FAQs
Mabotech
Mabotech Policies
Mabotech Custom
Tuning FAQ
Tuning:
most of the times it’s the company’s decision of calibrating the file one way rather than another (there’s more than one way to do this), for example, we can test 2 maps from different companies on the exact same vehicle and like one a lot more than the other, yet the other could end up showing better Dyno peak numbers.
, that’s why custom tuning is extremely convenient as the user is the one making the choices and decisions on how the overall feeling of their car should be instead of the calibrator, also we can achieve much better and safer numbers than any OTS maps as they are tailor made for the specific hardware, conditions and fueling of the vehicle and not a one size fits all arrangement.
WARNINGS:
If you purchased a tune from us don’t change hardware without informing us as it could be very dangerous and makes both of us waste time.
Do not race your car with an unfinished tune, especially if the tune is still in early stages. You will loose races and still have potentially dangerous conditions still undetected or unfinished.
Don’t go wide open throttle on a vehicle that has not reached coolant operating temperatures for at least 15mins, this is to aim at getting oil temps at least within ranges.
Ask us anything you need or are curious about, going online to ask NPCs will surely bring all kinds of answer and would only add to confusion or fuel more misinformation. Questions, neutral observations and constructive criticisms are welcomed.
If running aux methanol system, make sure system is primed and reservoir filled before going wide open throttle.
Make sure you select the correct map for the correct fuel quality in the tank.
LIMITATIONS
there are somethings that could be damaged from a bad calibration, for this we take extreme caution and work our way up to detect any potential lingering issues and prevent any premature component damage, we have been very successful in this approach even if it ends up taking more time and revisions to finish the tune, we rather invest the time to protect your vehicle’s integrity and secure our results. After 90 days of inactivity or the inclusion of a hardware change after initial basefiles have been provided a tune is considered finished and a revisit fee will have to be applied.
There are also issues that are not directly related to tuning but more related to driving styles and/or other hardware conditions, also a previous wrongly calibrated tune could have reduce the engine and it’s components tolerances, reliability and longevity considerably. But it’s important to review your hardware periodically and keep the health and services of the vehicle in top form if you tune your car.
You are running brakes that feel ok, yet when we add power and you do some spirited driving the discs warp or present some issue, Yes, the power addition from the tuning could have accelerated the wear or fatigue on the brake system but that’s not the responsibility of tuning process, same with suspensions, engine components, etc. Remember that you are adding power, sometimes 2-3 times over the stock output, that will bring the same additional stress on the vehicle’s components.
*oil quality and overall health check prior to start the tuning process must be confirmed.
Brisk ER12S or ER10S gaped at 0.022” or tighter for higher boosted, E85 and/or methanol.
NGK BKR8EIX gaped at 0.022” or tighter for higher boosted, E85 and/or methanol.
NGK BKR8EIX gaped at 0.022” or tighter for higher boosted, E85 and/or methanol.
**ALL expenses such as but not limited to: Spark plugs, oil, fuel, methanol, tires, brakes, engine mounts or anything that the car requires, due to logging, testing or dyno requests are to be covered 100% by the customer.
Recomendations:
Depends on the customer preferences one could think 3800rpm threshold is too much, another could say that it’s fine at 5500rpm. For turbo’s size selection we always want to have the correct size for the desired application.
Most clients want a street monster but select the biggest turbo there is, this choice reduces quite drastically the day to day fun factor of the driving experience.
It’s rolling the dice, even on used parts that you’ve used yourself sometimes they could present some unseen deterioration specially if placed in storage for a period of time.
We STRONGLY recommend against buying used turbos or fueling components that haven’t been reconditioned or refurbished by a reputable company.
Follow our recommendations, if you are not willing or have a different idea please share it, but we will give you the best advice possible based on our experience, to achieve your goals.
We can basically tune anything that works and we have means to, but the more extreme a setup gets the more compromises will be present, we typically try to explain this to clients as best as possible but sometimes the advice is not understood or decided not be used.
This is used to improve combustion by providing chemical cooling as well as higher octane, this can also increase the fuel capacity and allow for higher boost levels.
Although we’ve tuned cars with considerable amounts of methanol supplementation with over +6000cc with 3 meth pumps in a 5.5gal tank, it its advisable that the risks are understood as with any system that could have points of failure.
- Don’t use much more than 1500cc per pump. Yes, we’ve seen and used ourselves double 1200cc on a single pump and it indeed produced a very significant flowrate. But with these demands pressure drop will become a problem and atomization will be compromised, the reliance on a pump that could present some wear after a certain time may cause instability issues or catastrophic failures.
