Go Dawgs

Hey guys,

I am really starting to itch for more power. My car is a 2016 C63S with 9K miles. I've mentioned in a previous thread, but I have an aftermarket warranty with ~5 years left on it.
What I found most appealing about the Dinan is the offering of a warranty if the piggyback causes something to go awry. I noticed, however, that they use very specific wording - "Factory matching 4yr / 50k mile new car warranty."

Any of you folks have experience with them and/or this tune? Are there any authorized dealers who could give me more info on the warranty? Would it extended in this situation considering I do have a warranty on the vehicle? My next step is to call Dinan, but I figured I would start here first.

Thank you!

FLC63s

I think you will find that the "warranty" isnt what you think it is... what was your process for choosing a tuner ? (Dinan vs others) ??

SteveDesai

If you're hungup on a warranty i wouldnt mess with modifying your car. That being said these engines are very strong and I wouldn't worry about it personally, I want to enjoy my car as the best it can be (you can't get those miles back!) but in my experience I've had a tuned r8 that I had no problem getting my aftermarket extended warranty to cover engine repairs on (2 cracked fuel rails)

AlexZTuned

Dinan matches your existing 4yr/50k mile factory warranty. So if your vehicle is outside of the factory warranty window, your Dinan warranty will not be valid. It’s also important to note that in order to get the warranty, you must purchase new from them (not used or second hand).

If, for instance, you have 80k miles on your C63S and install Dinan, they are not covering anything because you’re outside the factory warranty coverage. It wouldn’t make sense to offer a warranty on high mileage (50k+) vehicles when you’re more prone to mechanical issues like failing sensors, MAPs, etc. just due to the age of the car and its components.

Go Dawgs

Do you have evidence to support this? Everything I've researched on Dinan's products and warranty appear to be very solid.
I'm still in said "process" of choosing a tuner. The only definite so far is that I want to go piggyback based on personal choice and situation.

Any recommendations outside of Dinan?

I'm hung-up on a warranty because I'm paying for one that has another 5+ years left on it. There's certainly an opportunity cost when looking at it from either angle. At the end of the day, I will probably tune regardless of the warranty. However, seeing that Dinan backs their product in regards to certain consequential damage, it seemed like a good trail to chase down.

I do understand what you're saying. I have 9K miles on my C63S, so I'm only outside of the factory warranty due to the car being ~4 years old.
Do you have any other tune suggestions?

Thanks for the input you guys.

AlexZTuned

I have about 15k miles on my 17’ and my factory warranty is up next month in October (can’t believe it’s already been 4 years).

I don’t think there are any other piggyback alternatives that offer a warranty unfortunately.

Now that my warranty is up, I’m flashing my car via OBD instead of dealing with the mess of a piggyback (the pain of installing/uninstalling).

Go Dawgs

Fair enough!

Considering that the Dinan is substantially more expensive than JB4 (and most of the literature I've read says it is due to the warranty), would JB4 be a better route?

AlexZTuned

JB4 is the only other solid piggyback besides Dinan in the US market. Dinan is set it and forget it (my Dinan was trouble free for years, ran 11.5@127 with it). JB4 is better suited for tinkering with multiple maps, etc. Dinan is only designed to be used as stage 1, so if you have DP’s or other mods (like water/meth) you’ll get things like a CEL and code.

If you’re set on a piggyback, I’d probably get JB4 - though I personally don’t have first hand experience with it.

sinister.c63s

Dinan is a complete waste of money - made that mistake on my M3 because I was concerned about warranty. Huge money for minimal power gains and about 3 years ago their warranty changed. The bottom line is its unlikely to damage anything anyways and despite their false dyno claims and evidence on their website, a stage 1 will only net you 12-18whp. You really wont notice much compared to a better aftermarket option like jb4. Real power comes with stage 2 tunes and catless down pipes.

Go Dawgs

Thanks for the info, man. Always helpful. First hand experience is what I was looking for.
I tuned my last AMG with a piggyback and was satisfied. I'm not looking for a ton more power at this point in time, but rather something to bump the butt dyno up just a bit. Looks like JB4 is the direction I want to go in.

sinister.c63s

100% - multiple map options, live support and tried and proven. Plus can bump to stage 2 in future with same license and a map change if you choose to

AlexZTuned

I’m sorry, but what you are saying has no relevance to the piggyback tune they offer for the W205 C63S. The F80/F82 platform is different and what they do with their tune has no relevance to the W205 C63. I ran Dinan on my C63S (trouble free for years) and I picked up 5-6 MPH in the 1/4 mile and shaved 1.3 seconds off my 60-130 time. For this platform, what they claim in power and torque is what you get.

I sold my Dinan piggyback (going with flash now that warranty is on its way out) and while I never dyno’d myself, he installed it and put down 545 WHP and 613 WTQ on a Mustang dyno... not even a Dynojet. For reference, a stock C63S will, on average, put down around 475 WHP.

sinister.c63s

First of all, they are both piggy back tunes and very similar units, so Im not sure what you are referring to. I wasnt talking about the ecu option they have on the f8x platforms, mine was a 15 and those werent even available when I bought my dinan piggy back tune.

Second of all, dinan claims a max of 80hp (crank) on their own site for the c63s, Dinan is $1900 for 80 crank hp and jb4 is $800 for better results depending on map choice.

