Just to be clear: I don't regret a penny of this! The cost of the initial tune was probably the most important $400 I spent on the whole project. I'm sure EFI tuning is completely intuitive for some folks, but if you are brand new to the software and not entirely sure what you are doing, it's a very steep learning curve.
My point about the cost was simply that the initial tune was a flat $400, whether it took one hour or more. I was told by the tuner that he was sure he would have my car tuned in less than two hours, and he did, but we both agreed that we would extend the tuning session; he wanted to take the vehicle up to altitude to see how well the FAST system compensated for altitude changes, and I had the time and was happy to have him tweak things as we went. His shop was near Sacramento, so going up to 7000' was about a 3 hr round trip. The touch-up tuning session this spring was more focused, and was done on a per hour basis. "Reasonable" may have been a poor choice of words, but I wanted to convey that the first session was a flat fee (originally projected by the tuner to be $200/hr for two hours) and the follow-up session was on a per hour basis, with an hourly rate "less" than that forecast for the initial session.
Again, I feel I got full value for my money and wouldn't hesitate to recommend the tuner, Dan Fodge Engineering of Rancho Cordova, to anyone in Nor. Cal. who needs EFI tuning assistance.
-Jeff