[CheezyB88]

Hi there,

I recently purchased a used 2015 Mazda3 2.5 with the 6spd manual. I'm itching to get it tuned but want to be sure of all my options and what i'm getting myself into before I pull the trigger. I've been reading a lot about OVTune, as he seems to be the main guy for our car. But are there any other tuning options out there? I understand there's a whole process of sending WOT logs back and forth. And then there are handheld OTS tunes available. What's out there, and what's the consensus on them? Thanks.

 

[Hawk94]

Hi there,

I recently purchased a used 2015 Mazda3 2.5 with the 6spd manual. I'm itching to get it tuned but want to be sure of all my options and what i'm getting myself into before I pull the trigger. I've been reading a lot about OVTune, as he seems to be the main guy for our car. But are there any other tuning options out there? I understand there's a whole process of sending WOT logs back and forth. And then there are handheld OTS tunes available. What's out there, and what's the consensus on them? Thanks.

As far I can think OVT is the only one I know that tunes for our platform. I haven't seen any members post about other tuners before or anything good to say about other tuners aside from OVT.

I'd say to go the tailored route with OVT if you can since they produce decent results but it's arguable.

 

[CheezyB88]

Thanks for the reply. Hmm yea that's kinda what I figured. I see you were tuned by him, what's the best way to contact him? I tried having a convo with him over FB and he did reply a couple times but I don't think he frequents it so i've been having difficulty reaching him.

 

[ElNino77]

I just ordered the package right on the orange virus website...you can purchase there. I would recommend OV due to the large amount of tuned skyactives out there by him, without a single horror story. Some guys have already hit 100k miles over on mazda 6 forum.

It will require a bit of patience, but i found the service level acceptable, and the results satisfactory. Car is more ballsy in daily driving, and all the timed tests ive done have shown improvement.

Once i get my pzero tires installed up front im going to try some more 0-60 runs to try and knock off a full second over C&D time...i think its doable. My tune is not the most aggresive OV can offer either.

 

[Moto-x_Mike]

Thanks for the reply. Hmm yea that's kinda what I figured. I see you were tuned by him, what's the best way to contact him? I tried having a convo with him over FB and he did reply a couple times but I don't think he frequents it so i've been having difficulty reaching him.

Frankly, his communication skills suck, which makes the tune process more cumbersome than it already is, but the end results are worth the headaches. The tune makes a big difference!

 

[CheezyB88]

I actually bought this car knowing I would get it tuned lol. My question is, what do you actually get with the tune? Is it possible to have two different tunes (one for 87 octane, another for 93 octane for example) and easily switch back and forth between them on some piece of hardware? And i noticed they also offer handheld units, but not sure if it's offered for our 3rd gen Mazda3's. Which did you buy?

 

[JDabzzz]

I actually bought this car knowing I would get it tuned lol. My question is, what do you actually get with the tune? Is it possible to have two different tunes (one for 87 octane, another for 93 octane for example) and easily switch back and forth between them on some piece of hardware? And i noticed they also offer handheld units, but not sure if it's offered for our 3rd gen Mazda3's. Which did you buy?

Handheld units are more for OTS tunes and afaik they werent offered on our cars. It is possible to get to different gas trims tuned on however I believe that will be 2x the cost. Each tuning order is specific to a trim of gas, meaning if you want to be tuned on 91, that's what you're paying for.

I personally got tuned on 91, but asked for normal mode to be tuned for fuel economy, and sport mode to be as balls to the wall as possible.

 

[CheezyB88]

Handheld units are more for OTS tunes and afaik they werent offered on our cars. It is possible to get to different gas trims tuned on however I believe that will be 2x the cost. Each tuning order is specific to a trim of gas, meaning if you want to be tuned on 91, that's what you're paying for.

I personally got tuned on 91, but asked for normal mode to be tuned for fuel economy, and sport mode to be as balls to the wall as possible.

How do you switch between tunes though? Do you have to plug in your laptop into the OBDII and do it that way? Also, i wonder if it's more cost effective, in terms of fuel costs, to do a single octane tune with a fuel economy mode, rather than 87/93 octane tune?

 

[JDabzzz]

How do you switch between tunes though? Do you have to plug in your laptop into the OBDII and do it that way? Also, i wonder if it's more cost effective, in terms of fuel costs, to do a single octane tune with a fuel economy mode, rather than 87/93 octane tune?

Laptop into OBDII every time.

Sure, you can save some money (about 20 cents per gallon where I live) from using 87 instead of 91 or even more for not using 93, but the gains are going to be far less using 87.

 

[CheezyB88]

I just realized you have an automatic transmission. I have the manual, so i'm not sure i can tune for two different modes like that. Shoot, i guess you're right the price diff between 87 and 93 isn't that much anyway.

