Tuning Levels
ALL TUNES ARE AT THE OWNER’S RISK!
Stage 1
Component level changes that do not directly alter the air/fueling of the vehicle. This includes redline changes, speed limiters, DOD or MDS deletes, thermostat or fan settings, VATS or PATS disable, Emissions Control System Removals (Off Road Use Only), Cam Phaser Lockouts (that don’t require retune), Turning off Check Engine Light and Skip Shift features. This includes High Octane tune, Power Enrichment engagement and alterations to the traction control systems. This is our entry level tune that allows us to change parameters at any time without directly affecting the vehicle's performance characteristics.
Stage 1+
There are several items that customers frequently change on their vehicle that immediately require advanced tuning due to the nature of the upgrade. We call these features the “Stage one plus” and often times are required when a vehicle has extremely poor idle ability, a hard start or even a no start as a result of their upgrades. The frequent items that require a Stage 1+ tune are upgrades to the 1) Camshafts, 2) Fuel Injectors, 3) Throttle Bodies, 4) Intake Manifolds and 5) Cylinder Heads. Each of these upgrades may require extensive recalibration of the factory ECM and thus may require additional compensation for the tuning professional. Please notify us of any and all of the changes so that we can quote and effectively tune your vehicle to the maximum potential
Stage 2
This includes a full MAF and VE tuning specifically for the vehicle to operate in its local and specialized environments. We match air to fuel ratios and provide a bump in spark timing during road test periods that maximize fuel economy and efficiency. This also allows us to verify that the vehicle is not spark knocking under heavy load and is also performing without issue on a daily operational basis. Vehicles that originally come equipped with forced induction can benefit from this tune to insure that boost can be maximized in the local environmental conditions without spark knocking or running lean. This tune can oftentimes be utilized for forced induction upgrades without having to go to a Stage 3 tune, although we recommend it because the Stage 3 carries with it a full dynamometer tune!
Stage 3
Stage 3 tunes are designed to maximize your results! Every tune of a Stage 3 will have a full dyno tune associated with the build. This is also reserved for any vehicle with a power adder that was not originally installed from the factory. Tunes such as E85, Nitrous or added forced induction that may not have originally existed on your vehicle. We perform all the features of the Stage 2 MAF and VE tune on the dyno while monitoring your air to fuel ratios with our wide band O2 sensors and the state of the art data logging software. You will receive data logs for your air to fuel ratios under maximum power and have the tuning professional alter your spark timing for maximum performance without mixture lean or spark knock.
Terms of Service
- Expect that we are working to provide you with the best tune possible! For all tunes except the Stage 1, please expect not to know when you will receive your vehicle back! Please Do Not “check in on the status” of the tune or call for an update. This will only irritate the staff and detract from your final product. Trust us, when we are happy with the final product of the vehicle, we will reach out to you with your final bill and let you know the results. Accurate tuning takes concentration and time to ensure that nothing is overlooked and nothing bad happens. So, please be a patient and good customer for we are about to perform surgery on the neural network of your vehicle.
- Expect to leave your vehicle with us and not be ‘a part of the process’. We will have videos, pictures and graphs produced and issued to you after we have completed the process. Your mere presence distracts the tuners and causes a liability concern with the business. Insurance does not allow customers to be outside of the customer waiting area which is one of the two offices in our current location and we always want to perform a cold start the next morning, so regardless the car will be asked to stay overnight.
- Additional charges may apply when adding an aftermarket camshaft, throttle body, intake, MAP sensors, or fuel injectors. Charges will be inversely proportional to the amount of product information provided and available to the tuner at the time of service.
- There may be a $350 charge to evaluate a non-OEM tune file that includes Wideband, Dyno Baseline power test. This charge applies where a vehicle’s stock OEM file or repository file is unavailable and needs to be rebuilt by the tuner. Additional charges may apply if a non-oem upgrade is not disclosed in the customer release agreement that requires the technician to perform a diagnostic to identify the issues. All Re-tunes are sold at full retail price with the exception of Stage 1, which will have a $50 cost to change Stage 1 settings. Purchasing of Licensing credits is a one time cost
- Expect to be a customer of the retail operation for 6 months before we allow you to have your vehicle tuned by our team. This is intended to be utilized to establish trust between our company and your prized possession
- All Tunes and Dynamometer Runs are at the Owner’s Risk! Although unlikely, something may break while in our possession. We are not responsible for items that break during the course of the tuning or Dynamometer testing; nor for any item left in the vehicle while in our possession.
- Customers will not be able to work on their own vehicles in our shop. Any vehicle that becomes disabled in our shop can be repaired by us, or towed out. Standard Shop Storage policy applies at this point.
- If a vehicle is inspected and deemed unsafe to tune or dyno, a standard diagnostic fee of $100 will be charged to you for our diagnostic time spent on your vehicle. This fee can be waived if the repair is performed by our techs. There is No Warranty on performance parts or parts supplied by the customer.
- No vehicle will be allowed to be dyno tuned if there is an active fluid leak anywhere on the vehicle. There will be a $200 clean up charge for any vehicle that leaks large amounts of fluids (>1 pint) on the floor while dyno testing or operating in our shop.
- All block time starts after the straps have been settled and the vehicle is cleared for testing on the dyno by Sheaf Automotive Staff.
- Shop policies of storage, fuel and payment terms apply to performance vehicles. You will be charged for the cost of refueling a vehicle and a service markup if a vehicle is less than ½ of a tank when delivered.
- Tuning is more of an art than a science sometimes. Expect to have an active dialog with your tuner and expect that there may be things that arise after you leave that need further attention. The reason why you have selected our shop is that we will be with you through the full tuning process and back up our work.
- Your car will not put out as much wheel horsepower as you may think! There are many factors to dynamometer testing that affect the final produced horsepower rating; Drivetrain losses, weather conditions, Intake Air Temperatures, fuel types, dynamometer differences, mechanical imperfections in the vehicle, ect. It is important to get a base line number and judge the improvements off of a percentage from as-found horsepower and overall drivability of the vehicle when the tuning process is complete. Peak horsepower is not as important as reliable horsepower! Those who only care about the peak number end up on YouTube, Don’t be that guy!!!!
- Vehicles that are being left for long term performance projects will be invoiced under progressive billing. Once Sheaf Automotive reaches a predetermined labor threshold, an invoice for services rendered and parts purchased to that point will be issued and must be paid in full before work will continue. If payment is not made within 3 days, Sheaf Automotive reserves the right to file a mechanic’s lien on the vehicle and provided parts and apply applicable storage costs to the vehicle. By leaving your vehicle in this shop, you understand that Sheaf Automotive cannot estimate the actual costs or timeline of a performance, custom or modification job. There are no guarantees to the end cost or timeline. Daily driven vehicles will always come before your project. We are first and foremost a repair shop, not a restoration shop. If you would like our expertise and assistance with your project, you agree to be a patient and pleasant customer to work for! We want your project completed as soon as possible and of the highest quality as well!
