Perhaps ^ should have spent a bit more time looking back at how his HT actually functioned.
For instance,
1) pulls harder ( not running in the 9 AFR's )
I disagree. Pig rich AFR's with tapered boost allow HT to get really aggressive with timing advance, far more that AP OTS tunes and more than most AP custom tuners are using. This combination produces dyno results comparable to or better than all AP OTS tunes with comparable mods (even stage 2) on the stock KO4 and pump gas. The data logs and dyno charts are over on the other forum to prove this. AP is not better in this regard. You do NOT make more power on this DISI engine by leaning out AFR's. Instead, you lose the manufacture's intended cylinder cooling that keeps knock under check and allows the more aggressive timing advance that HT uses.
2) ability to adjust throttle response (wild child or linear response)
I disagree. Why adjust what does not need adjusting? HT's throttle response is much better than stock. It is noted for its smoothness. AP users are not heard to make that claim and frequently b**** about it the other way.
3) ability to adjust the boost on a per gear basis (can limit the amount of torque in gear 1 and 2 to any amount)
I disagree. Why would you want to do this? HT permits you to turn the 0-60 limitation on or eliminate it. Just like AP. Custom tuning of boost per gear seems very strange. I don't see anyone doing this nor any reason to do this by anyone on any of the boards. Sounds like a solution for a non-existent problem.
4) ability to reduce spiking
I disagree. HT, in fact does this. I was getting really bad boost spikes when running a catless dp/rp on stock tune. When I went with the HT tune, no only did I get the benefits of the tune, but it eliminated those 21-22 psi spikes allowing me to hit a steady 18-19 psi at WOT with a nice taper down at higher rpm as timing gets aggressive.
5) ability to adjust the MAF calibration to get near zero LTFT's
I disagree. That is also exactly what HT does with its large catalog of intake choices. Each intake choice has been pre-set for MAF correction. That's what they are intended to do and what they do. I get very, very accurate LTFT's just by selecting the intake choice that matches the intake I'm running. It's based on MAF housing size, shape and whether an air straightener is used.
6) ability to dial in your AFR's to where ever you feel safe with
Agree and disagree. Again, leaning out AFR's is NOT the way to make power. Yes, AP lets you adjust it. but HT has it right for all bolt on mods and stock K04 and pump gas. The key to making power on this car is to keep AFR's rich, expecially at high load high rpm conditions, taper boost and crank in as much as 18 degrees of timing advance. it works extremely well, and many AP custom tuners are begining to figure out this and that they really cannot improve much on HT's mapping for cars running stock K04 and pump gas.
7) ability to adjust the map for winter if necessary
Agree and disagree. If you are needing to adust the map for changes in weather, you are really not tuning properly. Again, if you use load tuning geared to the actual compressor map efficiencies of the K04, you can run 19 psi safely with relatively lean AFR's at low rpm, which both HT and AP allow. If you try to maintain that boost all the way to redline and maintain lean AFR's you will run into problems in cold weather. Why not simply taper the boost, richen the AFR's, stay in the compressor map efficiency of the little K04 and enjoy the year round power that comes from aggressive timing?
WINNER: HT. Safety. The real winner to me is HT because for our engines it is the winner. They survive. The do not blow.
There seem to be absolutely no, zero, nada, zip instances of HT induced zoom, zoom, boom, but a lot of AP tuning blow ups. I'll take 95-99% of what the engine can safely deliver on stock turbo and pump gas and know that it will be absolutely safe.
Now, in fairness:
There are some things that AP does better, but only when you depart from the stock K04 and pump gas situation. Once you go big turbo, or once you start messing with exotic fueling like E-85 blends, then AP is absolutely THE route to go.
Also, if you want a one step - tune and monitor solution, AP is better because it has built in monitoring and datalogging, although it cannot real time display more than just a few parameters. I preferred to buy separate and much more sophisticated monitoring software (ScanXL Pro with Mazda specific PID's). I can monitor everything for every sensor on the entire car simultaneiously and view as many of them as I want at any time. I do have to use a laptop computer for this. And the combination of my tune and monitoring is still cheaper than AP, and certainly well cheaper than paying someone for a questionable quality AP custom tune that might make me go Zoom, Zoom, Boom.
