I just got the car less than 2 weeks (and 600mi) ago, but I am already considering getting a tune.


From what I read on this board, JailBreak is the consensus choice. However, after a brief conversation with HG Motorsports (who are their dealers down here, in San Diego, CA), I was told that they can't do the pulley (something about heating it and removing being a very laborious process).


Has anyone else heard that? I understand a lot of the posters here have both with no issues


Also, with just the tune, what gains do they (JailBreak) advertise for this engine? I saw Eurocharged advertise some 50hp gains, but not sure how reputable these guys are. Todd from JailBreak is considered to be a guru.


Also, what would a JailBreak tune&pulley cost? Eurocharged will sell both for around $1000 - how much more is JB?


Your input is much appreciated, gents (and ladies or course)!

 

I guess I'm as up on this as anyone...so here is my experience. Your XF Supercharged is down 40 bhp to an XFR. So you will get that bump automatically. My stock dyno was 458 rwhp and 403 ft/lbs. and drivetrain loss seems to be very low at about 11-12%. I gained another 35 or so rwhp with the Jailbreak tune. I also did an X-Pipe which seems to have introduced a dip in the torque and power curve in the midrange (which happens on motorcycles with full exhaust all the time, so it makes sense to me) but helps on top end power. With the X-Pipe and tune I made 491 rwhp and 466 ft/lbs. I had already purchased the Eurocharged pulley so I went ahead and installed it.

Now here is where it's a bit more convoluted. At the time I had my last dyno run, my supercharger coolant pump was not working properly. What that meant is that I could get about 2-3 pulls on the dyno before it went into limp mode. I could do about 4 quarter mile pulls on the street and it would do the same. So, the first pull with a somewhat cool engine was strong enough that the tires spun on the drum. The second gave me the numbers in my signature. The AFR was much richer than the pull with just the tune as well. So I'm convinced there is more power being made than is shown on my last pull and that cooling is an issue. I had the coolant pump repaired and have been to the dragstrip since. No issues with "restricted performance" at all.

This Saturday I will be going to get it dyno'd again. I'm going to get there an hour ahead of time and I will ice the intake. I know this is a bit of cheating but I want to see what it really does taking out heat soak as much as possible. And it's really not cheating if I tell everyone what I'm doing, right? But there is another reason I want to do so. I'm interested in water/meth injection and knowing what a very cool intake charge does for power will influence my decision to move forward. I plan on doing one run very cool, then doing the next right afterward. I'd like to let the engine warm up to heat soak and do another. Then I will have a good idea of what is going on through the heating process. I'll also try to datalog that process through Torque to see what I can determine that way as well with IAT's and boost pressures, coolant temp. etc. I have also added the TCP intake to the mix. I did it as much for sound as I did for performance, but it will make it harder to know what is doing what as well, so this isn't purely scientific.

I've attached the three graphs and power charts from my previous dyno sessions. As you can see, after the pulley the power comes on waaayyy earlier but the peak isn't as high as one would believe it should be with an additional 1.5 lbs. As I said before, that may go toward the heat issue not being resolved.

I also know that Patrick813 won the Eurocharged Tune and Pulley combo and will be giving us an update soon on the whole process and what his gains are. He's done stock pulls and has been monitoring boost pressure after the pulley install. He wanted to give the ECU time to adjust to the pulley and he's scheduled for another dyno run tomorrow. Then he will get the tune installed, allow it to adjust, and do a final dyno run. So between the two of us, we should have a very thorough understanding of how these cars respond to the intake and ECU modifications in the very near future.

As far as pulley installs, there is a shop called GSR Autosport in Anaheim that can do it no problem. Two hour drive for you max. They did one for a magazine article for European Car, mine, Bigg Will, and now Patrick813. Takes them about 2 hours and $200 to install.

My advice is to have HG do the Jailbreak tune and skip the pulley for now. Wait to see if Eurocharged has another $50 sale on pulleys and then pick one up then, or don't if the car has enough power after the tune. With the tune the car was very responsive and had a great powerband. After adding the pulley, the car hits DSC a lot quicker, the power comes on very low in the powerband and it actually makes it harder to drive quickly on a track or mountain road because of the instant on of the power characteristics. If dollars are a concern, the pulley isn't really needed, but it does make the car feel like a real muscle car. BiggWill went this path. Hopefully he will chime in with his experiences...

And I will definitely be posting the results of Saturday as soon as I can get the Winpep file and add it to what I've already done for a comprehensive overview.

And one other note about the Jailbreak tune. It's a true custom tune developed on my car by them. I asked them to make sure it was not on the ragged edge of performance and to make sure the engine was safe for the long run. They tuned it for "power under the curve" and not just a peak number.

 

For the pulley install, GSR Autosport in
Anaheim are more than capable of the install. HG Motorsports is hesitant to install the pulley due to another local San Diego performance shop essentially ruining a customer car during the install process.

I am in the process of verifying power increase claims from Eurocharged. I've run a baseline at HG Motorsports and will be returning tomorrow morning at 10am for a second run with only the pulley. Eurocharged will be sending me a flash tune for the car soon after and I will wrap things up with a final run in the next coming weeks.

If you have the time to stop by HG Motorsports tomorrow morning for my dyno run, BostonKiller, you are more than welcome!

 

Haha, so yours was the XFR I was told about by Matt and Nima!
I'd love to - PM you in a few!

 

Actually getting the factory pulley off is the chore If you cut it off as I did mine, heating and putting the new one on is EAZY. And yes I would recommend a Jailbreak tune, as I have had 0 issues and BIG fun with my Jailbreak tune.
Got my pulley (both of them..LOL) from Eurochargers on sale for $50
Tune was about a thou.
ECU is doing great things also.