Tune+ vs. DHM vs. Stratified Tunes

[TUX15ST]

I believe i have narrowed down my tuning options to two brands and was wondering if anyone out there has tried both on the same setup and their experience with both tuners? Thanks!

 

[Hijinx]

Subscribed.

 

[jeff]

Probably not a productive discussion as emotions get riled over this sort of comparison and pitting two vendors against one another like this isn't a safe subject imho. These are two hard working guys trying to make a living and serving happy customers on these forums. Both are great, I suggest reading up on each and choosing whoever seems best for your needs without making it into a "who's best" discussion. Tensions are high over this topic already.

 

[jdubs]

Probably not a productive discussion as emotions get riled over this sort of comparison and pitting two vendors against one another like this isn't a safe subject imho. These are two hard working guys trying to make a living and serving happy customers on these forums. Both are great, I suggest reading up on each and choosing whoever seems best for your needs without making it into a "who's best" discussion. Tensions are high over this topic already.

^^^^ What this guy said.

 

[TUX15ST]

I have done plenty of reading which has narrowed me down picking between these and thats what led me to wonder if anyone out there has tried tunes from both of them, thats all, they are both great

 

[Joker328]

subscribed.

LOL


Seriously though, is this forum for the vendors or for the drivers? Guy asked a legit question. No reason people (including the vendors involved) should get bent out of shape. If anyone has experience with both and can share their experience, chime in. Otherwise, STFU.

 

[TUX15ST]

LOL


Seriously though, is this forum for the vendors or for the drivers? Guy asked a legit question. No reason people (including the vendors involved) should get bent out of shape. If anyone has experience with both and can share their experience, chime in. Otherwise, STFU.

Exactly! and if the vendors are even listening on here, go ahead and sell me on yourself, doesn't need to involving trashing anyone thats not what im looking for at all

 

[Racer83L]

you know, I have a sales organization and I constantly remind my sales people not to bash our competition. We are not in their house to sell them anything just help them decide how we can best help them reach their own goals.
We are in a large industry on a small island, we run into the same people all the time and you never know what the future will bring - its important to be civil and respectful to everyone.

 

[15performanceblue]

I have had both tunes, on a stage 3 setup. Both tuners are awesome and do a great job. Both tunes have their differences, in the end, it comes to down to customer service and tune turn times. One of them will have you a new revision every day no questions asked, sometimes multiple times a day. (Tune+) DHM is so busy with everything else going on, they do not have the time like Adam and you may go a day or two with out a revision. DHM Adds the pops and gurgles to their tunes which is fun and awesome, Tune+ does not.

Bottom line is it is up to you. Getting anyone on the forum to give a completely unbiased opinion on both tuners is not going to happen. I personally like both. Tune+ tuned my current setup that DHM could not. That is all that I will say about that. Period. No hard feelings no problems, just couldn't figure out an issue and it so happens the other tuner did.

 

[TUX15ST]

Thanks, this is exactly what im looking for!

 

[frankiefiesta]

I also have experience with both. I'll try to leave the drama out of it. I had Adam tune my car when it was stage 3. It was better than cobbs OTS map.

I switched to DHM because of Adams attitude and demeanor. I'll leave it at that. I've voiced my opinion enough. To be honest, I was hesitant to switch to deadhook. I bought an intercooler from them awhile back, and it took 3 months or so to receive. I wasn't happy. I decided to give them a second chance when Adam wouldn't give me the basemap I wanted. Deadhook really has come a long way. Usually received a revision once a day. Longest wait was 2 days. They answer texts, emails, and phone calls. They also make the highest hp cars and the only fiesta engine I've seen Russ blow was his own lol...

If I could do it all over again I would've used deadhook or stratified from the start. I'm surprised you aren't even considering stratified

 

[Sourskittle]

One owns every fiesta ST and focus ST speed record we know of....
Not sure what else anyone would need to know besides that DHM has hired help around the shop to help them step up in the customer service area.

I also know a few people that rightfully are happy with Tune+ and if I owned an OEM stock turbo, I'd know that Tune+ could handle tuning it without issue.

