[montauk]

One thing I’ve come to appreciate is how fault-tolerant modern EFI systems can be. Even with a rough initial tune, the car can run surprisingly well—mine certainly did. And as the tune improves, so does drivability and performance. Dan’s setup is a great example: his car was running well even with low fuel pressure. Modern cars even have a limp home mode to compensate for failing components.

But this isn’t unique to EFI. CIS is also a tuned system, and every component was carefully selected to make the engine run optimally. The Warm-Up Regulator (WUR) is a perfect example—swap in the wrong one, and the engine might still run, but not as it was designed to.

Whether you’re running EFI, CIS, or carbs, the underlying engine condition matters. A well-tuned system can compensate for a lot, but to get the most out of any setup, the engine itself needs to be in great shape. That’s the foundation everything else builds on.