Livernois tune experience

[explosportguy]

EDIT June 10th - See post #13 for preliminary performance results. Woo Hoo.

EDIT June 11th - See post #28 for OBDII Emissions Monitor Readiness - Before tune and after tune

EDIT June 11th - See post #29 for The Tune Workflow

Ok, here's the disclaimer. This is how it went for me. There's no guarentee that your results will be the same. Making any mod to your vehicle is at your own risk. If you make any mods, your vehicle could be damaged, and it may never pass emissions testing again.

I hope this thread will be of interest to those thinking of doing a tune, but who have no experience with this type of mod. I'll post updates to this thread as events unfold.

I ordered from LMS on Monday, received my LMS MyCalibrator unit Thursday evening. The XSport was at the dealer (I bent the left front strut - another story for another time) until Friday afternoon, so I was only able to send my strat code and SWID late yesterday afternoon.

Great, proactive communication from LMS to date (thanks Jaimie).

First step was easy, retrieve the strat code and SWID from the XSport and email them back to LMS.

1) Being the **** person that I am, I followed the LMS instruction sheet for a tune upgrade even to retrieve the codes (turned off a/c, radio, auto-mode for lights, etc). With ignition in acc mode, I plugged the tuner in following the instructions to place the tuner in engineering mode. Then I followed the menu as displayed by the tuner and emailed the info to LMS. Nothing to it :

Here's a typical 0-60 time for my Sport before the tune. Don't know why it says 2014 in the heading, it's a 2015, I'll check the settings in Dash Command. Ignore the quarter mile, reaction stats, etc., I was only going for the 0-60 time. No power braking, normal drive mode :

More to come as soon as I receive the PC tuner program and the tunes. So far, so smooth.

 

[pup5581]

Normal driving around town ok? Any harsher?

 

[explosportguy]

Normal driving around town ok? Any harsher?

Hi pup, should have the tunes from LMS mon or tues. I'll load the 93perf tune as soon as they arrive, but it will be the weekend before I can run the 0-60 times. I should be able to report back on drivability around thurs evening.

 

[pup5581]

Hi pup, should have the tunes from LMS mon or tues. I'll load the 93perf tune as soon as they arrive, but it will be the weekend before I can run the 0-60 times. I should be able to report back on drivability around thurs evening.

Awesome...thanks!

 

[TMack2300]

dash command?

I hope this thread will be of interest to those thinking of doing a tune, but who have no experience with this type of mod. I'll post updates to this thread as events unfold.

I ordered from LMS on Monday, received my LMS MyCalibrator unit Thursday evening. The XSport was at the dealer (I bent the left front strut - another story for another time) until Friday afternoon, so I was only able to send my strat code and SWID late yesterday afternoon.

Great, proactive communication from LMS to date (thanks Jaimie).

First step was easy, retrieve the strat code and SWID from the XSport and email them back to LMS.

1) Being the **** person that I am, I followed the LMS instruction sheet for a tune upgrade even to retrieve the codes (turned off a/c, radio, auto-mode for lights, etc). With ignition in acc mode, I plugged the tuner in following the instructions to place the tuner in engineering mode. Then I followed the menu as displayed by the tuner and emailed the info to LMS. Nothing to it :

Here's a typical 0-60 time for my Sport before the tune. Don't know why it says 2014 in the heading, it's a 2015, I'll check the settings in Dash Command. Ignore the quarter mile, reaction stats, etc., I was only going for the 0-60 time. No power braking, normal drive mode :

More to come as soon as I receive the PC tuner program and the tunes. So far, so smooth.

wow first time i seen this app. looks pretty cool. how are u connected to the car?

 

[explosportguy]

wow first time i seen this app. looks pretty cool. how are u connected to the car?

I'm using a generic ELM327 wifi OBDII adapter I bought on Amazon. It's working well with Dash Command which I use for performance stats and OBD Fusion which I use for normal OBD code retrieval, readiness monitors, etc. I'm on an iPhone, so I don't think there is a version of Torque that I can use. Also have Blue Driver with its Bluetooth OBD connector, but I'm not crazy about the app.

 

[SurrealOne]

I'm soooo going to order this right now. I'm going to put my Sprt back to stock then run my 91 OCT tune and compare.

 

[explosportguy]

I'm soooo going to order this right now. I'm going to put my Sprt back to stock then run my 91 OCT tune and compare.

It also has g-force mapping and some other interesting stuff. It's on the android and iPhone app stores. Here's the parent company website with all the info, including the PC versions:

http://www.palmerperformance.com/products/dashcommand/

I'm not affiliated with Palmer or Dashcommand in any way, just a happy user.

 

[pup5581]

I want this tune so bad...but i have some other issues first i want to square away before i mod again

 

[Livernois]

I hope this thread will be of interest to those thinking of doing a tune, but who have no experience with this type of mod. I'll post updates to this thread as events unfold.

