Yea I just spoke with Seb and I feel a lot better about it now. Seems they actually relax the timing for 91 octane so it isn't knocking and pulling too much back out like Oem that is based on 93 octane. So that's comforting. They do tweak the vvel but I am not sure what they do to it. Waiting to hear from Rob e-mail and then decide if I go with specialty z off the shelf tune and then have it dyno tuned there in August or what Rob does on the ecutek tuning and maybe stay local.

Right now it sounds like Seb has a pretty nice deal since they have worked the traction control and everything in their MAP with ecutek. Looking like I can have a stock tune, a true tune with traction control tweak (so off = the tuned traction control like a GTR R mode), and also a tune with traction off=off so you can be stupid. Also buying the license and cable gives me access to trouble codes and data so it's like a scan tool as a bonus which I will use at some point I know (master tech for the last 11 years but left the industry this last year and now no scan tool access).

True, but they also have to tune thousands of cars on a single tune and want to minimize problems. Different altitudes and available gas octane ratings across the country are examples of variables that have to be accounted for in one tune. For these reasons, the OEM tune is extremely conservative.

A competent tuner can make your car come alive and still keep the car plenty reliable. Seb at Specialty Z is definitely one of the more experienced tuners out there.

EcuTek RaceRom is a night and day difference compared to the stock VDC. The more aggressive throttle response is huge as well -- probably the biggest single difference I noticed. I made good power gains with Seb's tune on the stock engine:

http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...ml#post3333164

Would you say it's still safe though? I am just learning to track (group a) and last thing I want is the car to get too out of hand and put me into the tire wall. I need all the artificial help I can get right now.

Yes. A proper tune is going to be perfectly safe. Stop worrying. What makes you think a tune is going to help or hurt you on the track? If you are really worried, just take it easy on the track until you get more seat time.

EcuTek RaceRom is safer on the track than the stock VDC. When VDC activates, it's very heavy handed and will cut throttle for an extended period of time (2+ seconds) even in cases where the car still has grip. This is bad news on the track because it can shift the car's weight distribution. It can also come as a surprise to someone behind you, who is not expecting you to suddenly slow down without applying the brakes! At Sonoma, I had to turn VDC off because it was activating on T3A -- preventing me from setting up properly for T4 due to the activation lag -- even when I adjusted my line and reduced entry speed to keep the car as straight as possible. I suspect it's the lateral G's that trigger it in the case.

VDC also tends to eat rear brake pads, due to the amount of rear braking it tends to apply. Back when I was tracking with VDC on, I was chewing through rear brake pads twice as fast as fronts! Bottom line, VDC in the 370Z is not a performance traction control system suitable for road racing. It might be acceptable on the Altima, but not on the Z.

RaceRom is much less intrusive and is adjustable from 0-100% using the cruise control buttons and temporary gauge hijack (it displays its setting on the oil temp gauge). I'll typically start with a setting of 50% and dial it up or down from there depending upon how the car's handling. If I'm at a track I know well, like Laguna Seca or Buttonwillow, I'll turn it off entirely. On the other hand, if it's raining and wet out, I'll turn it up to 100%. At 100%, there's no wheel slip at all (except in the rain, nothing it can do about that!), yet it doesn't cut power as intrusively as VDC.

Oh weird I did not know it was adjustable. From speaking with Seb I was under the impression it was a tweak he came up with to run with his MAP. So if I am understanding this right then when running his MAP for my tune I still have the option to tune the VDC independently of the MAP? Also I have only tracked once and it was leguna seca and I never felt like the car vdc was interfering but in still new however I never experienced the whole "ice mode" thing and hope to never experience it. Does the ecutek fix that?

Ok I did it. I placed my order, so we will see how it goes when I get it. Have to read the manual and see what options I have.

The way it's set up from Seb, VDC-off is RaceRom-on, so it's independent of the map selection. My car is set up with modes for stock, all-features-enabled, and valet mode (RPM restricted). Laguna Seca is pretty easy on the Z. VDC might kick in on T9 and T11, but it's been so long since I've run it with VDC on, it's hard to remember. In fact, fuel starvation isn't a big deal at Laguna either, whereas on every other track in California, it's a nightmare...

Cool so yours was done by Seb. Feeling a lot better now and excited to see the results. Love the car how it is so be interesting to see what I've been missing. I just ordered with off the shelf tune for now and will have it tuned on dyno when I'm down in SoCal for vacation. Seb explained the VDC off= the race rom but I was under the impression the race rom was preset? Now it's sounding like with VDC off I get to select 0-100 using the oil temp? Guess I'll see when I get it Wednesday. If I have to set it you think 50% is a good start?

I am also curious about the ecutek scan tool capabilities. I have seen screen shots with hvac and BCM module etc listed in the menu. Is this thing a full scale scan tool and can retrieve all codes? Any live data or bi directional controls? If so for 650.00 that is an insane deal as a launch scan tool will easily cost 1-3k depending on features.

Thanks all

50% is a good start. You can change it on the fly, so feel free to experiment. You can pull DTCs using EcuTek, which I have done. I don't know if it has any live data capability, as I typically use Kiwi3/HLT for that.