EUROshop - Monster Tune
Photo by Monster Tune
Text by autocultureasia
Monsterous Tuners With A Twist
F
or European car tuning with a distinctly Asian
edge (we meant the ability to cope with the unique
conditions here), a name that commonly springs to
mind would be Monster Tune.
The EUROstuff team takes some time out to chat with the
amiable duo behind this European car specialist.
ES: Hi Nick & Alvin, so how did the two of you meet,
and get started with the business from then on?
MT: Just 2 ex-Manhunt winners hoping for world peace!
ES: List some of your skill sets in this area,
as well as some of the latest machinery that
you have purchased for the workshop.
MT: The quickest way to learn was to
experiment on our own cars! We had a couple
of VWs and BMWs to mess with when we
purchased our own dyno equipment.
Some workshops don’t even have an in-house
dyno to verify the before and after numbers,
leaving you to take their word for it.
Buying the software and hardware is the easy
part though. The hardest part is figuring what
to do with them. We had to seek training in
various European R&D companies to make
sure we administer the right custom tuning
approach for each car.
Therefore, we saw the need for a real
custom tuning solution back in year 2010 and
immediately jumped into it. And of cause customer service, customer service, customer
service. And did we mention that customers
always love a free drink or coffee?
ES: We know that most Singaporeans tend
to stick with the known overseas brands for
engine tunes. What are some of the things
you have done in this area to differentiate
yourselves from them?
ES: Talk about some of the region (or
Singapore) specific adaptations that your
company commonly does.
MT: Most overseas brands are pretty much offthe-shelf setups, with some of them just sold on
by workshops and accessories shops (Serious!).
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MT: Intake temperate adjustments, and fuel
quality. These are 2 extremely critical aspects
which is are so different from European tuning
parameters. Not to mention the cultural aspects
of drivers here.
ES: Name some of the most common
projects that clients ask you to do.
MT: Most of them (make that 99%) just seek a
little more pep from the engine, which can be
obtained from the common Stage 1 / Stage 2
chip up. The rest will unleash their Krakens!
ES: What are some of the more elaborate
projects that really challenged the skills of
your team.
MT: Weird aftermarket turbo and supercharger
systems which totally confuse the in-car ECU,
such that now it was up to us to marry them
correctly and effectively.
This is because European cars are usually
fitted with many sensors that do not like like
aftermarket components. In some ways, you got