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SVT owners: Post reviews of your Tune!

313K views 114 replies 103 participants last post by  Makit Worx 
#1 · (Edited)
In an effort to Stop the Insanity! related to custom tunes available for SVT owners, I am starting this thread in hopes that it can remain argument-free. Here are the rules:

1. Name WHO you got your tune from (website or contact information too, please)
2. List what flasher your tune came with
3. How much? (voluntary)
4. How long have you had the tune
5. Give a review of your tune (i.e. how easy was the install, first impressions, what differences do you notice in your car's performance and driveablility, *EDIT*was your car's T/C system altered)
6. Give a review of your tuner (i.e. how professional was he, available for questions, how fast was shipping)
7. Give links to dyno's, if you have them

I would like to suggest that we keep this thread ONLY for reviews. If anyone has any questions for the people who list reviews, please PM them. If you would like to debate or discuss the pros and cons of this tune or that tune (or tuner), please take it to one of the other threads.


Any one who doesn't heed the rules should be dragged behind a riced-out CRX by his or her eyelids! [}:)]
 
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#2 · (Edited)
1. Tom from www.focus-power.com
2. Diablo Predator
3. ~$515 shipped
4. almost 4 months
5. The tune was very easy to install, even though when I received my tune the "workaround" (removing 2 fuses during install) for traction control-equipped cars hadn't been discovered yet. Because of this, along with my Predator I got a "benchflasher" (a wire harness used to connect the Predator directly to the ECU, rather than to the OBDII port). The reflash time took about a total of 10 minutes, 5 to retrieve and store my factory tune into the Predator and another 5 to load the custom tune. After I loaded the tune, I fired the car up and went for a test drive (I did not reset the ECU by disconnecting the battery or anything like that). My first and immediate impression was that the surging was gone. Woo hoo! Second, there was no more bogging out during launches. I used to have to baby the car, almost coax it to get moving. Now, all it took was a gentle application of gas and a steady release of the clutch and we were on our way! The power band was also a noticeable difference. Prior to the tune, my power would only really kick in at 5-6krpms, now it took off from 1.5K all the way up! Wow! The exhaust note sounded more aggressive and the car just seemed to come alive around me. Originally I noticed a decrease in gas mileage and thought it was from the tune, but after a few weeks when my driving settled out my MPG came right back to what I was used to. I was just laying into the gas more than usual becuase I was having so much fun! Overall I have been very satisfied with my tune. I was worried that I might later regret the large chunk of change I threw down for it, but I'm actually glad I spent that money. *EDIT* One last note, I just spoke to Tom about his disabling T/C completely using the stock T/C button (without affecting the braking system) and I found that I already had that tune. I went out to test it (never bothered using the console button because I have the kill switch hooked up). At a stop, I pushed the console TC button and the indicator lit on the dash. I revved to about 3K and let the clutch go...a little wheel spin and no bog! I then had a go with my kill switch engaged. Same thing! So, Tom has made the stock T/C button able to kill TC completely, even below 25mph. Dang, I didn't even know I had that.

6. Tom was quick to answer any questions and offered to walk me through the install over the phone if I had any problems (which of course I didn't). Shipping took over a week, but this was because Tom had to wait for the customer before me to return the benchflasher so that he could send it to me. This is no longer an issue, though.
7. Link to my dyno is in my sig. All my performance mods are listed, and NO, I don't have a baseline dyno.
 
#3 ·
1. Tom's tune, focus-power.com
2. Diablo Predator
3. $515
4. just installed yesterday afternoon
5. install very easy, takes 10 min! i did it during a break at work. There's a big difference with the tune vs. stock. It acceralates much quicker, the exhaust sounds deeper, no hesitation, and no hanging revs. I've only had it for not even 24 hours and i'm very happy with it!
6. it took like 1 week to get it to me but it was the post office on my end. the only problem i had was that the first one he sent me, it didn't work on my car. it kept saying "unable to read vehicle type". i called Tom and he had me do a couple things with the flasher and he decided that it was bad from diablo and he sent me another one the next day. i got it the next day and it worked!
7. no dyno
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
1. Diablo predator performance tune
2. Diablo predator ( duh )
3. Less than $300
4. 1 week
5. Very easy to install - about 10 mins. First impressions / so far - no surging - much smoother revving - more power after 3000 rpm
6. He was a butthead. He lived in a box and wouldn't come out to say hi or anything.
7. No dynos, just diablos claim of 15fwhp - not sure if they are saying front wheel or fly wheel - prolly flywheel.

