Need Dyno Tuning in or around SF

[santacruisin]

SO I saved all my nickels and dimes for a whole year and I will get my S13 next week. It has the SR20 front clip, is fast, runs great, etc. and it has some JUN ECU attached to it. I want to replace this ECU with the PowerFC right away!

Is there a dyno tuning shop that does GOOD tuning (i.e. engine won't blow after a couple of laps on the track) near or around SF, Oakland, Santa Rosa or San Jose? SO far everyone says to go to Motorsport Dynamics in Sac and I am not denying that Henry is an amazing tuner, I just don't want to shlep my car way out there if there is someone just as good locally. I hear Frank at Racetune is getting better at tuning but I also heard that Racetune is no longer open. ANyone got their SR20 tuned in the bay?

My car has an upgraded Greddy turbo, wastegate, FMIC, manifolds, 550 cc injectors, and a whole lot of other stuff that I can't remember right now. I have been told it runs 11's. I want a tuner to tune it down to about 300whp so I can get used to it. Anyone have some suggestions on where to go or who to see. THanks to all! :bigok:

Oh and sign up for Grip 'n Slip II at ncda.net !!! :2f2f:

[drew935]

gruppe-s.com in Union City has a dyno.

[FaLKoN240]

Racetune in Hayward

[Andrew Bohan]

gruppe-s is in hayward... they have a mustang iirc
racetune has a dynapack, but he's moving to sac to join up with henry at motorsport. i don't know what that is happening though.
z-car garage in santa clara has some kind of roller dyno. rob is a great guy and the shop is the cleanest and best kept shop i've seen so far.
synergy in hayward also has a dynapack

[Ritz S14]

Full Function Tech in Union City. Tell him "V" sent you, and you might get a discount. :)

[kazuo]

Poo on all that shit.

http://www.rs-enthalpy.com/

I guarantee better gains than anyone in the Bay dyno tuning it.

haha

[santacruisin]

Thanks for the replies. Anyone care to share a story, good or bad, regarding their tuning experience at any or all of these places?

Anyone know when Racetune packs it up for good?

[BayS13]

racetune in hayward. go go

[drew935]

As for Gruppe-s, they are well-known in the suby community. Yes, z garage is hella clean. Full Function, I know the guys, but they need more experience. I think you'd agree V(ritz S14)

[BayS13]

Racetune just finished tuning a 240 witha s15 motor in it. he made his own MAPs for it using a Power FC D jetro (the one running no maf). Frank got the first D Jetro in america for a S15 (not off ebay!!! DIRECT from APEXI!!!) AND it has WORKING S15 AC!!!!

here are some pics of the custom 1 peice driveshaft and the motor. VERY clean swap with the 6 speed transmission and everything. the car is VERY fast and VERY streetable on 91 gas. sounds normal untill you REALLY get on it. :naughtyd:

racetune is not closed either, they are just very selective on what cars they want to work on. i say you should try to email Frank and see whats up.

www.racetune.net

here are the pics.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c297/racetune/DSC01560Small.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c297/racetune/DSC01559Small.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c297/racetune/DSC01558Small.jpg

:hitit:

[santacruisin]

I'm goin to Racetune fer sure. Hopefully I can be tuned by Saturday for Grip n Slip on Sunday! Now where can I get some 265/18's in the Bay by Saturday? I want to try the Advan Neova's on my new ride!!!

BTW Nice Pics!! Is that a customer's car or one that he is plannin to campain in '06?

[BayS13]

it was a customers car. had a dohc KA in it and now it has that :)

[drew935]

gotta luv that 1 piece driveshaft...

[santacruisin]

update: my tune at Racetune sucked. Engine blown, on to another shop.

[TiNMAN]

wow that hurts man, GL with the next build

[santacruisin]

^^^^^Thanks for the sympathy. I got a redtop installed and scheduled tuning at SR Motorsports in Brentwood. Its gonna be a PIA to get there but they say they can tune anything with a Power FC. They got a lot of racing experience and a real deal dyno, not that funky "dynapack" stuff that rolls out and mounts to the wheels. Pray for Mojo.

[92_240sx_fastback]

how did the engine blow?

didnt racetune is hayward closed down?

[staticbzer]

i'd also like to know how did the engine blow? Frank does good work.

[santacruisin]

^^^LOL!

I realize that my post insinuated that Frank blew the engine. He didn't but the tune was crappy nonetheless.

When he tuned it he left a vacuum line that runs to the boost gauge unplugged. As a result the car lost boost at high rpm. He attributed it to "blowby" in the cylinders and said that the car would exploder if he tried to give it a final tune. I took the car to another shop and several knowledgeable people listened to the engine and drove it and informed me that there was no indication of blowby, no sounds of knocking and that the same loss in pressure could be attributed to the loose boost gauge line. When I plugged the vacuum line the car ran completely different, albeit worse b/c the engine was tuned to run w/ the leak, further reinforcing the theory that my car got a shitty tune. Greater attention to detail would have solved this problem and allowed me to go on my merry way with a good tune and trust in the shop.

When I contacted the shop to explain the problem and hopefully get a good tune, cuz I still have credit with him, he told me he was working in LA and that I could bring the car there. Yeah fucking right.

I attribute the lack of attention to my car to Racetune's lack of staff. I have no doubt that Frank is really good at what he does but he was running a shop with dozens of cars that needed all kinds of stuff done and only him working on them. Its no wonder that shit like this happened to my car when he is running ragged trying to juggle so many cars in need of so many services.

The engine ultimately blew b/c I had upgraded cams but not upgraded springs. A rocker arm busted, I lost a cylinder and a valve touched a piston. In the oil pan were bearings and other metal shavings. Would this same problem have happened if I had a better tune? I'll leave that to you all to speculate.

I also had a serious problem with my BMW after taking it to Racetune. It could have cost me my life. If you want to know about that situation PM me.

[TiNMAN]

yea theres no doubt that racetune is short staffed. does SR motorsports have a website or anything? ive never heard of them. hopefully they're a little more meticulous when working on your motor. GL dude, seriously!!

[!Zar!]

A busted rocker arm isn't their fault.

So I wouldn't blame them.