Who Tuned your EB and why?

[SM105K]

Another thread had me thinking, who tuned your EB? Why did you go with them? Pro's and Con's? If you have used numerous tuners who and why?

My2013 SHO was un-tuned for the first 4 to 5 months of my ownership. I spent that time doing some research. I won't lie I was almost duped by LMS and their awesome sales pitch. However, the more I dug the more I didn't like. I didn't like being locked into a propriety tuning device, as in my opinion the LMS cars just were not performing like other tuned cars.

After much consideration I went with AJPTurbo. Brad set me up well. All of my tunes run great, and Brad took the time and explained what he had done to the various revisions, along with teaching me what to look at when reading my data logs.

I did not take my own advice when I tuned my 2013 Focus ST.  I went they Ford Racing Performance.  It was a debacle, my car was bricked twice, and data logging the tune revealed some undesirable things.  I asked Brad to tune my ST and now it rocks a flex fuel tune.  Fun times. 

PRO's: Brad's tuning portfolio speaks for itself. My SHO does very well in the street light grand prix. I have a spicy E30 tune in my SHO right now. I averaged 88 mph on long stretches from AZ to CA in 109 degree heat. Over the 900 miles road trip it yielded me 20.4 mpg with a stock HPFP.

CON's: Brad does not tune for a living. It is a side gig for him. So there are times where it may take him some time to get back to you.

I will always suggest AJPTurbo, however I would not think twice about Matt and Gearhead tuning my SHO either. I am really interested in the AO tune and how everyone raves that he is the transmission whisperer.

[bpd1151]

Interesting thread......

My SHO was tuned at about 3k (original) miles.

The person who accomplished that for me, wayyyyyyy back in 2010, not to terribly long after I purchased my SHO (March of 2010) was Mr. Kirk Doucette, former owner of the now defunct NESHO (Northeast SHO).

Kirk's tune served me well for the duration I had it programmed in. Kirk was all proud of the fact (at that time) that "do you see how it holds 3rd gear longer?". Then shortly thereafter, Kirk blew up his trans. He wasn't all too happy about it either.

Which then led me into...... ugh and I absolutely cringe to acknowledge this, and/or be even complimentary with this next statement knowing what I know now and what happened to me just last year......

But, I did not want to keep Kirk's tune in my car. I feared for my trans..... sooooooooo.....

I switched to LMS.

Now LMS served me well for several years. Hell, they even helped me achieve the platform record (at that time) for power (2014 @ 617awhp 608awtq) as well as the speed record (11.54 @ 119mph on the LOWER of two track files, that being the 525awhp file, full weight, and on all season Conti DWS's) in 2015.

A record that was held for several years.

At least up until recent when (both) records were respectfully usurped.

I'd expound further, but there's really no need to. LMS F'd me over. Big time. The debacle of which is thoroughly explained, in intimate detail, in my thread on my motor's failure.

Fast forward to present day, I am currently undertaking a massive motor rebuild, trans rebuild, along with a literal $h!t ton of customization in nearly every possible aspect available currently.

Many have asked who will tune my car once the assembly and installation has been completed.

Honestly, I have been left out of the loop on that. My current engine builder (Max Power Automotive, based out of Lockport, IL.) has said that he works directly with a tuner (based out of CALI) that he flies out to the Midwest area, to perform tuning when they have approximately 10, to 12 cars lined up and ready to go.

The only other thing I have been told to date, is that the tuner is well known in the Import world, and holds many world records for BOTH speed and for power respectively in said arenas.

All that said, I am very much looking forward to what the future holds for my SHO, and hopefully, with the good graces of the old man high above, I'll be on track to recapture both records that I previously held. Maybe even hang onto them for even longer than I did previously.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[4sfed]

Hey! I can speak to this one!

Brad was my first tuner!

I can echo SM105K's experience with Brad.
Pro's:

• Excellent knowledge.
• Very willing to explain what's happening and why. Both in the tune and in the datalogs.

Con's:

• not being his day job, he can sometimes be a couple days away from responding...depending on what's going on in his life.

