I think Tabby is friendlier.. and btw he's my cat. Jokes aside.
Ehem. I think nowadays is much more easier for self tuning. All you need to have a AFR meter and the piggyback/standalone.. But to understand the nature of your engine is the most important. Cuz you know better your engine, what's inside, history etc rather than a one-time off tuner. I'm not bashing those well established tuners out there, it's just my point is, actually we do have the ability to DIY. Yes, if they're cool and supportive, they could give us input bout basic tuning.. And i'm not saying that once you could tune/understand how ur car works you're already some bigshot, no.
In my journey, sorry it's a team of 3 actually, we invested on some cheap gadgets(due to duit takde but nak gak main kete) just to understand the whole picture. We use LC-1 and VAFCII as well as AFC NEO. The thing is, I experienced it myself, running on lean, rich, knocking, responsive, name it.. It's really fun and as long as i follow the NA AFR rule, i wont go wrong, insyaAllah..
Furthermore, it's not tat complicated, u play the role of Chef Wan, tambah tolak minyak, set vtec crossover haha.. and to know the result, i just pay RM80 to free running on dyno just to see the numbers..
Critiques are welcomed, cuz I do this for self-interest and the best thing is I can see the light at the end of the tunnel(it's a metaphor, i don't do drag in karak tunnel). Well, if you also had this experience on self tuning, why don't we share it? hmm?