Tork Tune Review

[Russell Buzz Buzz]

I’ve been getting messages from people asking about my experiences with JB4, Tork and Lap3 since I’ve tried more products than most people. I am not sponsored by any company. I paid full price for all my parts and tunes, searching for what was best for me. Here is part 1 with my experience with Tork.

My quest to beat LAP3 locals and get to the 10s in a My daily diver, 2019 GT AWD.

I bought Tork ECU Stage 2 last year. 1st tune- immediate notice of insane power. But overboost to 34 PSI and limp mode.

1st revision- boost cut off and throttle closure

2nd revision- same issues.

3-5 revisions- took the tune down to stage 1 or 1.5 and gradually worked back up, adding boost. About 20 PSI and car ran well, just not as fast. (11.8s or so)

Revision 6/7 (started losing track) - more boost, car feeling better but occasional throttle
Closure under heavy acceleration almost causing an accident.

Revision 8 (almost a year after purchase of tune) - car felt and sounded great. New PR- 11.18 at 24/25psi boost. John and I both agreed that was a little high and he would lower it down for me.

-a few days later driving home, normal driving, boost in 3rd gear was 26psi and peaked at 28psi when the BOVs released. Sounded like I blew the hose off my innercooler. Limp mode, CEL, codes for overboost.
Sent the log to John, not know why boost was now so high. He said he would make another revision. Removed Tork ECU that day.

Next day, overheating issues began when car was idling. Brought car to Kia for diagnosing and repair. They tried to say the engine was blown. I requested a full diagnostic Check and wanted to know what exactly happened. After 3 weeks, they said the service manager said same thing. The tech told me it needed a new head gasket at least but they would have to charge me to tear down the engine to know what else.

I’m no posting this to shit on John or Tork. I had a good experience working with them on the revisions. John sent me everything I needed to flash the ECU myself instead of shipping back and forth. If I was in WA area, I would have brought the car to him for tuning.

Just keep in mind, when he says it’s aggressive and made
For the track, he is serious. As a daily driver, the stage2 tune could not consistently perform. 24+ psi on the daily probably isn’t good for these motors.

As they say, you have to pay to play. $2600 and a year of tuning back and forth.

Open to questions.

 

[Tonkabob]

Are you catless? I also ran the Tork stage 2 from before day 1 and had some of the throttle closure early on but didn't have overboost like that. I had catless mids but catted primary. More and more of the stingers are blowing head gaskets. Pretty much all of the hybrid and big turbos have. A few stock turbos.

 

[Russell Buzz Buzz]

When I started with Tork, I had OEM Primaries and catless secondaries. I had issues with throttle closure then. Initially I had that overboost of 34 psi. I didn’t have any overboost issues really until I went catless Primaries. That’s when it hit 28psi And the overheating started.

 

[Terry@BMS]

I've helped several Tork flashed customers fix their over boosting problems by using the JB4 and its unique EWG control to reduce WGDC. The JB4 is a tuning tool that is very useful with whatever flash map you want to run stock or otherwise. I wouldn't run a flash tune without one.

 

[General_Vodka]

Where you running e85 mix? Meth? Charge pipe injection? Just wondering about the catless primaries, did you get any turbo oil seal leaks? As for the leaking head gasket, I think his own shop car has it lol. I'm not surprised, that's a lot of boost to hold in over and over and over. 26psi is close to deathtrap Honda levels.

 

[tarmacblack1]

When I started with Tork, I had OEM Primaries and catless secondaries. I had issues with throttle closure then. Initially I had that overboost of 34 psi. I didn’t have any overboost issues really until I went catless Primaries. That’s when it hit 28psi And the overheating started.

Overboost of 34 psi? Damn mine never sees more than 25 and I'm using jb4 EWGs but only have 1 psi added on Map 6. What fuel were you running?

 

[TorkMe]

I’ve been getting messages from people asking about my experiences with JB4, Tork and Lap3 since I’ve tried more products than most people. I am not sponsored by any company. I paid full price for all my parts and tunes, searching for what was best for me. Here is part 1 with my experience with Tork.

My quest to beat LAP3 locals and get to the 10s in a My daily diver, 2019 GT AWD.

I bought Tork ECU Stage 2 last year. 1st tune- immediate notice of insane power. But overboost to 34 PSI and limp mode.

1st revision- boost cut off and throttle closure

2nd revision- same issues.

3-5 revisions- took the tune down to stage 1 or 1.5 and gradually worked back up, adding boost. About 20 PSI and car ran well, just not as fast. (11.8s or so)

Revision 6/7 (started losing track) - more boost, car feeling better but occasional throttle
Closure under heavy acceleration almost causing an accident.

Revision 8 (almost a year after purchase of tune) - car felt and sounded great. New PR- 11.18 at 24/25psi boost. John and I both agreed that was a little high and he would lower it down for me.

-a few days later driving home, normal driving, boost in 3rd gear was 26psi and peaked at 28psi when the BOVs released. Sounded like I blew the hose off my innercooler. Limp mode, CEL, codes for overboost.
Sent the log to John, not know why boost was now so high. He said he would make another revision. Removed Tork ECU that day.

