You won't "need" a tune, but you will see no benefit from it if you don't; down pipe will added only 5-10 hp with a proper tune for it. I would get an intercooler also and then get a custom tune.
Yea.
Here's the thing.. Money of course isn't abundant. My plan is IC, DP, Tune. Not necessarily in that order.. but the DP is the cheapest of the 3 right now.. and I have the money for it. I'd like to go next with the IC, and the the tune... My reason being that I want to get tuned by mountune with Randy.. he does a 45 day free retuning as I'm sure youre aware. After the 45 days, however, it's $149 per retune.. which seems a little steep to me... and my thing is.. Bolt ons will come slowly. I'm not worried about the gains right now, but I figured, I'll do the DP, next i'll do the FMIC, THEN i'll be ready for the tune...
I'm trying mainly to be strategic with my money, but in the process I dont' want to harm my car or cause damage if something like a DP w/out tune will hurt my car over time because it may be a while until I get the IC.. and it may be a while after that until I get the Tune.. So that's my reasons for asking. I appreciate the info. I'm just trying to be monetarily strategic, but safely.