Bama Rev-X Tuner by SCT with 2 Custom Tunes (15-17 V6)

Video Review & Installation

Joe: Hey, guys. It's Joe from AmericanMuscle. And today, we're gonna be taking a closer look at the Bama Rev-X Tuner by SCT with Two Custom Tunes, fitting all '15, '16 and '17 3.7-liter V6 Mustangs. Now this is gonna be a great option for you if you're looking to get more power and drivability out of your Cyclone-powered Mustang with some great tunes as well as some tools that come with a tuner like this one at a budget-friendly price.So before we get started with the video here, I think we should dive into the numbers, that's what you guys want to see, that's what I want to talk about. So let's let the Bama tunes speak for themself. What we ran here, '15 V6 with an automatic transmission, 93 octane in the tank for both the baseline and the after run and what we got was 241 horsepower, 235 foot-pounds of torque at the rear wheels. After we uploaded our 93 octane tune, we saw 258 horsepower as well as 248 foot-pounds of torque. Now that's good for 17 peak horsepower as well as 17 horsepower and 20 foot-pounds under the curve. Pretty respectable numbers from our V6 Mustang, 17 horsepower, 20 torque under the curve, that's something you're definitely gonna feel in that daily driving RPM range, 3000 to 4,000 RPMs, you're gonna hit that every day. You're definitely gonna feel the increase as well as the improved throttle response and snappier shifts for those automatic cars out there.Now that we've gone over what Bama can do with an otherwise stock V6 Mustang, how can we go about getting those tunes onto your Mustang? Well, as I go through the process here, I want you to remember the words cloud tuning, that's gonna make this a heck of a lot easier to get installed on your Mustang. You never need to connect this thing to a computer at all.So how's it gonna work? Basically, when you buy this thing, you're gonna get an email from Bama with a questionnaire, pretty short for you to fill out and that's gonna start with some facts. Is your Mustang automatic? Is it manual? It's also gonna ask you for the computer code on your specific Mustang, that is pretty easy to find, we have a guide out there in order for you to find that. And then they're gonna ask you if you have any modifications done to your Mustang so that Bama can tune around those. That's going to include cold air intake, some mass airflow sensors, cams, injectors, fuel pumps, exhaust, rear gears, bigger rear tire sizes, stuff like that, that's all going to be in the questionnaire. Then we're gonna wrap it up with what kind of octane do you want? If you can get 93 in your area, I would recommend going with that obviously for the biggest gains, if not 91 will do just fine or you can choose 87 for the most efficiency. And then obviously there is two tunes, so I would recommend going again with that all-out race and then 87 just for efficiency sake.Now that Bama has all your info, it's gonna take them about two to three days to write and nail down the tune, at which point they're gonna upload it right to the cloud and you can download it right from the Rev-X without ever connecting this thing to a computer from the cloud. Just connect to WiFi, scroll through the menus, pick your tunes, upload right to your Mustang, and you're good to go. We're gonna show you exactly how that works in just a second.WiFi capability also means that updates are gonna come right to this tuner without having to plug it into the computer. It's going to be quick and painless in order to keep this thing up to snuff. Now also with Bama, when you buy this thing, you're going to be enrolled in their Free Tunes for Life Program. Now Mustang builds, they grow over time and Bama knows that. Down the line, if you get a new mod that needs a new tune, all you have to do is fill out another sheet, send it off to Bama, they'll rewrite the tune for you, throw it up on the cloud so you could get it on your Mustang again quickly and painlessly.The Rev-X is also capable of data logging so you can check what your tune is doing and then offload the files to your computer with this wire in the middle. On top of that, this also supports a full-color 3-inch LCD display which could be in the portrait or landscape mode and that's great because this has live gauges as well. They're going to allow you to monitor air/fuel ratio, intake and coolant temp, if you're going forced induction boost is in there as well, as well as ignition timing. Last but not least, this also works as a diagnostic tool allowing you to read and clear those check engine lights as needed.Pricing for this kit is going to be really budget-friendly, we're looking at around 400 bucks for everything you need to get this up and running and that is a great return on investment. Not only are you unlocking some of that power that Ford left on the table but this also has some great tools and functionality to it for any Mustang owner out there, definitely well worth the money.Sticking with the theme of the Rev-X, install is gonna be really quick and easy as well. This plugs right into the OBD 2 port. No need to open the hood, no need to plug this into a computer either. At most, I think this will take you about 15 minutes to get up and running in the driveway. We're gonna show you a clip on how to upload a tune to one of our S550s. One thing to keep in mind, it's gonna be the same process no matter what S550 you have as they're all the same generation. So