My test of the Phearable 1.5 Race (non-Si) tune

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gtman

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Took advantage of cool early morning temps and light traffic conditions to really air the tune out in Map 3. This thing is crazy smooth. And considering I did 3 different pulls to well into triple digits, I still averaged almost 34 mpg for my 40 minute "test". It's great to not see knock control jump up at high rpm like it does in the regular 1.5 tune or the TSP 1. That artificial knock control rise removal rocks. :thumbsup:

I went all out on the accelerator on two of the pulls. Felt great. But it was the other pull that was satisfying in it's own way...

I was appoaching a dump truck on the highway that was moving at a pretty good clip. I'd guesstimate he was doing 75. I was doing about 70. Anyway I decided to pass him, but not aggressively. So I gave it less then 50% throttle. As I passed him, I was at 90 and climbing and easily hit triple digits before letting off the throttle.

Even with a fairly light throttle, it's amazing how rapidily the car accelerates at highway speeds.
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By far the biggest improvement with this tune versus the regular Phearable 1.5 or the TSP 1 is that high rpm artificial knock control removal.

In the past when I'd floor it and get those rpms past 5300, knock control would spike up no matter what. And after that, there would be a "cooling down" period before I'd push the car again.

With this tune, that doesn't happen. I did three high speed pulls yesterday pretty much one after the other. And even though my V2 wasn't hooked up to see the actual numbers, my butt dyno showed no loss of power even on that third pull. These pulls were on the highway from 70-100+.

That feature alone is worth the upgrade, 100%.
 
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Good review! Glad you like the Phearable 1.5 race tune.



The KTuner tunes with early spool and part throttle turbo response maxed out ........
:love:
 

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So about that.

I basically never floor it off the line. Just rolling starts. I just don't think that plays well to the CVT or the tires.

The KTuner tunes with early spool and part throttle turbo response maxed out tend to guzzle gas off the line. With Phearable being a bit more linear it seems to just sip the gas below 3,000 rpm.

As far as needing to floor it on the highway, really no need. It's amazing how fast and smooth 100 mph comes up (from say 60 mph) using a little over half throttle.

Case in point. Some jerk is tailgaiting me. I just feather the throttle and I zoom ahead. It's amazing how easily you pick up another 20 mph. Still amazed how fun these cars are tuned.
Thatā€˜s a major thing I noticed: with the engine being more responsive overall, it takes less overall throttle to get moving in the first place, and maintain normAl street speeds.
 
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Since I've been using the 1.5R tune since last September, I figured it was time to post my long term review and some other tuning tidbits.

I've tried so many tunes going way back to when I used Hondata. From the +6 canned tune of theirs to numerous "homemade tunes" where I played with the boost and torque limit tables. Graduating to a KTuner V2, I tried so many variations of their Starter tunes and again, being adventurous, played around with some behind the scenes tables to create my own semi-custom setups.

None of that was nearly as polished or smooth as the TSP Stage 1 tune. What it lacked in low end twitchiness it more than made up for with the much improved top end compared to the KTuner and Hondata base tunes. My only issue to be honest was the occasional jerkiness/ hesitation that showed up when you really got into the throttle from a crawl.

Which leads me to the Phearable tunes. I was skeptical at first because I wasn't very familiar with Phearable at the time and was pretty "loyal" to TSP and D-Rob. Trying the original 1.5 tune, I wasn't sure what to expect. But it didn't take me long to realize it was the best tune yet. Smoother than the TSP 1, with a similar power curve, it was hard to find fault with it at all.

After using the regular 1.5 tune for a long time, I moved up to the 1.5R. The artificial knock control rise removal was the big selling point and there was a slight power bump too. It took a great tune and made it nearly perfect. It's so good in fact that I have no desire to try a different tune. John Vega created a masterpiece of a tune.

Even the 15 psi map has plenty of power on tap for everyday driving. The 20 psi map may have a similar boost number to a Hondata +6 or a 21 psi KTuner Starter tune but it's night and day as far as the feel of the tune. And the 24 psi map is simply the best OTS map you can use for our non-Si's.

If you own a non-Si 1.5T, I can say with 100% certainty that the 1.5R is tune to get.
 


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Since I've been using the 1.5R tune since last September, I figured it was time to post my long term review and some other tuning tidbits.

I've tried so many tunes going way back to when I used Hondata. From the +6 canned tune of theirs to numerous "homemade tunes" where I played with the boost and torque limit tables. Graduating to a KTuner V2, I tried so many variations of their Starter tunes and again, being adventurous, played around with some behind the scenes tables to create my own semi-custom setups.

