Some do, but most don’t. About once per week someone converts from another tuner to Tapout. Some times we’re fortunate enough to get scan data before they flash back to stock and we start our remote tune process. Here’s a screen shot we received on Sunday, April 12.
In the first section of the scan, the yellow trace shows that the car was not holding correct or even safe rail pressure. Even though this particular tuner does a wonderful job marketing a full array of fancy acronyms like Active Rail Pressure Management, the facts show that their tune does not hold rail pressure. Where the cursor was in the scan at 114 mph they were commanding 2,611 psi, but only had 1,739 psi. This is extremely dangerous for the customer. And it’s incredibly dishonest marketing by the other tuner.
In the second section of the scan, the green trace shows actual throttle position. Even though the customer held his foot on the floor, his throttle position ranged from 55% to 100% throughout the pull.
In the fourth section of the scan, the red trace shows that he had constant knock retard. This means that he either wasn’t running enough octane for the current tune, or they didn’t properly tune his car for the octane level he runs. This screen shot shows his average knock retard for the entire scan. Pretty scary stuff!
Looking at his LTFTs (long-term fuel trims) provides a clue regarding how well the current tune matches his intake system. OEM calibrations are typically in the +/-10% range. We like to see +/-5% in Tapout tunes. Yet his fuel trims were off by nearly 20%!
We would never run this tune in our own cars. In fact, we’re pretty sure that not many others would feel comfortable running this tune.
