How should I price dyno time and tuning sessions?
Short answer
Charge by the hour or by the pull, not a flat 'tune' fee, and separate dyno rental from tuner labor if they're different costs to you. A stock combination might tune in one hour, a custom one can eat an entire afternoon.
Know your actual dyno cost before you set a rate
If you own the dyno, price it to cover depreciation, calibration, facility cost, and the tuner's time, not just what feels fair. If you're renting dyno time from another shop, your customer rate needs real margin over that rental cost plus your tuner's hours, not just a pass-through.
A flat '$400 tune' rate works fine for a known, common platform where you've tuned that exact combination a hundred times. It falls apart the moment someone brings in a combination you've never touched, because now you're eating hours at a price set for a job that takes a quarter of the time.
Price base tuning and revisions separately
Charge a base session rate that includes a set number of pulls and a baseline tune, then price additional pulls or revision visits separately. Customers who want to chase another 20 horsepower over three more visits should pay for those visits; that's not included forever in the original tune price.
This also protects you from the customer who wants unlimited free revisions because 'it's not quite right yet' six months after the original tune. State a revision window, thirty days is typical, after which further sessions are billed fresh.
Dyno time is also marketing, know when to let that pay for itself
Some shops run open dyno days at a discount to bring people through the door and build the shop's name in a tight local scene. That's a legitimate strategy, but treat it as a marketing spend you're choosing to make, not your actual dyno pricing. Don't let a promotional rate quietly become your everyday rate because customers remember the cheap day and expect it every time.
Dyno and tuning session pricing example
| Base session: baseline pulls + initial tune, known platformup to 4 pulls | $350 |
|---|---|
| Additional pulls beyond base session | $40/pull |
| Custom/novel combination tuningbilled hourly instead of flat, see R&D pricing | $110/hr |
| Revision visit after 30-day windownew session rate, not free | $150 |
The math: Base session price should cover your dyno cost (owned or rented) plus tuner time for a typical, known platform. Anything outside that norm moves to hourly R&D pricing.
Before you quote a dyno session
- 1.Confirm whether the combination is one you've tuned before or genuinely novel
- 2.Set a pull limit included in the base price and a per-pull rate beyond it
- 3.State the revision window in writing before the customer leaves
- 4.Decide separately whether this is a paying job or a promotional/marketing session
Where owners get this wrong
- Charging the same flat tune rate for a known platform and a one-off combination.
- Offering unlimited free revisions with no stated window.
- Letting a promotional dyno day rate become the expected everyday price.
Ask your version of this question
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Now run it against your numbers.
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