[ZTWsquared]

ZX3_2NV,Mar 17 2010, 09:57 AM Wrote:

Jmountney1,Mar 17 2010, 08:59 AM Wrote:im slightly confused with the hole xcal thing.


its a programmer that plugs into the ECU.



after the settings are changed to i still run with the xcal attached to the car or is it removed?


if you remove it could i not rent someone programmer/xcal get the tune then be done with it?
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YES its programmer after the tune you unplug it and throw it in your closet till you want to make more changes

You Can NOT rent it or tune someone elses car You can only Program one ECU at a time if you want you can return ur ECU to stock and then sell the unit.
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^^ what he said + you have to make sure you don't lose it or let it be stolen - because when you tune your car the only place the stock tune resides is on the XCal.

FWIW - you can use the XCal for subsequent vehicles ... my one XCal2 has tuned my '02 ZTW, the '07 ZXW, my 2008 Fusion, and now my '03 ZX5 ... so it can be reprogrammed for different ECU strategies, just not at the same time.

Aside from the initial cost of the XCal (IIRC 349 years ago) subsequent tunes have cost me just 25 ea, and there are lots of "off the shelf" Focus tunes for virtually any level of modification.

Pat at Steeda in Milton (and I assume DaSilva) has access to the same SCT tunes that Randy at FSwerks has (although to be fair Randy may sell his own modified versions of the SCT tunes) ... in any event, there are plenty of good tunes available from any SCT dealer.

Additionally, and this is just my opinion, I wouldn't consider dyno tuning without an XCal or similiar tuner ... you can have up to 3 additional tunes, plus you always have the ability to go back to stock if and when the need arises.