None of that was nearly as polished or smooth as the TSP Stage 1 tune. What it lacked in low end twitchiness it more than made up for with the much improved top end compared to the KTuner and Hondata base tunes. My only issue to be honest was the occasional jerkiness/ hesitation that showed up when you really got into the throttle from a crawl.

Which leads me to the Phearable tunes. I was skeptical at first because I wasn't very familiar with Phearable at the time and was pretty "loyal" to TSP and D-Rob. Trying the original 1.5 tune, I wasn't sure what to expect. But it didn't take me long to realize it was the best tune yet. Smoother than the TSP 1, with a similar power curve, it was hard to find fault with it at all.

After using the regular 1.5 tune for a long time, I moved up to the 1.5R. The artificial knock control rise removal was the big selling point and there was a slight power bump too. It took a great tune and made it nearly perfect. It's so good in fact that I have no desire to try a different tune. John Vega created a masterpiece of a tune.

Even the 15 psi map has plenty of power on tap for everyday driving. The 20 psi map may have a similar boost number to a Hondata +6 or a 21 psi KTuner Starter tune but it's night and day as far as the feel of the tune. And the 24 psi map is simply the best OTS map you can use for our non-Si's.

If you own a non-Si 1.5T, I can say with 100% certainty that the 1.5R is tune to get.

This is BS man. Sigh! Guess I'll have to try a Phearable tune out eventually. I was done with all of this. :mad::p
 
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This is BS man. Sigh! Guess I'll have give Phearable out. I was done with all of this. :mad::p
You can never be done! There will always be something new to try haha

gtman puts everything perfectly. I have had nothing but a great time with the Phearable 1.5 and 1.5R tunes. When I have enough willpower to keep my foot off the throttle which is almost never, I can see 40+ trip MPG without any issues. My best is a 48mpg trip 33 miles, and I was not exactly hypermilling either. On the other hand, most roadgoing vehicles here simply do not compete with me in terms of speed. I hang with 1st Gen Coyote Mustangs, early 2010s Camaro SS, and beat Dodge R/Ts, most V6s, and almost all turbo 4s, older v8s. Most people will find the Phearable 1.5R tune more than enough for their needs.
 

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You can never be done! There will always be something new to try haha

gtman puts everything perfectly. I have had nothing but a great time with the Phearable 1.5 and 1.5R tunes. When I have enough willpower to keep my foot off the throttle which is almost never, I can see 40+ trip MPG without any issues. My best is a 48mpg trip 33 miles, and I was not exactly hypermilling either. On the other hand, most roadgoing vehicles here simply do not compete with me in terms of speed. I hang with 1st Gen Coyote Mustangs, early 2010s Camaro SS, and beat Dodge R/Ts, most V6s, and almost all turbo 4s, older v8s. Most people will find the Phearable 1.5R tune more than enough for their needs.
I remember asking John Vega quite some time ago when Phearable first came out. He stated I'd have to go custom based on my setup. So....if I go this route, just gonna ask him to throw everything AND the kitchen sink in for performance.

Based on what you and others have been saying, most seem to love his tunes. I'll go and see what people have been running 1/4 mile wise with this tune. The trap speed mph is what I'm looking for vs other tunes. Thanks!
 
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Remember though, JV's CVT tune is soft-ish down low to protect the CVT. But the overall feel (smoothness, mid and top end) is perfection.

John is an absolute 10th gen maestro IMO.
 
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One thing that impresses me with this tune and tuning in general is how close to stock mpgs are (unless you're constantly running it hard). I mean if I'm gentle on my 70% highway/30% city commute, I can still get 40 mpg.

The other day I had a fairly aggressive commute. The trip is 1.5 miles city, then 7 miles highway, then another 1.5 miles city. I hit a couple city stoplights and on the highway I was driving a little over 70 mph - mostly.

I also had two highway "events" where I pulled from 70 mph to low triple digits. And still, I got 32.5 mpg. Anyone hesitating to tune because they think their mileage will be poor, is wrong. Then again, I've had super aggressive balls to the walls "test drives" where I've gotten under 20 mpg. šŸ˜‰

Bottom line, in my opinion, the 1.5R tune is the best OTS tune for any 1.5T as long as you have access to 93 or 91 + some E85.
 
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Gotta love cooler boost weather. It was in the high 50's last night and wow it felt good. To the point I definitely needed less throttle to get up to speed.

And I definitely had some fun. Call it the tale of two drives. Drive one was fun. Some high speed highway passes that had some drivers of "faster" cars feeling sad lol and a fun curvy highway off ramp blast. Still managed nearly 34 mpg.

On the trip back home (same route) I just kept pace with traffic and got 44.1 mpg which shocked me considering I did hit a couple red lights.
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