When I decided to upgrade to the GH IC, it came with a tune, so I figured I'd try it.
GH Pro's:

• It IS their day job.
• The E30/E40 tune is butter smooth (I wasn't experimenting with E mixes when I was using Brad).
  it's been too long now to directly compare their transmission experience, but GH is an excellent shift. And GH Sport mode is superb. It seems to be designed to keep the turbo spooled up at all times. I think I was too new to realize what Brad did in Sport mode.

GH Con's:
I honestly don't know that I have a con for GH. Maybe that I'm not close enough, to just go and meet those guys in person? However that'd be a con for Brad as well.

[limited02]

My 2012 Lincoln MKS EcoBoost is currently tuned by LMS. 

Back when the SHO was released, I fell in love and knew I would own one someday.  I followed BPD1151's build and as he mentioned, he had the record HP and quarter mile time while tuned by LMS.  I was under the impression that I could load my tune of choice and be just as fast as the next guy without dealing with datalogs/revisions.  It was a simple plug and play and haul ass.  They had no record of failed cars and glowing reviews and I wanted to be like Mike.

I eventually bought my MKS and within the year, got a tune from LMS.  I run their stage 4 93x+ and for me, it's been perfect.  Runs strong, shifts much better and has given me 0 concerns about reliability.  Because of that, it was very easy to recommend them to anyone who asked...

After getting excited about LMS taking Mike's car to the next level and showing everyone who's king, that ended up going sideways in a hurry.  How that was handled, how the '13+ V11 tune was handled as well as a Mustang build they did going sideways, I lost a lot of faith and recommending them I no longer felt comfortable about.

I'm happy with my car and it's been great the last 4+ years and 40k+ miles and I have no real cons.  If I ever convince myself to take the next step, AJPturbo or Brad will get a shot.  Ortiz has been making waves lately and certainly a contender as well.

[ridered74]

My 2011 I left stock for about the first 5 months til winter hit, then I bought the CAI/plugs/thermostat combo from LMS. Loved it. Following spring I put catted pipes on. That summer I bought into the unleashed hype and ordered a tune from Torie. Sent a datalog and he said my O2 sensors were flatlining at WOT, so I had to replace both of upstreams. After that got the tune dialed in after 3 or 4 revisions and it was pretty much the same as LMS. At that point the car had 130K miles on it so I didn't put any more money into it.

After another year and a half or so I finally upgraded to a 2015. Sent my LMS tuner in had it back within a week, put the tune on and it felt great. A week later I moved the downpipes over from my 2011, go the tune adjusted and had the same problems lots of others had with it losing fuel pressure and not wanting to go into 2nd gear.

Contacted Brad and he gave me a several week time table for tuning it, so in the meantime I ordered a tune from Torie again and got it dialed in until i could get a tune from Brad. Ended up using the unleashed tune for a month or so until Brad could fit me into his schedule. I forget how long it took to get his tune dialed in, but just like others I was blown away buy his explanations and attention to detail.

About a year later when I saw StealblueSHO put up times with his new LMS HPFP with Gearhead, I decided to follow his path. A buddy of mine had bought a brand new challenger scat pack and started talking smack to me about racing, so I decided to put a little money into my car and just make sure that I could beat him. I ordered the HPFP and a gearhead tune once I got the pump. The shifting with the auto octane tune was amazing. I had seen many people talk about it, but always thought to myself "my car shifts just fine", but until I drove with the gearhead tune I didn't understand that mine wasn't just fine for the last 4 years. About a week later I got the E30 tune and it was a "holy sh*t" moment the first time I gave it full throttle. Car was extremely consistent last summer thru a lot of track days (probably 15-20 days 130ish total passes).

Gave in to internet hype for a second time at the end of the summer and tried ortiz. Sent the log and was told I have a boost leak based on fuel trims. Never did find a boost leak but my trims are the same now as they were then, and the same as they were with AJP tuning it and unleashed and LMS. Ran my 11.75 a couple weeks later with gearhead tune. I can't imagine how fast my car would be if I could fix that boost leak.