Overall, at first I was scared to fry my ecu. But I like the stock program being saved - I had a ranger 4.0 with a custom chip and was always bummed that I would have to remove the ecu, take off the chip , try to explain the wires going to the passenger compartment, etc. if I had to go to the dealer. With this thing, I just hook 'er up - reflash to stock - and that's it!

EDIT:
Deleted repeated thread questions at start of answers.
WD40


[Any one who doesn't heed the rules should be dragged behind a riced-out CRX by his or her eyelids! [}:)] [/B][/QUOTE]
 
#5 · (Edited)
1. AmazonRacing
2. SCT Excalibrator with PC to Xcal cable and Extreme Tuning Software
3. $375
4. 2 Days
5. From 20 on, this car pulls like no other. Makes YRF0 look like a 2 year old wrote it. No more crashing idle, surging, bogging off the line, etc. My driving style is; ger it going to about 20 and just lay into it. My tires instantly fight to grab the pavement. Pulls hard to 7600.
T/C Edit - With the switch off (no light) it barely activates...when you hit the button, TC is gone. No more 21mph burnouts!!
6. What can I say here to not sound biased!!?? My tuner is the best! ;-)
7. No Dyno yet...tuesday I hope...
 
#6 · (Edited)
1. Tom Lesperance (focus-power.com)

2. Diablo Predator

3. $495

4. just over 5 months

5. Hard to install, but that was typical at the time - this was done in the field, and not much was known about bench-flashers and nothing was known about removing the fuses to get T/C control cars to take the flash - this was one of the first cars to get the flash. Took five tries and several hours to get the flash into the car. Impressions were immediate - no bog, slightly higher idle, much fatter midrange and a bit more power overall, different sound, much better general driveability and it made driving with A/C on much more pleasant. One of the problem areas that YRF0 (which I upgraded to from RLA6 after two months of ownership) did not entirely fix was cold-start behavior upon hot restart - it would act cold again for a block or so, even if it had been driven for an hour and shut off for a minute and then restarted. Tom's tune took care of that for good. YRF0 had almost eliminated 2k-3k RPM surge, but the Diablo tune killed it dead. No gas mileage impact at all.

I have always been under the impression that my tune did not change the T/C system's behavior in any way - this was one of the first ones, and I don't think Tom had that down then. I will be testing one of his recent ones over the next week or so - I have the s/w and the cables to hook up my Predator to the PC now. As I understand it, he can now basically make the factory T/C switch act the way it should have all along - it defaults to on, but when you turn it off - it's off.

6.I did not have the unit sent to me - I arranged to meet Tom at a Fun Ford Weekend in New Hampshire - a long drive for me and a busy race weekend for him. He made himself available and worked to overcome some of the technical glitches that cropped up (this was back in the day, now [;)] ). He would not take my $$ but just asked me to send him a check if I wanted to keep it, and just return the Predator - with his tune in it - if I didn't. I left and drove 535 miles home. Sent a check later in the week.

7. No scan of my dyno - done at McNews a couple of months later. Peak hp was 149 @ 6600 rpm and peak torque 133 @ just over 5000. Typical bulge below 2500 and from 4000-6000 that these tunes exhibit, compared to stock. Only performance mod other than the tune is a Pipercross drop-in. I have no baseline dyno. Have not fooled with datalogging - yet.
 
#7 ·
Re: Re: SVT owners: Post reviews of your Tune!

scotto46 said:
1. Diablo predator performance tune
2. Diablo predator ( duh )
3. Less than $300
4. 1 week
5. Very easy to install - about 10 mins. First impressions / so far - no surging - much smoother revving - more power after 3000 rpm
6. He was a butthead. He lived in a box and wouldn't come out to say hi or anything.
7. No dynos, just diablos claim of 15fwhp - not sure if they are saying front wheel or fly wheel - prolly flywheel.

