[Emery-]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum this is just my second post but I'm looking for some advice. I haven't done much to my car besides new muffler, and CAI as performance mods. I'm still a newbie, but there's a lot of stuff I want to do to my car, but unfortunately I have to take it slow and step by step considering I don't have much money. But I might just get my next mod this week maybe, and I'm considering getting a SCT SF3 tuner. I've read a couple of posts here and a lot of people recommend it as one of the first mods done, so I just want to know if I should just get the tuner or get something else; such as gears, headers, piping not sure what else. Something that would be around $400 price range more or less.

Also I've been reading and a lot of people say get the sct from bama, and I'm not sure exactly what that means is bama a preloaded tune in the tuner or is it a different sct tuner tuned by bama?? Would appreciate a bit of clarification.

 

[#1fordlover]

The Tuner has a Tune in it Made by Bama for you Stang, it's not a canned Tune, it's the one you want. I know you only have about $400 to spend but a JLT CAI SCT X3 Tuner Combo from AM is around $550, you get 3 Tunes with it and Free Tunes for Life...this means that if you ever do any Mods to your Car you can get the Tunes up-dated for Free, or if there's ever a new Tuneyou can get that one for Free too, It's a Good Deal.
Also I'd recommend getting the CAI (JLT) with the Tuner, the Cold Air Intake (CAI) is an Important part of getting the Most from your Stang, also your Tunes need to be written for your CAI if you have one, if you dont you'll be missing out on Preformance and then when you do decide to get the CAI you'll need all new Tunes for it. So getting the CAI Tuner Combo right off the bat is the way to go.
You'll be More than Happy with the SCT Tuner, it's the Best, and once you get it (and the JLT CAI) you wont believe what it does to wake up your Mustang.....Instant Throttle Response and Fast Firm Shifts and Get up and GO:bigthumbsup BUY IT!

 

[Emery-]

Ohh I wasn't aware that I had to pay for tunes on the tuner. I thought it just had a certain amount of preloaded tunes and you can update it, but I didn't know you could buy different tunes mhmm. Considering I already have a CAI though, dishing out money on something I already have would feel counter productive. But I see if I want more performance with the tuner then I should do that in the future. What's the difference between the X3 and SF3 SCT tuners?

 

[JOSHSTANG]

welcome to the forurms.:bigthumbsup

bama is the place where they program your tunes for you based on your mods. i recommend you get the 91 or 93 race tune. you also get free custom tunes for life which is cool, especially if your like me amd adding alot of parts. i would also recommend the flash tuner if you are not experiened with the many tuning options. and like #1fordlover said it will "wake up your mustang". hope this helps you out.

 

[#1fordlover]

Ohh I wasn't aware that I had to pay for tunes on the tuner. I thought it just had a certain amount of preloaded tunes and you can update it, but I didn't know you could buy different tunes mhmm. Considering I already have a CAI though, dishing out money on something I already have would feel counter productive. But I see if I want more performance with the tuner then I should do that in the future. What's the difference between the X3 and SF3 SCT tuners?

Above I said you get 3 Tunes with your Tuner, you Dont have to pay for them seperatley, 3 come with your Tuner and CAI Combo. If you Dont get the Free Tunes for Life you then will have to Buy your Tunes for your Tuner. But if you Buy the JLT CAI SCT X3 Tuner Combo the Tunes are Included as are the Free Tunes for Life. The JLT CAI and C&L CAI's are the Best, the JLT is the Cheaper of the two but the Better in My Opinion. If you dont have either one of these CAI's then I'd recommend getting the JLT over anyother one. As for the difference between the X3 and SF3 SCT Im not sure, but I do know any New SCT Tuner is a Good One:bigthumbsup

 

[Conejo172]

Like #1fordlover said if you have a cai that doesn't require a tune its really not doing much for you. I also recommend the JLT CAI and SCT Tuner from American Muscle, it is by far the best mod/s I have done to date. worth every penny. The free tunes for life is the added bonus to the deal.

 

[blgage93]

get the tuner and the 91 race tune from AM
they say it's godly and you get the free tunes for life even if you don't buy an intake with it, so you could keep your existing kit and still get free tunes for life to set you up for future mods
Happy hooning

 

[Emery-]

Thanks for the replies guys, I just wanted to let you all know that I just got a SCT SF3 tuner today haha. I'm one of those people who get a bit too anxious and don't like waiting at all... I bought the tuner locally, and it's in great shape came with original packaging and cables. I got it for $275 so I was able to save some money rather than buying a new one. It's a move I can really appreciate because I'm tight on money at the moment. The guy I bought it off of had a nice modded CS/GT and was very helpful with getting me started with the tuner. I made sure that it was working and loaded a tune with him there. I loaded a 89 octane tune in my car, and he recommended some settings which I'm not too familiar with yet... and I could really feel a difference. My shifts are a lot later than stock and actually take advantage of each gear, the throttle response is much better, and I can really feel the raw power. I'm impressed with 89 octane, so I know it will be even better with the 93 octane tune!

Unfotunately it does not have the bama racing tunes, but in the end it is a SCT SF3 tuner. There's gotta be some good settings people could recommend for my V6 using 93 octane. I'd appreciate it.