I would rank them as follows:

Gearhead - pros: smooth driving characteristics and extremely safe, cons: Matt is really tall
AJP - pros: gets great power out of the car and extremely detailed, cons: must be really patient
Unleashed - pros: will get you tuned faster than anyone and safe tunes, cons - you have to push him a lot if you are trying to drip every last tenth out of your car
LMS - pros: actual tuning process is much simpler, good tune for longevity assuming you don't have fuel pressure issues like I did, cons: 13+ V11 tune issues well documented, proprietary device that is nearly worthless to even sell
Oriz - pros: extremely helpful to everyone on facebook with tuning issues even if they use a different tuner, quick on communication, cons: if your fuel trims are off you will never get a revision

BCB - never tried them but I would like to just so I could say I've tried them all (except ess ess I, I would not try them if you paid me). For my setup a tune from BCB would be $300. I'm just not gonna fork over that kind of money at this point. 

[SM105K]

My 2011 I left stock for about the first 5 months til winter hit, then I bought the CAI/plugs/thermostat combo from LMS. Loved it. Following spring I put catted pipes on. That summer I bought into the unleashed hype and ordered a tune from Torie. Sent a datalog and he said my O2 sensors were flatlining at WOT, so I had to replace both of upstreams. After that got the tune dialed in after 3 or 4 revisions and it was pretty much the same as LMS. At that point the car had 130K miles on it so I didn't put any more money into it.

After another year and a half or so I finally upgraded to a 2015. Sent my LMS tuner in had it back within a week, put the tune on and it felt great. A week later I moved the downpipes over from my 2011, go the tune adjusted and had the same problems lots of others had with it losing fuel pressure and not wanting to go into 2nd gear.

Contacted Brad and he gave me a several week time table for tuning it, so in the meantime I ordered a tune from Torie again and got it dialed in until i could get a tune from Brad. Ended up using the unleashed tune for a month or so until Brad could fit me into his schedule. I forget how long it took to get his tune dialed in, but just like others I was blown away buy his explanations and attention to detail.

About a year later when I saw StealblueSHO put up times with his new LMS HPFP with Gearhead, I decided to follow his path. A buddy of mine had bought a brand new challenger scat pack and started talking smack to me about racing, so I decided to put a little money into my car and just make sure that I could beat him. I ordered the HPFP and a gearhead tune once I got the pump. The shifting with the auto octane tune was amazing. I had seen many people talk about it, but always thought to myself "my car shifts just fine", but until I drove with the gearhead tune I didn't understand that mine wasn't just fine for the last 4 years. About a week later I got the E30 tune and it was a "holy sh*t" moment the first time I gave it full throttle. Car was extremely consistent last summer thru a lot of track days (probably 15-20 days 130ish total passes).

Gave in to internet hype for a second time at the end of the summer and tried ortiz. Sent the log and was told I have a boost leak based on fuel trims. Never did find a boost leak but my trims are the same now as they were then, and the same as they were with AJP tuning it and unleashed and LMS. Ran my 11.75 a couple weeks later with gearhead tune. I can't imagine how fast my car would be if I could fix that boost leak.

I would rank them as follows:

Gearhead - pros: smooth driving characteristics and extremely safe, cons: Matt is really tall
AJP - pros: gets great power out of the car and extremely detailed, cons: must be really patient
Unleashed - pros: will get you tuned faster than anyone and safe tunes, cons - you have to push him a lot if you are trying to drip every last tenth out of your car
LMS - pros: actual tuning process is much simpler, good tune for longevity assuming you don't have fuel pressure issues like I did, cons: 13+ V11 tune issues well documented, proprietary device that is nearly worthless to even sell
Oriz - pros: extremely helpful to everyone on facebook with tuning issues even if they use a different tuner, quick on communication, cons: if your fuel trims are off you will never get a revision

BCB - never tried them but I would like to just so I could say I've tried them all (except ess ess I, I would not try them if you paid me). For my setup a tune from BCB would be $300. I'm just not gonna fork over that kind of money at this point.

This maybe the one time that the term whore could be used without any negative connotations.  Good info dude.  Thank you.