Overall, at first I was scared to fry my ecu. But I like the stock program being saved - I had a ranger 4.0 with a custom chip and was always bummed that I would have to remove the ecu, take off the chip , try to explain the wires going to the passenger compartment, etc. if I had to go to the dealer. With this thing, I just hook 'er up - reflash to stock - and that's it!

EDIT:
Deleted repeated thread questions at start of answers.
WD40


[Any one who doesn't heed the rules should be dragged behind a riced-out CRX by his or her eyelids! [}:)]
[/B][/QUOTE]

UPDATE:
JUST GOT TOM'S TUNE TODAY. Main difference after 1 test run is that my low end power is much better. No more waiting to get up from 2k to 4k almost instantaneous.
Cheers![thumb]
 
#8 ·
1. Hypnotic's SCT tune.
2. $350
3. 2 weeks
4. Very simple to install ... you only have to remove one fuse. Plug it into your ODBC, and watch the pretty lights. The complete download/upload took roughly a half hour.
5. Car now has tons of low end oomph, which is awesome for around town type driving. Idle now takes about 5 seconds to stabilize (900rpm), as opposed to a minute or 2.
6. This is the tune that should have came from the factory. I'm guessing maybe a half second improvement in the quarter, with most of that improvement coming before you hit 70.
7. Will dyno eventually; I am kinda curious. Where is my sticker Wayne!!?
 
#9 ·
1. Wayne (Hypnotic Illusions) www.hypillauto.com
2. SCT X-Calibrator
3. $325
4. Had this tune (and subsequent tweaks) approximately 3 months
5. So far, this has been the best thing I have done to my Focus. Low end power is more than improved, takeoffs are easier and more consistent. My car was running dangerously lean from the factory (17.1 : 1 A/F) in the lower RPMs, now running about 13 : 1 across the board. Able to exit corners in the appropiate gear, instead of having to go one gear lower just to keep the car moving!

Installation was simple: remove the #46 fuse and away we went. flashed throught OBD-II port, back when bench-flashing was still prevelant. Takes about 12 minutes to flash the PCM, but well worth it when you consider the results!
6. I chose to go with Wayne because of his customer service (even before I was a customer) I swear no allegiance to SCT or DiabloSport, I could really care less what hardware I use...I do care about the results and confidence I feel in the product I purchase, and I am supremely confident in Waynes tune. And, I know if I have a problem, it will get taken care of in a timely matter. No worrying about not being able to get in touch with him, heck, he emails me to see how things are going! i have received about 10 updates from Wayne, all requested by me based on my cars particular response to his tune.

7. My most current dyno

 
#10 ·
1) Hypnotic ( Wayne )
2) SCT X-Cal
3) $345 shipped with flasher, port cable, PC cable
4) 3 Weeks or so
5) Abso-friggin-lutely love the bloody thing. Car runs like a champ now. Easy install, instructions that came with the unit were the finest and most thought-out I've ever seen, period. Took about 15 minutes from start to finish, with the longest time taken by downloading the OEM program, the upload happened so fast it was like the car couldn't wait to receive it, lol.
6) Wayne's a real gentleman, great person to do business with, as he expands those looking for mods aside from his flasher would be doing themselves a great disservice to not seek him out.
7) Dyno slips coming, car's stock numbers ( as taken in Denver, CO ) were 144.6 horse/131.9 TQ, I'm expecting a significant improvement.
 
