Hello folks, about a month ago I got a BAMA/SCT tuner for my 2010 V6 and It's great. That said, I was wondering if any of you have any experience with using the race tune for a long period of time?

When I first got the tuner I used the performance tune for a few weeks and then changed to the race tune (after I went through my gas and filled up with 92) The race tune is WAY more fun and I love it. I have a 5 speed so I don't have any "jerky" issues with shift points. I was just wondering if running the race tune for a long time would damage the engine in any way? I don't have much in the way of "mods" yet, just a turbo muffler, a performance coil pack and high flow air filter. (not a CAI) I will be doing more to it later on, as time and $$$ permits but I do have to say that the tuner was an instant performance upgrade. This is my first time dealing with a computer controlled car. I'm an old school carburetor guy and this whole tune thing is strange but effective.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and have a great day.

 

You have nothing to worry about as long as you keep good gas in it. Even a batch of bad gas probably wouldn't do much damage since you are NA

 

Thanks for that. I'm assuming that by "NA" you mean "naturally aspirated"?

Funny you mention "bad gas" I almost screwed up the other day at the gas station. Here in Oregon it's illegal to pump your own gas and I told the attendant "regular" instead of "Supreme" Fortunately I caught myself before he started pumping.

 

It should not be any problem, as long as the tune is good and there are no issues like pinging.

Like you already discussed, the octane of the gas is important. Think of the tune as requiring gas of a certain octane or higher and get used to ordering gas by octane number and it will be harder to make the mistake of getting the wrong gas.

 

Thanks for that and also the tip on ordering gas by the number.

 

I started using the BAMA race tune on my GT this past April. I basically only run the car at the track, and accumulate more hard miles than most... it's been flawless, zero issues thus far and it is a blast to drive. For reference on how I use the car with the tune, look at my other recent post with some footage from a recent outing at Palmer Motorsports Park in Mass. I use only 93, keep an eye on coolant and oil temps, and otherwise drive the car to the max.

 

I have a GT and have been running the race tune for over two years. Made my car more responsive and even more fun to drive. I tried the performance tune but did not like the compression braking behavior as much so I went back to the race tune.

What concerns me is the cooling fan comes on at 190 instead of the stock 215. I like that the engine is being kept cooler for more performance but it seems like the fan is on all the time. I hope it's a durable unit. Good so far!

 

Thanks for all of the advice and information on this. I'm going to continue using the race tune, it just makes the car so much more enjoyable to drive, even if it's just to work and back.
One other question that I thought of - When I take the car in to the dealer for it's oil change/service should I put it back to stock? Or leave the race tune?

 

The only reason to put it back to stock, is to hide the fact that you tuned it, in an attempt to preserve your warranty, if you have one.

Nobody is going to check the computer when doing an oil change, so don't worry about it.

 

Agree with Bert

 

They will know if any major work needs to be done.

Ran a vortech tune for 2 years and the fans we're literally on all the time, no issues.

 

Thanks for all of the great advice, I really appreciate it.

 

Another question on this.
I replaced the factory ignition coil with an "ACCEL Super Coil" on my 2010 4.0 V6 along with new plugs. I included this information when I requested my BAMA tune so the tune has been set up properly. However, since I have the higher output coil and the tune to match, should I increase the spark plug gap? If so, what should I increase it too? Any advice is appreciated, thanks.