Custom Tuning with DS1+bTres

[mtwallace85]

So for the last week I’ve been working with a tuner named Alan out of Denver to see what improvements can be made and wanted to share my progress and opinion of doing this remotely. Before we started making changes, I was running the stage 2 DS1 OTS map, however, I had it modified to be able to use the ID1050X injectors and 4 bar map sensor I had installed while my motor was being built. I have no complaints whatsoever to report with the DS1 tune; it was quick and I never had a single issue. I started talking with Alan and we saw an opportunity to improve the mid range with a little more aggressive timing. I don’t have much acceleration testing on the DS1 map to share, but I did run the 1/8th mile in [email protected] with no launch and then subsequently ran a [email protected] and 1.6s 60’ with a launch but I jammed the brakes about 50’ early.

Getting a valid dragy has been such a challenge and I’m still looking for a good spot to do this. I of course forgot it at the drag strip. But either way, here’s the best time on DS1 I achieved and I was spinning the tires really bad.




The bTres has been an awesome tool to be able to utilize for logging. I just drive and it takes care of the rest. When I’m done I go online and I have all my logs organized an ready to view/download.









Obviously it needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but the dyno graphs are pretty cool to see too. I wouldn’t use these as proof of my numbers but they seem fairly accurate when you input the tire size and actual weight of the car. I did find it interesting that my engine builder expected to see 500whp on his mustang dyno with the DS1 stage 2 tune and the bTres dyno was almost right on the money. On 91 I put down about 400whp on their mustang dyno. But like any dyno I think the important thing to look at is the delta and so far I’m pretty happy.

DS1 Dyno


Latest Revision


The car is feeling really strong and I’m looking forward to seeing what this thing can do in the 1/8th and 0-60.

Let me know if you guys have any questions.

[cseaman]

The DS1 OTS performance is atrocious. I appreciate the custom tuning aspect, like everyone, but damn man, I ran the 1/8th in 7.3 @ 98 on the APR stage 1 91 file in a full weight RS3. I feel bad for anyone running those files w/o intention of getting on Darin Dichiara or another tuner's schedule

[mtwallace85]

The DS1 OTS performance is atrocious. I appreciate the custom tuning aspect, like everyone, but damn man, I ran the 1/8th in 7.3 @ 98 on the APR stage 1 91 file in a full weight RS3. I feel bad for anyone running those files w/o intention of getting on Darin Dichiara or another tuner's schedule

Ok, you’re welcome to your opinion. I can easily run sub 7 seconds. Here’s an APR stage 1 TTRS next to me and he ran [email protected]. My RT was .74 and his was .37 but I still managed to beat him by a bit. I think we braked at the same time. My buddy with a similar setup as mine ran 6.8@107mph. The best hybrid time I saw was 6.5s and the IMS-850 kit ran a 6.0 and 6.1.

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[Makersmark]

The DS1 OTS performance is atrocious. I appreciate the custom tuning aspect, like everyone, but damn man, I ran the 1/8th in 7.3 @ 98 on the APR stage 1 91 file in a full weight RS3. I feel bad for anyone running those files w/o intention of getting on Darin Dichiara or another tuner's schedule

DS1 OTS doesn't even advertise speed. It's a base file available and open to everyone to improve on. They clearly state its not going to be the fastest.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Audizine Forum mobile app

[o1turbo30v]

The DS1 OTS performance is atrocious. I appreciate the custom tuning aspect, like everyone, but damn man, I ran the 1/8th in 7.3 @ 98 on the APR stage 1 91 file in a full weight RS3. I feel bad for anyone running those files w/o intention of getting on Darin Dichiara or another tuner's schedule

On my car, the DS1 OTS stage 1 93 octane tune was just as fast if not faster then the Unitronic stage 1+ tune I’ve been running for the past year, if you look at the torque curve DS1 holds TQ relatively flat and all the way out to 5500rpm, so yeah on my car it fn moves out better and smoother then Unitronic.

I think most OTS maps are going to be relatively close, DS1 to my knowledge is the only one that keeps stock knock sensitivity. They advertise their ots maps are not the most aggressive out there, built for toughness and reliability not to set the fastest times.

[John@DEADBEEF_DynoSp]

The DS1 OTS performance is atrocious. I appreciate the custom tuning aspect, like everyone, but damn man, I ran the 1/8th in 7.3 @ 98 on the APR stage 1 91 file in a full weight RS3. I feel bad for anyone running those files w/o intention of getting on Darin Dichiara or another tuner's schedule

I would be interested to hear what specifically you would change to increase performance without compromising reliability as a flash and forget OTS map. We've seen it all over more than 20 years of tuning. If your brief is an acceleration time, you'll miss the point of cylinder pressures and temperatures vs longevity.

[8STTRS]

Ok, you’re welcome to your opinion. I can easily run sub 7 seconds. Here’s an APR stage 1 TTRS next to me and he ran [email protected]. My RT was .74 and his was .37 but I still managed to beat him by a bit. I think we braked at the same time. My buddy with a similar setup as mine ran 6.8@107mph. The best hybrid time I saw was 6.5s and the IMS-850 kit ran a 6.0 and 6.1.

Traction is a son of a bitch. I have run 6.5's w/ my hybrid in the 1/8th but, I'm spinning so bad that I don't even really consider that to be an accurate assessment of its real performance capabilities. With good traction, I wouldn't be surprised to see a large hybrid be competitive with the IMS850, if not better than with the right setup.