I ordered from LMS on Monday, received my LMS MyCalibrator unit Thursday evening. The XSport was at the dealer (I bent the left front strut - another story for another time) until Friday afternoon, so I was only able to send my strat code and SWID late yesterday afternoon.

Great, proactive communication from LMS to date (thanks Jaimie).

First step was easy, retrieve the strat code and SWID from the XSport and email them back to LMS.

1) Being the **** person that I am, I followed the LMS instruction sheet for a tune upgrade even to retrieve the codes (turned off a/c, radio, auto-mode for lights, etc). With ignition in acc mode, I plugged the tuner in following the instructions to place the tuner in engineering mode. Then I followed the menu as displayed by the tuner and emailed the info to LMS. Nothing to it :

Here's a typical 0-60 time for my Sport before the tune. Don't know why it says 2014 in the heading, it's a 2015, I'll check the settings in Dash Command. Ignore the quarter mile, reaction stats, etc., I was only going for the 0-60 time. No power braking, normal drive mode :

More to come as soon as I receive the PC tuner program and the tunes. So far, so smooth.

Hey Fred, hope you are loving the tune still! And you are welcome. If it weren't for clients like you I wouldn't have a job man. If you need anything else you know where to find me!

-Jaimie

 

[explosportguy]

Hey Fred, hope you are loving the tune still! And you are welcome. If it weren't for clients like you I wouldn't have a job man. If you need anything else you know where to find me!

-Jaimie

Thanks Jaimie. I'm running behind this week. Just loaded the the PC software and tunes from the server to the tuner tonite. All went a-ok after I authorized the PC tuner software in Windows firewall. Hopefully I can get away from work early tomorrow and load the 93 perf to the Sport. I'm documenting the process with photos, so it's taking a little more time than I had planned.

I should be able to post an update tomorrow night

 

[explosportguy]

I want this tune so bad...but i have some other issues first i want to square away before i mod again

Hi pup, story of my life. Always something on the horizon. That's a good thing though.

 

[explosportguy]

I should be able to post an update tomorrow night

Ka-pow baby, that's what I'm talk'n about

Couldn't wait. Loaded the v3 93 perf tune and went for a drive. Here's the before and after. Both just flooring it from dead stop in 'D', 'normal' mode, no powerbraking, no anything special. In my dead stock Explo Sport with ~5,200 miles, the LMS 93 perf tune shaved exactly .5 sec off of my 0-60 times. "before tune" on the left. "after tune" on the right (ignore all the other stats, I was only after the 0-60 time) :

What you don't see in the numbers above is the change in driveability. Much less torque steer and much less of what I refer to as 'interference vectoring' by the fwd portion of the awd powertrain. It seems the rear wheels are getting more power sooner in normal mode and the shifts are now as close as they can get to our S5's DCS. Upshifts are BANG, bang, bang under WOT, but nice and smooth (but still crisp and firm) under normal driving. Still no rev match on downshifts, but hey, I'm a happy camper.

The 1-2 upshift under WOT is brutal, the other WOT upshifts are perfect. If the 1-2 WOT doesn't soften up a little as the trans relearns, I may ask Jaimie for a programming change. Or maybe not. I'll just use it judiciously (or not).

EDIT 17jun15 : the 1-2 shift has leveled out. All is well now. Nice firm upshifts 1-6 now with no drama. Perfect

I hope the 'turn bog' is gone. I couldn't induce it tonite, but there were our guys in blue all over the place, so I was taking it easy. Time will tell.

Powering out of a low speed 90 degree turn on dry pavement can now invoke the nanny mode in "normal". Finally it's a driver.

Bottom line - why did I wait so long? The only time the stock tune will ever go back on is if I need it to pass emissions testing in Harris county and NYS!

More to come regarding the PC and tuner load process, what happens to your readiness monitors (hint - they reset), etc.

Looking forward to the drive to work tomorrow.

 

[TMack2300]

wifi or bluetooth?

I'm using a generic ELM327 wifi OBDII adapter I bought on Amazon. It's working well with Dash Command which I use for performance stats and OBD Fusion which I use for normal OBD code retrieval, readiness monitors, etc. I'm on an iPhone, so I don't think there is a version of Torque that I can use. Also have Blue Driver with its Bluetooth OBD connector, but I'm not crazy about the app.

which is suppose to be better?? wifi or bluetooth??
what are some of the top brand names too? i would like to get a good OBDII adapter!

 

[explosportguy]

which is suppose to be better?? wifi or bluetooth??
what are some of the top brand names too? i would like to get a good OBDII adapter!

Hi TMack, I'm not much of an expert on the adapters. The BlueDriver app specifically requires their bluetooth adapter. That's the only reason I bought it and because I never use the app, I never use the BT adapter.