[ridered74]

My 2011 I left stock for about the first 5 months til winter hit, then I bought the CAI/plugs/thermostat combo from LMS. Loved it. Following spring I put catted pipes on. That summer I bought into the unleashed hype and ordered a tune from Torie. Sent a datalog and he said my O2 sensors were flatlining at WOT, so I had to replace both of upstreams. After that got the tune dialed in after 3 or 4 revisions and it was pretty much the same as LMS. At that point the car had 130K miles on it so I didn't put any more money into it.

After another year and a half or so I finally upgraded to a 2015. Sent my LMS tuner in had it back within a week, put the tune on and it felt great. A week later I moved the downpipes over from my 2011, go the tune adjusted and had the same problems lots of others had with it losing fuel pressure and not wanting to go into 2nd gear.

Contacted Brad and he gave me a several week time table for tuning it, so in the meantime I ordered a tune from Torie again and got it dialed in until i could get a tune from Brad. Ended up using the unleashed tune for a month or so until Brad could fit me into his schedule. I forget how long it took to get his tune dialed in, but just like others I was blown away buy his explanations and attention to detail.

About a year later when I saw StealblueSHO put up times with his new LMS HPFP with Gearhead, I decided to follow his path. A buddy of mine had bought a brand new challenger scat pack and started talking smack to me about racing, so I decided to put a little money into my car and just make sure that I could beat him. I ordered the HPFP and a gearhead tune once I got the pump. The shifting with the auto octane tune was amazing. I had seen many people talk about it, but always thought to myself "my car shifts just fine", but until I drove with the gearhead tune I didn't understand that mine wasn't just fine for the last 4 years. About a week later I got the E30 tune and it was a "holy sh*t" moment the first time I gave it full throttle. Car was extremely consistent last summer thru a lot of track days (probably 15-20 days 130ish total passes).

Gave in to internet hype for a second time at the end of the summer and tried ortiz. Sent the log and was told I have a boost leak based on fuel trims. Never did find a boost leak but my trims are the same now as they were then, and the same as they were with AJP tuning it and unleashed and LMS. Ran my 11.75 a couple weeks later with gearhead tune. I can't imagine how fast my car would be if I could fix that boost leak.

I would rank them as follows:

Gearhead - pros: smooth driving characteristics and extremely safe, cons: Matt is really tall
AJP - pros: gets great power out of the car and extremely detailed, cons: must be really patient
Unleashed - pros: will get you tuned faster than anyone and safe tunes, cons - you have to push him a lot if you are trying to drip every last tenth out of your car
LMS - pros: actual tuning process is much simpler, good tune for longevity assuming you don't have fuel pressure issues like I did, cons: 13+ V11 tune issues well documented, proprietary device that is nearly worthless to even sell
Oriz - pros: extremely helpful to everyone on facebook with tuning issues even if they use a different tuner, quick on communication, cons: if your fuel trims are off you will never get a revision

BCB - never tried them but I would like to just so I could say I've tried them all (except ess ess I, I would not try them if you paid me). For my setup a tune from BCB would be $300. I'm just not gonna fork over that kind of money at this point.

This maybe the one time that the term whore could be used without any negative connotations.  Good info dude.  Thank you.

Admittedly a whore, but hate giving out a halfway informed opinion on anything. That's my excuse for being a tune whore anyway, but I think I've finally grown up and am ready to settle down with just one tuner.

[WinPlaceSHO]

Gearhead - cons: Matt is really tall

Thanks for the laugh, how tall are we talking here, like freak show tall or just over 6' tall?

I mean, you have to remember, everything is BIGGER in TX, at least that's the word on the street!   

If you just felt like you needed a con for all of them, I'm sure I would have an extremely hard time coming up with cons for him as well, being tall isn't a con in my book... we can reach stuff way up high. 

[ridered74]

Gearhead - cons: Matt is really tall

Thanks for the laugh, how tall are we talking here, like freak show tall or just over 6' tall?

I mean, you have to remember, everything is BIGGER in TX, at least that's the word on the street!   

If you just felt like you needed a con for all of them, I'm sure I would have an extremely hard time coming up with cons for him as well, being tall isn't a con in my book... we can reach stuff way up high.

I believe word on the street is that he's 6'6". Not quite freak show but pretty close.