[ZTTRS]

On my car, the DS1 OTS stage 1 93 octane tune was just as fast if not faster then the Unitronic stage 1+ tune I’ve been running for the past year, if you look at the torque curve DS1 holds TQ relatively flat and all the way out to 5500rpm, so yeah on my car it fn moves out better and smoother then Unitronic.

I think most OTS maps are going to be relatively close, DS1 to my knowledge is the only one that keeps stock knock sensitivity. They advertise their ots maps are not the most aggressive out there, built for toughness and reliability not to set the fastest times.

doesnt Unitronic also leave the knock sensors stock? curious what times are you running, 60-100--60-130?

[mtwallace85]

Traction is a son of a bitch. I have run 6.5's w/ my hybrid in the 1/8th but, I'm spinning so bad that I don't even really consider that to be an accurate assessment of its real performance capabilities. With good traction, I wouldn't be surprised to see a large hybrid be competitive with the IMS850, if not better than with the right setup.

Yeah traction really does become a pain. The track seemed to be prepped decently because I spun but not that bad. Definitely not anywhere near as bad when I’m launching on the street. On the street I’m spinning through first gear and then some in second. Come December I hope to have that fixed as I’ll be upgrading my haldex to handle much more power and I’m considering getting a controller as well if that doesn’t do the trick by itself.

[cseaman]

DS1 OTS doesn't even advertise speed. It's a base file available and open to everyone to improve on. They clearly state its not going to be the fastest.

I'm fully tracking that. But, between all the bigger facebook groups (including the DS1 group managed by John) and here, I regularly see people talking about their 1/8, 1/4, 60-130 on the OTS maps. And they are always slow AF. IMO, as someone who is not polarized by owning competitor's tunes (owned 2x APR DAZAs and just recently moved to Uni), it makes the DS1 look like a poorly performing product out of the box.

I would be interested to hear what specifically you would change to increase performance without compromising reliability as a flash and forget OTS map. We've seen it all over more than 20 years of tuning. If your brief is an acceleration time, you'll miss the point of cylinder pressures and temperatures vs longevity.

I'm not going to pretend to be someone who should be arguing with you about how to tune a car. That said, I don't think anyone can argue with the longevity of the APR 1/1+ files as having increased performance without compromised reliability. That is just my anedoctal experience from owning two DAZAs and moving between 91/93/E85 regularly over the last three years combined with the same time frame of being following the platform.

FWIW, if I had the time/energy/patience, I'd have found the time to move to DS1 for my recently completed TTE700 setup. I know the DS1 itself is an awesome starting point, but again, I just think that owners who post acceleration times for the OTS maps makes it look like a subpar performer out of the box, because in a straight line, it is.

[John@DEADBEEF_DynoSp]

I'm fully tracking that. But, between all the bigger facebook groups (including the DS1 group managed by John) and here, I regularly see people talking about their 1/8, 1/4, 60-130 on the OTS maps. And they are always slow AF. IMO, as someone who is not polarized by owning competitor's tunes (owned 2x APR DAZAs and just recently moved to Uni), it makes the DS1 look like a poorly performing product out of the box.



I'm not going to pretend to be someone who should be arguing with you about how to tune a car. That said, I don't think anyone can argue with the longevity of the APR 1/1+ files as having increased performance without compromised reliability. That is just my anedoctal experience from owning two DAZAs and moving between 91/93/E85 regularly over the last three years combined with the same time frame of being following the platform.

FWIW, if I had the time/energy/patience, I'd have found the time to move to DS1 for my recently completed TTE700 setup. I know the DS1 itself is an awesome starting point, but again, I just think that owners who post acceleration times for the OTS maps makes it look like a subpar performer out of the box, because in a straight line, it is.

It was benchmarked on the same dyno against competitor tunes. The torque was limited to preserve the stock rods. The knock sensitivity was left stock. Excessive heat and pressures were avoided for longevity: The calibrations are intended for reliability with hard use. We will absolutely argue about the longevity of VAG tuning in hard use with typical tuning practices, and I would not buy a used car with a typical VAG OTS tune. Many get away with it in gentle use. Some do not. Without getting into a slagging match where one party doesn't have all the data yet has formed an opinion I'll need to leave it at that.

[car.done]

I can’t stress enough how nice it is to have the bTres constantly logging vs trying to capture logs yourself. When I initially saw the product, I was like, “oh, cool gauges” which they are cool but later learned learned about the logging so I had to get it. I love mine. Also, also love flex fuel on DS1 vs having to empty tank to switch between pure 93 and E85. Better Than and Dyno Spectrum both offer good user guides, FAQs, and quick responses.

Cool tuning progressions from @mtwallace here; looking forward to seeing Dragy results on this set-up before he changes turbo (assuming that’s in the plans eventually).

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[mtwallace85]

Back at it now that my shoulder is healing up and after another successful night of logging, we’re just about done. 4th gear pull resulted in .7Gs and put this down with the virtual dyno:



Pretty sure I have a boost leak too. Can’t wait to upgrade my turbo :)

[8STTRS]

Very nice. For what it's worth, I've gotten down to 6.2's in the 1/8 @ 119+ w/ my hybrid with a bit better traction. I'm confident that there's more in it. Just keep at it. I'm sure it'll continue to improve.

[Socks415]

bTres Sale Now to support my family of too many's vacation requirement. This sale will go until May 20th. Get the best DS1 complimenting gauges on the market https://betterthan.shop