And that's about clean as I can keep it.

We have some up and coming tuners that I believe deserve a shot as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TUX15ST]

I also have experience with both. I'll try to leave the drama out of it. I had Adam tune my car when it was stage 3. It was better than cobbs OTS map.

I switched to DHM because of Adams attitude and demeanor. I'll leave it at that. I've voiced my opinion enough. To be honest, I was hesitant to switch to deadhook. I bought an intercooler from them awhile back, and it took 3 months or so to receive. I wasn't happy. I decided to give them a second chance when Adam wouldn't give me the basemap I wanted. Deadhook really has come a long way. Usually received a revision once a day. Longest wait was 2 days. They answer texts, emails, and phone calls. They also make the highest hp cars and the only fiesta engine I've seen Russ blow was his own lol...

If I could do it all over again I would've used deadhook or stratified from the start. I'm surprised you aren't even considering stratified

thanks, and i have considered stratified because I actually used them exclusively on my FoST and they had some get tunes, however I feel they are very much more involved in the FoST platform and may be lacking a little with the FiST, they have like 20 updates on their FoST tune and only 2 for the FiST lol, I just feel like Id be better off with a company a little more into the FiST tuning market and I could on all this but its just the way it seems to me

 

[Rhinopolis]

I'll weigh in and these are just my honest assessments. Although I haven't had a DHM tune, I did order a piece of theirs for my FiST on May 28. No one with DHM can give me an honest answer on when to expect it, and I have been told bad info several times. I have been told at least two times to expect tracking or a follow up email "by the end of the week", and no one replies back and then weeks go by after that and I have to reach out "again" to make sure that I haven't been forgotten about.

I work as a sales manager with a global valve manufacturer, and I understand delays and hold ups. My 1st experience in buying from DHM has been frustrating due to poor communication and an apparent lack of organization on their part. They do apologize and seem to care about the business (strikes me as genuine too), and the only reason that I haven't asked to cancel is because I really want their part..lol. They do good work from what I am told!

With Tune+ Adam always responds promptly, he has been honest (brutally so at times like he can be...lol) with the info that he gives, and the quality of his work has not disappointed me. I'm not an advocate for personalities, and I promote products that give results.

I shall name no names, but when I 1st started working with a tuner who at one time was more active on this forum and now is not active, they could not get my tune right. My ignition corrections were all over the place, and they actually suggested that I might have had a problem with my car that was deeper than tuning could resolve. I was a little upset seeing as how the car had under 1k miles at that time.

On the 1st revision that Tune+ sent me and ever since, my car has run well and from what I have learned by reading threads on this forum my tune is in harmony and everything is running as it should. The results speak for themself, and I have utilized Virtual Dyno to prove the advancements over time.

PS: I like Russ with DHM and base this on a few conversations we have had. I really like all of the big things (engine builds) that DHM is doing, and the couple of hundred $$$'s part that I ordered is probably small potatoes to them and compared to the bigger stuff that they are doing. Hell, one day I might be a customer of his for an engine or big turbo. He strikes me as a solid guy with a great passion and product, that just seems to be struggling to organize the flow with portions of his business.

 

[AzNightmare]

These types of threads are pointless. Everyone, including myself, should just be quiet unless they have specifically switched back to back using both tuners in question. Otherwise their opinions are not valid for a comparison.

 

[TUX15ST]

I wouldnt say pointless, however I do agree that only very posts of this thread are actually useful to my question.

 

[OffTheWall503]

Thought this thread might be a good place to post.

After I picked up my turbo kit, I was deciding between DHM, Stratified and Tune+ for my tuning needs.

I had previous experience with Stratified and have nothing but good things to say. They are consistent, reliable and an email away. The tune is also great with E30 and on 92 octane. However, I had to stick within a certain budget and Stratified wants $350+ for the tune I would want.