[bamsho]

Oh wow where to begin.  I've had a modded SHO since 2000,   Never been able to leave them stock.  I was already a member of Shoforum and joined here in 2013 to read, search to who was the preferred tuner at the time and what modifications everyone was doing.

Then in 2014 my life changed, bought my 2012 on my birthday in February.  She had 19k on the clock and month later she was tuned by Livernois.  I slowly proceeded with modifications and June that year and Friday night of Nationals, I ran my first 12s pass.  Then got the racing bug and loved it. 

Traded the 12 in for my current 2013 still tuned by Livernois till that fateful day 2019.  Before that, I've been talking with my wife about switching tuners.  I felt the car had more in her.  So last August after winning a money race at BSD, I switched to Gearhead.

This was a big step, due to not being used to datalogging.  I'm definitely pleased with my decision to switch, and with my current modifications results have proven that.


I can't offer any options on the other tuners, but personally it comes down to what you are looking for.


For Livernois, at the time think they were good.  I never had the V11 issues like others had, due to me stopping at V10.  Then BPD issue. 

Gearhead, thumbs up.  Matt is great to work with.  My wife says the car shifts much better and she likes how it drives.

[Dxlnt1]

I bought my 2011 in 2014 I think. Had roughly 40k on the clock. After lurking, reading and asking AND seems as LMS was the only (best) at that time.

I took the nestea plunge, and bought complete tune setup including CAL for $600. Their tunes seemingly progressed but never anything earth shattering. With exception of since I can am in Cali and NO (# octane fuel, I was able to run their 93 4+x tune with help of ACES IV additive. That has always been my biggest performance boost/gain from a tune.

The guys at LMS always seemed a little suspicious but I could never put a finger on why. Their tune has been good with me and my car. No issues or problems like some others have had. Occassionally I get the hard shift from 1-2 or 2-3 and back down. But then again, its only a weekend warrior car. Most times they even responded to me in a reasonable time.

Currently I am STILL on the fence about adding meth to my car. I know some of you tired of hearing me say that lol. Reason I have not is I was NOT sure if I would keep the car. But now, I think this SHO stays. So I am halfway planning upgrading to newer model SHO, a meth install and going with AJP tune. But I need/want to find someone local to me with meth so I can ask MORE questions and see the install. Going this route will be expensive. New car, new tuner (device), new tuner, new music install.

Oh well, time will tell. For those the upgraded from 10-12 model and then got the 13-18 model, was it worth the upgrade? Or differences?

[ridered74]

I bought my 2011 in 2014 I think. Had roughly 40k on the clock. After lurking, reading and asking AND seems as LMS was the only (best) at that time.

I took the nestea plunge, and bought complete tune setup including CAL for $600. Their tunes seemingly progressed but never anything earth shattering. With exception of since I can am in Cali and NO (# octane fuel, I was able to run their 93 4+x tune with help of ACES IV additive. That has always been my biggest performance boost/gain from a tune.

The guys at LMS always seemed a little suspicious but I could never put a finger on why. Their tune has been good with me and my car. No issues or problems like some others have had. Occassionally I get the hard shift from 1-2 or 2-3 and back down. But then again, its only a weekend warrior car. Most times they even responded to me in a reasonable time.

Currently I am STILL on the fence about adding meth to my car. I know some of you tired of hearing me say that lol. Reason I have not is I was NOT sure if I would keep the car. But now, I think this SHO stays. So I am halfway planning upgrading to newer model SHO, a meth install and going with AJP tune. But I need/want to find someone local to me with meth so I can ask MORE questions and see the install. Going this route will be expensive. New car, new tuner (device), new tuner, new music install.

Oh well, time will tell. For those the upgraded from 10-12 model and then got the 13-18 model, was it worth the upgrade? Or differences?

I had a 2011 for a little over three years. I absolutely loved the car but I upgraded to a 2015 with 130K less miles than the one I was driving. At first I did not like the newer style gauges, but they have grown on me and now 2.5 years of owning the 2015 I don't miss a thing about my first one.

I still look forward to driving the car every single day and it's been close to six years now basically driving the same car. Previous record was 1.5 years, been thru close to 30 cars and trucks in life. If you aren't sure you'd keep the newer one more than two years, stick with mods that are easy to remove and will sell for closer to what you pay for them. If you are positive that you would keep a newer model more than two years, get it and mod the crap out of it.