- Make sure you have control on how much % of alcohol is in the system that way you don’t mix 30% one day and 60% the next.
- Always understand the correct use, priming of the system, failsafes, progressive settings, etc. A single trigger switch is not recommended for primary use.
*MQB manifold map boost tap is NOT recommended for this particular generation and we require removing this prior to the tuning process.
*JB4 or any other sensor enhancer must be completely removed not just “disabled” for the tuning process to be successfully completed.
Things to consider.
If an issue forces us to stop with the tune provision and this takes a considerable amount of time (not more than 90 days), the tune will be considered finished and a revisit fee will be applied to continue or conclude the tune, this charge or exemption of it, is 100% at the discretion of Mabotech Labs.
ALL information shared between us and customer, via WhatsApp, E-mails, Facebook or any other means of communication is saved and recorded for future reference and added security.
FLASHING ECU OR TCU:
- Low voltage from the battery can have an adverse effect on the flashing procedure. A battery tender is strongly recommended even if you consider your battery to be in good shape.
Most clients want a street monster but select the biggest turbo there is, this choice reduces quite drastically the day to day fun factor of the driving experience.
CAN connected devices such as sensor enhancers, monitoring devices (p3, polarfis, etc), aftermarket radios, exhaust controllers, etc can also cause problems with flashing the ecu. This can also be sporadic so one time it may not cause issues but then another time could be a different story.
Make sure you are flashing the correct file or latest tune provided. Most flashing tools can detect mismatched files and avoid doing this, on the other hand producing logs with the wrong file can be time consuming and confusing for the process.
Sensor enhancers:
Even though a sensor enhancer can help an end user make adjustments to get a higher overall output it is not without it’s limitations. Max power is limited to what the base software ranges and hardware are allowing.
A sensor enhancer will manipulate the signal from a particular sensor to allow for different range to be achieved without triggering a limitation from the ecu, for example:
- To achieve higher boost levels, the map sensor(s) is intervene and while it’s reading 28psi, the ecu is only partially seeing this, say 26psi which is what the base tune is calling for.
- To achieve higher ignition timing the sensor enhancer may use the IAT sensor to manipulate the ecu to see a lower temperature than actual so that it allows higher overall timing either by advancing it or simply by not pulling it.
Now the car instead of holding 26psi is now holding 28psi and instead of calling for 10 degrees of ignition advance is now calling for 13 degrees. Yes, this can potentially add more power but there are requirements from this such as octane rating and hardware allowance for this.
You are now at a high risk of overspinning the turbo or leaning out the AFR, if the wrong settings are selected without understanding the requirements of said settings, you also risk forcing a dangerous timing profile, sometimes not even adding any significant power.
Since load ranges will fall into a lower portion than actual, a LOT of things can go wrong as well, knock threshold maps will think it’s running under lower load and some ecus have higher threshold under these settings.
There’s a significant inherit issue from using enhancers with DSG equipped vehicles, with different factors that could make this choice catastrophic specially with upgraded turbos on stock software.
Torque reporting will be lower than actual and TCU may not apply the correct clutch pressures to accommodate for this causing premature damage or permanent components fatigue.
Quarter mile times and Dyno:
A dyno is a very useful tool to measure the progress of the tune/build, we usually recommend when starting a tune to mature it with street logs as it gives us a proper load and drag coefficient of the actual vehicle and after we reach a certain point get to the Dyno to wrap up the process this may or may not incur in a revisit fee as it will be case dependent.
*Some dynos have a very different load dynamic than the street as weight, air drag coefficient and a few other parameters are not easily emulated on the rollers. The tune should be optimize on the street if this is the case.
*It is recommended that we have a baseline run on the same dyno to properly monitor our progress.
*All dyno directly and indirectly related expenses are to be cover 100% by the customer.
*There will always be dozens of cases of people constantly making market corrected dyno results or rocket fast times with undisclosed hardware.
– Practice, test, practice and test.
– Remove as much weight as you can, the lighter the car the faster it will go, also test and practice when making these changes.
– Use good tires, the more grip the better specially if you practice and adjust the settings the setup allows.
– Higher octane fuel is a good addition to the power/weight ratio but if you add power you should always adjust your file and also practice and test at every change to understand your vehicle as best as possible.
– Did we say to practice and test? because that’s VERY important.
*All track/dyno directly or indirectly related expenses are to be cover 100% by the customer.
