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Old 12-16-2013, 12:38 AM   #1
Vengeance Graphix


 
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Tune Time review

This is a little late for a review as i have had very little time these past few months to be on here so I'm doing this now. Before i go any further i would like to list what i currently have done

Rotofab CAI
VMAX CNC Ported TB
KOOKS 1 7/8" LT headers with hi flow cats
Borla Atak Axle back exhaust

In the beginning of October I had made an appointment to have my car tuned down at Tune Time Performance in Lakewood NJ since i had finally got a bulk of performance parts put on the car over the coarse of a few months so i wanted everything to be synced up as well as had the AFM removed for good. I messaged them on FB to get a quote on a bolt on car for tuning and was told it was $550 which seemed pretty good to me. So i called up and booked my appointment. Granted i don't live close by so it was a good hour and 45 min drive to have this done.

Got there at 10am on the dot and and filled out some paper work since i was a new customer getting the car tuned. They said have a seat it'll be a few mins before we can take the car in since they had a car already on the dyno. They printed out the first price which was $550. I waited not long before they took the car in before and checked it to make sure it was good to put on the dyno. About 5 mins later I'm notified that i need a 160* stat and different spark plugs and said ok to since i was told it will run better and have a better result. Not knowing that they come back with a new invoice and said they made a mistake and now the price has now gone to 750$. So now its about 10:30am and I'm told that it'll be awhile before my car is on the dyno, I'm thinking ok..... So I'm watching from the window above the shop or coming down getting some fresh air outside and waiting till around 1:13pm and my car is still not on the dyne,.. nobody else is on it.. they still have it sitting on the lift putting in 8 plugs and a stat? I'm no mechanic but i can't see putting in 8 plugs and stat taking 3 long hours while most of the time was spent walking around the shop doing other things it seemed, not to mention everyone was either in a really shitty mood or everyone doesn't make you feel welcomed. So now the car is finally on the dyno hooked up rather quick and off we go. they did a base run with the current mods i have which was around 320HP. They did another 2 runs and my final HP was 349HP... Was i happy with the results at the end of the day? no freaking way. Sure i know my car was not going to put out anywhere near what the LS3 puts out since its a L99 but what i have done to my car currently i should have been up in the high 370-380HP mark. I was told this was normal to have this low of a reading.. Final bill came to 1,027$ after it was all said and done Not sure if thats what it should cost after being tuned but i figured i was walking out tuned for $550... or i was screwed over what was i going to say "no I'm not paying you"

I post on Facebook my results and had every single person saying something was not done correctly with the tune and i should be hitting HP in the high 370-380 mark. Now again like i mentioned i don't live around the corner so i can't just get down there to have something looked at. It took me months to make time to do this and i feel like i was screwed over..

I was fortunate to have a friend on FB who came to me and said contact my friend Rob who tunes performance cars. I contacted Rob and told him the situation, i explained everything to him and what the car was pulling. He said he will help me out which he did BIG time, he said what we will do is part throttle tune it and then dyno the car and see what we get. So a night in mid November i took the car to him and I drove for a few hours till 12am in the morning on the highway to avoid cars during the day doing throttle tuning while he took his HP tuner program and adjusted everything on his laptop. We then took the car to the dyno the next day and did a base run with the file TTP worked on. We then took the file from the night before and plugged it into the system did some runs and got a final run of 380HP with 390Trq.

I had Tune Time liked on my FB page and they posted a video of a camaro that was L99 just like mine with nothing but a CAI installed and pulled 360hp.. can someone explain that to me... while i have all these mods done to my car and pulling 349HP... i might as well just kept the damn car stock.

The car runs freaking amazing now after the tune that was completely re done by Rob (RKtuning) and will continue to take it to him for future tuning as well as any sort engine mods i want done. I heard good things about TTP since there a very few places in NJ close by, but after this issue i will not return as a customer.
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Old 12-16-2013, 11:19 AM   #2
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According to a few posts by Tune Time, they use a Mustang dyno. Maybe the second time around, your car was on a Dynojet. This would account for the power differences, as would just being on a different dyno at a different time.

As for the other stuff, I have no comment.
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Old 12-16-2013, 12:00 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SSMickey View Post
According to a few posts by Tune Time, they use a Mustang dyno. Maybe the second time around, your car was on a Dynojet. This would account for the power differences, as would just being on a different dyno at a different time.

