Tuning my 2007 ST Stage 2

For your Ford Focus related discussion
BlackSVTGuy
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Well I ended up buying FSWerks former 2006 sema car and had it shipped from the west coast. I am thinking I should probably get it tuned since it hasn't been in like 40k miles and due to the climate change. The car is running and driving great, but I would like the piece of mind and to make sure I'm getting the most power I can out of it.

Here's the problem....
FSWerks only has lifetime tuning if you are the original purchaser of the kit... They want to charge me $400 for the tuning, and I need to buy a $200 wideband too for them to be able to do it. So it will cost me $600 to have fswerks email tune my car.

So that got me thinking of other options. I emailed Dan at DBPerformance to see if this is something he could do, and how much it would cost. Waiting for his reply. Does anyone have experience with having their focus tuned at DB? Has anyone specifically had a duratec or boosted focus tuned by DB?
iminhell
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Fuck FSW!
That is some BS if you buy one of their shop/promo cars and they don't throw in tunes and such with the deal.

I haven't dealt with any shop. But I do like Tom's approach to tuning, the lifetime deal is pretty upstanding of him IMO. The problem is generally finding the time on both ends to get everything sorted out. He is a busy guy and you do have a life to live also. So there has to be a balance. Best option, and he's said this also (though the ones who bitch never stick to it) is to schedule a time that works for both of you and stick to it.
I'm sure held love to gloat that he tuned a FSW car and got more power and a safer tune. I know I would.

Just keep in mind that a 'dyno tune' and another tune may not be one in the same. Generally a dyno tune will concentrate more on WOT than drivability. The two will overlap but mimicking the open road on a dyno is tough and can drive the cost up quite a bit.
--John
BlackSVTGuy
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I did not buy the car directly from fswerks. I am the third owner of the car, fswerks being the first.

If im going the email tune option I would go fswerks. It is pretty lame they won't just update my tune for me.
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Steve@Tasca
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I don't suppose you talked to them about how much more the car is set up to handle did you?

I would have thought the tuning would have been about spot on when Paul owned it since it was his DD, can't really go wrong with DB but it's still not going to be cheap.

-Steve
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BlackSVTGuy
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FORDSVTPARTS wrote:I don't suppose you talked to them about how much more the car is set up to handle did you?

I would have thought the tuning would have been about spot on when Paul owned it since it was his DD, can't really go wrong with DB but it's still not going to be cheap.

-Steve
Well the car's only mods are the stage 2 kit and the stealth exhaust w/cat. The car only put down 232/238.. which if you look at other 2.3 stage 2s they usually make more. I think the tuning was spot on when Paul owned it, and it could still be spot on. My concern is that it hasn't been tuned for 4 years at least, and has been shipped from the east coast so theres a big change in climate. Do you think DB would be cheaper than the $600 fswerks quoted me at for email tuning?

The car runs and drives great... I just want to make sure it's safe and getting the most I can out of it.
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BlackSVTGuy wrote:
FORDSVTPARTS wrote:I don't suppose you talked to them about how much more the car is set up to handle did you?

I would have thought the tuning would have been about spot on when Paul owned it since it was his DD, can't really go wrong with DB but it's still not going to be cheap.

-Steve
Well the car's only mods are the stage 2 kit and the stealth exhaust w/cat. The car only put down 232/238.. which if you look at other 2.3 stage 2s they usually make more. I think the tuning was spot on when Paul owned it, and it could still be spot on. My concern is that it hasn't been tuned for 4 years at least, and has been shipped from the east coast so theres a big change in climate. Do you think DB would be cheaper than the $600 fswerks quoted me at for email tuning?

The car runs and drives great... I just want to make sure it's safe and getting the most I can out of it.
DB will at a minimum be $500......
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Steve@Tasca
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Ask Paul if it's still running the tune it had when he got it, time has nothing to do with tuning, once the car is tuned it's tuned unless it gets more mods and I'm sure it's running a fairly safe tune. You could probably get more but then how reliable will it be?

I doubt climate will affect it that much either, other than the extreme cold here that will provide a much cooler charge.

