Is it worth taking my car to an authorized Hondata tuner?

amirza786

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There is an authorized Hondata tuner in my area (they are listed on the Hondata website) who will tune my Si to get an additional 27 hp and 40 ft-lb torque on their Dyno for $200 (they need 1 hour Dyno time). They told me the tune will be fine for my stock clutch and they are giving me a warranty on their work (I would be able to take my car back to them if there are any issues related to the tuning). I have not fully confirmed the total cost, I might have to purchase a license, it looks like the total cost would be $300.

My question is to you guys, is it worth spending $300 to get 27 more hp? Also is it worth taking it to a professional tuner who does this for a living? And lastly, should I do it?
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I did, and for what I wanted it's totally worth the cost. But understand two things: 1) if you plan on doing any other mods (intake, exhaust, etc) this is a bad plan as you will not be able to tune for those changes, and 2) you can't let the Honda dealership do any recall work that involves reflashing/resetting the ECU or else you lose it. I specifically wanted to keep my car as close to stock as possible but also wanted a bit of extra power, and I have a third party mechanic that does all my work for me so I don't intend to go back to the dealership unless the day comes that I want another Honda. Your situation is likely somewhat different.
 

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There is an authorized Hondata tuner in my area (they are listed on the Hondata website) who will tune my Si to get an additional 27 hp and 40 ft-lb torque on their Dyno for $200 (they need 1 hour Dyno time). They told me the tune will be fine for my stock clutch and they are giving me a warranty on their work (I would be able to take my car back to them if there are any issues related to the tuning). I have not fully confirmed the total cost, I might have to purchase a license, it looks like the total cost would be $300.

My question is to you guys, is it worth spending $300 to get 27 more hp? Also is it worth taking it to a professional tuner who does this for a living? And lastly, should I do it?
Sweet Jebus, $300 for 27hp? The KTuner + TSP Stage 1 netted me around 55hp. Ruling the tuner out, TSP charges $80 for the Stage 1 Tune. All you guys going Hondata are just paying more for the name and to have less available OTS tunes. And this coming from a guy who's always used Hondata.
 
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amirza786

amirza786

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Sweet Jebus, $300 for 27hp? The KTuner + TSP Stage 1 netted me around 55hp. Ruling the tuner out, TSP charges $80 for that tune.
That is the minimum tune so I can continue on the stock clutch. So it sound like it's way to expensive
 

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So $300 for 27hp is expensive and too much.

But you can easily pay over 3 times that for an exhaust system that net less than half that power increase. For many that is fine. :dunno:
 


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amirza786

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I did, and for what I wanted it's totally worth the cost. But understand two things: 1) if you plan on doing any other mods (intake, exhaust, etc) this is a bad plan as you will not be able to tune for those changes, and 2) you can't let the Honda dealership do any recall work that involves reflashing/resetting the ECU or else you lose it. I specifically wanted to keep my car as close to stock as possible but also wanted a bit of extra power, and I have a third party mechanic that does all my work for me so I don't intend to go back to the dealership unless the day comes that I want another Honda. Your situation is likely somewhat different.
No, there would not be any other mods, but yes you are correct if my ECU was ever reflashed or reset (such as a battery change) I would lose the tune. I didn't think of that....
 

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That is the minimum tune so I can continue on the stock clutch. So it sound like it's way to expensive
In all honesty, any E-Tune will run you roughly $300. So that's about right for the price. But for a STOCK Si, there's no reason why an off-the-shelf tune isn't available for Hondata.
 
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amirza786

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In all honesty, any E-Tune will run you roughly $300. So that's about right for the price. But for a STOCK Si, there's no reason why an off-the-shelf tune isn't available for Hondata.
The thing is, I didn't want to buy the FlashPro...

Honda Civic 10th gen Is it worth taking my car to an authorized Hondata tuner? FlashPro.JPG
 

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I generally recommend against this, because if you ever need a re-flash for any reason, you have to head back to that dealer. It's best to have your own device. Pick up a used one if you want to save a few dollars. They are easy to use. :thumbsup:
 
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amirza786

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I generally recommend against this, because if you ever need a re-flash for any reason, you have to head back to that dealer. It's best to have your own device. Pick up a used one if you want to save a few dollars. They are easy to use. :thumbsup:
Thanks, yes that is correct, I would lose the tune if I had to change my battery which resets the ECU
 


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Thanks, yes that is correct, I would lose the tune if I had to change my battery which resets the ECU
That actually is not the case. However, the current ECU reflash Honda is doing as a part of the fuel dilution update is a good example of something that would cause you to lose your tune.
 
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amirza786

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Why was KTuner out of the option?
It's not an option I have ruled out. I know everyone says it's easy, I am just reluctant...
 
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There is an authorized Hondata tuner in my area (they are listed on the Hondata website) who will tune my Si to get an additional 27 hp and 40 ft-lb torque on their Dyno for $200 (they need 1 hour Dyno time). They told me the tune will be fine for my stock clutch and they are giving me a warranty on their work (I would be able to take my car back to them if there are any issues related to the tuning). I have not fully confirmed the total cost, I might have to purchase a license, it looks like the total cost would be $300.

My question is to you guys, is it worth spending $300 to get 27 more hp? Also is it worth taking it to a professional tuner who does this for a living? And lastly, should I do it?
It's not clear if you already have a Hondata Flashpro or not and having them do it? For me, I prefer option b.) Purchased my own Hondata Flashpro on eBay, watched a couple youtube videos and did this myself. Also the nice thing is, you can go in and make small changes once you learn how to use it. It's actually quite simple, just like using MS Excel. You have to get the "flashing" procedures all correct, but that part is easy as well.

Once I became familiar with the Hondata Flashpro unit, then I purchased a PRL Flex Fuel Kit. That took all of 30-40 minutes to install and for what I consider a bargain price on both items, using the Stock "e85 Tune" that Hondata came with, plus the Flex Fuel Kit, picked up an additional 65wHP. I've been driving using the e85 for several months and thousands of miles now, the car loves it, the engine comes alive. I did take the advice of others and I run about 7 gallons e85 with 5 gallons 93octane gasoline to attain a e45-50ish rating. But I hear from many others that just run the straight dope e85 and it's fine too. I did it in the beginning.

So my point is, for just another $100-200, depending on how much you can purchase as Hondata on eBay, why not get into it yourself - it's easy. Folks will help you on this site too if you have questions, via screen shots, etc. Just make sure if you purchase a used Hondata, that it is "unlocked" by the seller prior to them shipping it to you. That get's it off their vehicle and open for your own.
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