This is exactly the point of this thread. I believe that in the hands of someone that is very experienced, a rom tune will do exactly what a standalone can if not better. Pete.. you've played with XDF and know that every parameter under the sun is adjustable through a binary... just like a standalone. Until someone can quantify what it is that a aem does better to make it superior, the point has just not been made. In the end it is as simple as controling how much fuel goes in, at what angle the spark plugs fire and at what intensity... and this is based on tuner ability and not what is doing the task programmed.

I am so confident in what I know and say that I will gladly put up the money to do a controlled test. Same car, same dyno, 1 bar spring... pick your AEM tuner. My mail order tune will do exactly what the AEM acheives after a hands on session. Then I will actually sit down and tweak the mail order tune and top those numbers.