I think he does now, but he didn't used to when I bought the tune. And to change it up now would require me to buy the product all over again. Besides, I've got no faith in him as a tuner anymore. This has been a pretty bad experience.

Anyways, there's more to it than just a lame wire. I bought a tune to go along with it. And this is more of a fine-tune, since it includes all the adjustments needed to make it run perfectly for my specific setup. I'm sure I could do all that myself given the right software and enough time, but I'd rather leave it to people with more experience in such things who have a solid baseline to start from.

So essentially, I'm dumping the old J-Fonz/Epic Tuning tune for one by Motoza Performance. My old tune was always a bit clunky, the rear O2 sensor codeout was a failure, and the estimated mileage in my driver info center was way off the mark (due to the 550cc injectors). Motoza performance claims they can resolve ALL those things with their tune, for way cheaper than I paid for my previous tune. I also save on shipping costs of my ECM, and they even offered me a 10% discount for jumping from a troubled ship. Oh, and they shipped me the package on the very same day, even though I placed the order late-ish in the day. Now that's what I call service. Josh Alfonso could take a few lessons.

 

Is APR and GIAC that expensive that no one is even mentioning sending their ECU to them?

 

a) yes

b) no ready-made 550cc injector tune

c) I'm sick and tired of shipping my ECM all over the country

 

All the big-name tuners provide an off-the-shelf tune, meaning it's just a universal tune designed with tons of leeway for different hardware setups and such. Private tuners will tailor the tune to your exact setup and preferences, and if those ever change they'll modify the tune to suit it. They also don't have the ME7.5 specific knowledge and experience that private tuners have so they can't possibly match the level of refinement you'll get from a private tuner. That, plus the fact that their tunes cost at least 2x more and you can't just flash the file yourself make this a no-brainer.

 

Right, and that's the experience I'm really looking forward to. I totally did not get that with J-Fonz/Epic Tuning. What I got was all the negative aspects of the big brand tuners... and none of the positives.

 

I'm all setup with a tune from Motoza. Received the cable and software on Saturday, got an email with an ECU file for my car on Monday, uploaded it in less than 5 minutes, and now the car runs better than ever.

a) cold starts happen properly the first time, every time. It used to take 2-3 tries before I could get the engine started properly on a cold morning

b) no more CEL... the rear O2 sensor is finally coded out properly. Looks like everything was done right properly the first time

c) no more driveability issues. No hiccups when going from coasting to accelerating, no wavering idle

d) mileage estimates in the driver info center are much more reasonable, no more "1000 miles remaining" nonsense

e) power output seems as plentiful as ever, this tune doesn't feel any more or less aggressive than my previous one, according to my super-accurate butt dyno. Boost still peaks around the same 20psi or so under the right circumstances. Funny, because J-Fonz/Epic Tuning called this a Stage 2+ tune, and Motoza calls it a Stage 1+ tune

So it's official: J-Fonz/Epic Tuning can lick my sack. I've found a better alternative in Motoza Performance, and I couldn't be happier. It's just too bad I couldn't get my money back from Epic Tuning.

 

What a bizarre coincidence that I should happen upon this post today, exactly 2 years after I wrote it. Was just browsing through my old posts to see if any threads needed long-term updates, and saw this one.

Well, after exactly 2 years, I'm still running the same Motoza tune and it still runs perfectly. Engine light has never come on, engine runs smooth as silk, and power is still strong. Maybe a bit less power than there used to be, but I can thank worn out rings and a tired turbo for that. Engine has 276,000 miles and gets driven hard almost every day. Head gasket is still the original one that was put on at the factory. I'm about to replace the engine with a new one, probably in the next month or two (and transmission too).

Motoza Performance for teh win!