Also, I don't see how anyone can blame FS Werks for not providing free tuning regardless of who owned it in the past. If they did they'd have to offer that to subsequent owners of every turbo and supercharger kit they ever sold and I don't know of any company that does that.

-Steve
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oldoutboardjim
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BlackSVTGuy wrote:Here's the problem....
FSWerks only has lifetime tuning if you are the original purchaser of the kit... They want to charge me $400 for the tuning, and I need to buy a $200 wideband too for them to be able to do it. So it will cost me $600 to have fswerks email tune my car.
You should be glad it isn’t an SVTF. I don't know why the SVT folks chose this engine management system, but it is a major PITA! Not only is it expensive (having to buy the stupid interface box, whatever it is called), but lotsa tuners won't touch an SVT with a ten foot pole. I have heard horror stories about uploading/downloading tunes into an SVTF. Probably why I never took the plunge, and stayed with the stock Ford re-tune that came with the JRSC+BBK.
"Old Guy's" SVT:
2004 CD Silver 3-door w/blue interior (one of 244 in that color scheme in 2004)
Build #879 of 1,978
Mods: JRSC+BBK; C-F-M Rear Engine Mount; FSWERKS Stealth Exhaust
iminhell
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Steve,
I'm saying the car should have come with a Xcal at least ... by my understanding, it didn't.
I don't doubt Paul used the shop tool, unlocked dealer version. But I'd of thought he'd have one in car for logging.


Jim,
SVT's can be finicky. But some of that can be blamed on user error. There are steps to follow and you have to follow them to a T. It's also been found that the Xcal II's work better than III's. Probably has to do with the device internals, just guessing.
And it's not limited to Focus's either. The entire SVT lineup has caused issues. The PowerPC in general is a PITA.

But I think I've proven pretty well you don't need a SVT to get the power of one (more than one actually).



Speaking of not having a flash tool, any local shop will require that you have one to tune the car. They can write a tune but they can't flash it.
--John
BlackSVTGuy
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FORDSVTPARTS wrote:Ask Paul if it's still running the tune it had when he got it, time has nothing to do with tuning, once the car is tuned it's tuned unless it gets more mods and I'm sure it's running a fairly safe tune. You could probably get more but then how reliable will it be?

I doubt climate will affect it that much either, other than the extreme cold here that will provide a much cooler charge.

Also, I don't see how anyone can blame FS Werks for not providing free tuning regardless of who owned it in the past. If they did they'd have to offer that to subsequent owners of every turbo and supercharger kit they ever sold and I don't know of any company that does that.

-Steve
They offered life-time tuning on all their turbo kits no matter the owner for awhile. It was only recently they changed it that you have to be the original owner. I definitely want to stay reliable, I've been thinking lately I'm just going to leave it alone. The car feels great!
BlackSVTGuy
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You should be glad it isn’t an SVTF. I don't know why the SVT folks chose this engine management system, but it is a major PITA! Not only is it expensive (having to buy the stupid interface box, whatever it is called), but lotsa tuners won't touch an SVT with a ten foot pole. I have heard horror stories about uploading/downloading tunes into an SVTF. Probably why I never took the plunge, and stayed with the stock Ford re-tune that came with the JRSC+BBK.
I remember in my SVT it took like 13 tries for the FSWerks tune to finally download using the x3.
BlackSVTGuy
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iminhell wrote:Steve,
I'm saying the car should have come with a Xcal at least ... by my understanding, it didn't.
I don't doubt Paul used the shop tool, unlocked dealer version. But I'd of thought he'd have one in car for logging.

Speaking of not having a flash tool, any local shop will require that you have one to tune the car. They can write a tune but they can't flash it.
Sorry for the confusion. The car came with an Xcal2 and has the fswerks tune on it.
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Steve@Tasca
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I remote tuned my SVT and never had an issue flashing it, I think I've gone through 6-8 revisions to get it where it is now but then being N/A and mostly stock there's no boost to worry about with mine either.
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trahma
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What Steve said... a tune on a car isn't really like a "tune up". They set the parameters, the car runs with those. Unless the tune has been changed, it should be running the same
reconstruction.
BlackSVTGuy
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Thanks for the help guys! I'm going to wait on on tuning until I add some more mods and really need one.
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