Hi guys do u know how safe is it to tune your stock high-comprehension n/a engine? If so how much will it roughly cost?

 

I'm sad that I got quite a few views, and asked a simple question as being a beginner car tuner guy and not a ricer,and no one wants to answer.

 

My car is a 2012 Mazda 3 Skyactiv the engine is a Naturally aspirated 12:1 compression 2.0 L engine. I wanted to do Orange Virus tuning but that means I'll be spending at least $700 just to receive the tune kit from them and I get to tune it, which is stupid high for a DIY tune. And the reason I didn't give info at first , is because everyone begins to hate me because I drive a Skyactiv. So if anyone has knowledge in tuning high compression cars please help me.

 

For $700 you can find a much faster car or truck that's easy to tune, and cheap to repair or get parts for when it breaks. Plus you'll still have the Mazda for reliability and good economy.
IMO it's a dead end car to put money in.


https://www.carfax.com/vehicles/Used/price-under-1000

 

With that buddy you are wrong, these days it's hard to find piece of junk car for $700, I tried looking for many older tuner cars and to tell you the truth I didn't find good ones under $2000, and your very rude, as a car . Me as a car guy I do not criticize a persons car of being unmodifiable . because Hondas are economy cars too, and people do crazy things with them too.

 

Generally speaking, the newer and less mainstream engine platforms are expensive to tune, mainly because there is less of a demand but also because of more concern in voiding warranty. Factory tuning has also came a long way so there are less gains to be made, especially in naturally aspirated trim.
Your best set would be to find a specific Mazda forum and see what they are doing there. I did the same thing with my chevy cruze. Those are the guys that will know better than anyone about the ins and outs of the platform. Like Ken said, there are too many variables to your original question, so don't feel like anyone was just ignoring you. Asking for tuning advice even when everyone is familiar with the mannerisms of a certain engine you will get a wide range of answers. No one wants to be the one to tell you it's ok to do x in the tune then have you come back a week later blaming them for popping a head gasket.

 

If you think I was being rude you might be in for a shock. Google "Monzsta's timing mod" for the Mazda 3. I know mazdas, and I know they are expensive to tune, there is very little out there for them, they don't take well to mods (generally weak engines and transmissions) and the dealer will sniff you out and void your warranty for so much as a fart can on your exhaust.

If you wanted a fast mazda, you should have started with a mazdaspeed car. If you want to blow a bunch of money, break a nice car, then spend even more money to put a motor in it when the dealer sees your tune flag in the computer and holes in the pistons, be my guest. The sob stories are all over the mazda forums.

My advice stands. Pick up a civic and tinker with that to get your feet wet and leave the nice car as that. A nice car.

 

Haha, I got a salvage car, so no dealer warranty for me. And ugh I hate Hondas period except s2000. Almost all young guys have a Honda, I want to be different than all those youth.

 

Hey Ken....any idea as to where this bs is going??

 

I am not going turbo or supercharger I am just going for a tune , which is an ecu reflash and remap, just want to know how safe will it be that's all

 

It is tough to answer too as this is a Turbo Forum...NA is not the specialty. Try a Mazda specific forum.

I've heard Mazda's aren't mod friendly. Mitsu and Subaru's much more so.

Good luck!

 

Yes it's not much, but I think it's worth it, do to the fact that this is not a boring car. If making it 2 seconds faster 0-60 it will be a better car.

 

Factory ECU tunes generally don't leave enough on the table to knock that much off your 0-60 time with just a tune. A tune is more useful for getting the most out of other modifications you have added to the motor; it's a supporting mod rather than something that would add large amounts of power by itself. So... what other mods are on the engine? If it's mostly stock, I wouldn't trust a tuner who claims he can add that much more power to it.

 

I agree with Matt. If the engine isn't "very" modified, the factory calibration is going to be much better in terms of reliability and satisfaction. The manufacturers employ calibration engineering teams that spend months developing a perfect tune for every vehicle. You may be able to get another 10 wheel horsepower out of it at WOT with added timing but you'll have to worry about which gas stations you can get your fuel from and constantly listen for pinging at WOT. If your tune requires you to create everything from scratch, (VE table, timing table, idle settings, etc.) I wouldn't even think about doing it. This is assuming your ECU is standalone.

 

Short answer: higher compression equals a tighter tuning window. You should have a good handle on it before trying it on a 12:1 engine.
Just my $0.02.