I ordered my 3 tunes and JLT-2 Cold Air Kit on Thursday. Was expecting it to get here on Tuesday.

Door bell rings at 10am today. Postman has a big box for me to sign for.

Installation took about 45 minutes once I rounded up all my tools (10mm socket, screwdriver, torx driver) and read through the directions.

SUPER EASY INSTALLATION. If anyone is hesitant about buying a kit due to getting your hands a little dirty, just get it. If you can't install it, you have no business driving a car in the first place. The only thign I screwed up was applying the JLT sticker to the tube.

A quite note to first timers who may not have a lot of mechanical knowledge: Do not tighten everythign down right away. Install it with screws and bolts loose (except the mass air electronics), so you can move things around and adjust the fit as needed.


JLT2 Kit:

Excellent kit for the money. After having seen the Ford/Steeda kit in person yesterday, I am glad I went with the JLT. I was dead set on the Steeda kit, but after seeing this and installing it, I'm glad I saved the $150 dollars on it.

Had a little rubber flashing on the inlet tube that I scraped away with an exacto knife, to ensure it fit and sealed properly. The other kits look a touch better with the blue silicone wrapping on the ends of the tubes, but whatever. They're all the same in the end: A plastic tube with an exposed open element filter. The key is getting the right MAF size, and as always on a street car, staying conservative is the way to go. These cars make 300hp, not 600hp.


Bama Chips:

First of all, I think it is absolute **** that Doug receives this **** treatment by using **** where his name should go, at another popular website.

When I called Doug on Thursday, I got his voicemail. No big deal. I left a detailed message and my phone number. Was expecting a call the next day, since some people here have trouble getting ahold of him sometimes. I got a return phone call within FIVE minutes. During our 20 minute conversation, he got a couple of calls. He had to beep over once, but that was it. The guy is busy, and is essentially running the show by himself. Cut him some slack. Having worked for a vendor before, the customer is NOT always right, and needs to chill out every now and then.



93 Performance tune:

This was the first tune I loaded. Big difference when I first fired it up. The CAI kit makes a cool sucking sound. "Scchlurktit!" Exhaust sounds MUCH different Sounds as if it dropped an octave, and when you rev it up, it burbles and crackles more than before.

The throttle response is 100% better. The RPMSs don't hang on forever when you shift, and you can blurp the throttle when downshifting, instead of depressing it...waiting a second..."oh, there's the revs." Shifting is smother too. No more clunking and herky jerky movements when putting around town.

As far as performance, a nice, solid gain. Under WOT in 1st gear, it will now break the tires loose going through the gears. It never did that before. Sounds AWESOME too. It sounds A LOT like my 96 Cobra did with the 4 cam 32V 4.6L. Pulls nicely to red line, and...wow, I can shift where I need to and not bounce it off the rev limiter.

The best way to describe how it feels and sounds: Like an old musclecar that received a tune-up and a set of headers and mufflers. That's the closest comparrison I can match it too. Like putting headers on a 440 Mopar powered-anything. 10% increase in power easy, you will deffinatley feel it.

Some impromptu and thorougly unscientific testing by an 1/8 mile marked-sign revealed the following improvment over stock:

Stock: 80-81mph
93Perf: 84-85mph

Looking forward to going to the track next weekend and actually using, you know....like, instruments....and stuff.



93 Torque Tune:

Actually feels very simliar to the Performance tune. There is a little extra swelling of torque in the lower rpm range. The differnece would be to say, if you had two people riding with you, versus none. It's a very linear increase too, so it's not like he just tweaks the throttle setting to open it further than your foot is requesting.


I haven't tried the 87 tune yet. I plan to test all three next weekend at the racetrack, and will do a write up then. I am very pleased with the performance of the kit. It performas as advertised and you will NOT be disappointed. Does it over the neck-snap and wail of a blower or nitrous? Absolutely not. But put it on, turn the radio off, and put the windows down, and you'll get a smile and a giggle out of it and say, "woahaha.....awesome..." after you drive it the first time.

I know everyone has their favorite tuner and their favorite kit. For the money, I don't think you can beat the JLT for what it offers. They're all just hollow plastic tubes with an air filer on it. Mine was cool to the touch after driving, just the rubber intake tube was warm. Plastic heat shield I think is better than a metal one too, since metal conducts heat. It might not make much of a difference, but why spend more if it's not going to give you anything in return? I'm not going to a car show or driving around with my hood open. I'll see it when I check the oil and when I put washer fluid in it. It looks cool, just not as "custom" or racy as the C&L or Steeda kits.

For Customer Service.......Doug gets a 100 on a scale of 1-10. Learned a lot from talking with him, even more so than reading some of the posts here since you're talking to the man himself. If you're considering buying a kit and waffling, searching through endless "Bama or Brenspeed??? "-type threads, please, just give the guy a call. He sells 150+ of these thigns a month. He knows what he's doing. He travels all over the country to tune people's stuff, including Ford GTs.

Anyway, hope that helps anyone that is undecided about who to go with. I did try to contact Brenspeed, but they were out of town. I might still order a tune from them, just for the heck of it to test it. Very satisfied with Bamachips and the experience so far. Looking forward to a track write up next weekend.

 

Cant wait for the results at the track, that might push me over to get one.

 

Try that with the delete plates and you will cream yourself well past redline.

 

Awesome, I ordered mine thursday as well, I cant wait to get it and install it!!!

 

Quote As far as performance, a nice, solid gain. Under WOT in 1st gear, it will now break the tires loose going through the gears. It never did that before. Sounds AWESOME too.

Now I also just installed the JLT and SCT tune I ran the 91 1st and yes more power but I tell ya I don't have the joy of breaking the tires loose going through the gears. Could it be I'm not hitting hit hard. I shift 1-2 at 4k the rest at 5k. I don't pop the clutch out I keep hearing everyone saying they break them loose.

 

So, we are spending 600-800 $ for 4 mph?

 

No, $550.

Typical gains are .40-.50 and 4-5mph with these tune and cold air kits. What else can you do to your car for $550 that's going to pick up half a second? A nitrous kit is over $400, and you have to get a tune for it anyway. Gears? $200 for parts, $200-$300 for an install...and you need to get a tuner to correct the speedometer anyway.

More so over the performance gain, is the driveabillity improvement, throttle response, and improved gas mileage (typically 2mpg). I got three tunes, including an 87 octane performance tune. I needed to change the air filter anyway, so take $30.00 out of the equation as well.

Dollar for dollar, the best mod you can do to an S197.

 

I should rephrase that. As I nail it in 1st gear from a roll, it'll break the tires loose. It dosen't get all squirrley when I hit 2nd or anything.

 

4k isnt that high for 1-2 shift.....you can take that another 2-2.5 grand.....i could chirp 2nd anytime I wanted stock around 53-5700. That is when Torq is peak basically.

 

Thanks for the write up.... I was one of those people on the fence between Brenspeed and Bama... Think this really helped me choose!