What Kind of Tune Is Right for Me?

What's up boys and girls and welcome to a part 3 of our engine tuning series. In the first blog, we did a 101 to answer the question: Do I need a tune? In the second blog we quickly answered the top 5 most common tuning questions we get asked in your phone calls and emails. In this 3rd segment we are going to take a deeper dive into the types of tunes that are out there and what are their pros and cons. 

Disclaimer:  If you have not read the two blogs mentioned above then click those links so you can understand what's about to follow. 

Now for this installment we are going to explain in greater detail three types of tunes (maps) that are available to you. Will dig a bit into each so you can understand what they are and why you may or may not want them. Those three are;

  • Base Maps

  • Off the Shelf Maps (OTS for short)

  • Custom Maps

BASE MAPS

Base maps are the tune/calibration files that come with the tuning device you have. The KTuner and Hondata devices for your late model Civic and Accord are each preloaded with these types of calibrations. These maps, or lookup tables as we call them, are generally slightly modified OEM tables. Various aspects of the maps have been changed for a slight bump in power. These include things like increasing boost, modifying ignition timing, altering camshaft phasing, and more are all changed to net us more horsepower and torque in a safe and predictable way. They are meant to be fairly conservative (reliable/safe) files that will give any user an enjoyable bump in power and enhanced driving experience. They are super easy to use as you simply pick the one you want and upload through your device to your car's ECU. Most of the time these maps are made off of a fully stock car with no modifications on them or with just 1-2 basic bolt-on parts like an intake or downpipe. They are great maps to start with but are very generic and not made for your specific car. 

PROS: 

  • No additional cost, come with the tuning hardware

  • No waiting or lead time, just click and upload

  • Small bump in horsepower and torque

  • Very reliable 

CONS:

  • Don’t have good options for those with lots of aftermarket parts

  • Generally pretty conservative. They leave a lot of room for more HP and TQ gains

  • Generic tune for the masses. It caters the driving characteristics of the majority and not your individual driving style or wants/needs.

OFF THE SHELF MAPS

Next in the pecking order is “Off the Shelf” (OTS) maps. These you can sort of think of as base maps plus. They are files/tunes that you can buy on various company websites. When you are purchasing an OTS map you are getting one that has been tweaked and worked on more than a base map. Generally these tunes work better for cars with your more common aftermarket setups like intakes, down-pipes, exhaust, intercoolers, and more. They have generally been created by professional tuners who have been contracted by a third party to make the tune on their behalf. These maps are generally more thoroughly tested than base maps and offer an ever greater bump in power and performance over them as a result. They might alter more aspects of a map than base maps typically do; things like Throttle Padding and increased Throttle. Some examples of OTS maps for the 10th generation Civic platform are those from Two Step Performance and Power Metric. You would go to these websites, enter some info and complete a purchase. 

PROS: 

  • Make more power and performance than base maps

  • Refined for vehicles with more aftermarket bolt on parts

  • Generally pretty thoroughly tested and fairly safe for the majority 

  • Easy to buy. Most with just a simple online purchase and download

CONS:

  • Not free. These have a small cost associated with them

  • While more dialed in still not fully set-up for your specific car and its parts

  • Some cars have pretty limited OTS maps available

CUSTOM MAPS

We saved the best for last -- Custom Maps. As the name implies they are not like the other two options because these are made for your car so you don’t have the trade-offs needed to make a tune work for many cars. A custom tune allows either yourself (carefully) or a professional tuner to dial in the tune on the car for YOU specifically. For YOUR driving and racing style, for YOUR specific location, for the quality of fuel in YOUR region, for YOUR built engine or custom mods. A custom tune is like a fitted suit. It's tailored for you and no one else. 

You need to reach out to a professional tuner and work with them to create/dial in a tune for your goals. This is often done either done in person via street or dyno tuning in the presence of the tuner. Even more popular is E-tuning which is the process of tuning via emails and electronic data exchange.

PROS: 

  • The max power and performance you can get for your car

  • A tune that is unique and tailored to your car and goals

  • A good tuner will dial in tons of tables for you making the best driving experience 

  • 1 on 1 communication with a professional who can address your needs and answer your questions 

CONS:

  • The most expensive kind of tuning. Each can cost several hundred dollars or more

  • Generally have a wait time. Tuners are busy professionals and it can take a few weeks to get an appointment for your tune.

  • Might have associated cost such as a DYNO rental if you wish to measure horsepower and torque

  • If E-tuning via street the process can take a few days of back and forth communication 

Those are the three types of tunes that are available to you for your 2016+ Honda Civic, Accord, Type R. As with all our blogs we hope that you found this informative and drop a comment below and let us know what you would like to see in the next installment.

Signing off,

-Vincent Melon

Installations & BuildsVlad@27WON27won llcTunerComment