Will my MS3X be much more "factory" with a professional tune?
 

Hey guys,

So this is a ultra noob question, but I don't have a lot of people in my area that run standalone so I can't ask around.

I street-tuned my MS3X and it works great - such a cool system. But it's really not super driveable. I know bringing it to a pro tuner with a dyno I can get great power and no knock out of it, but can the tuner also fine-tune the on-off throttle, warmup, loads with lights on, etc, to be super factory smooth?

Again, don't flame me for the question, just wondering so I can justify the money for a professional tune better.

A good tune can be even better than the factory tune. It just takes some work.

Also, when it comes to driveability, a dyno is not the place to do it (especially considering the plethora of inertial dynos around). Street tuning is the best way to get street driveability dialed in.

+1.

Especially things like warmup and cold start. I'm afraid that has to be done when you encounter the conditions. It's on you. Dyno no can do.

You can copy what some people have done that have run their tunes for a year or so. That will give a good starting point.

Right - makes sense, good advice! There is quite a bit to learn when it's your first time going standalone, so it's too bad there are so few people in Upstate NY that are experienced with it.

Do you recommend anywhere (or anyone) that would have some good settings to start with?

You need to read read read. No one can make the car more smooth and enjoyable than you, since no one will be willing to spend days/weeks/months fine tuning every single aspect of the tune to work with every temp/pressure change.

What you need to do is read on msextra, on here, on diyautotune (writeups) and really just teach yourself to UNDERSTAND what every drop down and menu in TS actually accomplishes. If you copy/paste others settings without comprehending HOW they GOT to those settings, you're gonna keep going in circles. If you don't know what it does and how it does it, and how changing values affects what it tries to do, you're not really tuning your car. You're just throwing random numbers at the random menus.

most tuners have no clue how to actually tune a MS beyond making power on a dyno.

...which is really the easy part

Okay, thanks guys, that answers my question. For power, go to the dyno. For Drivability... you're on your own.

It would be more accurate to say that for power, any dyno shop willing to work with you will do. For drivability, you need one where the tuner actually knows what he's doing.

Tuning the part throttle VE and spark tables, for example, make a HUGE difference in throttle response. A good tuner should also be able to get the AE and idle tuned - although this generally wouldn't happen on the dyno.

As someone who was the veritable definition on "noob" when I started tuning mine, it gets easier. AS others stated, read the shit out of everything.

The only reason I am going to a dyno eventually is for the spark map. I want to be on a dyno, with det cans, to dial it in better. I know my spark map is super conservative, so that is where I'll make my extra 5-10% unneeded peak. Mostly want to improve mid-rpm range spark.

Google search with miataturbo affix at the end will help search everything you need to know that has already been covered.

Greg Banish.

Not exactly MS3 specific, but since you say you are a total tuning noob, it's a great place to start.

Here you go: