Custom Tuning at your Doorstep

We are your custom bench tuning experts, backed by over 20 years' experience in the art and science of custom tuning through our affiliation with Lyndon Wester. Lyndon was one of the first to pioneer off-vehicle tunes, and we are privileged to have access to Lyndon's expertise.

What is a Custom Bench Tune?

A bench, or off-vehicle, tune is a custom tune that performed without the vehicle present. We have experience with many hundreds of different year/make/model/drivetrain configurations, and can create a custom tune that will be very close to optimum. Bench tuning can be done one of three ways:

1. You send your computer to us, we create a custom tune specific to your vehicle, and we ship your same computer back to you. The advantage of this method is that there will never be a need for a "crankcase relearn" (a procedure that is sometimes needed when a vehicle's original computer is swapped with a replacement). The obvious disadvantage is that you'll be without your vehicle. We can have your computer back on its way within one business day of receipt (sometimes sooner). While we will pick up ground shipping costs, you are responsible for costs associated with overnight or two-day delivery.
2. We send you a computer compatible with your vehicle with a custom tune for your vehicle, and you ship up back the computer from your vehicle ("computer swap"). There are a couple of advantages using this method: You will never be without the use of your vehicle, and on the rare occasion that you receive a faulty computer, you can simply swap your original computer back in while awaiting a replacement. A disadvantage to this method is that you don't retain your original computer, and in rare instances you may be required to have a "crankcase relearn" performed (a procedure that takes a few minutes of shop time, and can usually be performed at any garage with access to a Tech 2 scanner). If the dealer reflashes your new computer, your custom tune will be overwritten, and you'll need to contact us for another replacement computer (which we cover under our lifetime warranty).
3. You purchase a computer from us (or send us a compatible computer you've purchased), we create a custom tune specific to your vehicle, and we ship this computer to you. You retain your stock computer. The advantages of this method are that you will never be without your vehicle, and you can always return the vehicle to stock in the event that you return your vehicle for warranty work. The disadvantage to this method is the extra cost associated with purchasing another computer.

Are Bench Tunes As Good As Dyno Tunes?

An on-vehicle dyno tune, properly performed, will have marginal performance gains over a custom bench tune. A dyno tune makes sense if you plan on racing your vehicle where top performance is obviously an advantage. Our custom bench tuning will provide close to optimal performance, which results in no discernable differences in performance if your vehicle is a "daily driver." Plus, a dyno tune will require a couple hours' worth of dyno time, and dyno time isn't cheap (depending upon where you live, dyno time might cost upwards of $120/hour or more). So if you don't plan on taking your vehicle to the track, you'll get more than adequate performance from a custom bench tune!

Tuning Without Computer Swaps

A couple of tuners offer a service that involves them shipping you a handheld device that you hook up to your vehicle's ALDL port (under the dashboard). The device automatically loads your custom tune to your computer, so there's no need for a computer swap. These tuners will tell you that the "advantage" to their system is that you never have to get under the hood to swap computers, and that you will never have "downtime" on your vehicle.

This might well be the case if nothing goes wrong during the loading of the tune. Occasionally, a computer will "lock up" during the process of loading a tune. If the handheld device you're using doesn't have the ability to perform a "recovery" on your vehicle's computer, then you're stuck with a dead vehicle, and chances are you will end up having to send your computer off for repair or replacement -- an unplanned event that could have been avoided by simply swapping out your computer with a custom-tuned computer, or scheduling a couple days of downtime to overnight your computer to us for custom tuning.