Just bought one from a forum member for my 98 C5 and wanted some input from those who have one. My vette is stock other than a vortex air system and z06 exhaust, Auto with 273 gears, will it make a little difference?

 

NO. You can firm up the shifts a little but IMO the tune is worthless.

 

It claims 9-10 hp and added torque, as well as shift points, cutting on cooling fans sooner... Any personal experience out there?

 

I am intrested too.
I have the 2.73 stingers and Blackwing intake

 

My opinion is from experience. That's about all you get. No HP gain that I could tell.

Plus I had a problem with the handheld I had. VIN# locked in could not get it out by putting the stock tune back. Hypertech said I needed a later version, took it to the place I bought it NO refund because the VIN# was locked, send it to Hypertech with a copy of my receipt and reg. to prove VIN#. They told me the would not upgrade it to the later Version# even though it said on the box and their website is was for a 2004 and I had to buy a new one.

Lousey customer service. I told them to keep my worthless tuner and put it where the sun don't shine.

 

Your better off just waiting until you add some more mods then take it to a trusted Tuner and have them tune it.

The minimal mods needed for a tuner to make any difference would be different gears, Headers, x-pipe, etc, IMHO, tuning a otherwise stock setup is pretty much not worth it.

 

You will notice a difference. Just plug it in and follow the directions. Buying one of these used for a good price is a steal.

 

On a basically stock setup for the prices these tuners go for used, you can't beat it. You can adjust shift speeds too and if you get a 160 thermostat, you can tune that in, if you get larger wheels, that can be tuned in, upgrading the gears can be tuned too.

There is more to the tuner than shift points and fans.

 

works on some cars and trucks, but not on the vette according to my mechanic.

 

I would let an experienced person use that on your car. Its too bad I cannot find the post where a person used it on his 98 the day before going on a driving vacation and when he got done, the car would not run. He was very unhappy and in a panic when he posted last year.
Obviously he did not know what he was doing. My real world advice would be only attempt this on a day when you may not need your car for a few days so you have time to play with it, and if you mess it up, post on the forum.

This is the reason I have not bought one yet for my 98, although reprogramming the fans may be reason enough for me. I have a manual.

So, can I borrow it when you are done ?

Good Luck
Dave

 

Firming up the shift points is nice and gives a more aggressive feel.

 

I remember that, but seriously, these tuners are so easy to use, the instructions are elementary and you have to really "not-smart" to screw this up.

 

IMO I have heard to many horror stories about Hypertech programmers, If it were me and I was going to buy a handheld, I think my choice would be a Diablosport Tuner, they just seem to have a better feedback

 

Better to have your pcm tunned. Someone on the forum is doing it for 100.00 and its much better than hyperjunk. He is advertising in the tech forum.

 

Tuning your PCM is done with any handheld tuner, regardless if it is via laptops, hypertechs, diablo sport tuners, etc, when you send the written tune with handhelds, it is a PCM tune, because it is writing data to the PCM.

As for HYPERTECH being junk? I disagree, I agree that DIABLO offers more for the buck and it allows you to clear codes, see codes, see real time data and cool things like that, but HYPERTECH isn't junk, it is just not liked here. I have used hypertech and diablo and with great success on both, I prefer the diablo, but I am not cursing the hypertech at all. It is really a choice that is made by the consumer and I don't think the original poster was looking for criticism such as it is junk, you wasted your money, etc, he was looking for useage info and that is MHO.

I can probably find numerous posts on the HYPERTECH, DIABLO and other tuners where they had problems and that is not just going to be limited to CORVETTEs. My buddy bought a HYPERTECH and has been able to do more with it than I thought was possible and HYPERTECH has been extremely upfont with him and very helpful. I am sure he will post up soon, he had class tonight. Lets not discourage the man from using something that he spent money for, but help him use it to the fullest possible exent. If he is not a heavy modder, it will be fine for him. If he uses it and doesn't care for it, than he can tune the car back to stock and sell it. As for "what if it ruins his pcm?" comments, you will never know unless you use it and if the seller tuned it back to stock, it will be fine. If he is concerned he can call hypertech and I am sure they can test it and be sure things are fine.

Sorry this is so long, I just wanted to help out the original poster.

Micah

 

My problem was Hypertech NOT standing behind their product.

 

I installed the hypertech in my stock a4 vette and boy does it make a diffrence the car pulls more at top end and actually can feel more torque and my car is completely stock .

 

I've heard great things about the VHP(Vinci High Performance) tuner that was co-developed with Crane Cams. Several people over at ls1tech.com have had great success and swear that it's the best handheld tuner on the market. Some even went so far to say that it's almost as good as some of the laptop programs(HPTuners, LS1edit, etc), but I have no idea if that's the case. I'm seriously thinking about buying one, though, and will post more about it if I do. Here's the website if anyone else is interested in reading more about it:

www.vincihighperformance.com

 

New maybe. Used...NO !

PM for the details

 

100%.
I too was originally skeptical but bought one anyway second hand for $100. I know it's not the LS1 but my 94 LT1 A4 coupe has a Hypertech tune that I bought and it DID help with everything it promised. It definitely shifts harder and pulls harder on the top end. I can't attest to actual HP gains but it sure feels "torqueier" (if that is really a word).

Since you already have one...try it. You may be happy. Installation was a snap.