#11 ·
1. Tom's tune, www.focus-power.com
2. Diablo Predator
3. $515
4. installed today (10 Feb)
5. The install was super simple, from start to finish was about 10 min. First impressions: No more surging!! The powerband is more evenly distributed. This tune makes the entire diveline seem silky smooth, smooth power through all RMP ranges. The 5k DSI 'kick' isnt as noticable. This car runs like it a friggin stallion now. Traction control is FULLY disabled with a poke of the button, like it should have been from the factory. 1st gear launches are much smoother with no bogging and plenty of pull right into 2nd gear. Im smiling again while driving, like when I first bought this car. Only draw back is there is no upload cable included. You will be required to purchase an upload cable to uplaod new tunes into the Predator.
6. Tom is a great guy and will answer any questions you have. He will customize the tune to your liking and will match it with your current mods. The unit was ordered on Friday, and I received it on Wed afternoon.
7. no dyno
 
#12 ·
1. Wayne www.hypillauto.com
2. SCT Xcalibrator
3. $345
4. Just got back from my first 15 minute spin with it.
5. For a guy that took three hours to install a short-throw shifter this was soooo easy. Wayne's instructions get you through it quick and easily with no problems whatsoever. As long as you read the instructions you will not have a problem. First thing I noticed was how quickly the idle dropped from 1500 to 900, took about three seconds. Next, as I backed out of the garage I noticed the changed exhaust note, it doesn't pop as much and sounds a lot smoother. Then, I put it in gear....

Oh... my... God... My VF mount is no match for this thing! The torque is unbelievable, floor it in 2nd at 3K rpms and you are PINNED. This is the best $345 you will spend, period. The torque is there and it is obvious, the car scoots right on through the powerband and it comes in early.

6. Wayne has the best customer service I've ever experienced, his wife even woke him up so he could answer some last minute questions for me before I ran the flash (I didn't ask her too, she did it on her own). This guy knows the deal and knows how to treat people right.

7. N/A
 
#13 ·
1. Wayne www.hypillauto.com
2. SCT Xcalibrator
3. $345
4. Installed today @ 4:00pm
5. Took about 15 minutes to install...install...not really the right word...just plug it in and 15 minutes later your done. Before hand i took two friends with me in the car and we went to the nearest country road and went from a roll to about 110 mph at WOT and redline in every gear to get an impression on the stock YRFO program. They were already impressed with the acceleration, but after uploading Wayne's program we all had big smiles on our faces. No more bogging, and when you are at 3k and just rolling along, all you have to do it tap the accelerator and you are pushed back in your seat a lot harder than before. My friend summed it up when he said "Dude, you car just went through puberty!! Before it was like a little boy, and now its all grown up!" Also, the exhaust does sound a bit deeper and less raspy. The two best things about it are the fun that is now had by mashing the throttle at 3K and the
increased drivablilty and smoothness. Overall, worth the money!!
6. It took only 4 days to get here from the time i ordered it.
7. No Dyno
 
#14 ·
1. Hypnotic (Wayne) www.hypillauto.com
2. SCT Xcalibrator
3. $345
4. For about 8 hours
5. Install was super easy. First thing I noticed after I turned the car on is my "gurgle pop pop" from my exhaust is gone. Idle was raised to 1k per my request, now my steering wheel doesn't shake from the rear engine mount. RPMs are steady and never dip below 1k anymore. I can cruise in 5th gear at 2.5k with now problem at all now. Here's something I wasn't used to, exiting a turn in 2nd gear and actually accelerating!
6. Wayne is awesome, very quick replies. I ordered my Xcal friday morning, got it saturday morning. (Actually missed the mailman so I drove around the neighborhood hunting for him and got it from him[:D])
7. No dyno
 
#15 ·
1. Hypnotic (Wayne Foy) www.hypillauto.com
2. SCT Xcalibrator
3. $345
4. A Week
5. My install did not go as well as planned. A bad Xcalibrator led to my car becoming lobotomized. Freaked out a bit, I called Wayne who calmly walked me through a few other things to try (none of which worked). Now keep in mind this was at 11pm on a Friday night, Wayne lives three hours north of me, he offers to drive down right then and check it out.

At 2am, he discovers the bad Xcalibrator, takes it with him back home and brings me a new one the next afternoon, solving all my problems. To summarize, Wayne spent about 12 hours out of an 18 hour period on the road because of a freak problem for which he was in no way responsible, to fix my SVT on a weekend. If that doesn't show how far he'll go to guarantee the tune, I don't know what will.

