Opinion on Mail Order Tune
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
From: Battle Ground, Wa
Opinion on Mail Order Tune
I just purchased a manual 2004 C5, and I am looking to do some mods. The only issue is that there really aren't any tuners in the area, and I don't want to have someone tune the car if they have no experience with corvette's. I am looking to do headers, exhaust and intake for now. In the future, I will probably add a cam and maybe some others. My problem is that my corvette is my daily driver, so I cannot take out my PCM to have it shipped off for a mail order tune. I saw a thread on here a little while ago from someone who is supposedly the best corvette tuner, and he was doing mail order tunes for roughly $100 or so. Would it be a good idea to buy another PCM, and have that one sent to get the mail order tune done, so that way I have it when I install the parts and I am not without my car? Or should I just take the risk of having one of the local tuners here give it a shot? Thank you in advance for any of your opinions. I have learned a lot from many of the people on here.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 946
Likes: 2
You can buy a spare PCM on the auction site for 80 bucks.
As with everything, you get what you pay for in a tune.
For the most part, tuning is tuning. If they have software for a chevy, they can tune your vette, and you're better off with a dyno tune. Where you need to be careful is if you go FI or N2O, that the tuner knows how to tune for power adders and has experience with what you are running.
As with everything, you get what you pay for in a tune.
For the most part, tuning is tuning. If they have software for a chevy, they can tune your vette, and you're better off with a dyno tune. Where you need to be careful is if you go FI or N2O, that the tuner knows how to tune for power adders and has experience with what you are running.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
From: Battle Ground, Wa
I can't find that post from the guy that was doing mail order tunes for around $100. Does Charlie from RPM do mail order tunes? I believe that might be the person that I am thinking of as the company logo looks like the one on the post from what I recall. If I were to do a mail order tune, who would you guys recommend? I am new to the corvette scene, and I only want the best people working on it, which means I will be doing all the work, except for the tune, haha. So I guess I am looking for the best tuner out there that can do mail order. Thanks
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,396
Likes: 52
From: Sicamous BC
Mail order, dyno tuning is as I'm finding out is scary stuff. Take a look over at the other forum & see what is going on.
Because we don't understand the tuning thing we don't know what questions to ask so we we are unable to decide what is best.
My suggestion is to make the investment in the software & time to learn it, just like choosing your cam so you can at least do the speak.
Because we don't understand the tuning thing we don't know what questions to ask so we we are unable to decide what is best.
My suggestion is to make the investment in the software & time to learn it, just like choosing your cam so you can at least do the speak.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 946
Likes: 2
If you are willing to learn, there are a lot of people willing to help you learn 
Doing your own tuning is like doing your own mechanical work -- very rewarding, much easier on the wallet in the long run, etc. Tuning has a steep learning curve, mostly because of the lingo, and the software packages themselves, but if you can tune a carb / distributor car, you can tune a PCM controlled car, IMO (maybe not straight out of the box, but still).
There are numerous sites with walk-throughs for new tuners and both EFI Live and HP Tuners have large forums with lots and lots of dedicated people willing to help you out.
On top of that many mail-order tuners will customize their tunes for you (provided you have the same software). They send you a tune, you do some logging and send that to them, they adjust the tune and email it to you, you write the tune to your PCM, rinse, repeat.
Doing your own tuning is like doing your own mechanical work -- very rewarding, much easier on the wallet in the long run, etc. Tuning has a steep learning curve, mostly because of the lingo, and the software packages themselves, but if you can tune a carb / distributor car, you can tune a PCM controlled car, IMO (maybe not straight out of the box, but still).
There are numerous sites with walk-throughs for new tuners and both EFI Live and HP Tuners have large forums with lots and lots of dedicated people willing to help you out.