I have NOT had direct experience with DHM but I had heard good things about their tune with the GT2554R so I attempted to reach out to them via text, no answer. I sent an email, no answer. I even sent a PM on the forum here and still no answer. Not necessarily a bad experience, but I couldn't get a response. Not positive or negative, but never had a chance to get to deal with them as I never received a response to my questions. Their pricing would've been around the ballpark of Stratified, so even if I had wanted to spend the money, not getting a response made me quickly move on.

I read reviews about Adam, and while good and bad, the consensus was good on the tunes themselves albeit some personalities butting heads. His price is good ($150 for a single tune and $300 for lifetime) and his responses to emails and Facebook were very quick. I also like that he doesn't charge extra for tuning on multiple fuel types. He has done multiple GT2554R tunes, so that was enough for me to pull the trigger with him. I placed an order Friday evening, received an email promptly Monday morning (he doesn't work weekends, good for him) and after responding, received the initial tune later that day. I will post my impressions once I get my turbo kit installed in December.

I don't have anything bad to say about any of these vendors/tuners but hope my experience helps for those that are looking.

 

[WhiteST]

I keep reading about these companies having slow customer service, but that's what I would expect. They're small and simply don't have time for everyone. I'm trying to convince my buddy to come into the ST tuning world but hes busy tuning fast cars haha. He tuned me to stage 3 on E40, took 15 mins for one tune revision. I outrun a Golf R until 115. I'm happy with that for the stock turbo. Until you go big turbo there isn't much power left on the table anyway. I wouldn't be losing sleep on who you use until you upgrade some major parts. Personally, I would go with DHM since they have the most experience with the platform.

 

[JasonHaven]

I only have limited experience with Adam, and he was quick to respond. I'm the one that owes him datalogs, but I generally don't have the time to find a safe place in the area for that, so I'm sitting on OTS Cobb tunes currently haha.

From what I understand of the three titular tuners, they are all good tuners, sometimes miss on specific setups, and sometimes have slow responses because they are small organizations with a lot of demand. I don't know what's normal in these communities, but frankly I'm happy that we have at least three well regarded tuners available to us.

 

[TUX15ST]

I KINDA FORGOT ABOUT THIS THREAD BUT AT THIS POINT I CAN ACTUALLY ANSWER MY OWN QUESTION LOL SINCE IVED USED ALL THREE OF THE COMPANIES TUNES AT THIS POINT. I TOO HAD TROUBLE GETTING IN TOUCH WITH DHM, I HAD EMAILED THEM ON THEIR SITE A FEW TIMES WITH NO RESPONSE AND PMED THEM A FEW TIMES WITH NO RESPONSE BUT FINALLY I TRIED AGAIN ONE DAY AND RUSS RESPONDED A FEW TIMES RIGHT AWAY AND SOLD ME ON THEM. MY ACTUAL TUNING WITH THEM WENT MUCH SMOOTHER THAN MY EMAILING HAD LOL, GOT A TOTAL OF 11 REVISIONS VERY FAST, USUALLY SAME DAY. AS FAR AS THE ACTUAL TUNES THEMSELVES AND HOW THEY FEEL POWER AND SMOOTHNESS WISE, i WOULD RATE DHM MY FAVORITE BECAUSE THE POWER IS VERY STRONG DOWN LOW AND PULLS THE HARDEST, STRATIFIED IS NOT FAR BEHIND DHM, I LOVE THE WAY THE STRAT TUNE FEELS IN FIRST GEAR AND TAKING OFF BUT THE DHM TUNE HAD MORE POWER IN EVERY OTHER GEAR AT ALL TIMES. IN FAIRNESS THOUGH THE STRAT TUNE WAS NOT A PRO TUNE AND JUST THEIR FLASH TUNE SO ID IMAGINE THEIR PRO TUNE WOULD BE VERY CLOSE TO DHM. MY LEAST FAVORITE TUNE WAS THE PRO TUNE FROM TUNE+ IT FELT BY FAR THE WEAKEST DOWN LOW AND WAS JUST NOT AS SMOOTH AS THE OTHERS BUT ADAM DID HAVE THE FASTEST TURN AROUND TIME IF ONLY THE TUNES WERE STRONGER. HOPE THIS HELPS