without any further ado, let's head over to the Mustang, we'll show you how to upload a tune and what this thing can do.Adam: Guys, first step here, grab the harness included in the kit. You're gonna plug in this side to the OBD 2 port located on the left side under your driver side dashboard. Once that's plugged in, take the other side, pop it into the slot on the top of your Rev-X and we're good to get started. All right, from the main menu, I'm gonna take you guys through the process of tuning your vehicle. So select program vehicle from that main menu, hit continue on the street notice, put your key in the on position but don't start your engine and press continue. Now it'll give you a bunch of different options to actually modify any tune you select, we're gonna go with 93 race but select the one that you want to flash now. At this point, it will move forward asking you if you want to make any additional changes. There's a bunch of menus relating to that, so make the changes you want, we're gonna keep our file pretty much the same that it comes with from Bama.All right, so you want to change anything you see on this menu and hit approve. Continue to SPECIAL OPTIONS including tire size, things like that. So did you change your tire size? We did not. Don't want to change gear ratio and no on the TPMS settings. Confirm that it'll disable your preloaded tune to move forward. All right. Key in the on position, if you haven't done so already and it'll save your stock tune to the device and then begin to flash, it'll load 0 to a 100 a couple of times, just let it do its thing. Don't unplug it and don't turn the vehicle off unless it directs you to.All right, at this point, it lets us know the download is complete, you can select DONE and you're good to go. Before we disconnect, I want to take you through some of the other features of the Rev-X. So if you go under PROGRAM VEHICLE, GAUGES/DATALOG is your next selection. You want to make sure the key is on before you move any forward. What this will do is allow you to monitor live engine vitals on the fly at any time as long as your device is plugged in. Now it's more of a gauge pod but there's multiple pods, multiple gauges. As you can see on the screen we have two, they're both the same at the moment but they are customizable. Now if you go to the right you can data log, you can record a data log, select the data log file, select the gauge layout. I'm gonna change that gauge layout to something we can monitor three pieces of information with. Now we have BOOST and PSI, CONTROL MODULE VOLTAGE and COOLANT TEMP, but you can change those like I said. So in the EcoBoost, you might want a monitor BOOST, CONTROL MODULE VOLTAGE, COOLANT TEMP, those are all customizable. If I want to change COOLANT TEMP to INTAKE AIR TEMP, we can hit approve on that and it changes that gauge. You can monitor up to eight at a time. If you want to select the gauge layout that monitors eight, this is the max. Now it's really useful for guys who want to take care of that information on the fly. And again, you can record data logs, send that to your tuner, make revisions, so on and so forth. Now if you hit STOP DATA LOG, it takes you back to the main menu.Under that, VEHICLE FUNCTIONS, READ DTC CODES, CLEAR DTC CODES, and SPECIAL FUNCTIONS. Now DTC being diagnostic trouble code, so if your check engine light comes on, plug this device in, read the code, get the description and then you can clear it once it's taken care of, no need to pick up any additional device.SPECIAL FUNCTIONS most people won't touch, CAM RELEARN, CAM RESET, those will leave be for now, most people aren't gonna have to worry about that. VEHICLE INFO, this is useful if you're requesting a new tune. If you need access to your VIN number, your ECU strategy code, that's gonna be on hand. DEVICE INFO, similar. But for your Rev-X you'll have the part number, serial number, the firmware and software version, how many unlocks you have, if your status is married, so on and so forth.And then finally, DEVICE SETTINGS, you can check for updates both plugged in or via WiFi, which I think is very useful. WiFi, if you're in range of a WiFi network, you can connect that to do everything wirelessly. The only big difference here between this and the newer Rev-X is there are no cloud capabilities, so everything is done on the computer as far as downloading tunes. But if you're not too worried about that wireless aspect of it, the Rev-X is still a really good device.The rest of the settings are pretty much simple for any handheld, BRIGHTNESS, ORIENTATION, you can change, the LANDSCAPE, can change the THEME from RED to BLUE, you can change to DARK. There's a number of settings there. There's also AUDIO, so every time you click a button, there's a little beep, you can turn that off here and that way you don't have to worry about that sound.Finally, STARTUP FUNCTION I think is very useful for guys who are always gonna want to monitor those gauges that we looked at, the gauges and data log screen. You can select your startup to go immediately to the gauges screen. So if you have this constantly plugged into your OBD 2 and you have it mounted on the windshield, this might be a good thing to take advantage of. Finally, FACTORY RESET. We hit exit, back to the main menu and that's your X4.Joe: That's gonna do it for my overview with the Rev-X for '15 to '17 V6. For this product and other great ones, keep it right here at AmericanMuscle.