eflyguy
2500 Posts Club!
I’m sure many here observed the fact that I had my Stinger tuned just a few days after bringing it home. This thread is about my experience with Todd and the results of his work, as much as I love to share my story with anyone willing to listen!
There are several options available to us, but I personally try to support local businesses and was delighted to find an established tuner in my back yard. If you dig into his web site or FaceBook page, you’ll find he works on the performance variants of German luxury cars as well.
As a result, it was a given that I would be visiting for my upgrade as soon as I had my Stinger – and the fact I bought it from Kia of Muncie – a 560 mile trip – meant she was ready for Todds magic by the time I got home. By happy circumstance, my daughter and friends were already planning a day at the drag strip before I could get on Todds calendar, so I had some baseline numbers for reference.
I hadn’t had much opportunity to use the electronic wizardry in the couple of days I’d owned her, but the stock numbers were pretty much in line with KIA marketing and everyone elses experience. I showed up as scheduled and rolled my new baby up into their workshop where Todd got right to work extracting the heart (or brain?) which was then laid out bare on his workbench to have the programming corrected.
I enjoyed discussing the various aspects of the changes they make. I have some knowledge of the concepts from motorcycle tuning, the differences and similarities were equally interesting. After some time hanging out and enjoying conversation with Todd’s business partner, my tune was completed and Todd was ready to take it out on the road.
At this point, it’s probably worth noting that I was not in any way disappointed with the stock performance of the Stinger. My first-evening 560 mile “christening” trip solidified that I had made a great decision. When I got in after Todd had worked his magic, it was such a noticeable transformation.
The most significant change is how effortlessly it propels itself along, and I don’t mean when you are heavy on the throttle. Even while cruising around in traffic, it feels like the throttle pedal is just a “speed setting” and when you command a change, it just happens without any drama. I’ve experienced this before, on a motorcycle with a modified ECU that produced the same result.
That said – heavy throttle change produces an almost immediate change in speed, and although the stock setup already provides of acceleration, you can tell there’s more going on under the hood.
Given the change in season, and the holiday season, I’ve not been able to get back to the same strip to get “official” numbers, but I do have a semi-pro data recorder that was “state of the art” around the time I bought it. Probably similar to the high-end apps available for cell phones today.
These devices can only be used legally on closed courses, of course, so (again) my opportunity to provide real-world data is limited. I’ve already shared some pics of the performance I’ve seen, and it’s a dramatic improvement over the stock numbers. I then installed K&N air filters, which honestly didn’t make any “butt-dyno” improvements, but I’ve got years of confidence they might make a bit of a difference.
So – would I recommend? Absolutely. In the spring, based on availability, we might put my baby up on the dyno and see what my actual numbers are. In the meantime, here’s some previous discussion:
Dyno (not mine): PRESSERtech Kia Stinger GT Dyno RESULTS!!
Kia Stock numbers: 365HP and 376LBS-FT
Pressertech Numbers: 459HP and 522LBS-FT
There are several options available to us, but I personally try to support local businesses and was delighted to find an established tuner in my back yard. If you dig into his web site or FaceBook page, you’ll find he works on the performance variants of German luxury cars as well.
As a result, it was a given that I would be visiting for my upgrade as soon as I had my Stinger – and the fact I bought it from Kia of Muncie – a 560 mile trip – meant she was ready for Todds magic by the time I got home. By happy circumstance, my daughter and friends were already planning a day at the drag strip before I could get on Todds calendar, so I had some baseline numbers for reference.
I hadn’t had much opportunity to use the electronic wizardry in the couple of days I’d owned her, but the stock numbers were pretty much in line with KIA marketing and everyone elses experience. I showed up as scheduled and rolled my new baby up into their workshop where Todd got right to work extracting the heart (or brain?) which was then laid out bare on his workbench to have the programming corrected.
I enjoyed discussing the various aspects of the changes they make. I have some knowledge of the concepts from motorcycle tuning, the differences and similarities were equally interesting. After some time hanging out and enjoying conversation with Todd’s business partner, my tune was completed and Todd was ready to take it out on the road.
At this point, it’s probably worth noting that I was not in any way disappointed with the stock performance of the Stinger. My first-evening 560 mile “christening” trip solidified that I had made a great decision. When I got in after Todd had worked his magic, it was such a noticeable transformation.
The most significant change is how effortlessly it propels itself along, and I don’t mean when you are heavy on the throttle. Even while cruising around in traffic, it feels like the throttle pedal is just a “speed setting” and when you command a change, it just happens without any drama. I’ve experienced this before, on a motorcycle with a modified ECU that produced the same result.
That said – heavy throttle change produces an almost immediate change in speed, and although the stock setup already provides of acceleration, you can tell there’s more going on under the hood.
Given the change in season, and the holiday season, I’ve not been able to get back to the same strip to get “official” numbers, but I do have a semi-pro data recorder that was “state of the art” around the time I bought it. Probably similar to the high-end apps available for cell phones today.
These devices can only be used legally on closed courses, of course, so (again) my opportunity to provide real-world data is limited. I’ve already shared some pics of the performance I’ve seen, and it’s a dramatic improvement over the stock numbers. I then installed K&N air filters, which honestly didn’t make any “butt-dyno” improvements, but I’ve got years of confidence they might make a bit of a difference.
So – would I recommend? Absolutely. In the spring, based on availability, we might put my baby up on the dyno and see what my actual numbers are. In the meantime, here’s some previous discussion:
Dyno (not mine): PRESSERtech Kia Stinger GT Dyno RESULTS!!
Kia Stock numbers: 365HP and 376LBS-FT
Pressertech Numbers: 459HP and 522LBS-FT
