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Can anyone reccomend a tuner in Portland OR/Vancouver WA area?
I am cleaning off the dust and changing fluids and fuel on my poor MSM that has been sitting all winter. I am looking for a place to dyno tune my spark map (this retard retarded the hell out of the DIYautotune base map that was a bit sketchy), and looking for someone who has enough experience to fine tune my starting and idle. Running a MS3PRO with all the supporting mods and forged internals. I know of a few places in the area, but most of them work on higher end stuff than a Megasquirt. And CorkSport who I trusted years ago, has lost all their experience with anything but the MazdaSpeed3.
What I am trying to say is: Miata owner looking for someone who likes long walks on the beach, and knows how to tickle my megasquirt for a short term relationship.
Last edited by ElyasWolff; 05-02-2019 at 08:04 PM.
Wow AR Autosports wants $550 plus a non negotiable inspection fee of $100. I get where they are coming from, but my engine is fresh. Brian from M&B Cylinder Heads (mostly known for 2JZ's he does Ryan Turek's engines. It is an amazing shop to look around) did my machine work, and I can do my own compression test and safety checks.
I don't doubt AR is top notch, and will do an awesome job. I met the owner a few times back 15 years ago when he was selling parts out of his garage (under the name Adrenaline Racing) and he is a stand up guy.
But I really only need maybe an hour of dyno time, and however long it takes for setup and tear down.
So I am trying to justify $650 for an awesome tune. But the only thing I really cant do myself over time is the spark map..... My dilemma is this will come out of the money I am saving for a better TIG welder :-S
Otherwise if you're confident tuning yourself you can always rent some dyno time?
How did you manage to **** that up? I always go semi retard... you went full retard... never go full shaking marbles in a paint can retard.
What were the piston to wall clearances? and so many other questions i cant even
Not mine, from the thread I linked below the image. tl;dr: Engine was 100% nominal, all in a terrible timing map from a bad tuner.
I will say the base timing map that DIYautotune provides with the MSM MS3Pro MSM0405 ecu will **** **** up. I am running 8.5:1 Wisecos that are ceramic coated with deshrouded combustion chambers. Head and valves with a ceramic barrier coating (Creakote engine coatings). Their base map is too aggressive even at idle with 10* on a timing light... and puckers my ******* at any other RPM. They can build the boxes, but **** them at any claims at tuning base maps. I emailed them repeatly, their CS is mostly BS. My $1200 should have been spent on a DIY kit.
Hell I had an easier time running my 1992 NA on a MS1 2.2 back in 2004. Yay for the good old days when we were young and stupid... when a greddy kit was not ****.
Hi, Josh from AR here. Yeah, our prices are a little steep, nothing we work on is stock or basic. Currently we have a supercharged viper, morgan 3-wheeler, 302 swapped e30, and a dozen or so race cars ranging from an ecotec miata to ~$250,000 911. Our rates are high because our experience is vast, and it helps cover our asses when projects take longer than expected due to complications.
The $100 inspection exists because dyno'ing unknown cars without an inspection has bitten us in the *** before. We don't have a dyno in-house, and when I show up at the dyno ~30 minutes away, the cars not ready or unable to achieve what the owner wants, I either have to fix it, or get the car off the dyno without any results. It doesn't make for happy customers when they still pay ~$200 in dyno rental and get next to nothing in return beyond bad news about their car.
As a second example, we recently had a customer pay $11k for a "track ready miata with a built motor". Before he ever hit the track, he had to put another $10k into it to fix leaks, suspension, control arms, tie rods, alignment, and minor safety concerns. So again the inspection catches any issues before it hits the dyno.
And believe me, I completely understand if it's too much for your budget, the last thing we want is an unhappy customer, and I'm more than willing to guide you along the path of getting it tuned yourself. Last I checked Kris at KO charges ~$1000 for full standalones (he spends a lot of time with the car that AR won't necessarily have the capabilities to do, multiple cold starts, hours on start up and throttle response, etc), but he also rents his dyno for $100 ($120?)/hr, and if you've got a safe spark map, do pulls adjust the fuel map as necessary, then play with timing until power stops increasing, go down 2-4 degrees for safety, and that's pretty much the gist of what we do, plus or minus a couple dozen (hundred in Kris' case) tunes worth of experience.
I hope this helps, I have a blast tuning Miatas, but want to make sure everyone's happy, even if that means I miss out. Good luck, and let me know here or via PM if you've got any questions for me.
Hi, Josh from AR here. Yeah, our prices are a little steep, nothing we work on is stock or basic.
Actually you're not far off. I've been quoted $500-600 for full tune from a shop here that owns there own dyno (estimated 2-4hrs work) with no pre-inspection.
I've never seen a tune quote as low as $500-600. $650 for a dyno tune by a guy that knows BOTH your car AND ecu is pretty awesome value. I'd do that in a heartbeat.
I agree, pay the 650 and have a car that runs amazingly. Its worth it, the tune is pretty much the most important thing in the build, bad tune will blow a motor really quick.
Just to semi-hijack the thread, anyone know of a tuner with MS experience a bit farther north? I'm up in the Seattle area, and while driving 3-ish hours wouldn't be terrible if the results are really , it would be nice to have an option closer to home once I'm ready to get some professional tuning work done.
Curly/Josh and you guys convinced me.
I will have to save up for a bit, (don't tell my wife!!!) but I will go to AR Auto. That will not stop me from reading here and trying to learn more afterwards.
Curly,
If I hire your shop; is this a thing where I need to drop my car off, and find a 40 mile ride home? Or can I watch you work and eat popcorn? Then drive home when you are done?
Last edited by ElyasWolff; 05-03-2019 at 10:42 PM.
Just to semi-hijack the thread, anyone know of a tuner with MS experience a bit farther north? I'm up in the Seattle area, and while driving 3-ish hours wouldn't be terrible if the results are really , it would be nice to have an option closer to home once I'm ready to get some professional tuning work done.
Curly,
If I hire your shop; is this a thing where I need to drop my car off, and find a 40 mile ride home? Or can I watch you work and eat popcorn? Then drive home when you are done?
Coordinating having you come to the shop, wait during the inspection, and come with me to the dyno can happen, and it's especially easier when we can discuss any issues with you as they happen, rather than playing phone tag. However it is a little more complicated. If that's what you wish to do, make sure Martin is aware so we can schedule accordingly. We've done it before, but more often we have the car dropped off and work it into our schedule as is convenient for everyone.
Coordinating having you come to the shop, wait during the inspection, and come with me to the dyno can happen, and it's especially easier when we can discuss any issues with you as they happen, rather than playing phone tag. However it is a little more complicated. If that's what you wish to do, make sure Martin is aware so we can schedule accordingly. We've done it before, but more often we have the car dropped off and work it into our schedule as is convenient for everyone.
1.
You are hired.
2.
I will work it out. I am flexible on the date, and I have plenty of vacation time to find a day that works.
3.
Save enough disposable income for my toy (being an adult sucks) Then give you money.
4.
Have I made it clear to everyone that the basemap form DIY auto is sketchy yet?
05-01-2019, 08:49 PM
Can anyone reccomend a tuner in Portland OR/Vancouver WA area?
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