Everyone has their own preference. I've seen everyone complain about pretty much all of them. The only I haven't heard any real big complaints about is the IPD tune, but they're one of the more expensive ones. There's also upsolute, which I believe is one of the less expensive ones, but have heard negative things about them, such as not being able to start the car after the tune was installed. There's also rica tunes which are up there by IPD but have heard nothing but good things about them.

 

I will put more research into this, because i originally thought Upsolute was the best, but that's obviously what i thought and i haven't done this before. I'll have a better look into Rica and IPD ones more. Thanks for the help gliber

 

Personally, I would save and go with IPD.

 

Thanks for the help Gliber But i done some research into this, IPD or Rica both have nothing for Volvo S40 98' models . Upsolute seems like the best choice to me for now but the part where you said people had problems starting their car scares me, i really wouldn't know but they all are different so im not sure i'll have to look into this more.

 

Oh, I didn't know that .That's kinda weird actually. But, with any tune, if you have a problem with it, there's no reason that if you call them and explain they won't replace it or fix it for you. I'm sure with any tune your going to have the exception of one that didn't turn out exactly right.

 

Personally, I probably will never get an ECU tune, just too many other things to spend money on. However, many of the guys on s40concepts.net have engine performance tunes. I'm not sure what the most popular one is, but I've heard all of the names the other posters have dropped here.

After a bit of quick reading, RICA tuning apparently doesn't do the tunes for the S40 here in the states, but rather has to send the ECU to the Netherlands at a cost of $800. http://s40concepts.net/forum/index.p...t=0#msg_130170

http://s40concepts.net/forum/index.php?t=search

 

Anyone know how Speed Tuning USA is? Quiet a few people seem to have them. They are about $325 US dollars they seem affordable but are they reliable?

Thanks

 

I can. However I own an S70 not an S40. However... It's an ok tune. Personally I would have liked to have saved and gone with a better tune. Such as IPD USA, BSR PPC and or RICA.

I got it because I got mine through a groupbuy so it was even less then the regular $325.00, regular price.

Personally I like the tune, it may run a little rich haven't tested my AFR's but for the money it gives a good kick in the pants, but again it is a cheaper tune, less researched, less developed, less quality.

Also I am not a fan of the person that runs it. Oliver is the guys name and he isn't the easiest to understand and he isn't the easiest to get a straight answer or any answer. I had problems with him and I would never go back to ST USA ever.

1. Through the groupbuy we provided him all our info and sent in our ECU's... FINE no problem there.

2. When he was returning them he had it being returned to the wrong address. Simple change you would think. However he wanted to charge me for another shipping label. Another $17. Yeah doesn't seem like much does it, but it is when it wasn't my fault he was sending it to the wrong address. He wouldn't budge on it either. So I had to fork over the cash.

3. The ECU tuning slash turn around was good. Just one day. I sent it out on a Monday and it got back to me Wednesday and was back in my car that day and working well.

But like I said I would never go back to ST USA. So if my ECU ever gets flashed again by the dealership and it whips out my ECU upgrade which it did the last time and I had to take it down to Oliver to have it retuned for a fee of $50 I would just let it stay stock and never look back. I don't care if the tune worked or not. Dealing with Oliver is not something I personally want to do again. I'll get a real tune from IPD USA, BSR PPC and or RICA before going back to ST USA and Oliver.

 

You NEED to read this thread if you are even thinking about SpeedTuningUSA. Seriously. Literally, a brand new thread about this Oliver guy.

http://s40concepts.net/forum/index.p...4af86228288f5c

 

Mine is a Speedtune...... So far so good ! No hiccups and pulls hard all day every day! For the money, you can't go wrong. Rica and IPD are good but you will need to shell out more money for essentially the same thing.

 

Yeeeahhhh, I've read a bunch of stuff on VS about the speed tuning group buy and what a disaster it was for some people. I'm sure for a lot of people they had no problem with the tune and it's working just as it should be. But personally, I would feel best with IPD knowing the research they have behind they're stuff.

 

How is Upsolute? Is it more reliable in service and as a product than 'Speed Tuning USA' I would go for the more well founded companies, but 'IPD' has nothing for Volvo s40's neither does 'Euro Sport Tuning' or even 'Rica' so this only leaves me with 'Upsolute' which i honestly think is better because i heard any complaints so far.

Whereas 'Speed Tuning USA' worries me where you guys showed me the complaints through other threads people had about Oliver who runs 'Speed Tuning USA'.

 

If I am looking at this correctly RICA does have a tune for your car.

http://www.rica-uk.com/tuning.aspx

Does the above image represent what your s40 looks like?

Technical Specifications Power Options
Standard Power options
MAXIMUM POWER 121 kW / 165 hp 143 kW/ 195 hp
MAXIMUM TORQUE 240 Nm / 2000 rpm 285 Nm / 2200 rpm

Seriously send them an e-mail and see what they can offer you. Like the other poster said there may not be a US dealer for RICA that does the s40's but you can send your ECU overseas to have it done.

As far as upsolute goes... I really haven't heard bad or that much good news about them. So it is up to you. I would try the RICA approach and then if they don't work out then go to Upsolute.

 

Wow how can i of missed that lol. Thanks S70 driver that's the one. I'll mesage them and see what they can do.

 

Good Luck! You will fall in love with your car all over again after this mod!

 

Thanks i am in love with it as it is

 

Hello, and my apology for butting in here. Thing is, I'm curious about the outrageous cost of some of these "tunes".
For example on my Buell xb12r I bought a "Buelltooth" device for $50.00 and with that and the free ecm spy app I could manipulate every individual # on my fuel map, if I cared to. Also I can record live data and download entire maps (tunes) at will, customized for the model air filter and exhaust I'm using.
In my admittedly unqualified opinion, theres no reason at ALL that a similar thing couldn't be done with these machines. I suppose if I REALLY want to know why a simple reflash could cost up to a thousand dollars, I'll have to ask the manufacturer. I'm pretty confident these are ALL a scam of SOME kind, if only because of the cost. The dyno doesn't like, so I know they work, but DAMN.