tuning software needed?
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 1,238
Likes: 203
From: Lexington South Carolina
tuning software needed?
I know this might need to be in the tuner section, but you guys will know the answer.
Since I have my ECS kit on the way, how important is having HP tuners?
There is really only one GM tuner in the area, but have heard some shady stuff about him. The other guy that is a good tuner, is a Ford guy and have heard he leaves too much on the table doing GM's or they have to keep going back for adjustments. Ill probably find someone in the Charlotte area for my initial tune, but when the time comes for turning up the wick and or adding meth, I wonder if it is really needed that I drive that far away for an "adjustment".
Since I have my ECS kit on the way, how important is having HP tuners?
There is really only one GM tuner in the area, but have heard some shady stuff about him. The other guy that is a good tuner, is a Ford guy and have heard he leaves too much on the table doing GM's or they have to keep going back for adjustments. Ill probably find someone in the Charlotte area for my initial tune, but when the time comes for turning up the wick and or adding meth, I wonder if it is really needed that I drive that far away for an "adjustment".
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 1,238
Likes: 203
From: Lexington South Carolina
I am going to do the install myself, so I will need to way to upload the flash, unless he can do it via my diablo tune lol.
Keep hearing you guys talking about adjusting this and that table.... wide band, vi tables, making sure your not running too lean, watching air intake temps
but I would like to learn tuning as I go.
Last edited by russ472; Sep 13, 2015 at 06:47 PM.
Race Director
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 16,667
Likes: 1,209
From: Raleigh, NC
St. Jude Donor '15
I decided to do it myself.. started with very little knowledge and haven't blown anything up yet.
To have a real shot at not destroying stuff you'll def. need a wideband, HP Tuners pro, some greg banish books/DVD's and be willing to work your way up.. i.e. take it easy as you're learning more about tuning and work your way up from there. It takes time to learn everything you'll need to know, but for a fairly common setup I think most people can manage to do it themselves. But.. it will take a lot of reading, learning and experimenting to get it right.
Don't expect to click "supercharger", "Safe tune" and "flash" and get what you want.. you have control of every table so you have to understand what they do and how to change them
The HPTuners forum is a very good resource and I think anyone can do it given enough time
Dash logic doesn't hurt either since it lets you keep a really close eye on things without trying to look at a laptop..
To have a real shot at not destroying stuff you'll def. need a wideband, HP Tuners pro, some greg banish books/DVD's and be willing to work your way up.. i.e. take it easy as you're learning more about tuning and work your way up from there. It takes time to learn everything you'll need to know, but for a fairly common setup I think most people can manage to do it themselves. But.. it will take a lot of reading, learning and experimenting to get it right.
Don't expect to click "supercharger", "Safe tune" and "flash" and get what you want.. you have control of every table so you have to understand what they do and how to change them
The HPTuners forum is a very good resource and I think anyone can do it given enough time
Dash logic doesn't hurt either since it lets you keep a really close eye on things without trying to look at a laptop..
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 2,034
Likes: 111
I'm lucky that I have a good tuner locally but I learned my lesson about bad tuners and if my local tuner is not around I would not hesitate to tow my car a long long ways to get a good tune. A really bad tune can nuke any motor faster than you can blink and it also determines virtually everything about how the car drives. Given all the money we throw at our cars, driving or towing it for 5 or 6 hours is worth it to avoid ruining a $10K+ engine....I'm sure you can learn to tune it but if you don't have the tune I'd recommend just traveling to make it happen, you can always just cruise there on the base tune and make a weekend out of it too!
