Ard Tuning

[Burn-E]

Post reviews of your experience with Lucky's efforts here.

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ARD Made a response to some of the concerns members have raised in the following reviews and around the forum: '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>>

[Commander Riker]

Vehicle : 1998 V70R - 2.5LPT, M66C, K24, Green injectors, FMIC, EST Exhaust, SNABB 3" intake and TCV

Tune : ARD Blue - 15PSI

Ordered through SNABB. Sent my stock ECU out and received the tune out on a Monday, had it back that Friday. Customer service has been great.

Also ordered a K24 Hybrid 11 blade billet compressor wheel. Had them ship to my turbo builder. Lucky took time from to speak to me both before ordering the wheel and just before I installed the turbo back into the car. Very nice guy.

In the images below, you are looking at the tuning modifications that were applied to my ECU and are in my car now.

The GREEN denotes stock values... the RED shows the modifications.

FUEL

IGNITION

BOOST SET POINT

FUEL CUT

[goldponcho]

Bought Green M4.4 for my '96 855R with manual-swap, 16t, 3" exhaust. Loved it, and his customer service! Granted, he made me a great deal at a BBQ/tuning session in Seattle, so couldn't pass it up. Running the same tune again in the yellow. No complaints.

[Ihatespeedbumps]

My sole experience with ARD was a few years ago when I helped kick start the fizzled out GB for 93-98 lightened crank pulleys. Sent my crank pulley core to ARD for further development on my dime. ARD charged me a drastically reduced rate for the new pulley once it was in production, an extremely fair price in my opinion. Fit and finish was perfect, and though I still no longer have the car, my co-worker has the pulley installed on his S70 with no problems at all.

If you have a review please post in detail your experience. Stating simple reviews like "ARD sucks" or "ARD is the best ever" really doesn't help anyone. This isn't ebay and we don't have the space limitations on reviews.

[survolvo]

My experience with ARD and the products have always been positive. I have a Green Tune in my manual swapped 96 850, I really noticed a difference after putting in the tune. Woke the car up. Got the tune within a reasonable time-frame. And always got answers when i have had a question.

I also bought a Green Tune for a friend of mine for his 98 VR. I have not heard him complain about a thing.

I think if you are going to leave a review here you should explain your opinions a little bit better than just say "Junk".
.

[Modman]

I've got a green tune for my 98 T5m. I've been running the green tune in my daily driver for about 1 1/2 months now and so far so good. Pulls nice and hits 17 psi as it should.

[atefitty]

I got the ARD green tune for manual transmission a year or two ago and it gave great performance. A little too great as I bent a rod this year. I also have a issue where I get a maf code any time I coast for more than 30 seconds downhill..Not sure if it has anything to do with the tune. Response time is good when you mail your ECM to his company but I live only 1 state away in Washington State. I'm about to get the ARD Blue because I had a 19T put in and had my motor built.

[Fudge_Brownie]

Updated thread with a poll. It is relevant to those who have actually bought (or used) ARD products, not on your perception of them. I've set it in a way that people can see if the primary problem with the business relates to tunes, since I know that's a hot topic.

[Avboden]

'98 V70R, green tune. Very very happy with it. Improved gas milage when not on the power, and way better when on it. Formerly had the IPD tune and the ARD green tune trounced it. The boost is so much more dynamic.

I can't speak for any issues for the P2 cars, but for my '98, the green tune is da bomb

[rcstdad]

I rec'd a Green tune from ARD October 2012. I waited to install it after I did my NA cam swap (Dec. 2012). The only mods I had were white injectors and NA cams (appropriately timed). The car ran fine, with no problems from Jan. 2013-July 2013. In July, I did a MT swap, and went with an ARD 19t conversion wheel, a Kinguawa 11blade turbine wheel, 7cm angle housing, ARD TCV, and full OBX exhaust. At that time I upgraded to the ARD Blue tune, and re-set cam timing. The car has been on the road, with no problems since then. It pulls strong in all gears, easily to 6500prm. I have yet to dyno it, but plan to this month. I have noticed is that my wide-band pegs at 10 during WOT runs. Boost varies from time to time, but mostly I see 1.3bar. The conditions are never the same, so I personally would hesitate to blame it on the tune. The rpm's hang when I press the clutch (but I've read that many people have that problem even without a tune). I am quite happy with my car's performance, and the few times I have had to contact ARD, communication has been top notch.

