Tuning for dummies

[Symetry]

Ok , I got it.

The performance will be added to whatever mode you run.
Just need a different tune to use tow mode.

Did the livernois give you the trans tune you wanted ?

Jim

 

[Cdubya]

Did the livernois give you the trans tune you wanted ?

Yes. shifts are now fast and firm. You can really tell the difference if you manual shift a lot because you know exactly when the shift is being requested. When in manual shift also, it will stay in gear when you get on throttle rather than downshift. It will still upshift when you hit redline. That said, most all tuners tweak the transmission settings...not just Livernois. The main failings of Livernois (as I see it) is that they do not know how to display gear all the time and your device is paired to the car (unless you replace your ST with another vehicle that can use the same Livernois device and they have a tune for it).

 

[KegsBdry]

So for ~$580 I ordered from Lethal (thanks PhilST for the $100 off promo tip!):
- nGauge device
- disable auto start/stop option
- show current gear number in dash option
- 3 tunes: 87 daily perf., 91-93 daily perf., and 93 'race' tune
- windshield suction mount for nGauge - I am pleasantly surprised with the quality of this mount.

I had to call Lethal twice to settle some order questions; they answered the phone quickly and resolved the topics within a few minutes. 1 question was regarding the nGauge, it did not have the 2020 Explorer ST as vehicle selection option in the menu, I was advised to use the 2019 Ranger profile.

sent stock file yesterday morning to PBD. Had the three tunes by around 1pm EST. We had a couple email exchanges and PBD was quick to reply (minutes).

Loaded the 91-93 daily perf. tune last night.

So I have driven it only about 15 miles since loading the tune, but I can inform that the difference is like driving a different car. The tune doesn't seem to overstress anything, it just drives much smoother overall. I notice that the car goes through the gears sequentially instead of skipping gears at lower speeds, which greatly improves the ability to drive smoothly, the lagging and abrupt shifts are gone, you can watch it change smoothly through the gear numbers. the throttle response is much more linear, as well as the overall power delivery, very smooth. The performance increase is also phenomenal, applying just ~2/3 accelerator at a stoplight provides neck snapping acceleration per my seat of pants dragy. I am no racer, but I am almost scared to actually floor it, maybe this weekend somewhere more rural I'll try it out... The car also seems to be getting better mileage but time will tell. The smoother power flow reduces my lead foot syndrome so it could just be that.

Overall, my initial perception is: 1) holy shirt this car has a lot of power, and 2) the best $$ I've ever spent on any mod (CAI, etc..) for the gains . Now I see why they sell EcoBeast emblems!

Also noting that the support from both Lethal and PBD has exceeded expectations.

How much extra HP did they say you had now that it's tuned?

 

[Symetry]

Dummy here again..
Who is Lethal?

I know how PBD is and like what I'm hearing from @sadeen .

I want a tune I can't select 87, 91 , 93 , God only knows where the price of 93 is headed. May be forced to run 87 at $5/gal.

Jim

 

[KegsBdry]

Dummy here again..
Who is Lethal?

I know how PBD is and like what I'm hearing from @sadeen .

I want a tune I can't select 87, 91 , 93 , God only knows where the price of 93 is headed. May be forced to run 87 at $5/gal.

Jim

In my personal opinion, I would not go with 87 in a Sports Tuned vehicle. I've always used 93 but I would go as low as 91 if it is the highest offered at the gas station for miles.

 

[KegsBdry]

So for ~$580 I ordered from Lethal (thanks PhilST for the $100 off promo tip!):
- nGauge device
- disable auto start/stop option
- show current gear number in dash option
- 3 tunes: 87 daily perf., 91-93 daily perf., and 93 'race' tune
- windshield suction mount for nGauge - I am pleasantly surprised with the quality of this mount.

I had to call Lethal twice to settle some order questions; they answered the phone quickly and resolved the topics within a few minutes. 1 question was regarding the nGauge, it did not have the 2020 Explorer ST as vehicle selection option in the menu, I was advised to use the 2019 Ranger profile.

sent stock file yesterday morning to PBD. Had the three tunes by around 1pm EST. We had a couple email exchanges and PBD was quick to reply (minutes).

Loaded the 91-93 daily perf. tune last night.

So I have driven it only about 15 miles since loading the tune, but I can inform that the difference is like driving a different car. The tune doesn't seem to overstress anything, it just drives much smoother overall. I notice that the car goes through the gears sequentially instead of skipping gears at lower speeds, which greatly improves the ability to drive smoothly, the lagging and abrupt shifts are gone, you can watch it change smoothly through the gear numbers. the throttle response is much more linear, as well as the overall power delivery, very smooth. The performance increase is also phenomenal, applying just ~2/3 accelerator at a stoplight provides neck snapping acceleration per my seat of pants dragy. I am no racer, but I am almost scared to actually floor it, maybe this weekend somewhere more rural I'll try it out... The car also seems to be getting better mileage but time will tell. The smoother power flow reduces my lead foot syndrome so it could just be that.

Overall, my initial perception is: 1) holy shirt this car has a lot of power, and 2) the best $$ I've ever spent on any mod (CAI, etc..) for the gains . Now I see why they sell EcoBeast emblems!

Also noting that the support from both Lethal and PBD has exceeded expectations.

Which one did you go with to get all those options listed?

