Stratified Flash Tune Review

[StayPuft]

So, I've spent about two weeks with this tune now and I've gotta say it hasn't gotten old one bit. Gas mileage is actually up for me compared to OTS or Mountune by about 2 MPG. I've gotten used to the throttle mapping and absence of rev hang now. Car feels excessively smooth now. I wish I had requested a higher idle to smooth out the NVH from my Cobb RMM to something like 900 RPM, but it's not a big deal.

The biggest thing I've noticed is that the boost surge is gone. Completely absent. It never really bothered me before on the Cobb OTS tune, but now I definitely notice its absence. I can modulate the throttle and it will respond and do its damned best to hold the commanded boost pressure that as long as the little turbo is able. This is truly a hallmark of incredible tuning to me.

Corrections still look great, AFR still looks great, fueling is nominal. The tune is incredibly healthy and, most of all, safe.

Alex tells me there is still yet more power in there, even as the car sits near bone stock. I believe he called my car "mildly" tuned. I'm ecstatic to see where that hypothesis goes and what we can get out of it!

Nice review. I'm currently running Cobb ots s3 so we'll see what kind of difference there is.

 

[bobjob]

Good to know, I've done about 150miles in standard commute traffic so my OAR is still hovering at -.75-7, it occasionally got to -0.8 but then goes back.

 

[commonplatypus]

Good to know, I've done about 150miles in standard commute traffic so my OAR is still hovering at -.75-7, it occasionally got to -0.8 but then goes back.

Sounds like less than ideal gas? Are you running 91 or 93? Mine went right to -1.00 and stayed there.

 

[Alex@Stratified]

Sounds like less than ideal gas? Are you running 91 or 93? Mine went right to -1.00 and stayed there.

You definitely have very good fuel. I just sent you an e-mail.

Keep in mind that it is fine if OAR is not sitting at -1. It is designed to learn your actual octane and driving conditions and fine tune around that as you drive.

 

[__V__]

Gas mileage is actually up for me compared to OTS or Mountune by about 2 MPG.

Really, what mileage are you getting? I am down from 29 -> 26, its really cold and I have had some short trips but I will reset it and see if I can even crack 27 driving home tonight.

 

[commonplatypus]

Really, what mileage are you getting? I am down from 29 -> 26, its really cold and I have had some short trips but I will reset it and see if I can even crack 27 driving home tonight.

I was getting low 24 mpg in Cobb OTS and Randy. I get 25.5 - 26 depending on whether I'm doing pure light-to-light drivingin (Suburbs, which is almost always) or mixing some highway in, which brings it up.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Really, what mileage are you getting? I am down from 29 -> 26, its really cold and I have had some short trips but I will reset it and see if I can even crack 27 driving home tonight.

You do know they change the formulation of gas in the Midwest during the winter right? Summer I was getting consistently 33-35mpg with alot of high way driving....winter is 30-32mpg. City Is 28 to 30mpg....but from what I've observed is the colder it gets here in Mn the economy will go down. I just ordered a AP3 from them with a 91/93 oct. Tune....I'm starting to wonder if I will have to get the file retuned once the quality of gas here is increased after the winter ends. Or is the car smart enough to make the necessary adjustments on its own?

 

[Alex@Stratified]

You do know they change the formulation of gas in the Midwest during the winter right? Summer I was getting consistently 33-35mpg with alot of high way driving....winter is 30-32mpg. City Is 28 to 30mpg....but from what I've observed is the colder it gets here in Mn the economy will go down. I just ordered a AP3 from them with a 91/93 oct. Tune....I'm starting to wonder if I will have to get the file retuned once the quality of gas here is increased after the winter ends. Or is the car smart enough to make the necessary adjustments on its own?

There is built in adaptability of the tune via the octane adjust ratio. Keep an eye on things in the summer but from what I've seen, the ECU in conjunction with how the tune is setup learns enough to adjust between winter and summer blends.

 

[bobjob]

I'm in southern California so only 91.and I've had a tank from chevron and shell split between the flash so far. I wish higher octane was readily available but that's the way it is. On average from the last fill I get 30mpg with LA commute and light on the throttle

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Received the AP yesterday in the mail....I will definitely say that it is a very well thought out powerband. First test drive....took off traction control at a stop sign and smoked the tires through the intersection and scared some folks. Will get back on Mpg report after a couple tanks of gas and driving. Thanks Alex !