Now that we've covered the install :) The tune is great, much better low end power, the improvement is far more than the dyno would lead you to believe (butt dyno excluded). The little problems I had, the surging, the flickering of the odometer, lack of power at certain points during acceleration and the pop in the exhaust note at high RPMs were all solved by the tune. I even experienced an added benefit, I'm getting about 3-4 more miles to the gallon while driving the car much harder than before the tune. Drivability is improved several times over, wish the car had come from the factory like this. I don't have T/C so I cannot say as far as that is concerned.

6. Like everyone else has said, Wayne is crazy good (see above). He went way beyond my expectations to take care of my problem. Highly recommended.

7. No dyno
 
#16 ·
1. Wayne (Hypnotic Illusions Automotive, http://www.hypillauto.com)
2. SCT
3. $345.00
4. 24 hours
5. Read instructions, hooked up my battery charger, plugged in the tuner, pressed 3 buttons, looked @ the lights to verify it was doing what the instructions said it would be, waited 15 minutes, unplugged the tuner and started the car. It's really as easy as 1, 2, 3. Wayne even goes through the trouble of taking pictures of the SCT lights so we know exactly what pattern he's describing. All in all, getting a paypal account setup to give him the money for the tune was more complicated and time consuming than installing the tune itself.
6. Couldn't be happier, he was available to help me every step of the way, answered all my questions about it in detail, I'm in Michigan and he's in Georgia - ordered the tune on Thursday - had it at my door on Saturday.

After starting the car up I took it for a few runs - first things first the lower idle and lack of bogging made backing out of the driveway a breeze - I no longer have to feather the clutch and break just to keep the car from accelerating to 18mph in reverse down my driveway. Then was the T/C test - hit the button, put both front wheels on snow covered road and popped the clutch at 1500. Nothing but spinning, no brakes, no RPM drops, just good ol fashioned spinning. Next got moving at around 25 across the snow with the T/C killed, slammed on the brakes, and sure enough the ABS kicked in just fine and kept the car from spinning. From here I went to a big corp center's vacant parking lot that had been plowed and was good and dry. The back of the lot has about a .5 mile stetch of even asphalt - wow. Finally, the car performs the way it should perform. 0-100 comes with ease and I cannot WAIT to get the new shifter/engine mount. No bogging, launches that work, acceleration that's smooth and even across the RPM range. Just a great great product.
 
#17 ·
Wayne's tune

1. Wayne (Hypnotic Illusions Automotive, http://www.hypillauto.com)
2. SCT
3. $345.00
4. 36 hours
5. Instructions are very easy to follow, made sure all lights were off, plugged in the tuner, pressed 3 buttons, waited 10 minutes, unplugged the tuner and started the car. ( one thing, the cable is long enough just roll your window down and start the install from outside your car that way you don't do what i did and trap yourself in the car for 10-15min LOL )

6. Put's a smile back on my face when i drive my SVT now. I drive 100 miles per day round trip to and from work. It's fun again! :)

First impression, WOW acceleration much better!
No more bogging in first when you start out ( hated that )
Over the most i noticed was the TQ seems way better ( had to adjust Clutch/gas/shifting a little to compensate ) no big deal. Wayne was GREAT ordered FRIDAY morning got the tune SAT afternoon!! wanted it overnighted, I got it overnighted WAYNE is great!
 
#18 ·
1. Tom at www.focus-power.com
2. Diablo Predator
3. $520
4. I just installedit today 3-11-05
5. Installing was very easy. The svt is now louder, i drove for about twenty minutes. It's snowing so I can't drive to hard, but it noticably faster. The power curve feels alot smoother and more useable. The Traction control is gone the wonderful wisconsin weather proved that. I can't wait for better weather so proper testing can be done.
6. Tom was very cool, he answer all my questions quickly. I got the predator in about a week.
7. No dyno
 
