Ford Tuning Secrets Revealed (Secrets Revealed series) [Hardcover]

Ivan J. Kotzig (Author), Ruben Fernandez (Photographer)

Book Description

Series: Secrets Revealed series | Publication Date: April 16, 2002

The techniques automotive industry professionals use to tune Ford vehicles for peak performance are detailed in this in-depth guide to the operation of engine computers. The entire tuning process is exhaustively presented with information on the operation of Ford Electronic Engine Control, performance chips, and OBDII diagnostic tools. Beginners as well as experienced tuners will benefit from key information on numbers and buttons that should not be touched, the use of a home PC or laptop to tune like a professional, and changes to recent Ford models. The nontechnical approach integrates humorous stories and recipes into the practical automotive instruction.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A brilliant way to educate the public about tuning, with both grit and gleam in one sharp full color package. -- Alex D, Florida, May 19, 2002

For those who are interested in coming up to speed quickly, it looks like a dandy reference. -- Tom C, May 15,2002

Job well done - this is definitely a must read for anyone in the modern Ford vehicle tuning market. -- Bernie, April 28, 2002

About the Author

Ivan J. Kotzig is an automotive electronics designer. He is a founder of ProgRama, a manufacturer of automotive electronics; ToolRama, a designer of hand-held diagnostic tools; and DiabloSport, a manufacturer of performance electronics. He lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: Kotzig Publishing, Inc. (April 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971541132
• ISBN-13: 978-0971541139
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 8.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,849,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointing, January 10, 2005

By 

James A. Bowman "james_bowman" (Indianapolis, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ford Tuning Secrets Revealed (Secrets Revealed series) (Hardcover)

I read the entire book in an hour. Lots of pictures and other filler. There was virtually no information on tuning. The book was mostly just a product brochure for diablo's products and how they work. If you want to know how their products work then this book would be fine for that. I found tons more useful information on actual tuning for free on www.fordfuelinjection.com. As a an example the book would say, "the tuner modifies the fuel table to achieve maximum performance". Well no duh! I was hoping to see a bit more detail than that.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is a joke, December 6, 2002

By 

A.S. Pushkin "andrew_wot" (CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ford Tuning Secrets Revealed (Secrets Revealed series) (Hardcover)

This *book* contains absolutely no useful information about how EEC works, what parameters exist and how they can be tuned. Nothing, zilch. Total text of the book can be fit into 3-5 printed pages, everything else is just pictures, empty pages to make notes, cooking recepies and advertising of DiabloSport products.
Save your money, you can find much more information on the net. Nobody of those chip manufactures wil ever "reveal" any secrets to us, ordinary Ford enthusiasts, who wants to go out of business anyway.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars THIS BOOK IS ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE, June 24, 2003

By 

Barry Allyn (Mill Creek, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ford Tuning Secrets Revealed (Secrets Revealed series) (Hardcover)

I purchased this book last summer and was extremely disappointed.

From memory, here's a summary of what the book contains:

1) how engines work (2 pages or so). This is 101 material.
2) how processors work
3) how OBDII works, including signal processing (useless info for tuners)
3) anecdotal info on the Diablo chip, bordering on a sales pitch.
4) anecdotal info on Dario Orlando/Steeda.
5) lots of useless colorful pictures (PADDING) -- e.g. Dario sitting in his car tuning it (This really helps me tune mine).
6) lots of big print.
7) lots of margin space.
8) narrow columns of text.
9) a bunch of blank pages in the back for notes. PADDING.
10) a cooking (yes, COOKING) chapter on some stupid favorite recipe of the author.
11) OBDII scan codes. PADDING.

The author clearly was told to fill [n] pages so they could hardbound the thing and charge $... It reminded me of grade school when I was told to write an [n] page essay on [subject x]: Using the usual tricks, I wrote long winded sentences with no contractions, double spaced lines, and big margins. The only difference between my essays and this book is the price.

I was so mad after skimming this book that I threw it away the day I got it. I bought the book because I just purchased an EEC-Tuner and was interested in learning more about the subject. Even with my very limited knowledge on the subject, I was underwhelmed with the info presented in the book.

Don't waste your money like I did. Even thinking about this book is making me angry.