On top of that many mail-order tuners will customize their tunes for you (provided you have the same software). They send you a tune, you do some logging and send that to them, they adjust the tune and email it to you, you write the tune to your PCM, rinse, repeat.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
From: Battle Ground, Wa
Well I like the idea of tuning my own car. I love doing everything myself, it is very rewarding. And the fact that if I have the software that I can email the stuff that I log to a mail order tuner, and they can adjust the tune and email it back, I never even thought about that. That is pretty amazing. The only thing is from what I have briefly looked at, the tuning software and setup is pretty expensive, am I wrong? Which would be better to have,EFI Live or HP Tuners? I am starting to see now that there are a lot of people willing to help out, which is great. Also, if I were to do my own tuning, since I am just starting out, I want to be able to make sure that it is something that I would be able to do in just a couple of days as I cannot go without my car. I am a police officer, so time off is precious and rare, haha. I think I will look more into tuning myself now. Let me know what software you guys recommend and why.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
From: Battle Ground, Wa
Oh also, the closest tuner is Horse Power Freaks. Which do a lot of imports, but from what I have heard they want either your arm and leg or your first born child as payment for tuning. So mail order or tuning myself will be much much more cost effective over going to them. Let me know about that software. Thanks
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 946
Likes: 2
The great thing about tuning is that you can do it as you have time. You'll be moving in incremental steps anyway, so if you do a bit today, then don't get back to until your next day off, no sweat.
Which software to get is a matter of preference. I've used both, but now use EFI Live V2 -- primarily because when I needed to get deep into custom tuning for the TT truck, HPT did not yet support custom SD tunes for my OS. They are pretty differently laid out, so once you pick one, you get fairly specialized into that way of thinking.
For an NA car, you can easily "start small" with the tuning bit and work your way into more advanced stuff as you get more comfortable with the process, etc.
Which software to get is a matter of preference. I've used both, but now use EFI Live V2 -- primarily because when I needed to get deep into custom tuning for the TT truck, HPT did not yet support custom SD tunes for my OS. They are pretty differently laid out, so once you pick one, you get fairly specialized into that way of thinking.
For an NA car, you can easily "start small" with the tuning bit and work your way into more advanced stuff as you get more comfortable with the process, etc.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
From: Battle Ground, Wa
Well for my corvette, I am going to be staying NA, but I also have a 69 Nova that I am going to be building an LS for and procharging that, so for now NA, but if I become comfortable enough with tuning my own vehicles, then I may just tune the Nova as well. So if I am going eventually be doing both NA and FI in the future, would you recommend I just use EFI live?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
From: Battle Ground, Wa
I just looked on both products websites, and some of the forums and all I can say is WOW. There is a lot to learn, and it is kinda scary since I do not know anything about tuning. I have to learn everything from the basics up. If I do not have a lot of free time, in your honest opinions, would it be worth it to try and tune the vehicle myself, or would I just be better off getting someone else to tune?
Heel & Toe
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
I literally, just installed a tuned mail order computer yesterday! lol..i have a 2000, with intake and exhaust. ordered it from PCMFORLESS.com got here in 3 days. I didn't notice much difference at like 70 and above..but lower than that..like going 25 and flooring it..its an unbelievable difference..just keeps pulling, and pulling hard. Im happy with it..paid $280
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
From: Battle Ground, Wa
Actually I did some more looking around on the Forum, and found out that there is a place that is about 2 miles from my house that comes very highly recommended. Wong's Performance. I have seen several posts that say that they do great work. Can anyone from the Portland/Vancouver area chime in and give me their .02 on Wong's Performance? Thanks guys.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
Likes: 192
From: At the beach in little Rhody
Actually I did some more looking around on the Forum, and found out that there is a place that is about 2 miles from my house that comes very highly recommended. Wong's Performance. I have seen several posts that say that they do great work. Can anyone from the Portland/Vancouver area chime in and give me their .02 on Wong's Performance? Thanks guys.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,396
Likes: 52
From: Sicamous BC
Actually I did some more looking around on the Forum, and found out that there is a place that is about 2 miles from my house that comes very highly recommended. Wong's Performance. I have seen several posts that say that they do great work. Can anyone from the Portland/Vancouver area chime in and give me their .02 on Wong's Performance? Thanks guys.