Welcome to the North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club Thursday March 28, 2024
Home Forums Images WikiNASIOC Products Store Modifications Upgrade Garage
NASIOC
Go Back   NASIOC > NASIOC Reviews > Vendor Reviews

Welcome to NASIOC - The world's largest online community for Subaru enthusiasts!
Welcome to the NASIOC.com Subaru forum.

You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, free of charge, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join our community today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.







* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads. 
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-27-2016, 11:50 AM   #1
Boggie1688
Scooby Specialist
Member Sales Rating: (5)
 
Member#: 165955
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: California
Vehicle:
2015 WRX Base
WRB

Default Ron @ Phatbotti

Note to moderators, I know there is a Phatbotti thread. I decided to make a thread because I don't want others to miss this review. If you want to merge this into the Phatbotti thread I completely understand.

Phatbotti's review thread is lacking. It seems in the last 2 maybe 3 years, the number of reviews have trickled off. Not sure why, but I can tell you Phatron (aka Ron) is still doing top notch work.

Here is my story:

Prior to the install of my KB charge pipe, intercooler and nameless BPV I was running a v200 BrenTuning Etune. I never had another tuner work on the car. My tuning experience was very limited. All in all the tune was good. I paid for 1 tune, and I ended up with a 91Oct and 91+Torco tune. They also updated my tunes to support EGR deletes after everything was done.

Fast forward a little under a year, and I've installed the new parts. Cobb also released v300, and I thought it was a good time to get retuned. Knowing that I was planning on getting Flex Fuel when released, I opted to find a tuner that was closer to me. Ultimately, I'd want to visit this tuner in person, and have them tune my car on a dyno for flex fuel. After a bit of searching I found Ron @ Phatbotti.

I actually knew about Ron prior to getting my Bren tune. I opted for Bren because at the time his prices were cheaper. After having gone through both tuners, I think paying for Ron's knowledge and experience was worth it.

Ron is fast. With Bren, I got 1 revision per week and if I was fast and lucky maybe 2. With Ron, I'll get a revision 20 mins after I send datalogs to him. If you were so inclined, I think you could have your car completely tuned by Ron in less than 24 hours. Assuming you have a mobile hotspot, a laptop, and time to datalog. For me the process took a week. But this was because I have a tight work schedule.

Ron also does not have a high knock tolerance. If he sees knock, he immediately address it. He definitely plays it very very safe. It appears his preference is to remove any chance of knock, even though Cobb says up to -2.81 is "OK".The other thing I noticed was that he is much more meticulous. This is immediately apparent with his datalogging instructions. He asks for very specific parameters and stages his revisions in a very systematic manner.

By staging, I mean that he focuses on one aspect of the engine operation. He starts by asking for you to cruise the car. I think the first few tunes is to focus on closed loop operation. Once he feels that closed loop operation is perfected, he moves to open loop. Even then, his open loop procedure is very meticulous. He asks for 2k to 4k, then 2k to 5k, and so on. Slowly ramping the car up to redline, while making sure the car is running safely.

Ultimately the end result is car that is SMOOOTH. My eyes are now open to a truly good tune. It is hard to describe. Simply put the car is SMOOTH and FAST. I think this a product of really working on the tune and being very particular.

Right now, I think Ron has really ironed out the tune for the car. The last step is to have me bash on the car left and right and send him additional datalogs to make sure the tune won't knock while I beat on the car.

Overall my experience was amazing, and I'm VERY satisfied. I've already got a date set to visit Ron in a few months, and I'm excited to see the man work in person.
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

Last edited by Boggie1688; 04-27-2016 at 05:51 PM.
Boggie1688 is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
Old 06-24-2016, 12:42 AM   #2
hekler
Scooby Specialist
Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 388366
Join Date: Apr 2014
Chapter/Region: SCIC
Location: So Cal
Vehicle:
2016 SUBARU WRX(cvt)
CBS w/eyesight

Default

Good review. I like how he posts dyno reports of different products!!

Keep it real Ron!!
hekler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-20-2018, 12:07 PM   #3
Stija
*** Banned ***
Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 492861
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Arizona
Vehicle:
18 WRX Stg 2 tuned
Silver

Default

He’s still doing top notch work, I can vouch personally. Just did my beat1 log and sent it yesterday. Smooth like glass is how I refer to his tune. My experience mirrors yours.

I bugged him with a ton of questions weeks preceding my e tune and he was prompt and precise in his answers, just like his tune. Can’t recommend him enough to anyone wanting a fa20dit tune.
Stija is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-03-2018, 12:05 PM   #4
Grind3r
Scooby Newbie
Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 486782
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Boise, ID
Vehicle:
2018 WRX Dark Grey
PhatBotti E-Tuned Stage 2

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stija View Post
He’s still doing top notch work, I can vouch personally. Just did my beat1 log and sent it yesterday. Smooth like glass is how I refer to his tune. My experience mirrors yours.

I bugged him with a ton of questions weeks preceding my e tune and he was prompt and precise in his answers, just like his tune. Can’t recommend him enough to anyone wanting a fa20dit tune.

How many revisions did you do with Ron to get to your Beat1 MAP? I'm on
my 4th revision with him now. Gonna be doing my 3rd...2000 to 6500 3rd
gear log pull this afternoon. Gotta say, he is spot on with his MAPs thus far.
Grind3r is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-05-2018, 01:26 PM   #5
Stija
*** Banned ***
Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 492861
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Arizona
Vehicle:
18 WRX Stg 2 tuned
Silver

Default

I think sixth pull or rev7.

Stage 2 or stage 1?
Stija is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-06-2018, 08:24 PM   #6
Grind3r
Scooby Newbie
Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 486782
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Boise, ID
Vehicle:
2018 WRX Dark Grey
PhatBotti E-Tuned Stage 2

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stija View Post
I think sixth pull or rev7.

Stage 2 or stage 1?
I am full Stage 2...Cobb J Pipe, TGV Deletes
EGR Delete, Process West TMIC, Perrin
Charge Pipe, Grimmspeed 3port, GFB recirc
& Stock Intake
I am actually all finished with the E-Tune
Done in 7 revisions as of today.
Amazing is the best way to describe it.
Ron is the FA20 tuning man. Absolutely
Recommend him.
Grind3r is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-06-2018, 09:13 PM   #7
Stija
*** Banned ***
Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 492861
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Arizona
Vehicle:
18 WRX Stg 2 tuned
Silver

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grind3r View Post
I am full Stage 2...Cobb J Pipe, TGV Deletes
EGR Delete, Process West TMIC, Perrin
Charge Pipe, Grimmspeed 3port, GFB recirc
& Stock Intake
I am actually all finished with the E-Tune
Done in 7 revisions as of today.
Amazing is the best way to describe it.
Ron is the FA20 tuning man. Absolutely
Recommend him.
Glad it worked out for you. I am just as impressed with the car now. Looks like same amount of revisions, similar mods too.
Stija is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-07-2018, 01:25 PM   #8
Zoux
Scooby Newbie
Member Sales Rating: (0)
 
Member#: 494985
Join Date: Dec 2018
Default

Personally haven't gotten a tune by Ron but i have heard from friends who have, They all were happy and would recommend getting tuned by him. Hes recognized for being a Pro.
Zoux is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:36 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Copyright ©1999 - 2019, North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club, Inc.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission
Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.