Alright, I've seen a few old reviews here and there regarding PDX Tuning based out of Oregon. My question is, does anyone have any relatively recent experience with the company? I'm trying to get as much information on them as possible prior to driving from Washington to Oregon to get dyno tuned...

Anyone's experiences getting tuned by them would be GREATLY appreciated, thanks people.

[Nivek]

Heard good things, but I strongly advise getting any promises or representations in writing, pay with a credit card, and make sure that if they go over the time alloted for your tuning then they will not charge you extra. Basically, if you are driving that far, you want a fixed cost. That pushes the risk to them and then if they do not deliver and they charge you, the big credit card monster can fight the battle on your behalf.

Most likely it will not come to that, but as we have seen, there are some tuners that do not subscribe to honest business practices...

[Flycaster]

Sure: GT30 - Perrin and PDXTuning

[that_hz]

Had my '05 tuned by Tim Bailey and Jarrad Bowen. The car
was subsequently better in every way... more power, better
responsiveness and even substantially better highway mileage
[got 28.5mpg on a recent trip to seattle - around town, I still
only get 17-20 though].

I wouldn't hesitate to head this way. The cost is a bit on
the high side [I'm coming into subbies from VW's where a
chip/tune is $300-500 range], but totally worth it. They
are top-notch professionals to work with and I recommend
them highly. As for getting promises, etc, ahead of time
as kevin suggested, sure, that may help with piece of mind
considering the outlay.


um... edited because I misspelled "Baliey".

[whitson01]

i went with them, through the mail, and my car runs like a wet dream.. if you have the chance to get custome tuned at their shop then i would just all over that. .

[Funky]

I absolutely recommend PDXTuning to anyone looking to get engine management for their Subaru. The guys have fantastic customer service and are absolute professionals.

I just got my AP from them a couple weeks ago, I couldn't be happier. I'm running their standard stage 2 map and I'll be going on the dyno shortly to have them do a Torco/Toluene map for me.

[RadarOnPaws]

They rock. Not just their abilities (which are top notch) but their customer service is incredible as well. The difference in my car before and after was day and night. Highly recommended.

BTW, when my car was getting tuned, there was a guy with a wrx there who'd driven down from Washington to get tuned. So you won't be a pioneer or anything but they definitely are worth it.

[esemes]

have NEVER heard a bad word about them.

if they were local, they'd have my business.

many, MANY satisfied customers; no excuses given..........

ese

[Flycaster]

Huh, I never realized there were "sub-forums" before. Guess I need to pay better attention!

[Siegel Racing]

I've datalogged their mail-out maps and was hugely impressed. They know what they are doing. I would have ZERO concerns about getting custom tuned there.

SS

[Adam]

I just had a tune in Texas from PDX, they flew down. I would recommend them to my mother, brother, and father... and you too...


adam

[loworbitSI]

Myself, and several locals chipped in and had Tim Bailey of PDX tuning fly in on the 24th, and on Saturday, the 25th, he tune several cars at the Mustang Dynamometer located at Buscher Racing in Wakeman Ohio.

Two others were tuned before me. This thread is based off of my experience.

My car is a 2004 STi (22,000 miles) with AP, Invidia catless downpipe, Invidia Race exhaust, Perrin EBCS, K&N Typhoon intake, and NGK plugs that are 1 step colder and 93 pump gas.

My turn arrived at 12:45. I was a ball of nerves with my baby strapped on the dyno. The S203 replica chin spoiler cleared the ramp, and also the tie down straps by about an inch or two.

The first ear bleeding run produced a low low reading. IIRC, like 240/240 and mostly because the uprated EBCS solenoid was setting quite low to prevent spiking. The next three or four runs, the car kept gaining power in chunks. The magic laptop was doing it's dirty work.

About run 7 or 8 of the tuning, the driver on the dyno hopped out and looked around at the back seat. He and Tim in the passenger seat were complaining of a whine from the fuel pump. They thought it could be a bad pump, or failing and that it should be looked at. My heart sank. Tim reassured me that the air/fuels were checking out just fine.

While leaving over the driver's door, I noticed the I/C Spray light on the dash was showing meaning the intercooler water spray tank was nearing emptiness. I then pointed that my water spray was a JDM Auto spray switch that acts as an on-off button opposed to a standard 3 second timer.

Turns out they were spraying the nozzle the whole time, until the tank ran dry, and that was the whine they were hearing. The driver didn't know about the switch being setup that way. I'm hoping the water spray pump didn't burn out, but I'm REALLY glad the fuel pump wasn't the problem.

One of the incredibly nice Buscher employees fetched a jug of water later to refill the tank, and they continued the process of tuning.

According to my camera, they were able to get 14-15 full pull dyno runs. The last 2-3 made the most power, but then perhaps the heatsoak kicked in a little, and they tweaked the maps and were happy with the results. As was I.

Final high output was 283 hp at ~5500RPM and 317 ft/lbs at ~4000RPM.

Tim Bailey from PDX then walked over to me and gave a big long, elaborate explanation of what exactly he did, why he did it, and that he wanted a brief road tune. He said the car was making 18PSI and pulling strong to 14.5PSI at redline. Everything looked good and was just going to road tune for the EBCS.

The car was unstrapped, and still wired up, Tim, and the dyno operator took my baby down the street to get the last ounce of tuning out of it. The returned about 5 minutes later, with grins on their face, of which no where near as big as mine.

The drive home, the car felt silky smooth. I honestly thought to myself how the car really didn't feel INCREDIBLY much faster, but it was just so smooth, and the car just loved it when I would crack the throttle. The fuel gauge with gas mileage seems to be holding more steady as well. I'm sure the mileage increase is quite nice.

Buscher himself told myself directly that on this dyno, they have upgraded software and it's an approximately a 22% lower than other dynos. It's really not the "heartbreaker" dyno of old with a 32% lower reading, but supposedly it still reads low. He said that a bone stock new EVO laid down 218whp on the dyno just days before.

I don't know the stock output on those against other dynos, but doing math based on 22% loss, and very highly doubtful, but that'd give me 345hp & 386 ft/lbs at the wheels. Yeah, that's some dreaming, I'd like to think...

Either way, I'm INCREDIBLY satisfied. Thanks, Tim!

[520]

Good write up, glad to hear it went well. A guy in my town has an evo and went there for his tune and with cams and fuel pump and some other stuff hte put down like 303whp and xxxtorque, i forgot the torque. But either way buschur said thats the highest a stock turbo has ever put down on his dyno out of all the evos that have been done. I bet your right around the 300-315whp range and 330 wtrq.

Congrats!

[loworbitSI]

[Farnsrocket]

Buschur (the owner) said it read 22% lower than a dynojet dyno....so take that for what it is. Good job Aaron!!