#19 ·
1. Wayne (Hypnotic Illusions Automotive, http://www.hypillauto.com)
2. SCT
3. $345.00
4. 1 day as of right now
5. After my own screw up, forgetting to put the 2 fuses back in, and the then the car not starting and me freaking out. Then realizing it was just the 2 fuses, i went back and redid everything, took about 15 min after the screw up. The first thing i noticed backing out of my driveway up hill, is the car doesnt bog down like it used to, then i take it down the road and notice a BIG difference, way more low end grunt than before, maybe it was just me but my intake seems louder, feels way more responsive than before. I noticed a alittle difference w/ the dsi opening at 5K rpms, not to much tho, then when i shifted from 1st to 2nd, it felt like it pulled way harder than before, and then the same with all the other gears.... this def the best bang for buck deal out there
6. Wayne is one of the easiest and friendliest people to deal with, stands behind his product 110%. Shipping was very fast aswell, ordered sat, got it wednesday, and im in ohio. Overall i am VERY please with it.
7. no dyno
 
#20 ·
SCT Hypnotic WAYNESWORLD..that's wrong..www.hypillauto.com
$345 american
A couple o'months
I ditto all that love the new response. No sputter/cough/wheeze/stumble..just push you in the seat like never before. I can more than"chirp" in 1st and 2nd..even got some in 3rd..but that's not what I was looking for...but a serendippity none the less. The exhaust growls now..not that it was bad..it's...matured, without being too loud or offensive. The neighbor woman(in her late 20's I guess) came over with her b-friend and asked.."what kind of car is that? A FOCUS?!!! It sounds so gooood!" Gee, thanks. From someone that drives a Highlander!
You can take corners a little differently now, or should I say..coming OUT of corners..pulling power is there! A few of us our going on a 10-12 hour rally through parts unknown in eastern AZ in two weeks, lots o'twisties and straights and cliffs and...well, I can't wait to see how things go.
Wayne is a gentleman, scholar, world traveller, has a warped sense of humor(takes 1 2 know 1), and will get back to you with that girls phone num...wait..with the answer to the question you had asked asap! He also bought an SVT to play with and become even more knowledgeble for future reference. Once I figured out paypal, I received in 3 days..install is a matter of 10 minutes..just like all have said. He'll send updates for free for 6 months..haven't yet asked him about that...YET!
On 6-30-04 I had my car dynoed at Locash Racing in Phoenix. (www.locashracing.com) Joe, the owner, had a bit of a problem getting rid of some electronic interference when doing the pulls on my svt. The best pull(drop in k&n) showed hp at 145.55 and torque at 133.84..but it had SPIKED to 133...just before the spike all pulls were around 128. Not too bad...it seemed most stock svt's were around that.
On Saturday,3-26-05, I returned with a few Focus Friends. Upon hooking everything up, Joe experienced the same electronic problems. The 1st pull showed 152 hp and torque spiking to 151! Two more pulls did the same thing(within 10ths of each other). He made a few more adjustments and on the next 3 pulls, all were consistant. Hp now is a steady 153.91 and torque is 137.06! 8.5 increase in hp and torque! NOT BAD...he likes it..HEY Mikey!
Now..another svt did a run with a pipercross hooked up and ran 148.29hp and 133.42tq. When he unhooked the intake his numbers were 141.13 hp and 127.56tq! NO tune..just stock except for the the intake and 3 engine mounts. I think I can match or at least come close to revamp with an intake. I know my friend wants to get the SCT from Wayne...he drove my car and could feel the difference.
If/when I do another dyno..you'll be the 1st to know.
Overall rating..10!
 
#21 ·
1) Tom at www.focus-power.com
2) Diablo Predator
3) $350 (slightly used)
4) 3 days
5) Purchased tuner from a former SVT owner who traded up to an RX-8. Very helpfull and honest person that gave me a great deal. Install took about 10 minutes with Tom on cell phone walking me thru the install. Tom was very helpfull and knowledgable. Tom also provided me with a new tune (for a small fee) thru email to go with all the mods currently installed on my SVT. As far as driving impressions go it seems as if the DSI kicks in at 3K instead of 5K. Car pulls harder than before and is pretty much a different car. As far as sounds go, I was expecting the car to sound different from all the input that has been shared BUT maybe with the ORP my SVT has installed I can't notice. Highway driving is also improved as far as pulling power is concerned, step on the gas and it moves without hesitation. I am pleased with the outcome and will DYNO my car in the near future as well as put in some track time to see if the results will show on the track as well.
6) Tom is very helpfull,friendly and is there for his customers. He returned my call on a Saturday morning and walked me thru the install without hesitation. He sent me a new tune within hours of our conversation thru email TRUSTING in me to send him the payment on Monday .
7) Dyno will be posted as soon as it occurs.