For the ELM type wi-fi adapters, there are some really cheap ones on eBay, but I went with a higher priced one on Amazon that had a number of good reviews and that was specifically advertised for use with iPads (ieGeek® WIFI Wireless OBD2 Auto Scanner Adapter Scan Tool for iPhone iPad iPod). For the WiFi adapters, apart from connectivity issues, the big differentiator seems to be real-time update/transmit latency and sampling intervals. This consideration is more important for the guys and gals running real-time PC based tuning and data collection in the car and it was beyond my need.

YMMV, but for me in the end it came down to the apps I wanted to use. They are both WiFi only for connection, so I went with the Wifi.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, maybe someone else can enlighten us regarding Wifi vs Bluetooth.

 

[SurrealOne]

Ka-pow baby, that's what I'm talk'n about

Couldn't wait. Loaded the v3 93 perf tune and went for a drive. Here's the before and after. Both just flooring it from dead stop in 'D', 'normal' mode, no powerbraking, no anything special. In my dead stock Explo Sport with ~5,200 miles, the LMS 93 perf tune shaved exactly .5 sec off of my 0-60 times. "before tune" on the left. "after tune" on the right (ignore all the other stats, I was only after the 0-60 time) :

What you don't see in the numbers above is the change in driveability. Much less torque steer and much less of what I refer to as 'interference vectoring' by the fwd portion of the awd powertrain. It seems the rear wheels are getting more power sooner in normal mode and the shifts are now as close as they can get to our S5's DCS. Upshifts are BANG, bang, bang under WOT, but nice and smooth (but still crisp and firm) under normal driving. Still no rev match on downshifts, but hey, I'm a happy camper.

The 1-2 upshift under WOT is brutal, the other WOT upshifts are perfect. If the 1-2 WOT doesn't soften up a little as the trans relearns, I may ask Jaimie for a programming change. Or maybe not. I'll just use it judiciously (or not).

I hope the 'turn bog' is gone. I couldn't induce it tonite, but there were our guys in blue all over the place, so I was taking it easy. Time will tell.

Powering out of a low speed 90 degree turn on dry pavement can now invoke the nanny mode in "normal". Finally it's a driver.

Bottom line - why did I wait so long? The only time the stock tune will ever go back on is to pass emissions testing in Harris county and NYS!

More to come regarding the PC and tuner load process, what happens to your readiness monitors (hint - they reset), etc.

Looking forward to the drive to work tomorrow.

After my tune was installed I had the same 1-2 shift shock but it did get better on it's own.

I also have loved my Livernois Tune I can't thank them enough. Taking a good ride and making it better. Livernois ROCKS

 

[explosportguy]

After my tune was installed I had the same 1-2 shift shock but it did get better on it's own.

I also have loved my Livernois Tune I can't thank them enough. Taking a good ride and making it better. Livernois ROCKS

Thanks for the info Surreal. I'll give it a while before I try the WOT 1-2 shift again. I only did 3 WOT runs to 60 last night because of the 1-2 hard shift. Want to emphasize to everyone that the hard shift occurs on WOT only. Partial throttle 1-2 upshifts are fine even at this point.

The cool thing is that the tune brings a holistic improvement in the Sport. The improved driveability is as important for me as the increased power.

 

[pup5581]

How would you describe the change to the everyday driveability??

 

[explosportguy]

How would you describe the change to the everyday driveability??

Hi Pup, here are the major points in no particular order (remembering I've only driven it about 25 miles since the tune install so far) :

1) no rough idle at start-up this morning
2) altered drivetrain torque distribution front/rear and/or improved torque management. Much less torque steer and what I call "steering interference torque vectoring".
3) altered throttle tip-in and engine response to throttle pedal input. Responsive and linear.
4) of course, increased torque and hp, especially in the mid-upper rpm range.
5) altered transmission programming. Nice firm shifts without being intrusive under normal acceleration. Killer great upshifts under WTO acceleration (if the transmission adapts to soften the 1-2 upshift over time - LMS forewarned me and says it will)
6) I think my gas mileage might increase. Only a feeling at this point - I've reset the computer so I can find out. My "since new" avg mpg was 16.2 mpg when I reset it last night

You don't have to be nailing it all the time to enjoy the difference. Under any driving condition (I do surface streets, stop and go, and freeway on the way to work), the Sport now feels like a well sorted, high performance SUV. With the LMS tune, the Sport mostly loses the quirks that interfered with a sporting driving experience. No other way to say it, it just feels good to drive now.

YMMV of course, the driving experience is a very subjective thing !

 

[pup5581]

Do those harsh shifts have any damage on the trans i wonder? I mean you probably don't do WOT very often...i have had my truck like 3.5 months now and have done it like 5 times...but others have said it gets better with time so i would guess no