[markag]

I am ordering a SCT tuner for my car from American Muscle this weekend. I am curious about what tune options they offer. I know they have street, performance, & race with various octane options. I've also heard talk of hybrid tunes and potential other variations for road race guys (more linear throttle), etc. I don't really know anything about those.

Right now, my car is a daily driver, manual transmission. I don't have any plans to take it to a track any time soon. If I do get it on a track in the next few years, it is likely going to be a road course or autocross.

I would like to hear suggestions on what types of tunes I should request with my tuner. 93 fuel is available in my area, but it is hit or miss. I can't get it at every station. They have 91 almost everywhere though. I'm not sure if I would want to run that every day though. I would be happy running a good tune on 87 for my daily driving and long trips. I would still probably want a 93 or 91 race tune for when I feel like having some fun, though. I'm ordering the tuner only right now. My car is stock otherwise. CAI intake and other mods will come later.

Just looking for some info on tunes, and some feedback from you guys on what type of tunes to request.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[AZ_Ryan]

87 street, 91 performance, and 93 race are fairly typical configurations.

I have 87s, 91p, and 91r because 93 is hard to come by where I am.

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[paulb]

Mark, thanks for asking this question. My car is also a daily driver without much modifications (yet). I am interested in the opinions and what options are recommended.

 

[markag]

Thanks. Just placed the order and got my confirmation email. I made sure I used the 6% coupon code with AM. Now I need to fill out my tune questionnaire thing. I'm super excited. Can't really do any real mods without a tuner, so I will be set going forward to get a CAI, change gears, etc.

 

[markag]

87 street, 91 performance, and 93 race are fairly typical configurations.

I have 87s, 91p, and 91r because 93 is hard to come by where I am.

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If I went with 87p instead of 91p, would I not notice much difference between the street tune and performance tune?

 

[GT Gone]

I use the hybrid tune, which is a combination of the street tune's low end power and the race tune's high end power. They dont technically offer it as an option, but you have to ask them specifically for it. My car, stock or modded, has always hated 87 and 89 octane and pings unless it's good 93 octane gas. Regardless, I always put 93 in my car, it's only a few bucks more per fill-up.

But if 93 octane isnt available to you, you could either just run a 91 octane tune and put 91 or 93 octane in your tank, or just keep your tuner on you while running 93 and if you come across a gas station that has 91 octane only, you can just change tunes right there. But that's a little tedious, so a 91 octane tune would probably be better. 91 and 93 octane tunes have very little HP differences, not enough to notice in my opinion.

Although, like the race tune, I believe the hybrid tune only comes in a 91/93 octane tune. But your Mustang deserves the best it can get!:bigthumbsup

 

[AZ_Ryan]

If I went with 87p instead of 91p, would I not notice much difference between the street tune and performance tune?

The more aggressive the tune, the more timing is advanced. Higher octane fuel burns hotter and resists pre detonation which is important when you advance timing.

If your asking what the difference would be between 89 and 91 on the performance tune, it probably wouldnt be enough to notice. But you will be optimizing your tune with the higher octane fuel.

If your asking the difference between the street and performance tune, its very noticable. I don't find the street tune to be that much better than stock.

The octane is up to you. You can always play with it and have AM change the octane later if you want.

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[markag]

I'm thinking of doing 87 street, 91 performance, and 93 hybrid. My car doesn't see the track, so the hybrid tune is appealing to me. I'm just curious as to how jumpy the throttle will be. I have to park in a tight parking garage every day for work. I could see it being a little interesting until I can get used to the throttle response. Probably won't be as bad as if I had an auto though.

 

[funkboy316]

I'm thinking of doing 87 street, 91 performance, and 93 hybrid. My car doesn't see the track, so the hybrid tune is appealing to me. I'm just curious as to how jumpy the throttle will be. I have to park in a tight parking garage every day for work. I could see it being a little interesting until I can get used to the throttle response. Probably won't be as bad as if I had an auto though.

you will be ok with the throttle its not bad at all, i run the 93H full time.


also its not a big deal which tunes you get, you have free tunes for life.........new tunes are just a hours away most of the time.

within a few days i had gotten 87S, 87P, 91S, 91P, 91R, 91H, 93S, 93P, 93R, and 93,H tunes. its pretty much hassle free with AM.

 

[markag]

you will be ok with the throttle its not bad at all, i run the 93H full time.


also its not a big deal which tunes you get, you have free tunes for life.........new tunes are just a hours away most of the time.

within a few days i had gotten 87S, 87P, 91S, 91P, 91R, 91H, 93S, 93P, 93R, and 93,H tunes. its pretty much hassle free with AM.

I imagine I will probably get all the tunes at some point. Once I have them I, knowing me, I will probably just run one tune all the time. Lucky for me, I have a costco near me. 93 at costco is only 20 cents more then 87 at the pump. Most other gas stations around charge 30 cents more for 93, if they have it. Only thing I don't know is who supplies the gas to costco.

I wonder what my wife will think when she drives it for the first time.

 

[funkboy316]

I imagine I will probably get all the tunes at some point. Once I have them I, knowing me, I will probably just run one tune all the time. Lucky for me, I have a costco near me. 93 at costco is only 20 cents more then 87 at the pump. Most other gas stations around charge 30 cents more for 93, if they have it. Only thing I don't know is who supplies the gas to costco.

