Tuning, what has everyone done - Yes another on....

[cahop]

Hi all,

I have a 4gen Post FL 2.5i, i bought if for my wife as our family car and having driven old minis, 06 Forester XT and 01 GT (neither of them mine but driven regularly) previously I very unimpressed with the car performance wise. I love it from a comfort and family point of view and on a highway at 110-120 its great however I find it labours on take off and the fuel efficiency for the performance it gets is terrible.

I am looking at what options I have, if any, in the way of tuning? I have done some searches on here and found some different tuners, whoever, and this is by no means a reflection on any tuners here offering services, i would like that to be very clear as I have had no interaction with any and I am sure they are all reputable and professional people offering great services, I am currently struggling with the idea of letting someone tap into my car remotely and tune. This comes from my background as I previously built my own minis and completed all services and tuning (minus final tune on my last mini which was completed by a specialist due to modifications) myself and am struggling with the idea of relinquishing control (yes mechanically I am a control freak) to someone on the otherwise of a laptop. Once again not a reflection on any services offered and truth betold if that is a normal and reliable option that may be the one I take.

Has anyone tuned a 2.5i 4gen Post FL with Auto transmission and what was your experience? Has it affected the daily driver nature as this is in the end my wifes car and what costs were involved?

I am happy to talk on the phone regarding this to people who have done this as I understand this can be a delicate subject as there is money involved, just pm me and we can go from there.

Thanks in advance for any advice on this topic.........and an answer of "should have bought a turbo" isnt really an option till i blow this one up

Cheers

Craig

[bigBADbenny]

Read the tune faq, sort out the basic stuff like dirty maf, leaks etc and get a tune, Matt's tune will really wake up your auto. Thats Kido/ ThrottleHappy...
What is your mod budget?

[cahop]

Thanks for the quick reply Benny!

I read your tuning thread and it was one hell of the a thread mate! I am a mechanical Engineer so from a mechanical view I am comfortable doing service, MAF sensors and gapping plugs etc, however to be honest the software tuning side of thing just currently bamboozells me. Its going to take a great deal of ready to get more famililar with it.

I no in the thread about the reverseing camera you mentioned putting in another AUX input into the back of the screen, was this for the OBDII? Can we view the inputs through that our is that through a laptop?

As im sure i have alluded to i have a great deal to learn....of that im sure!

Cheers

[alexeiwoody]

It's really not that hard to tune your 2.5na. It doesn't make enough power for anything serious to go wrong quickly (massive detonation under boost, lifting heads due to too much cylinder pressures being the main culprits)

Michael South or Kido tuning can both do good auto tunes (mind you the auto isn't actually tuned, as they won't tune your TCU but it's important to set the ECU tune somewhat properly or it can mess with the auto).

In my experience Michael's tune will be a little more developed as he tunes on his dyno, (although you can also ask to tune with kido on a dyno).

[bigBADbenny]

I no in the thread about the reverseing camera you mentioned putting in another AUX input into the back of the screen, was this for the OBDII? Can we view the inputs through that our is that through a laptop?

The stock nav screen has 2x composite SD video rca's (yellow/female) on the rear, one for reverse cam (activation prewired to reverse sensor) the other for aux video input.
Meaning any video source can be displayed, but the handbrake ground nav hack (cut and ground the grey wire at the rear of the Nav screen) will be needed to view it when in motion. So SD to SD or eg HDMI to SD converter, VGA to SD converter, etc...
So anytime the screen is out is a good time to run the video rca's and do the hacks.
I wanted to look up the info again so I did this using the google this forum link in my sig:
https://www.google.com.au/#q=site:forum ... y+nav+hack
First hit:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=20939&start=390#p356707

Flashing tunes is much like updating device firmware with the same cautions regarding eg power supply and successful flashing vs bricking.

[KiDo_Tuning]

It's really not that hard to tune your 2.5na. It doesn't make enough power for anything serious to go wrong quickly (massive detonation under boost, lifting heads due to too much cylinder pressures being the main culprits)

Michael South or Kido tuning can both do good auto tunes (mind you the auto isn't actually tuned, as they won't tune your TCU but it's important to set the ECU tune somewhat properly or it can mess with the auto).

In my experience Michael's tune will be a little more developed as he tunes on his dyno, (although you can also ask to tune with kido on a dyno).

Since there is no public definitions, it makes it hard to tune the majority of NA 2.5i's and the TCU is actually tuned. Stock we know the TCU shifts quite early bit with a proper TCU tune, the engine is happy to rev harder in auto mode and holds torque quite well so high rpm shifts can keep the AVLS active and offer some good acceleration on the sprint

[Pixor]

Mat has just tuned my Gen5 2.5na auto, and it's more drivable and responsive. Obviously, nothing much can be done power-wise to an na, but it feels much more alert.

[cahop]

is there much point getting an OBDII bluetooth unit? once again sorry for the basic questions just trying to become more familiar with the modern engine
Going to be doing the 70K service next weekend so will do MAF sensor and upper engine cleaner whilst im at it.

Thanks again for all the help, it is greatly appreciated.

[Jiyujin]

Hey Craig,

I have had several tunes done locally and have also used Edward from Xtreme Racing. I have found Edward's work to be uncomparible, to-date.
He is very professional, quick with email responses and very fast with ROM updates, which are key factors from a customer's perspective.
You can't beat his prices!!

Check out the link.

http://www.xtremeracingtuning.com/forum ... ?f=4&t=547

PM me should you need more information.

All the best,
Al

[west_minist]

Thanks Jy.

Just updating the post her for future reference.

The following link highlights XRT 2.5i Customers Responses on tuning I have done.
http://www.xtremeracingtuning.com/forum ... f=48&t=483