Choose your own adventure
Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of car calibration? Or why some cars perform better than others, even when they seem identical? For nearly 20 years, we've been working full time on the dyno and calibrating cars, and we've seen it all. From the most common issues to the most bizarre outliers, our experience has given us a unique perspective on how to optimize car performance. In this post, we'll share some of the patterns we've observed and how they've helped us become better operators, more professional, and achieve better results. So buckle up, and let's dive into the fascinating world of car calibration!
“Our calibration process is pretty straightforward, and honed from 10 years of remote calibration where almost all our work is done off-site. We ask many questions before we start throwing around cost estimates and or agree to take on the work.”
Identify the referral be it a former client, motorsport establishment we currently work with, internet search, or review from an internet group.
Identify the client’s vehicle modifications and clearly understand the goals.
If the engine/chassis/racing discipline is one where we can be competitive and add value, we will request datalogs of the current condition if the car is already running. This tells us how the car is running as it sits, and if there is room for improvement.
Ask the client if they’re happy with how the car runs and if not, what they feel can be improved.
Comments on the above questions:
Referrals from existing clients and shops we work for are viewed as a warm referral because we know the potential client has been sent by someone who understands and likely appreciates our methodical approach to our work.
Many times we get a request that says, “How much for a stage_x tune” and that’s a complex question so a simple answer doesn’t often satisfy a complex question. There are a variety of definitions of “stage_x” and the client’s goals need to be in line with both the hardware and software platform. As an example, certain ECU’s requires very specific injector data which is only supplied by certain injector manufacturers. In some cases, its not that we can’t tune a certain injector, its that we won’t because this hardware combination won’t work correctly. In this case we’ll suggest specific hardware that we know will have compatibility with both the software and the goals.
A datalog of how the car is running may show that things are great and it should be left as is. Sometimes the grass is greener and potential clients read our documentation, are impressed with the approach, and want to jump ship [to us]. While that’s flattering, spending the time and money is only sensible if there’s something to be gained. There are many great establishments who do this kind of work and if you’re happy with how your vehicle runs, and you send us the datalogs and they look good, then great! We are not desperate for work and we also don’t believe everyone should use our services. We like reviewing datalogs of cars tuned by others and are always happy to do that at no cost to you if you are concerned with how your car may be running.
Our working relationship:
We clearly state our expected turnaround times, working hours, contact methods, and timelines in the documentation we provide upfront, and attached to every email. We cannot force anyone to read through that documentation and we are always more than happy to answer any questions about the process. In some cases, we’ll schedule a phone call but we are not “on call” and if we were… we wouldn’t get any work done. We treat every client’s car with the same respect and put as much time into it as needed with regard to reviewing logs and getting an idealized calibration. There are countless reviews online with regard to our reliability and thoroughness and we have tuned thousands of cars using this same process. However, there are many ways to skin a cat and it won’t be a good fit for everyone.
In the case that you don’t want to, or don’t feel like following instructions we can often connect you with a facility that will handle the client side for you. You drop off your vehicle, they handle the install, calibration, and datalogging, and you pick it up complete! This is the process I recommend for my parents, and anyone with an AOL email address. :-)
Off the shelf tunes
Why pay extra for custom tuning when you could simply run off the shelf or “OTS” maps? That’s a good question and in many cases, OTS tunes are fine. We generally find most OTS tunes quite aggressive and the fuel quality in your region may not show that there is a problem. Further, many OTS tunes reduce the ECU’s ability to see and sense knock so…. you don’t know there’s a problem. We get multiple messages per week of clients who’ve had vehicles melt down by running a one size fits all calibration.
Your air quality, fuel quality, and engine characteristics don’t matter much… on a conservative stock file. However, on a turned up calibration where we are asking more from everything, it makes a big difference. Making more power is not always the goal; often it’s correcting for elevation, barometric pressure, humidity, fuel quality, or air temperature that may not be what Society of Automotive Engineers calls “standard conditions”.
Choose your own Adventure
Finally, and maybe most importantly, we come to the “choose your own adventure” situation. Experienced calibrators all over the world chat about this in their private groups, but we genuinely feel that some clients are simply not aware of how this appears from our perspective.
This situation can be broken down into a few groups:
1) The client gone through multiple calibrators and has nothing good to say about them.
In the above case, if the client has been through multiple other experienced calibrators we will likely pass on the work because while we may be able to satisfy their expectations, there’s simply a high likelihood we’ll be next on the list of bad guys and that’s just not the kind of stress or client relationship we want to have. We really like what we do, and love seeing our clients excel and enjoy the fruits of our combined work. Therefore, starting with someone upset, worn out, out of time, and out of money would be the definition of starting on the wrong foot. We really do feel for people in this group, but we cannot assume the consequences of taking the wrong path in the beginning of their journey. With all due respect, we’ll pass on this job.
2) The client has assembled their own concoction of parts that won’t do what they’re hoping.
In this case, a well-meaning client has spent hours and hours reading the experiences of single individuals who’ve had one experience with one part once in their life and decided that x, y, and z parts are going to make their vehicle do what they want. You’ll hear things like “never had a problem” with regard to fuel filtering, etc. This type of logic is like saying that you “never wear a seatbelt and never had a problem.” This is likely a true statement but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Because the day you crash, not wearing a seatbelt is likely going to be a problem. Another example of this is “grandma smoked 3 packs a day and lived to 109 years old”. This can be true, but this probably isn’t a good reason to pick up Marlboro Reds (the Marlboro man died of lung cancer if you hadn’t heard).
How we approach this one: We’ll suggest a set of parts to accomplish the client’s goals. If the client does not want to run said parts, there needs to be an agreement that the results are whatever the results are of those parts and hopefully we are pleasantly surprised and learn something from their parts selection. Some clients are ok with a simple recalibration of the expectations and we can move forward.
If they are parts known to perform poorly (most things from China, VRSF, CX Racing, ETC) then we’ll likely pass on the work and encourage you to find someone who’s more comfortable with said parts.
Why do we take a firm stance on this? Our experience is every-single-day for 20 years and countless setups and combinations. We genuinely feel our experience cannot be replicated and openly state when we lack experience with something.
3) The Untuneables. These are the ones we regret every time we take one on. These are usually critical misses in an engine component selection process and is often paired with a request for a discount, oddly enough. Please, don’t be that guy!
Finally
Thanks for reading these extended ramblings of a seasoned calibrator. We have a lot to share, and you'll have to trust that we can dial in your race car better than we can write a novel. We hope our transparency helps to give you an idea of who we are, and how our business acumen has been developed over the years. If it seems like we are a good fit for each other, we'd really love to work with you. We have become friends with countless clients and feel fortunate to have built up such an incredible group of individuals and businesses that we are lucky to work with. Almost all our clientele are repeat customers, and many have been with us for two decades now. If you have any questions about our operation, or your project, please reach out to us at tuning@bendcalibration.com.