You wanna go fast? Tuning your engine is an effective way to achieve higher horsepower, improve fuel efficiency, and boost your engine’s responsiveness. The benefits are there, but there are considerations you can’t avoid. Save yourself some coin in the long run by checking out this pre-tune checklist to reduce risks and make sure your car is ready.
Plan Before You Tune
Getting your car tuned can be a very exciting experience, or very anxiety inducing, or both. You're hoping to see your time and effort pay off when you see your car perform well on the dyno. Ultimately, you gotta see that increase in horsepower you've been working so hard for.
That end goal actually starts and ends with you, not your tuner. By bringing them a good car, you maximize your chances at having a good experience. Not taking care of your vehicle before the dyno visit can lead to horsepower left on the table, or worse.
It's important not to jump the gun. Though we understand car parts are not cheap, and the time you've committed to building your car is important, taking some extra time up front can save you a whole lot of it once you reach the finish line.
An important thing to do before you get a tune is buy ALL of the parts you need. If you're considering an intake and exhaust, and since it'll be a few weeks (or more) until you'd be able to afford an intercooler and charge piping, let’s say you decide to go for a tune now and revisit those mods later. We would argue, from a time efficiency and gains perspective, waiting a bit of extra time and grabbing those last few parts first will absolutely pay off once you get to the dyno.
Secondly, speaking of time efficiency, we recommend batching those parts together and installing as many as possible in one shot - ideally, close to your tune date. We recommend this for two reasons:
1 - It prevents you from doing any rework to install additional parts, and also, running those parts for an extended period of time and driving your car without a tune (bad idea!)
2 - It'll give you an opportunity to give your car a full once-over while installing your parts right before heading to the dyno. Doing an inspection and some basic maintenance at this stage can be critical to your success when it's time to tune.
Basic Maintenance
Before you take your build to get tuned, basic maintenance is a must. This doesn't have to be anything super extensive, but should at a minimum include a fresh oil change and fresh spark plugs. You'd be surprised how much this can do to ensure a problem-free tuning session.
Boost Leak Test
After performing your pre-dyno maintenance and parts installation, performing a boost leak test is strongly recommended. This will allow you to pressurize your intake tract and ensure you're not bleeding off any pressure from the system. Though some tuners may offer a pre-dyno inspection and boost leak test as a courtesy, if they find any leaks, fixing them is typically an extra charge. Depending on where the leaks are, that extra charge can rack up quick!
Though these things may seem like a bunch of extra work up front, and delay the excitement of getting your car tuned, trust us when we say your future self will thank you for your attention to detail and perseverance. The less fixing you need to do at your tune appointment, and the more tuning gets done, the more fun it will be!
Shop Performance Parts & Tuning Equipment at MAPerformance
Shop on our website for all of the parts you might need before heading to the dyno. If you have trouble, contact our team to help you find what you’re looking for and answer your questions. Learn more about how you can mod your car by visiting our blog for wheel and tire packages, fitment guides, and helpful how-to articles.
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