I have been working with Lex @ Stratified on my car for around a year, first with the initial tune and then a few follow up tunes for additional mods. (As a side note, for any readers out there, take advantage of the touch up tunes after your main tune. It's cheap and very worth it.)
Our first round of tuning landed my car +25HP/+40TQ (272WHP/342WTQ) over the Cobb Stage 1 91 octane with the following bolt-ons: Sure 3" Full Aeros, CS Test Pipe, 3" Catback, SU TMIC, ITV-22s and Autotech internals. This was validated on an AWD Dyno Dynamics dyno. This tuning time had its challenges on my end: I was changing parts, I had boost leaks, I had a faulty MAF sensor and my car seems to be more sensitive then other cars tuned in my area, not to mention the high SoCal summer temps weren't helping. Lex@Stratified stayed patient, coached me along and hung in with me like a champ and kept the car safe until we got the car to a good place. Lex always gave me good information, advice and coaching and I learned a TON along the way about the car and motor.
For the second round, I installed a water/meth injection system running a 50/50 mix with a D07 injector. After Stratified's top up tune, my car is now at 295WHP/345WTQ. Yup, you read that right, Stratified got my car +48WHP/+40WTQ since we started on the tune together. You tell me where you will see those kind of gains for _$300 elsewhere. That's money well spent. I am EXTREMELY happy with my car now. So much so, that I actually stopped messing with my car and I have just enjoyed it for the last 5 months. If you got to know my insatiable urge to tinker like Lex got to learn, you would know that is a huge compliment to Stratified.
Consider this for a second. A Mazdaspeed tuner has access to hundreds of knobs to tune our cars from fueling to timing to boost levels to wastegate controls and much more. There are relationships among these controls that are unlike other cars out there. Mazdaspeeds need Mazdaspeed motor specific knowledgeable tuners. Don't kid yourself into thinking that your local dyno tuner is going to have the know how on this platform just because he has tuned Evos and STIs in the past. I have read the horror stories where other tuners have caused Mazdaspeed engine failure due to overly aggressive low end timing or by running the cars too rich or too lean.
Stratified understands how to push the platform but won't sacrifice reliability or longevity for overly aggressive performance. Stratified is looking at the big picture and how the engine will do in all conditions, from winter to summer. You end up with a safe tune that considers the car's overall drivability so you don't end up with a car that is too temperamental and hard to daily drive.
I made Lex work for me and I didn't give him and easy time, but I couldn't ask for anything more from a tuner, e-tuner or otherwise. I thank him for his hard work and dedication to my car and this process.
Finally, you get out of an e-tune what you put in. If you engage the process, provide good consistent logs and stay committed to the process, you will end up with the best tune possible on your car. If you just take a few crappy logs, you aren't consistent with your logs or don't have the time/care to put into it, your tune won't be as good as it could be. So, make sure you have a place to take good logs and the time to take logs and interact with Stratified.
Our first round of tuning landed my car +25HP/+40TQ (272WHP/342WTQ) over the Cobb Stage 1 91 octane with the following bolt-ons: Sure 3" Full Aeros, CS Test Pipe, 3" Catback, SU TMIC, ITV-22s and Autotech internals. This was validated on an AWD Dyno Dynamics dyno. This tuning time had its challenges on my end: I was changing parts, I had boost leaks, I had a faulty MAF sensor and my car seems to be more sensitive then other cars tuned in my area, not to mention the high SoCal summer temps weren't helping. Lex@Stratified stayed patient, coached me along and hung in with me like a champ and kept the car safe until we got the car to a good place. Lex always gave me good information, advice and coaching and I learned a TON along the way about the car and motor.
For the second round, I installed a water/meth injection system running a 50/50 mix with a D07 injector. After Stratified's top up tune, my car is now at 295WHP/345WTQ. Yup, you read that right, Stratified got my car +48WHP/+40WTQ since we started on the tune together. You tell me where you will see those kind of gains for _$300 elsewhere. That's money well spent. I am EXTREMELY happy with my car now. So much so, that I actually stopped messing with my car and I have just enjoyed it for the last 5 months. If you got to know my insatiable urge to tinker like Lex got to learn, you would know that is a huge compliment to Stratified.
Consider this for a second. A Mazdaspeed tuner has access to hundreds of knobs to tune our cars from fueling to timing to boost levels to wastegate controls and much more. There are relationships among these controls that are unlike other cars out there. Mazdaspeeds need Mazdaspeed motor specific knowledgeable tuners. Don't kid yourself into thinking that your local dyno tuner is going to have the know how on this platform just because he has tuned Evos and STIs in the past. I have read the horror stories where other tuners have caused Mazdaspeed engine failure due to overly aggressive low end timing or by running the cars too rich or too lean.
Stratified understands how to push the platform but won't sacrifice reliability or longevity for overly aggressive performance. Stratified is looking at the big picture and how the engine will do in all conditions, from winter to summer. You end up with a safe tune that considers the car's overall drivability so you don't end up with a car that is too temperamental and hard to daily drive.
I made Lex work for me and I didn't give him and easy time, but I couldn't ask for anything more from a tuner, e-tuner or otherwise. I thank him for his hard work and dedication to my car and this process.
Finally, you get out of an e-tune what you put in. If you engage the process, provide good consistent logs and stay committed to the process, you will end up with the best tune possible on your car. If you just take a few crappy logs, you aren't consistent with your logs or don't have the time/care to put into it, your tune won't be as good as it could be. So, make sure you have a place to take good logs and the time to take logs and interact with Stratified.