I wonder what my wife will think when she drives it for the first time.

all gas pretty much comes down the same pipeline, the main difference is the additives put in at the location usually by the driver. ever watch one of those truck pump gas into the manhole tanks at a station? at the end he dumps in some powder detergent stuff.

ive literally watched one of those trucks fill up a shell here and proceed directly to the exxon across the street and fill them too.

 

[AZ_Ryan]

all gas pretty much comes down the same pipeline, the main difference is the additives put in at the location usually by the driver. ever watch one of those truck pump gas into the manhole tanks at a station? at the end he dumps in some powder detergent stuff.

ive literally watched one of those trucks fill up a shell here and proceed directly to the exxon across the street and fill them too.

All gas is not created equal. But thats a discussion for another thread. :thumbup:

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[Rasputin]

I wonder what my wife will think when she drives it for the first time.

Make sure you put a new fuel sticker on the gas cap, red paint, whatever and let her (and anyone else that will drive it) what octane to put in the tank.

 

[markag]

My concern about gas is that most of the gas stations around here are central Illinois chain brands that I have never heard of before. Hucks, thorntons, casey's general store are the most common ones. I have no clue where their gas comes from. You will be hard pressed to find a shell, BP, Phillips, Sonoco, etc. Gas station in central Illinois. Before moving out here 3+ years ago, I lived in north east Indiana, 20 min north of Ft Wayne, and name brand gas was everywhere. Also, almost all gas in Illinois is the "up to 10%" ethanol blend. That's just the situation I am in.

 

[funkboy316]

My concern about gas is that most of the gas stations around here are central Illinois chain brands that I have never heard of before. Hucks, thorntons, casey's general store are the most common ones. I have no clue where their gas comes from. You will be hard pressed to find a shell, BP, Phillips, Sonoco, etc. Gas station in central Illinois. Before moving out here 3+ years ago, I lived in north east Indiana, 20 min north of Ft Wayne, and name brand gas was everywhere. Also, almost all gas in Illinois is the "up to 10%" ethanol blend. That's just the situation I am in.

its a touchy subject and some "brand name" people would never ever believe it, but gasoline comes from the same wholesalers and additives are added at the delivery truck level like i said before. so the fuel at those stations you mentioned is the same fuel minus the addiditves most likely. If you cant get "name brand" fuel buy a few bottles of techron and add one each time you fill your tank.

for the nay sayere:

Where Our Gasoline Comes From - Energy Explained, Your Guide To Understanding Energy - Energy Information Administration

 

[markag]

My tuner gets here today. It's going to be a long day at work.

I just wanted to give a shout-out to American Muscle & their customer service. They had an error on their website that dropped the price of the tuner I just purchased by about $20. I asked them about it, and they agreed to refund me the difference in the price. They didn't have to do that, but I am grateful they did. I've always heard good things about AM's customer service, and I just wanted to share my positive experience as well.

And, btw, it appears they have corrected their website error. The price looks like it is back to the normal.

 

[AZ_Ryan]

My tuner gets here today. It's going to be a long day at work.

I just wanted to give a shout-out to American Muscle & their customer service. They had an error on their website that dropped the price of the tuner I just purchased by about $20. I asked them about it, and they agreed to refund me the difference in the price. They didn't have to do that, but I am grateful they did. I've always heard good things about AM's customer service, and I just wanted to share my positive experience as well.

And, btw, it appears they have corrected their website error. The price looks like it is back to the normal.

American muscle's customer service is top notch.

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[funkboy316]

American muscle's customer service is top notch.

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yup, never let me down either.

 

[markag]

Just got my tuner in yesterday. I had to get gas, so I filled up with 93 octane, but I want to let that run through before I load up the 93 race tune.

I started out with the 87 Street, and got to drive around a little bit with it yesterday and on my way to work this morning. First thing I noticed after firing up the car with the tune was a very slight difference in the exhaust sounds. It seemed like I got a more popping on the down revs. Overall driving isn't much different from stock with the street tune. The initial bite of the throttle is more firm then before, & I can feel that it pulls a little harder in the 2-3K RPM range. The most noticeable difference was actually 5th gear cruising at 60 mph. RPMs at 1500, when you push the throttle to accelerate without downshifting, the car feels like it has a little extra pep.

I plan on loading the 91 performance tune for my drive home to see how that compares.

 

[AZ_Ryan]

Just got my tuner in yesterday. I had to get gas, so I filled up with 93 octane, but I want to let that run through before I load up the 93 race tune.

I started out with the 87 Street, and got to drive around a little bit with it yesterday and on my way to work this morning. First thing I noticed after firing up the car with the tune was a very slight difference in the exhaust sounds. It seemed like I got a more popping on the down revs. Overall driving isn't much different from stock with the street tune. The initial bite of the throttle is more firm then before, & I can feel that it pulls a little harder in the 2-3K RPM range. The most noticeable difference was actually 5th gear cruising at 60 mph. RPMs at 1500, when you push the throttle to accelerate without downshifting, the car feels like it has a little extra pep.

I plan on loading the 91 performance tune for my drive home to see how that compares.

You will notice a big difference going from the street to the performance tune. Thats the one I drive with.