Pilgrim86314

I had tune done back in late September and installed a Vitesse unit myself in early November. I've used them a while. You can see my writeup on both of them HERE.

jim2092

See if your tuner will email you the tune he put in and attach it here. Tuners here can tell you how good it was.

You don't need a $6000 computer to load it and $800 is pretty high. The best tuner in the state was doing it for $300.

Unreal

So much bad info and bullshit on there. Wow. Lamb sold you a load of crap and you swallowed it hook, line and sinker.

schpenxel

That's a different level of stupid

Cordes Performance Racing

my head hurts.

BlindSpot

I actually had some first hand "experience" with Lamb Chevrolet's tech department in Prescott. Tech, not tune, but just the same. I helped on a car they supposedly repaired a leaking oil pan gasket. It still had a leaking oil pan gasket. What I found was a horror show from their attempted oil pan gasket RR. Won't go into the detail, but half the front end was left loose and partially unassembled, plus they misdiagnosed the real leak.

Sorry, but I wouldn't recommend anyone beat a path to Lamb's tech dept. If they do a tune like they do mechanical work...not the place you want to go.

BTW - I street tune my own car now too (thanks to Schpenxel), and I do it on a $150 Samsung laptop with HP Tuners and it too sits on the passenger's seat as I drive around...and around....

realcanuk

I want my click back !! Horrifying.

sevinn

jim2092

All true and the dealer is at fault.

bmfvette

At 1st I thought "that's some funny **** right there", but by the time I finished reading it was pretty pissed. Pissed that these buttheads are able to feed off the meek and weak. But after awhile even the weak have to question that load of ****..

Then I was even more pissed I wasted time reading it.

Unreal

It is sad that dealers and shops take advantage of those who don't know better. Even sadder when they put a webpage together sharing the BS.

Pilgrim86314

Well, I let this sit for a couple days just to see what sort of comments I'd get. Largely, about what I expected except there's nothing useful being said; I thought maybe there would be. Instead, it's the usual drivel without substance. Does anyone out there have anything useful to say? Someone with professional qualifications, not parrot-talk, just repeating what he read somewhere? Like, for instance, why the street-tuning technique is no good, assuming one is not looking for or expecting a precise tune? I got a noticeable difference, particularly with the transmission, which was my primary target for change.

I'd have to question the antecedents of someone who's selling a tune of engine and transmission for $300. Pirated software? If so, I want no part of it; theft is theft.

As to cost, I don't know what Lamb paid for the software, only what they told me the cost is. Looking at their purchase cost for HPs "credits" plus a quoted two or three hours of tune time at shop rates, $800 isn't outrageous, and they told me up front what it would be. Did they make money? Yeah; I'd expect they would.

Pilgrim

realcanuk

HPTuners costs in the area of 600 dollars. To tune your car costs 2 credits last I checked and that is 50.00. Might have changed a little but not much I'm sure.
Nothing wrong with street tuning IMO.
800 for tuning is not the end of the world. Many charge that much. What's crazy is how it was made to be such a huge deal. It really isn't that much drama as they made it out to be.

Pilgrim86314

Spot, thanks for what comes closest to being a constructive comment.

I've heard about Lamb's service (I'm relatively new to the area) and it may have been that particular case; it sounds familiar. However, I talked this job over with Dave Severson, their performance shop guy, and over the course of an hour I got a pretty good idea of what they'd do and what to expect. I also talked to the tech for a while after the job. He came across as knowledgeable and straight.

I've installed, set up, and road-tuned a couple of aftermarket Harley ECMs on built motors, and while they are less complex than this job, neither am I wide open to bullshit about maps, trims, interactions, etc.

All that being said, if they got to me anywhere it was in leading me to believe that the task cannot be done at home, so to speak. I didn't figure it took a $6000 computer to do it, but I did accept that there was interaction required on line with HP. Not so? If not, then shame on me for not calling HP Tuners first.

If you're agreeable, PM me with some information on Schpenxel and the home-tuning process. I am a recovering Harley gearhead, but new to Corvettes. My friends used to accuse me of wearing out more Harleys with wrenches than with throttles.

EDIT: I just went thru the thread again and noticed at Schpenxel is a person on this forum, one who made one of the less useful comments. Is that typical?

Pilgrim86314

Thanks, Canuk. The prices you quote are right in line with what I was told. You're right; it was not a big deal at all - and I didn't expect it to be. I've played with ECM software on scooters, so I'm not ignorant of how it works.

Pilgrim

Pilgrim86314

Sevenn, doesn't it annoy your old lady when you post her picture in a public place?

Unreal

No special computer needed. You can run HP tuners on a $100 tablet. Nothing wrong with street tuning, it is the best way to tune IMO with the correct sensors/etc on the car.

Tuned a few hundred cars. Never charged more than $100 to do it. So claiming someone charging $300 must be using pirated software is beyond silly.

Pilgrim86314

Thanks, Unreal. You sound like a resource . I see that HP Tuners sells a how-to book. Do you know how good (or not) it is?

Do you work on your own, or through a shop?

I should have tossed the "pirated" comment; irrelevant and off base.

Pilgrim

russ472

Schpenxel is actually a very helpful member of the board here and is a forum moderator at HP tuners. He gets bombarded from members asking for help and constantly reviews other members crap tunes that they had spent tons of money to get. Including myself.
He has always been helpful to me and he is a "tell it like he sees it" type of guy. If someone is selling snake oil, he will let you know.

Unreal

Books are all over the place. First step to tuning is understanding how a motor works, and most of them are just that, basics on engines. The best resources are HP tuners forums and here. Either way Carson or Jody will probably answer your question.

I do mine own, unless I'm lazy, then I'll toss it over to the boys at CPR. The list of shops in Arizona that are competent are
CPR
AGP
UMS

And the 2nd two aren't really LS normal shops, but good at what they do specifically.