Thanks OP for that great writeup. I've been looking into getting a tune, was thinking ESS so far but I want a tune for the exact reasons you do, I HATE that rought cold start you described, and the low torque at low rpms. Hate the rattling kind of sound you get on cold starts too, makes me think i'm driving some sh*&y toyota or something. Course once it warms up its fine, but ya, glad it worked out so well for ya.
Mike, could you pm me with pricing? I was also wondering what you know about getting warranties after a tune. I thought if you just flash back to stock before taking it in, you'd be good. I've been reading otherwise though. IS there some sort of log that is written to when RPMs go past stock max or the speed goes past factory limit? Seems like you reaaaaly know your stuffs so maybe you could answer this? I know some other posters here were asking in another thread.
Cold start, speed limit, tweaking the throttle so tip in is a little smoother are all things I'd like done. TIYA