I will take video of a 2nd and 3rd gear pulls this weekend and post them.

These are just my personal results with the products and my interactions with the company.

*edit: Mine is a 4.3 tune

[rmorse]

Posting for Swedespeed user Trav8832: http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?203169-Tune-maps-from-my-dyno-tune

Lucky was asked to tune his car, and very little actual tuning was done. Below is a representation of what was changed, and the actual tune maps:

Fueling is barely changed called KFLBTS - high EGT enrichment, there is another map that IS modified called LAMFA, fueling based on TPS

KFMIOP - OPTIMUM torque
KFMIRL - REQUESTED LOAD

both unchanged, and must be changed

the wrong RPM limit is changed

KFZW = ignition timing, unchanged

[burnout8488]

I was one of the first people to get an ME7 LPT tune for my '99 with a 15G. My car is automatic. I got the Green tune, which has a 14psi boost limit on the 2.4. The 5psi limit below a certain RPM works great in 1st gear, and I assume is one of the key factors in keeping an LPT safe with increased boost.

The only issue I've had for over a year now, is the fact that the car rarely hits 14psi, and when it does it is usually only in 3rd gear at 75mph+, wide open throttle. Like z31jaime, I have replaced nearly everything, needlessly blaming my car, and not the tune. The wastegate has been manipulated a ton using Lucky's recommendations, and some of my own. After installing an aftermarket downpipe, the problem got worse, so Lucky suggested a retune for $75. With the downpipe, it would overshoot 14psi, then pull back and wobble between 12 and 14psi. I never actually noticed a difference after the retune, it was exactly the same, so I'm not sure the extent of what was done. The tune was intended to slow down the boost building characteristics so it wouldn't overshoot.

But for the most part, even at 12psi in 1st and 2nd gear, the car pulls strong and I have not had any reliability issues with the tune. I just wish I was able to get some actual value out of my $75 on the retune. No other complaints. Customer service was great, and the car is an animal. (This was prior to the price increases, and when it was just Lucky, not Nick or his wife)

[LaMunyon]

Have been running an ARD green tune in my '98 T5M for a little over six months now and it's vastly superior to the Stage I iPd tune that came with the car when I bought it. Much smoother boost onset and holds 17 psi like a champ. Am running the usual mods (NA TB and intake mani, R exhaust mani, RIP kit, Snabb intake downpipe, Eurosport CAI, IPD turbo back exhaust) and the car runs perfectly with the green tune.

[z31jaime]

I'm interested In knowing what tune each of the reviews.... maybe the Bad reviews all have some kind of common tune. unlike the others.

[Big Will]

I've had only positive experiences dealing with Lucky so I'm surprised to be reading so much negativity in this thread.

My car: 98 V70 AWD with white injectors, 15G turbo with an angled 7cm exhaust housing, TME downpipe, TME catback exhaust, R manifold, Snabb fresh air pipe, EST intake. M58 manual transmission; SAS components removed.

For years I had run a custom Wothrline tune for my setup. It's an amazingly smooth tune.

I asked Lucky to help me with a readiness problem my car was having passing emissions and he offered to include a Green tune for my setup at a very reasonable price. So he sent me an ECU with a Green tune, SAS delete and he attempted to make the rear 02 sensor read as "ready." Although forcing the 02 readiness was not successful, my car was able to pass emissions anyway and I liked the tune quite a lot. It does boost to 17 PSI which is a tiny bit more than the Wothrline tune. It's a bit more abrupt in the power delivery but still comes in nice and late as needed for the LPT motor. I'm a fan of the tune.

If I'm being completely honest with myself, I think the Wothrline tune I have is probably the one I would use for long drives across country but I like the Green tune as well and feel perfectly comfortable with it. Lucky has always been very helpful to me via email and phone so to me, his customer service has been top notch.

Just want to add my thoughts on the $75 charge some are complaining about in the case of troubleshooting and finding nothing wrong. If you take your car to a Volvo dealer or any dealership for that matter, you will be charged a fee for checking the car over or troubleshooting a particular problem. If they find a warranty issue, they will cover it. If not, then the 'check-up' is on your dime. I don't really see how things are different here. If there is a problem with the hardware or the tune that was sent then it gets fixed at no charge. If nothing can be found, then you are charged for the shop's (Lucky's) time. Seems pretty fair to me.