Hey guys, First off.. I'll post up a power graph when I get a chance. I'll do a back to back power pull measuring TQ with the stock tune vs the performance tune. Not sure.. but I think this next week I'll have some time to do this. I'll make a vid of my exhaust at the same time too. Also up soon its time to take this thing to the dragstrip and see what it'll do.

OK on to the x-cal.
I recieved it yesterday from bamachips. I installed and drove all three tunes on 93 shell gasoline. Spent a fair amount of time playing with it and the options like idle speed and timing. Have driven it 50/50 about 70-80 miles so far. Got a good chance to go 0-70mph in each tune and such.

My tunes...
Tune 1 = daily driving "93 performance" with milage being important.
Tune 2 = "93 towing"
Tune 3 = "93 perf/race"

I asked Doug to give me a milage tune and a drag race tune that was "hot".
As far as the towing tune I told him I'll tow our 3000 lb boat locally and from Mi to Tenn once a year.

Tune 1 impressions:
It's got more low end for sure. It'll now turn the tires over where as before it didn't. I very much like the light throttle response and feel of power at 40-50mph. I think he's got the torque convertor locked up longer which makes the throttle feel more responsive. Not sure though..
I was disappointed in shift firmness. It felt completely stock to me. So I upped the pressure and now have it on max firmness (25%). Even like this it's really no different unless your pushing the power up to 50% and higher. Even at WOT it's no where near a tire chirp. I'll talk to them about this.

Tune 2 impressions:
This is the towing tune. Haven't towed yet. But one thing I LOVED is how the tranny and TQ convertor stays locked and you can push the throttle quite a bit. Other tunes would have downshifted at the same throttle input.

Tune 3 impressions:
I told him I wanted a firm shift but not enough to hurt the truck. He delivered on this one.. but only at WOT. At WOT the tranny shifts firm and quick. The TQ convertor also locks MUCH quicker right after the shifts. Since I'll only use this tune at the dragstrip I won't comment or care about part throttle settings. But just know that it's shifting is like stock unless your at WOT. This tune does seem a little hotter that tune 1. Not too sure how much though.

Optional settings impressions:
Timing. It definately helps tip in. No pinging so far.
Shift points. I'm not sure why but this does not seem to actually change the speed/rpm at which the shift occurs. Gotta talk to them about this.
Shift firmness. I'm disappointed overall with it on tune 1. I've got it cranked all the way to 25%. and I certianly wish it was much firmer at part throttle. Feels pretty much stock unless your pushing it. And even then it's nothing to write home about.
Fuel. Don't want to touch this one w/o looking at 02s
Idle speed. I tried many different settings. And have settled on keeping neutral speed stock (704rpms) But because of the crank underdrive I like the in gear speed to be 754rpms. Lower rpms.. and the steering gets heavy as well as AC and water pump functions can be effected. Truck does'nt seem to creep foward any more either.
Milage. Just don't know yet. But because of all the flogging it got in the last 12hours It's worse. Middle of next week I'll know more.


Summary: IMO if your **only** looking for a power increase. It's not too good a bang for the buck @ $400. Don't get me wrong.. it makes more power.. but again IMO it's not enough to justify the cost. If this thing improves my milage then it'll be worth every penny.

Regards,
Rich

 

I just wonder what benifit it would be to me sice I am a stick... Idle doesn't matter, shift firmness...Ahhh thats all me, would it be worth the 400 dollars for a few extra HP?

 

IMO no. However.. Milage increases might make it have a fairly short payback. In that case yes it would be worth it. But for power alone.. no.

Shoot with a clutch all you gotta do is raise the rpms and slip it a little more to get the same effect at low speeds.

Rich

 

But the only way to raise them is with the programmer, right? It doesn't seem worth it to me...

Thanks Rich.

 

i like my X2.......i think it was worth it just for the adjustment settings......

 

I meant by pushing the throttle more and slipping the clutch. If you want more acceleration you raise rpms and more slowly slip. This motor has enough umph in stock form to spin them w/a manual.

Yes the ability to change things is far better for us who tinker with computer controlled cars. But the changes this has allowed me to make.. *IMO* is not $400 bucks worth.

I've been down this road (electronic tuning) many times before. And IMO when you get over the $250 mark it had better be either a "need" (Like on my Lightning) or it had ought to give you some serious ability to control things.

The other thing too.. I'm speaking from a purely seat of the pants perception. I'll know much more once I get a chance to datalog with my autotap. Hopefully within a week I'll be able to measure the actual power increases.

Rich

 

This I would like to see (hard data) and yes, it has plenty of power to smoke, I mean spin the tires....:)

 

I have one on my truck, I got it used off of a member here. It saved me about $110 or so after shipping and reprograming.