[bpd1151]

I like that the SHO is a niche car. Even given its somewhat dismal lack of aftermarket product for it (in comparison to other platforms). Although even then, that's coming around little by little.

I am equally impressed to see the older GEN's not only still seeing road duties, but even equally impressive..... track duties!

I've had mine now for 10 years and still going, and it still makes me smile to this day, just as it did when I drove her home for the 1st time.

Just something about 'em I can't quite explain. I like the fact that the platform isn't well known either. Kind of adds to the overall allure when other people see it and/or inquire about it.

Thanks for sharing there ridered74.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[GotGrip?]

I have 3 myself in total, GH, AJP, and Ortiz. I haven't run my GH tune in awhile mostly because I've got so far into mods that I need to do a revision before I reload the AO tune. That being said prior to everything I've done, he was my first tune and it was the best experience and gateway to a vehicle I'd had. The transformation you get from the AO tune really pushed me to continue with this platform as far as I've gone. That is why I will always recommend them to anyone starting out or even someone looking to switch tuners. The only thing I wish I could get is an E30 tune without the HPFP but I do understand why!

I currently run the AJP E30 tune but also have a 93 tune, they make great/smooth power which has made my car and absolute beast! Brad has always been helpful and understanding through the entire process whether tuning or just answering questions. As noted prior he sometimes takes a bit to get back to you but this is also not his main gig, which also speaks volumes for the skill he has in tuning to be able to do this as a side deal and still be do great at what he does!

And lastly the Ortiz tunes, in terms of customer service they are top notch and were helpful when it came to first getting the FMIC dialed in and was my first tune/revision when we installed it. With the tunes I have from them while they do pull pretty hard, the 93 and e30 tunes I have tend to have issues at the top end and usually have fuel cut issues which have turned me away from running them on the daily. I do intend to run them more often when I get a fuel pump it just makes me a bit nervous with my current set up.

[Dxlnt1]

I bought my 2011 in 2014 I think. Had roughly 40k on the clock. After lurking, reading and asking AND seems as LMS was the only (best) at that time.

I took the nestea plunge, and bought complete tune setup including CAL for $600. Their tunes seemingly progressed but never anything earth shattering. With exception of since I can am in Cali and NO (# octane fuel, I was able to run their 93 4+x tune with help of ACES IV additive. That has always been my biggest performance boost/gain from a tune.

The guys at LMS always seemed a little suspicious but I could never put a finger on why. Their tune has been good with me and my car. No issues or problems like some others have had. Occassionally I get the hard shift from 1-2 or 2-3 and back down. But then again, its only a weekend warrior car. Most times they even responded to me in a reasonable time.

Currently I am STILL on the fence about adding meth to my car. I know some of you tired of hearing me say that lol. Reason I have not is I was NOT sure if I would keep the car. But now, I think this SHO stays. So I am halfway planning upgrading to newer model SHO, a meth install and going with AJP tune. But I need/want to find someone local to me with meth so I can ask MORE questions and see the install. Going this route will be expensive. New car, new tuner (device), new tuner, new music install.

Oh well, time will tell. For those the upgraded from 10-12 model and then got the 13-18 model, was it worth the upgrade? Or differences?

I had a 2011 for a little over three years. I absolutely loved the car but I upgraded to a 2015 with 130K less miles than the one I was driving. At first I did not like the newer style gauges, but they have grown on me and now 2.5 years of owning the 2015 I don't miss a thing about my first one.

I still look forward to driving the car every single day and it's been close to six years now basically driving the same car. Previous record was 1.5 years, been thru close to 30 cars and trucks in life. If you aren't sure you'd keep the newer one more than two years, stick with mods that are easy to remove and will sell for closer to what you pay for them. If you are positive that you would keep a newer model more than two years, get it and mod the crap out of it.

Great points to ponder. As I am usually NEVER sure of keeping ANY car more than 2 years. Except my suburban. But I am at 110k miles on the ticker. Car runs like champ AND its paid for lol. I think the decision has been made with that lol