club.liberty.asn.au

Hey guys... just recently registered here on the forum. Real nice community!
Anyway, so I bought my completely stock 2007 MY07 Liberty GT Spec B automatic last week, and I've been told by other members to 'talk to Matt at Kido tuning' to get a tune.
Now, I know absolutely nothing when it comes to tuning, all I know is that it can be recieved via email, and it can improve economy and power etc.

So I have a couple of questions, how difficult is it to perform? I do consider myself tech savvy, but I haven't done anything like this before.
Is there a possibility of something going wrong? Could I ruin something doing this? Is it dangerous at all?
And how much will this cost?

Thanks for any replies
Ethan

Riffnugget wrote:Hey guys... just recently registered here on the forum. Real nice community!

Welcome aboard!

Riffnugget wrote:Anyway, so I bought my 2007 MY07 Liberty GT Spec B automatic last week, and I've been told by other members to 'talk to Matt at Kido tuning' to get a tune.
Now, I know absolutely nothing when it comes to tuning, all I know is that it can be recieved via email, and it can improve economy and power etc.

Congrats and yes, the sorcery you have heard about is indeed true.

Riffnugget wrote:
So I have a couple of questions, how difficult is it to perform?

Not hard at all. You get a Tactrix cable to read/write the ROM file via a laptop. You send that ROM file via email to the tuner. He makes modifications to it using a ROM editor, sends you back a tweaked version which you load (flash) back to the car, go do a test drive and use your laptop to take some logs of critical elements of the car, send the logs back to the tuner who reviews them and then makes further tweaks to the ROM and sends it back to you for more logging.

Lather, rinse repeat until the tuner is happy with the technical side of it and that you as the customer is happy with how the car is behaving and driving in general. The process could take days or weeks.

Riffnugget wrote:I do consider myself tech savvy, but I haven't done anything like this before.

It's ridiculously easy. If you've flashed a phone before, this is even easier, You are going to turn your car into a glorified USB device.

Riffnugget wrote:Is there a possibility of something going wrong? Could I ruin something doing this? Is it dangerous at all?

Yes, yes and yes, but this is why you get a professional tuner to do it. His job is to find the upper limits of the engine and then adjust the tune down slightly so that you stay just under the danger threshold. Each car is slightly different - no two tunes are 100% the same (unless you buy a generic tune which is safe for all cars, but will never achieve maximum performance).

Riffnugget wrote:And how much will this cost?

This varies between tuners and also by how much work needs to be done. Including the fuel you will use (because you will be doing a lot of third-gear runs to get the log data), I would budget for $1K, possibly more if you are getting multiple maps done for S, S# modes, etc. Your final tune cost may well come under that figure if the tuner already has a pre-tuned base map that works well for all GTB's and then it's simply fine-tuned for your car.

You have several options for tuners. KiDo's one of them but there's also XRT and others as well (both of whom have their own sub-forums here - check them out). They all do great work.

Note that if you do hardware mods later, you should get your tune re-adjusted to get the most out of those mods. Consider doing the hardware mods first and THEN do the tune, unless you're wanting to explore the exact before and after effect of each mod as you go.

sounds good... thanks for the detailed explanations.
Seems like I'll wait until I've done a few light mods before I get this tune.
Appreciate the reply =)

I know for a fact that Matt's tune will be well under 1k.

If I were you Ethan, I would wait until Matt is in town next and see him personally. He is the best when he is directly working on your car without interruptions. Keep an eye out for the Kido Racing section of the forum and in particular the thread entitled 'Lets talk Kido tunes' as it will show Matt's next visits.

I have tried the e-tunes before and for some they work if you have log files of your current ecu and it's behaviour. That way he can see if there is any inherent issues and fine tune to adjust.

But I highly recommend you wait till he is in town again next and go see him face to face, ask him any tuning questions and watch him work his magic.

Do dealers know if you have had your ecu tuned and can they/would they flash it back to stock for no reason during a scheduled service?

lhuynh wrote:Do dealers know if you have had your ecu tuned and can they/would they flash it back to stock for no reason during a scheduled service?

No and no.

The only obvious sign would be an ECUTek tune where the ECU ends up being completely locked out.

Every other tune, no, and unless they actually downloaded the map and checksummed it against a stock one, they would never know anyway.

Thanks Hyrax.

I am also new to the world of tuning.

What would be the safest, best bang for buck tune/modifications to get done for a 2007 Gt Spec B auto wagon.

$2k budget.

lhuynh wrote:Thanks Hyrax.

I am also new to the world of tuning.

What would be the safest, best bang for buck tune/modifications to get done for a 2007 Gt Spec B auto wagon.

$2k budget.

Dump Pipe, tune & Sway Bars with HD mounts will fit in that budget. Dump pipe will allow you to gain extra torque, the tune is needed anyway post fitment of the DP and the sways with the HD mounts will help no end with handling. I would consider this a Stage 1 upgrade.

The time between having dump pipe installed and tune. Detrimental if left too long?

lhuynh wrote:The time between having dump pipe installed and tune. Detrimental if left too long?

Yes it is. Anything as substantial as this needs a retune for safety and longevity of your motor. I have read too many stories on here of people skimping out on tuning post mods and paying the price for it.

What improvement would i see from a tune without any additional mods?

Just a shitload better driveability. Would be going for a 3-port solenoid too, that, along with a tune from Matt makes it feel like a completely different car. Should have gone to him from the befinning.

lhuynh wrote:What improvement would i see from a tune without any additional mods?

Better economy, more torque and power, smoother idle, Smoother acceleration, smoother gear changes if you have an auto.

It shouldn't cost you 1k. Since your car is stock, and average price range is from 300-500. Just make sure you have test for boost leaks in the intake and exhaust system and a general maintenance service.

Riffnugget wrote:Hey guys... just recently registered here on the forum. Real nice community!
Anyway, so I bought my completely stock 2007 MY07 Liberty GT Spec B automatic last week, and I've been told by other members to 'talk to Matt at Kido tuning' to get a tune.
Now, I know absolutely nothing when it comes to tuning, all I know is that it can be recieved via email, and it can improve economy and power etc.

So I have a couple of questions, how difficult is it to perform? I do consider myself tech savvy, but I haven't done anything like this before.
Is there a possibility of something going wrong? Could I ruin something doing this? Is it dangerous at all?
And how much will this cost?

Thanks for any replies
Ethan