The thing to think about here is that it works well with aftermarket parts such as an exhaust, headers, intake, etc... and also some of us just got it for that and speedo recalibration, such as I. If you don't have many modifications to your vehicle, it is not going to make much of an impact.

It's been long enough driving with the 87 tune, I'm going to get some gas and bump it up to 91 today.

 

Oh damn! I forgot to tell you that I datalogged my WOT timing and it averaged 36 degrees with 84 degrees air charge temp and 0 knock sense pull-out (I can't remember what the actual peak was). This was all the way to my automatic shift point of 6000 rpm.

This is my 93 performance tune that he and I worked out. It sounds a lot like your "racy" tune except my part throttle shifts were tweeked quite a bit as well. Actually all of my tunes are tweeked since I was wanting more once I got the tunes and tried them so he was great and worked with me.

 

Thanks for the info..

Sounds to me like I need to talk to Doug. I'm happy powerwise.. but the tranny shift points and firmness I'd like to have him adjust.

Rich

 

He will do it. Mention that you would like to have tunes like James Matthew Wells. I got my XCAL II through Jusnes, but worked out the tunes with him.

Remember, I have my rear O2s and EGR turned off though. I also have my idle set higher than stock. When I tried to do it with the XCAL II, it would rev way up on start up and took a while to settle (first time I have ever had this problem with a tune), he corrected that as well and just gave me the 840 rpm idle standard in my tune.

 

Thanks Matt,

I did bump the in drive idle up 50rpms (now at 754). It made the steering a bit easier w/o making the truck pull forward anymore. (underdrive crank)

Did your come with a PC cable of somesort? Mine did'nt.. and I assume I'll need that to make changes.

Rich

 

You need the cable. It can be had for cheap from Radio Shack, Wal-Mart, etc. I was lucky enough to get one with mine (for free) with the second tuner I ordered from them (for my uncle's Ranger), but I just used my printer (USB) cable and it worked just fine.

 

He will just e-mail you the tunes, and then you use Live Load (on the enclosed disk) to load it onto the XCAL II.

 

I installed that CD and programs on my laptop.

What exactly do I buy for a cable? There is a Radio shack close to me.

Rich

 

A USB data cable that has the large flat thingymahotchie on one end and the small square one on the other end. Get one for a printer and it should be right.

 

Excellent! Thanks a lot Matt.

Rich

 

i wana see some data also. i have heard there is a guy in NH that selld the bama tuners and for 450$ he puts it on a dino and playes with all the settings and gets max out of it that he can and gives u a printed sheet of how it worked out.

was thinking of this but i wana see some of the real outcome from the lappy if u can. + mine dosent have much done to it, cold air, ehaust, 90$wires and plat 2 plugs,
i wana start with the engine stuff now and get more power and hopefully more mialage lol

 

I only know of one shop around here in NH that does this and he's way overpriced and only does mustangs.

 

andy knows of a place and the guy does mustangs and rangers for bama

 

Small update:

My shifting firmness and rpms won't seem to change. I've got e-mails and phone calls into Doug at Bamachips. So far he's not called me back or responded to my e-mail.

I've been playing with timing and really like it bumped up in the 0-2000 rpm range. It gives the truck a nice tip in punch when up in 3rd or 4th gear.

I can't tell about milage yet..

I did get to put the 93 torque tune through it's paces last night with the boat. Its nice... Torque convertor stays in lockup when under load while pushing the throttle down to 50% or so. That's nice IMO to not have to kick down when you really don't want to. It accelerates up to hwy speed noticably better. Does'nt seem any different when pulling the boat up and out of the water. (which works fine as is)

I really hope Doug gets back to me on this.. It SUCKS having spent $400 and ask specifically for certian things only to be ignored in both the original sales and after the sale.

Rich

 

he will get back to you.......can you imagine, he is the only 1 who runs Bama Chips......also imagine how much work a day he does.....give it time....

 

I keep hearing what you say.

However... does it not make common sense that if you actully piad attention to what the customer asked for.. you'd reduce your workload.

But what do I know?

Rich

 

the dude is trying to pump these things out for multiple sites (Jusnes Modified, Stuff For Your Ranger, not to mention all the Mustang and Explorer sites) along with his own site...

 

I'm sure he's a good guy, whos overworked, and talented.

But doing a job twice (or more) STILL TAKES MORE TIME than doing it right the first time. The way to reduce a HUGE workload is to do each job only once.

Since your taking issue with this..

I very clearly laid out in text (with my order/payment) the things I wanted concerning tranny functions. He only addressed one of them on only one of the three tunes. He simply DID NOT DO WHAT WAS ASKED FOR. To add insult to injury he won't return e-mails or phone calls. Both of what would not even be happening if the job was done properly the first time.

If I hardly communicated with my customers, and then didn't do what was asked of me after they had paid in full..... I'd not be in business for very long. And even if I did stay in business I'd develop a bad reputation.

Rich