As for the other stuff, I have no comment.
His results were even low for a mustang dyno. I have pretty much the same mods and on a mustang dyno im 380/380. Then again my tune was done by FSP!
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Last edited by nyrfan; 12-16-2013 at 01:32 PM.
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Old 12-16-2013, 12:54 PM   #4
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Yeah that place sucks...
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Old 12-16-2013, 05:21 PM   #5
Vengeance Graphix


 
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Originally Posted by nyrfan View Post
His results were even low for a mustang dyno. I have pretty much the same mods and on a mustang dyno im 380/380. Then again my tune was done by FSP!
Exactly, nyrfan and myself have the same mods done to our car, granted we are using different brand name headers but we have the same mods done to the car. He had much higher gains and the fact he told me it was done when it was 90* outside in FL.. meanwhile it was cool out here in Oct in NJ...
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Old 12-16-2013, 05:24 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SSMickey View Post
According to a few posts by Tune Time, they use a Mustang dyno. Maybe the second time around, your car was on a Dynojet. This would account for the power differences, as would just being on a different dyno at a different time.

As for the other stuff, I have no comment.
Second time yes my results were done on a dynojet, but i was told it was not calibrated in a while since it was a new shop in Edison NJ so what my car put out would have been higher if it was calibrated most likely.
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Old 01-06-2014, 01:18 PM   #7
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Chris,

Don't know how I missed this but I'll do my best to respond now.

First off I want to apologize if the staff came off as being in a bad mood and you did not feel welcome. I don't understand how that happened or why, I'm sure many of our customers and even non customers can tell you how we are nothing like that.

Now, you were unhappy with the dyno numbers your car put down and decided to go somewhere else and have it re tuned, I understand no hard feelings. A dyno is a tool, nothing more and nothing less. Unfortunately ours is a stingy tool, the numbers your car put down are in line with what it should. Why another similarly modded car made a bit more on our dyno could be due to any number of things, weather plays a part in things as well. I'd be glad to strap your car down to our dyno and see what it puts down on your current tune. Also if you had a concern about the way the car felt all you had to do was notify us and we would adjust it at no charge at all until you were satisfied.

The issue I have, is you saying we screwed you over.

Everything was written down and documented, you were shown the bill before any work was performed. The dyno tune cost is 550, we let you know there was an hour diagnostic/shakedown charge as well, since there were mods installed that we did not install. We always go over a car and smoke test it for leaks prior to letting it go on the dyno to avoid any issues, not to mention strapping and then unstrapping a car is a giant waste.

My tech came back and notified us that you had a stock thermostat as well as non optimal spark plugs installed, he recommended we install a 160 stat and a set of NGK TR-55's.

An estimate was written up and shown to you prior to anything happening, you signed the work order and let us know to proceed.

My techs work ticket...




The signed work order by you to proceed..


(Pic deleted for privacy)



Again I apologize for you feeling unwelcome and that the wait was longer than expected, I honestly do not remember what was going on in the shop that day to cause the delay. I hope you understand where I'm coming from, I understand you were not happy with the power it made but we have never and will never screw anybody over on a bill. If there is anything else I can do for you give me a call anytime at the shop.

Hope you can make it out to our Open House & Car Show in April, your car is definitely a good looking ride and I hope to see it there.

Joe

Last edited by Joe@TuneTime; 01-09-2014 at 07:25 PM.
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Old 01-07-2014, 10:35 PM   #8
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seems a little steep
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Old 01-08-2014, 09:20 AM   #9
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I also wouldn't buy anything from a place that charges a CC surcharge.
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Old 01-08-2014, 10:10 AM   #10
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I also wouldn't buy anything from a place that charges a CC surcharge.
And I agree, I'd walk out of any business that charges that BS fee. It's just another way to nickle and dime a customer on an already inflated cost.
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Old 01-08-2014, 04:11 PM   #11
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We get charged a 3.5% charge for credit cards and NJ passed a law that allows a business to charge the customer for that.

The good thing is we are only 3.5% sales tax where we are located instead of the normal 7%.
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Old 01-08-2014, 04:21 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe@TuneTime View Post
We get charged a 3.5% charge for credit cards and NJ passed a law that allows a business to charge the customer for that.

The good thing is we are only 3.5% sales tax where we are located instead of the normal 7%.

Just because there is a law that allows you to do it, does not mean you should. It's a bad business practice and I can tell you I would not go to your shop. CC transactions are a cost of doing business, any good business knows how to handle this properly and thy would be to adjust prices according and offer a cash discount.

And btw- NJ did not pass a law that allowed a company to do this. The CC companies opened it up allowing this and NJ has not banned it yet as other states.


Sent from my AGM, 2SS/RS
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Old 01-08-2014, 04:22 PM   #13
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Old 01-08-2014, 04:36 PM   #14
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Seems legit to me. Yes the price is a little steep, but that is a well equipped shop and I'm sure they have a lot of overhead. You could always learn how to change your own plugs & T-stat.
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