 

[jeff]

Received the AP yesterday in the mail....I will definitely say that it is a very well thought out powerband. First test drive....took off traction control at a stop sign and smoked the tires through the intersection and scared some folks. Will get back on Mpg report after a couple tanks of gas and driving. Thanks Alex !

This tune is way more controlled than the Cobb OTS one. I've had it on my car maybe 10'days now and I've gotten a good idea where to keep the throttle so as to not shred my tires. There is some torque steer but it's the fun kind, reminds you of the attitude of this car.

 

[KKaWing]

This tune is way more controlled than the Cobb OTS one. I've had it on my car maybe 10'days now and I've gotten a good idea where to keep the throttle so as to not shred my tires. There is some torque steer but it's the fun kind, reminds you of the attitude of this car.

Enough torque steer to stick these 9-3 Viggen bages on?

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Just did a little comparison between the stratified tune and the Cobb OTS tune. Could tell the difference right away between the two. Again great job Alex....now just to do a tune log and send it in!

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Enough torque steer to stick these 9-3 Viggen bages on?

It's always a Saab Saab story when that brand is brought up. Electrical gremlin fucking nightmares. It was an alright car but always reminded me of a Turtle on wheels....

 

[WeTheNorth]

I've had this for a few days but I can't give it a proper review because when I installed this tune to my AP, I also went down to lighter wheels (5lbs less rotational mass/ 5X4X10=200lbs less rotational mass) and removed my spare tire+jack+cover (47.8lbs) . Also idk what estimated tq means on the AP exactly? But my numbers went from 257 to 270-280ish with this tune over the Cobb OTS stg-1. I can definitely say the car has better driving manner, feels like the power holds a bit longer and more linear til 5500rpms (20psi) before it starts to taper off (15psi). It idles like a dream, over all impressed with this tune. 100% worth the 50usd/80$ for us Canadians! (Ouch) now just waiting for my free log review...

 

[commonplatypus]

Took some sample logs tonight on the way home after swapping back to winters (General Altimax Arctic) from my new Pilot Super Sports after meeting up with some friends on a whim. Pretty impressed to say the least with the results after having the tune revised a bit better for my fuel quality (Which is very good). The car definitely puts down more power with the smaller wheels, probably due to having to deal with less unsprung mass and not having to work as hard at the wheels. I am of course willing to sacrifice this for the quality of tire I get with the Pilot Super Sport, but it is very nice seeing the numbers, I must admit.

It's definitely time to move up to a better intercooler as I am managing a 30 degree temperature rise on third gear pulls in 30-ish degree weather locally, and I've been shopping around and counting the days until my bonus and raise drop at work for sure to pull the trigger. So torn between the AirTec and CPe offerings. That MTC (Cobb clone apparently after talking to the seller) is also mightty tempting based on price.

Hopefully Alex can deliver us an e30 tune in the near future as well.

Still nothing but pleased with my tuning from Stratified!

Attached a graph below. Didn't correct it for Temperature and barometric pressure this time (Not that anyone else does), but I'm also now using a customer template for the Fiesta now that includes proper gearing ratios (1.360 for third gear in this case), Drag Coefficient (0.33) , and frontal area (22.55 ft^2), as well. I don't think it's fair to be using the Focus ST as a template in vDyno any longer personally, but that is just me and my preference for accuracy. Changing the numbers for final drive, tire height, and car weight simply aren't enough to get accurate results. Running the same logs using the modified Focus template I start putting down 228 HP / 318 ftlb of TQ and that's clearly not right to me.

 

[__V__]

Just adding my short little run this morning from datazap. Road was a slight incline and still wearing the winter tires. Third gear pull from 2500-5400, I think I was having some traction issues.
http://datazap.me/u/v/log-1456234686?log=1&data=1-2-6-7-9&zoom=235-489&hg=1

 

[FistSt215]

So this is a tune ots tune we can purchase for 50 bucks ? Not an e-tune ? Is this for stage 1 or this can be purchased for stage 2 and 3 ?

 

[bobjob]

You spec all your hardware when you order, so it comes "ots" but tuned to your specs. You can pay for a log review to do some minor adjustments (no added power but may fix timing etc) after or pay for a whole etune if you want.

 

[FistSt215]

Ok makes sense as I saw a custom etune on the site for 250 vs ots tune for 50 bucks . Seems like the custom 50 dollar tune is a hit . This is something I'm looking into in the future .