Next day, overheating issues began when car was idling. Brought car to Kia for diagnosing and repair. They tried to say the engine was blown. I requested a full diagnostic Check and wanted to know what exactly happened. After 3 weeks, they said the service manager said same thing. The tech told me it needed a new head gasket at least but they would have to charge me to tear down the engine to know what else.

I’m no posting this to shit on John or Tork. I had a good experience working with them on the revisions. John sent me everything I needed to flash the ECU myself instead of shipping back and forth. If I was in WA area, I would have brought the car to him for tuning.

Just keep in mind, when he says it’s aggressive and made
For the track, he is serious. As a daily driver, the stage2 tune could not consistently perform. 24+ psi on the daily probably isn’t good for these motors.

As they say, you have to pay to play. $2600 and a year of tuning back and forth.

Open to questions.

Feeling a little sad that you didn't mention that I offered to do the work on the car and even offered the head studs and gaskets for free in messenger. The first tunes were a bit aggressive, but you said you wanted a record setting car, lol. At least we were able to get you sorted with flashing services at your convenience without the hassle of shipping the ECU back and forth. Last... the time frame of getting tune revisions was more of an issue of getting results sent back to me, vs me getting you a tune revision. What was the longest you had to wait for a tune revision from me in all this back and forth?

Sadly, I feel that the whole story is not being told here but that is how this normally goes, lol.

 

[TorkMe]

Overboost of 34 psi? Damn mine never sees more than 25 and I'm using jb4 EWGs but only have 1 psi added on Map 6. What fuel were you running?

Every tuner in this market has the occasional over boost issue that they have to deal with... piggy backs are not tuning, they are sensor manipulation.

 

[Russell Buzz Buzz]

Feeling a little sad that you didn't mention that I offered to do the work on the car and even offered the head studs and gaskets for free in messenger. The first tunes were a bit aggressive, but you said you wanted a record setting car, lol. At least we were able to get you sorted with flashing services at your convenience without the hassle of shipping the ECU back and forth. Last... the time frame of getting tune revisions was more of an issue of getting results sent back to me, vs me getting you a tune revision. What was the longest you had to wait for a tune revision from me in all this back and forth?

Sadly, I feel that the whole story is not being told here but that is how this normally goes, lol.

John is correct. He did offer to fix the head gasket and build up the motor. If I wasn’t strapped for time and heading back overseas, I would have taken him up on that offer.

Tuning thru the mail or across the country is a PITA. If I would have been able to get the car to his shop, I’m sure it would have been a better tuning experience.

 

[DoctorStiches]

I'm stepping in the deap end so I won't say alot. But is it true our engine is open deck? Wouldn't any substantial boost increase be explosive for the head gasket? Like the focus rs problem.

 

[Russell Buzz Buzz]

I'm stepping in the deap end so I won't say alot. But is it true our engine is open deck? Wouldn't any substantial boost increase be explosive for the head gasket? Like the focus rs problem.

I’m Not sure what open deck means. But it does seem like sustained boost above 24 psi now can cause some issues. Daily driving it would probably be fine for a while but track testing above 24psi…maybe not. And I was willing to live with my Tork tune at 24psi even after John said that was a little high and wanted to bring it down a little. It’s when it started hitting 26+ on normal driving that things went bad.

 

[Aarvix]

Yep, open deck, not a good platform for big boost.

 

[DoctorStiches]

600hp range may be the peak sadly. But 600hp 10sec quarters ain't half bad for a kia

 

[Russell Buzz Buzz]

600hp range may be the peak sadly. But 600hp 10sec quarters ain't half bad for a kia

They are pushing 630 whp with the lap3 big turbo kit.

 

[General_Vodka]

Yep, open deck, not a good platform for big boost.

With enough boost you can turn the head into a satellite. That's a feature not a flaw

 

[str8bizns]

I am not looking to track my car. I want a daily driver that can pull away from MP3’s or most stock sports type cars. Does map 1 with Intercooler and intakes achieve that without risk to reliability and longevity? What is 1/4 time in map 1 on a stock stinger?

 

[Russell Buzz Buzz]

I am not looking to track my car. I want a daily driver that can pull away from MP3’s or most stock sports type cars. Does map 1 with Intercooler and intakes achieve that without risk to reliability and longevity? What is 1/4 time in map 1 on a stock stinger?

On a jb4? Map1 isn’t really much of a difference.

 

[BlueByYouGT]

I am not looking to track my car. I want a daily driver that can pull away from MP3’s or most stock sports type cars. Does map 1 with Intercooler and intakes achieve that without risk to reliability and longevity? What is 1/4 time in map 1 on a stock stinger?

What type of car is a MP3? Do you mean Model 3 Performance (M3P)? Because at above 80% SOC they make around 520 whp and run 11.5x.

Your car on map 1 will probably down by over 100 hp. My guess for your car is mid-12s.

 

[str8bizns]

What type of car is a MP3? Do you mean Model 3 Performance (M3P)? Because at above 80% SOC they make around 520 whp and run 11.5x.

Your car on map 1 will probably down by over 100 hp. My guess for your car is mid-12s.

Sorry I meant m3’s

 

[str8bizns]

On a jb4? Map1 isn’t really much of a difference.

I meant tork’s map 1