 

[Rockin' Blue's]

Check out Brenspeed.com for your CAI & Tune they are awesome :bigthumbsup:bigthumbsup

 

[#1fordlover]

Now I may be wrong but I thought if you bought a (Used) Tuner it had to be Un-Locked and Re-Set to the 4 Didget Code on Your PCM (Car's Computer) in order for you to use it on your Stang. You cant just take someones Tuner and plug it into your Stang and Load Tunes or everyone would do it and not buy one.
Also I would'nt be messing with the Settings on the Tuner, you might get something too much or not enough. You need to have the Tuner set up for Your Mustang's Mods (If Any) and Your Mustangs Computer. I think you'd have better off spending the little extra on a New One and got your FREE Tunes for Life for Your Mustang, Set Up for Your Mustang and Your Mustangs PCM.
Unless I missed something here????

 

[Emery-]

Nah the way it works is when you load a tune onto a car, the stock ecu settings are stored onto the tuner and then the new settings are uploaded into the car. THEN the tuner is locked to that car, because if you were to plug it into another car and try to change the settings the stock settings that are already stored into the tuner would not match with the ones on the different car. So in order to use it on another car then the stock settings would have to be returned to the original car that had the tune uploaded. In that sense the tuner is kind of like married to one car at a time, but no you can use it on others car as long as the stock settings were returned to the first car. Like I said, I made sure to plug it into my car before buying and making sure I could use it. I mean sure it doesn't have the bama tunes, but it is the same tuner I'm sure I could input the same settings that are used for that tune and it'd be the same thing, no? Or find a setting that works on all V6 mustangs. Anyway I have some homework to do on this tuner.

 

[AMChrisRose]

Emery, #1fordlover is correct. If the guy tunes his car with it, it's "locked". When he returns it back to stock, that "unlocks" it. This can be done on up to 5 vehicles before SCT needs to reset it for $150 charge. So the guy would have had to put his car back to stock to sell it to you, otherwise it would be locked. That, he obviously did, because you were able to use it. However...

If it was a set of Custom Tunes, they're done for each Mustang's individual PCM code. The chances of your PCM code being the same are about 1/100 or so. This means, you can't be running "custom tunes", because his PCM code's custom tunes wouldn't work on a car with a different PCM code. So more than likely (like 99% ), you're running what's called "Strategy Tunes" or "Preloaded Tunes" or "Canned Tunes". They are what comes with every SCT device and are not custom tailored for your vehicle. They also usually run a little lean and lack power, throttle response, etc.

My honest recommendation... buy into the Bama Free Tunes for Life program. It's $150 charge (free if you buy the tuner from us/them) and they'll send you out a set of 3 CUSTOM email tunes that will work for YOUR vehicle, YOUR mods, YOUR PCM code. The car will feel night/day better than it does right now with those tunes, and they'll be safer as well.

That's why they were trying to get you to buy a custom tuner from a reputable company, because otherwise the quality of the tunes will lack. Trust me, this is the best $150 you'll spend on your car. You'll get Free Tunes for Life for future modifications and your car will thank you the moment you load them in.

Free Tunes for Life from Bama Performance

 

[Emery-]

Thanks for the clarification Chris, it's definitely something I am considering on getting sometime soon.

 

[AMChrisRose]

Sounds good! Where are you in Miami? I have family down in Ft. Lauderdale and Hollywood.

 

[Oak Lawn Chris]

IMO, you have the tuner already (I think you should have bought a new one from AM and had free tunes for life), the $150 for the Bama tunes is a steal.

You can try and do your own tune, but you can also hurt your car, and unless you know what you're doing (this does not mean looking up some data on the internet or listening to the dude who sold it to you) I wouldn't advise it. It's best to leave the car's brain to the brain specialists.:bigthumbsup

After using the Bama 93oct Race tune, I went back to stock for a day (well more like one ride) The car sucked without the Bama tunes. I know the 93oct on the stock tune will hurt performance a bit, but the car was sluggish. When I went to accelerate I gave it the same amount of gas I would with the Bama tunes and I swear the car didn't even rev up.

Now if you have an auto trans, then it's pretty much a must to have this. Plus, right now you're not benefitting from the CAI nearly as much as you would with the tunes.

We're talking about $150 dollars to have free tunes for life. Every mod for these cars require new tunes. I think you need one if you change the windshield wipers. lol

Go with Bama:bigthumbsup You'll be happy you did!

-Chris

 

[Oak Lawn Chris]

Check out Brenspeed.com for your CAI & Tune they are awesome :bigthumbsup:bigthumbsup

I've heard that if you don't buy the parts from Brenspeed then you have to pay for a tune even if you are in their tunes for life program. True?

 

[Emery-]

Chrisrose if you know some places around Miami, I live in the Doral area.

And yeah guys like I said getting the free tunes for life is definitely something I plan on getting in the near future, I guess trying to save money it might be about $50 more expensive now... But hey it happens, I have my tuner I can't complain lol. I can mess around with the settings (being safe though...), and I mean in the end it's still the same tuner and I could get it custom tune when dynoed. Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[AMChrisRose]

Chrisrose if you know some places around Miami, I live in the Doral area.

And yeah guys like I said getting the free tunes for life is definitely something I plan on getting in the near future, I guess trying to save money it might be about $50 more expensive now... But hey it happens, I have my tuner I can't complain lol. I can mess around with the settings (being safe though...), and I mean in the end it's still the same tuner and I could get it custom tune when dynoed. Thanks for the replies guys.

Absolutely know where you're at. I have friends in Hialeah. I'm down there often. Beautiful weather!

Good luck! We're always here to help when you need it!