Kevin_R_Clark said:
To me there are 2 schools of thought that go into making a tuner choice. They are simply old school or new school. The choice to me depends on what motor I might be wanting to have modded. I just try to find the guy with the most experience on each particular motor. Old school being legends like yourself, Geraghty, Ackerman- guys who`s reputation preseedes them who for the most part don`t race anymore. These guys would always be my first choice simply because if you listen and do exactly as they say your chances at success are much greater. But I also feel they tend to get stuck in the what works deal and there is always more to be gained. New school being the guys who are still racing. Andy, Kevin, Tim, Mark, to me would be leading the way in this catergory. They are the ones who push the envelope,- technology- CNC machining-set ups. I have to admit that if I was dead serious about racing these guys would be my choice. Put getting them to give out all there secrets to setups and the matter might be a hard thing to do.
Never thought I would be called a legend and an old school at age of 37. Kevin, you could not be more wrong, I'm not a legend by any strech of imagination but even less an old school, unless giving people engines that actualy do work instead of some experimental bucher job and calling it "pushing the envelope" than you can call me old school. If you read Preston's post you will see that engines can be user friendly yet very fast.
This is what I think what should be considered in selectin an engine tuner
-consistency
-performance
-specialy
-ability to do different things
-turnaround
-no BS
*Tuner has to be consistent, same engines should run fairly close
*performance has to be improved but can not take away from consistency, engine shouldn't work like a on/off switch
*one should look for a tuner specialized in a particular engine, if a tuner tells you he works on all engines my sugestion is to walk away (jack of all trades-master of none)
*some don't believe Dremel should be used, I'm not one of them, even the best CNC machines can't do what skilfull hands with Dremel will, there should be a combination of machine work and hand work. If only machines are used than you are not getting full benefit from the mods.
*turnarond is important, but if everyone waits untill April to send engines to a tuner and than everyone wants them back by beginning of May that puts a lot of pressure on a tuner. I have been there, people would start to tell me in October that they will send me some engines and I would eventualy get them in April, not good.
*NO BS is very important, tuners who do one kind of work for themself and different kind for everyone else would be very low on my list, no secrets, no experiments, engine has to be build to run with recommended pipe, fuel etc.
After you select a tuner and tall to him, be honest about your boat weight, setup, hardware, be realistic - can your boat run with the best with just better engine or will it need a lot of work, do you have a patience and knowledge to do things right.
-After the engine has been done, do what tuner has recommended before you decide to run different pipe, head, carb etc.
Many of you who have responded to my question have a right idea on how to select good a tuner. It has been an interesting thread.
Advanced Racing Tech
Frank Orlic