L8R Joe
 
#22 ·
Toms the S#%$!!!

1. Tom Sr. focus-power.com
2. Diablo Predator with Tom's magical touch.
3. 523.00 (should have been 548.00 but Tom covered part of the overnight to TEXAS!!!
4. 24 hours
5. Totally different feel. The torque down low is awesome! The power is seamless now, no dips or lags can be felt from 1000 all the way to redline. The useable torque is a godsend! Tom why didnt ford have you help write the ECU for this car??? Anyway I guess we'll never know.
6. Install went great Tom answerd all questions I had prior to install. This guy is awsome, after I tried to put factory tune in to show friend the power difference i erased Toms custom tune. He emailed me the same one the next day and now everything is gravy baby!
7. Will post link as soon as I get a chance to dyno!
 
#23 ·
1. Focus Sport www.focussport.com
2. SCT X-Calibrator
3. $325 w/2 tunes
4. 3 weeks
5. I found the install went like everyone else using the X-Calibrator. About 10 minutes to suck the original program and 8 to upload the new one. First impression on startup was the much quicker start without the high revs. Settled right down to 900 in a couple of seconds. After letting it idle for a few minutes to let the car get acquainted with the new program, we went for a ride. Very nice! Throttle response and torque much improved but it seemed the intake and exhaust were quieter than before. At least at normal cruise. When cranking on it the power builds nicely and is stronger all through the rev band. The 'camminess' of the stock program is gone but only because the much improved low end makes the transition to the big power much smoother. Most dramatic change that I can definitively measure is the gas mileage. On the last 3 tanks it has improved from an average of 30 to 33mpg in my normal commute. Not bad at all!
6. My transaction with Randy and FS was done on the web and I have had no reason to contact him other than to say thanks for a job well done.
 
#25 ·
1. WHO you got your tune from: Tom http://www.focus-power.com/view.php?showme=Home
2. List what flasher your tune came with: Predator http://www.diablosport.com/U7144.php
3. How much? : $515 (tune=$100 Predator=$395 Shipping=$20)
4. How long have you had the tune : About two months
5. Give a review of your tune : Drives better/More Power through all six gears/Starts better/Easyer to launch or get going/All around more enjoyable to drive.
6. Give a review of your tuner : Talked to Tom and said I wanted it, paid him, received it in about three days. What more could you want?

You have to look at it that you are buying two diffrent things when you buy from Tom. The tune which is only $100 and then the $395 predator. Together it seems a little expensive but when you break it down that you are paying for two diffrent things then it dosn't seem all that much. Both items are worth the money and the Predator is cool as hell with the data logging, live data streaming, code reading, code clearing, etc... In my opinion alot better than a box with blinking lights.
 
#26 ·
1. Wayne Foy, Hypnotic Illusions Automotive: http://www.hypillauto.com/

2. SCT Xcalibrator

3. $345 shipped

4. Couple days

5. The tune is simply awesome! No more high cold-start idle, absolutely no more surging/stuttering at any RPM. The lower/midrange is now nice and meaty. I can safely drive shifting at 3k without getting run over by traffic. The raised redline (7600 RPM) is also nice, especially since the power never tapers off. Alot more usable power...after a shift, you are right back in the powerband and the DSI has never closed. The DSI brings me to another comment: it sounds awesome now. Previously, you could slightly hear when it actuated at 5k RPM. Now, it literally roars when you pass 5k at WOT. Overall, I'm very pleased..IMO this is how the SVT should have come from the factory!

6. Wayne is easily the best Focus tuner I have dealt with. Actually, he rivals many of the VW tuners I've dealt with over the years...which speaks volumes about Wayne's work ethic and character. Awesome guy to deal with!

7. No dynos (yet)
 
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