Just had my car tuned by Doug at Bamachips Saturday night. We did a few test and tune comparisons, and I know some people will be interested in the results.

First of all, my car, 05 manual with an original JLT with the aluminum collar and JBA axlebacks, so pretty much stock with a CAI. The tune we started with was a JLT SCT 93 octane tune, that came with my Xcal2. It's given me pretty good results, and I was pretty satisfied with this generic canned tune, but the occasional black puffs of smoke had me thinking I was running rich and a custome tune was needed.

First run: Like I drove it in, no adjustments:277.5hp and 295.3tq (all numbers are SAE and at the wheel), and running rich, as I suspected, at 11.8.

Second run: Loaded Doug's 93 Performance tune, which netted almost the same numbers, and still running a little rich. Which just tells me, every car is different, and I'm glad I'm getting a custome tune.

Third run: Doug tweaks on the fuel numbers, and the next run turns out 286.6hp and 306.1tq. So with just one adjustment on the fuel/air ratio, I picked up 9 hp and 11 ft-lbs of torque. Not bad at all.

Fourth run: Bolted up the LFP TB, no adjustments: gained an entire ONE horsepower and no torque. So basically, a five hundred dollar piece of billet eye candy. So if polished billet aluminum is your thing, then this is your bag, baby. Otherwise, 500 bucks will by some nice drag radials. I also noticed that the LFP TB seemed to sound louder and meaner at WOT, but besides looking really good, that's about it.

Fifth run: Back to stock TB with the Jet TBS: Step right up, plop down a hundred bucks, and loose 1 hp and 1 ft-lb of torque. So basically: "SNAKE OIL!", in my opinion. Sure, what's one horsepower or ft-lb from one run to the next, no big deal, but definitely not a gain of 11 like someone else claimed.

Now, the real world. DEFINITELY noticed less throttle lag. This is the second car I've installed the Jet TBS on, and on both, I could feel less throttle lag, and quicker response in the first one quarter of throttle opening. At WOT, even with the 9hp and 11 ft-lb of torque, there wasn't a huge difference, but the TBS absolutely quickened the throttle respone. So if less lag, especially in the automatics, is what you're looking for, this piece my actually suit you. I'll probably keep it, just for less lag. It was really noticeable in the rain, with the car spinning under very light throttle, much easier than it ever has done before. And this was at very light, less than a quarter open throttle, so I doubt the tune would affect it with such light pedal pressure.

So when about 9 out of 10 people say they feel less lag with the TBS, I believe, because that what I've felt.

Had a great time with the tuning, and I'm very happy with the gains. Ran the car with the GTEC a few times, and I got .2 seconds faster than ever before. So I'm very happy with the dyno and Gtec results, and the overall feel of the car.

Another happy Bamachips customer. Get your Xcal2's from Doug!

 

Great report man. Thank for such a thorough write up and scientific approach. How much did that dyno time run you if you don't mind me asking?

 

Good question. Walker Dyno, the dyno shop Doug uses, currently charges a flat $85 for an hour of dyno time, which I think is a great deal. Blake, who runs the place, is a great guy. Really easy to work with, and made it a fun and educational experience. Doug's tuning expertise and tunes vary for the job, car, and time, but let's say it is very affordable.

 

Hey guy,

The reduction in throttle lag is mostly from my tunes, I have an entirely different throttle table that I use over the SCT table that comes with their tunes. Not to put a damper on it but if you still wanna compare simply remove the Jet Spacer and take it for a spin, I asure you will still have the excellent throttle response.

Thanks for the kind words! It was a good night even if we did wait a bit we still had some good results and finally put some myths to bed on both auto's and manual's.

" MYTH BUSTED"

Doug.

 

"Myth Busted"... :P awesome work Doug. Too bad so many people bought into the expensive Throttle Bodies. I've posted against those units for a while now so this wasnt a surprise that another user wasted their money.

-Dan

 

Good point. I thought I heard you and Blake say the only A/F that was adjusted was the WOT settings. So I thought that couldn't affect very light throttle response very much. My mistake. I'll take it off and see if it makes any difference. If the results are like the dyno, it won't make any! Ha!

Sorry for the misinformation, I'll post up what I think after I take it off.

Love the tune though, car drives great!

 

In case you did not notice, "Myth Busted" included both the LTB and the Jet TBS, so before you get too carried away patting yourself on the back, are you still bragging about the big torque gain you got with the magic Jet TBS?

The Boss Hog

 

My SCT 2 is in the UPS pipe to go to Doug today. Got the basic JLT phase 1 and canned JLT tune for 93 octane. Am expecting good things from Dougs tune.

 

I took off the TBS, and drove around for a few hours.

Let me say that: I wanted this thing NOT TO WORK. I don't want to have to put it back on again. I want to sell it and get some of my money back. My JLT CAI fits better without it since it's a tight fit with my UPR power steering billet cap. And I don't like that it didn't give any gains on the dyno. So in short, I was hoping and expecting that removing it would not make any difference...

But it did. Throttle response is not quite as snappy and quick like it was before. With it installed, the darn thing just revs quicker and seems to get into the power band faster. I must be crazy, because the darn thing feels like it works. Which again, supports the fact that most users on here felt a difference when they installed it. Once again, I've put it on two cars and have felt a difference. Crazy, I can't explain it.

Now I have to put the stupid thing back on again, just to see if I'm imagining things. Like I said, I really don't want this part to work, but it feels like it does.

Doug, you should put yours back on with the stock throttle body and drive around with it. Let me know if you feel a difference.

Didn't mean to make this into a Jet TBS thread, just giving some feedback.

Either with it or without it, car still runs and pulls harder, and it DID have better throttle response either way. Getting a custom tune is definitely the way to go!

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7...playable%3Atrue

Here's a link to a video of one of the runs.

 

Nice report. I pretty much guessed a throttle body is a waste on this car. The TBS, however is another story. For a hundred bucks, it's well worth it. I felt a little difference. And most of all lost some of that lag I had. Of course, Doug's tune helped a lot with that too.

 

Good reports. Brad, you are exactly right about Blake at Walker Dyno. He's one of the best guys around and the exact reason we went to him for support with PSH.