Im glad you liked your dinan, but for what the OP asked jb4 is clearly a better choice. Appreciate you feeling the need to chime in though.

AlexZTuned

You literally said Dinan was a waste of money based on your experience with their M3/M4 tune which barely adds any power. So you should understand clearly what I am referring to. Every piggyback/stage 1 tune picks up roughly the same horsepower and torque. They are ALL limited by octane and turbo turbine/compressor efficiency. Therefore, you will get nearly the same results with every stage 1 tune (software only, no bolt ons), regardless of whether it is a piggyback or a ECU flash, will pick up the same power.

For people who have recently purchased their C63S and still have a factory warranty, Dinan is still a great option and really the only option that has a legitimate backed warranty. No other tuner can say they have offer anything comparable, and if they do, expect to pay a premium for it. If you just bought a 19' or 20' C63S, Dinan is still an attractive option because changes are you still have years of factory warranty. If you don't have a warranty, I would say flash it, but if you need to go piggyback, then get JB4.

Like I said before, your average C63S puts down 475 to the wheels. The person who bought my Dinan put it on a Mustang and put down 545 to the wheels and 613 torque to the wheels on 93 octane. That's +70 to the wheels and well over 100+ torque to the wheels. On 93 octane, I guarantee you that a JB4 will not have any edge whatsoever over Dinan with all things equal (fuel, mods, weight, etc)... I know this because no one with ONLY a JB4 and 93 octane has trapped any higher than I have with my Dinan only run at 127 mph. Once you start changing fuel and increasing octane and tweaking the JB4, of course you can make more power - that's the benefit of JB4 is that you can tinker and play with some ethanol, water/meth, etc. IMO, if you're chasing power with this car, there's no reason to get a JB4. You need to upgrade the turbos and get a ECU tune.

My opinions here are based on facts and hands on experience. I don't run Dinan anymore because my warranty is running up. I'm actually trying out a COMPORT (Powergate3+ handheld ODB flasher) from AMR Performance which has multiple maps on a touch screen. Once it stops raining here in Austin, I'll see how it stacks up to my Dinan since I have 2 years worth of Dragy data to compare to. I just got my map files from AMR yesterday.

AMGMessiah

Hmm, I dunno Alex. I have a feeling I can give that trap speed a run for its money. JB4 93 octane only:

AlexZTuned

I welcome the competition. I sold my Dinan and the buyer put down 545 wheel hp and 613 wheel torque with just the piggyback also on a heartbreaker Mustang. The power didn't drop off as drastically as yours does though in the upper RPMs. You made peak power at ~5000 RPM at 580 wheel hp, but by 5500 RPM you've already lost 50 wheel HP (530 wheel hp at 5500). For reference, Dinan makes peak power of 609 *crank HP but by 5500 rpm its only lost 21 hp making 588 crank HP. That's probably around 10-15 wheel HP drop off compared to a 50 wheel hp in just 500 rpms.

Dyno numbers are great and all, but just bring it to the track and post the slip. No tricks with adding ethanol or octane boosters, no bolt-ons or anything (no secondary cat deletes), and full weight - I weighed in at over 4000lbs after my run. I don't think I've seen any JB4 stock turbo car trap 130 or more regardless of bolt-ons. Then again, I'm not actively looking.

AMGMessiah

Just because you haven't seen one and not actively looked for one does not mean they don't exist. Just saying..Also curious to see what the dyno graph looks like with the Dinan piggy-back to compare. I have been told that the drop off in HP at the top end has to do more with the stock turbo limitations than the actual piggy-back.

AlexZTuned

Here’s Dinan’s crank HP chart. They measured factory power output at 533 HP and 572 torque at the crank. After their tune, you’re bumped to 609 HP and 664 torque at the crank.




Your tune is applying all power and torque in the mid-range because that’s where the stock turbochargers are more efficient. That’s why you have such a steep drop off in power and torque after 5000 rpms. It probably feels great and powerful in lower RPMs and you can shred tires, but think about the powerband you use when accelerating. Almost every shift at redline drops RPMs to 5000, so you are never making anywhere close to 580 whp when ripping through the gears. At 5500 rpms, you make 530 whp which is no different than a standard piggyback/stage 1 ECU tune.

And yes, I haven’t looked or seen any impressive JB4 only numbers. Have you? If so, please post here and share. I’ve trapped about the same as BMS did on their development C63 when they ran bolt-ons (intake), ethanol
(E30), and water/meth injection.

Let’s see some of those JB4 only Dragy or 1/4 mile times. Curious to see how they’re doing - maybe I’ll make a switch if they’re breaking 130’s on stock turbos - I’m not attached to any tuner/brand.

AMGMessiah

My car is modded now with Modal Works Intake; Secondary Cat Delete and E30 on map5. Someone else might have to provide that data point. I can provide you dragy times with what they car has on it now once I order one from Amazon..lol. Pretty attractive curve there for sure for the Dinan piggy-back. That's what I like to see. Reminds me so much of my former E39 M5. Man, those were the days. My car does drop off in acceleration toward the top for sure. It does not feel as bad as it looks on the graph though. The drop off has reduced noticeably with the MW intake however. It's starting to get cooler so I'll be doing another Dyno soon and I'll post results. With the JB4, I also have the luxury of map 6 where I can go in and tinker a bit to smooth things out a bit more. I just haven't played in there yet.