just go for their stage 1 intake as the rest of them doesn't give a lot of gains. The stage 1 gives you a bit more engine noise and a wooshing noise when the turbo spools, you don't hear the blow off sound but at least you hear the turbo working. The intercooler is only really useful if you plan to track the car or do a lot of spirited driving in hot weather. The stock one is decent enough for just getting on it a few times during a ride, as long as you don't do back to back pulls you won't feel the heat soak too much. The downpipe/front pipe is the next biggest hp gains for price, some seeing as much as 35whp increase with added sound. Go catted if you don't like to hear a bunch of angry bees in a tin can, both catted and catless have almost the same power figures with catless being 1-3hp more.

My understanding is Ktuner already has the maf scaling for PRL CAI race maf. So for this intake you do not need a custom tune, just need to switch to the PRL race maf scaling.

 

[KTuner]

My understanding is Ktuner already has the maf scaling for PRL CAI race maf. So for this intake you do not need a custom tune, just need to switch to the PRL race maf scaling.

True.

 

[gtman]

Do you need a custom tune?

For certain things you probably do. That Injen intake for example with it's inconsistent MAF. But for many bolt ons, those base maps will work OK.

OK being the key word. The base maps as good as they are were created on a stock car. If you want the most out of your newly added bolt ons (or just want a more finely tweaked setup) custom dyno or e-tuning will improve your power or tailor it to your needs.

 

[Benster]

My understanding is Ktuner already has the maf scaling for PRL CAI race maf. So for this intake you do not need a custom tune, just need to switch to the PRL race maf scaling.

EDIT:
Regardless of the state of your ECU development, you still have MAF scaling, sorry for not checking Ktuner.

 

[KTuner]

If your ECU is fully supported yes, in my case I just have a beta version so that does not apply to me.

Actually even ECUs in beta should have this option under MAF Scaling.

 

[r.camlin]

Actually even ECUs in beta should have this option under MAF Scaling.

Can confirm, PRL race MAF scaling is accessible.

 

[arhill999]

Anyone heard of this: the mechanics who installed my PRL cobra cold air intake informed me that the filter paper in the filter were being sucked into the intake in such a manner that they were inhibiting the exhaust? Is this a reasonable observation?

 

[r.camlin]

Anyone heard of this: the mechanics who installed my PRL cobra cold air intake informed me that the filter paper in the filter were being sucked into the intake in such a manner that they were inhibiting the exhaust? Is this a reasonable observation?

Something about that doesn't sound right. If the intake is sucking anything like that through the piping in a way that would affect the exhaust, then your turbo would be destroyed, no?

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