 

[ElNino77]

Yeah paying for 93 has not bugged me much, especially with gas prices decent lately - hovering around $2.55/gal right now for 93 in my area, and you can find it cheaper if name brand is not important to you. I also asked him about using 92 octane (for instance if stuck in CA) - he said should be fine, don't go any lower.

You get the tatrix cable to plug in your laptop to your car, a mazda edit software license, and the tuning service. He will give you a file for the stock tune that you can always flash back.

On a side note - I read posts from one one guy that had his laptop battery go dead during the flashing process, bricked his brand new mazda 6 for a few days, wife threw a fit (can't blame her), family had already told him he was dumb to tune a new car, etc....poor SOB....of course this is easily avoided by using your brain, but we've all done dumb things.....

 

[CheezyB88]

Haha jeez, i should get one of those inverter things that give you a 120v socket from the 12v socket then. My laptop's battery is not the best.

 

[ElNino77]

Haha jeez, i should get one of those inverter things that give you a 120v socket from the 12v socket then. My laptop's battery is not the best.

the good news is when flashing, you can just hook up extension cable from your garage since there's no need to drive. If the battery dies during logging (aka while driving) i don't think there is much to worry about there. I want to say this guy was trying to flash at his kid's daycare or something like that lol, so he didn't have acess to an outlet

edit: my google-fu is strong today! Here's the link to the page where he starts telling his story....
http://forum.mazda6club.com/2-5l-i-...uning-how-technical-support-discussion-5.html

little preview to wet your appetite....I want to to say thanks and all condolences to this gentleman for sharing his story....

So I then had to run extension cords into the preschool like an idiot and flashed back to Tune 7, without quirks. But of course that would be too easy because...


When I tried to start the car I found out the battery was dead. It could only get about one revolution on the starter. SO NEVER BLANK YOUR ECU AND LEAVE THE CAR CONNECTEDTO THE BATTERY! Something is apparently having large parasitic loads on the electrical system when the ECU is in that state and it will suck your battery dry in 8 hours.


So I jumped my battery for the 3rd time in 4 months, and its actually my 4th major drain on it between the damn tune and my dome lights that are damned if I do damned if I don't about turning them off or leaving the on auto.


I'll see if the car turns over tomorrow morning. In the meantime or for the forseable future I'm in the deep sh&% doghouse with the wife and parents for "screwing around with such a perfectly good new car." Fun day.

 

[Moto-x_Mike]

You tune for a particular octane & that's it. The higher the octane, the more power you'll be able to get. The higher the fuel cost too, but that's negligible, IMO.

You can pick if you want an economy tune, max performance, or a balanced tune for performance with economy. Most people I know have tuned for the last one.

 

[CheezyB88]

Well i just confirmed with OV. He says i can have additional octane tunes for $75/tune. I did some math and it would take about 5000 miles of driving on 87 to pay for the extra $75, by filling up 87 instead of 93. Is it worth it? Maybe, but not sure yet. But honestly i dunno when i'd ever switch back to 87 tune. Maybe when money is tight? lol.

 

[jamesst20]

Hi there,

I recently purchased a used 2015 Mazda3 2.5 with the 6spd manual. I'm itching to get it tuned but want to be sure of all my options and what i'm getting myself into before I pull the trigger. I've been reading a lot about OVTune, as he seems to be the main guy for our car. But are there any other tuning options out there? I understand there's a whole process of sending WOT logs back and forth. And then there are handheld OTS tunes available. What's out there, and what's the consensus on them? Thanks.

I though it was 2.0L ? Maybe you got the GT version ? Lucky you, I got the GS

 

[CheezyB88]

I though it was 2.0L ? Maybe you got the GT version ? Lucky you, I got the GS

Hehe yea have the GT trim. I'm in the US, i don't think we even have a GS trim.

 

[ElNino77]

Well i just confirmed with OV. He says i can have additional octane tunes for $75/tune. I did some math and it would take about 5000 miles of driving on 87 to pay for the extra $75, by filling up 87 instead of 93. Is it worth it? Maybe, but not sure yet. But honestly i dunno when i'd ever switch back to 87 tune. Maybe when money is tight? lol.

Yeah sounds convenient at first (heck i'd like to have both too) but i'd probably never want to switch back and forth. Gotta make sure the tank is empty enough so when you switch back to 93 octane it's note diluted down too much, etc.

But again, would be nice to have the option at least.

 

[CheezyB88]

Indeed, and there is currently no handheld tuner option for our cars from OV.

 

[CheezyB88]

UPDATE:

It looks like OVT is now offering a handheld product for our cars! But only for the Denso ECU. Ill have to check which ECU mine has tonight. I've confirmed the official announcement on his facebook page.

https://www.ovtuned.com/collections/handheld/products/mazda-skyactiv-handheld-tuner-denso