 

[Symetry]

In my personal opinion, I would not go with 87 in a Sports Tuned vehicle. I've always used 93 but I would go as low as 91 if it is the highest offered at the gas station for miles.

I was thinking more on the lines of stock, 91, 93.

I can take my diesel truck back to stock anytime or all the way to extreme.
I know diesel is different , but I would like to be able to select stock.

Jim

 

[sadeen]

Dummy here again..
Who is Lethal?

I know how PBD is and like what I'm hearing from @sadeen .

I want a tune I can't select 87, 91 , 93 , God only knows where the price of 93 is headed. May be forced to run 87 at $5/gal.

Jim

www.lethalperformance.com - I bought the PBD nGuage and tunes through them, they were having a holiday sale. I got the 87 tune 'just in case' gas prices went nuts; but I run the 91- 93 stage 1 tune currently, in case a station doesn't have 93 , for flexibility. I will soon try to 93R stage 1 tune when I get around to it. But the current tune added enough that I am happy with it. One day I'll buy a Dragy to be able to see differences..

Other than the tune everything on my ST is stock including filter FYI.

 

[sadeen]

Which one did you go with to get all those options listed?

View attachment 3794

This one, but purchased thru lethalperformance (reseller, had a holiday sale) if that matters.. PBD sent me the nGuage and did the tunes and were very responsive.

 

[Symetry]

www.lethalperformance.com - I bought the PBD nGuage and tunes through them, they were having a holiday sale. I got the 87 tune 'just in case' gas prices went nuts; but I run the 91- 93 stage 1 tune currently, in case a station doesn't have 93 , for flexibility. I will soon try to 93R stage 1 tune when I get around to it. But the current tune added enough that I am happy with it. One day I'll buy a Dragy to be able to see differences..

Other than the tune everything on my ST is stock including filter FYI.

Thank you.

Would you consider the 87 tune to be same as the stock time from factory. Which you can run 87 , but not recommend.
I run 93 only. But like you said , gas prices 93, could go off the charts.
Be nice to save $25 per tank with 87.

Jim

 

[sadeen]

I'll post as pic of the nGuage and mount in the car when I get a chance. You don't need the nGuage after loading the tune but it has some cool instrumentation like boost, intake air temp, etc that's fun to look at.
for transparency, I have no affiliation with any of these companies, I am just a hack playing around.

Some other features - disables completely auto start stop, shows current gear in all modes in dash.

 

[sadeen]

Thank you.

Would you consider the 87 tune to be same as the stock time from factory. Which you can run 87 , but not recommend.
I run 93 only. But like you said , gas prices 93, could go off the charts.
Be nice to save $25 per tank with 87.

Jim

No sir, the 87 tune is their performance tune for 87 octane fuel. They inform you NOT to use 91, 93 fuel if you are using the 87 tune. You will save your stock tune, send it to them via email, and they send back the performance tunes. So you can always revert to stock if needed.

 

[Symetry]

Ok , thanks.
So even running 87 you still experience some gains,

I just want to be able to run 87 safely, only if prices hit $5+++ prices , you know 93 will cost at least $25 more per tank. Most places 93 is near a$1 more now.

Jim

 

[sadeen]

Ok , thanks.
So even running 87 you still experience some gains,

I just want to be able to run 87 safely, only if prices hit $5+++ prices , you know 93 will cost at least $25 more per tank. Most places 93 is near a$1 more now.

Jim

Yes, but I have not yet tried the 87 tune. From my personal experience with the 91-93 tune, I'll give PBD the benefit of meeting/exceeding expectations.

 

[sadeen]

Yes, but I have not yet tried the 87 tune. From my personal experience with the 91-93 tune, I'll give PBD the benefit of meeting/exceeding expectations.

so the premium 93 at Costco near me is only like $2.30/gal (for now) and i get a 5% discount on top. it has been even less expensive over the past 6 mos, so I have only run 93. If/when that price goes up too high for me (like maybe $3.00), I'll load the 87 tune. My understanding from PBD and some experienced people on this forum, it is OK to run higher octane gas on a lower octane tune (e.g. 91 0r 93 on a 87 tune), but not the other way (e.g. 87 octane on a 93 tune). If I am off base please advise.

 

[Symetry]

Sounds logical.

Filled up 5 days ago.
87 was $2.15/gal
I paid $2.65 for 93

Today drove by , and 87 was $2.27, so I would assume 93 is $2.77/gal.

At 50 cents a gal more for 20 gal would be $10 more per tank.

I believe that's only gonna go higher.

Jim

 

[sadeen]

here a pic of the nGauge and the mount they sell for it. I need to run the cable better.. someday. You don't need the gauge after you load the tune, but it's got a lot of configs and stuff you can monitor / log if you want to get into it..

 

[LokiWolf]

A few reminders...

The NGuage is on its way out. The company that builds it is E-motion is no longer in business. Between not being able to source parts and COVID they closed at the end of 2020.

Buying an NGuage new now is just a bad idea.

But hey that is just me...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Symetry]

A few reminders...

The NGuage is on its way out. The company that builds it is E-motion is no longer in business. Between not being able to source parts and COVID they closed at the end of 2020.

Buying an NGuage new now is just a bad idea.

But hey that is just me...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Which one do you recommend?

Jim

 

[mkuluz]

Now I’m even more confused. Haha.