You sound like a good guy. I'll be straight with you. I think there was visceral reaction to the hyperbole in your write up because it's quite common on this site to find some very crack tuners, most of whom use HPT.

I'm a student tuner. I started a single project that I've been working on for two months now. I am not trying to become a tuner; I'm trying to perfect one tune. I'm getting there learning the hard way, taking good/helpful (key words) advice when it comes...learning...trying...then retrying...testing what I'm being given, on and on. I've worked my single project now and I am reaching the level of satisfaction for which I was trying. I spent ten days "street tuning" to achieve what a crack tuner could do in a couple of hours on a dyno...but I'm there now and thankful to the source that got me there

This is a big site there is expertise here willing to help you and mixed with a whole lot of bull$hitters too. The challenge is to weed through the BSers to get to the genuine expertise. It's not easy. Some members here are just for the "stir" of emotion and never add any real value.

It was coincidental that I happened to have direct experience with work out of the back room at Lamb. Not atypical of most dealers' back rooms, frankly. In fact, about a million years ago, I was a tech in a Chevy dealer for two years before going back to school. I know first hand the incompetency that can be found in any average dealership. Some real talent too, don't get me wrong...just like here.

 

No, unlike some she can take a joke.
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Nearly everyone who responded was reacting to the show and story they put on for you.

schpenxel and Unreal are two of the most knowledgeable and helpful members of this forum...if they say something doesn't make sense I'd listen to them.

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[QUOTE=Pilgrim98908;1593618573]Spot, thanks for what comes closest to being a constructive comment. QUOTE]

You have become defensive and are not listening to what has been offered. But now this remains;

You have been led to believe this is a bigger deal then it is. OK that is over.

You have been charged maybe more then it is worth. OK that is over.

Now it only remains to see if you got a good product. If your tuner will send you an email copy of the tune or someone who has HP Tuner software can download your tune (can be done at no cost) and attaches it to this thread, there are several experts here who can tell you if you got your monies worth. End of story.

 

Thats one of the things with tuning these cars. You can just turn off or reduce the torque management and 95% of people will be "OMG this tune rocks, car is so much more responsive and faster" just because the car isn't limiting torque.

 

90% of people raving about there great tune are comparing it to stock. Its not hard to get some improvement. Many times they would be shocked by what a really good tune would do after.

 

Agreed. Very few people try multiple tunes, but claim how great their tuner is based off a sample size of one.

I call it burger king syndrome. If you never had anything but a whopper, that is going to be the best burger you have ever had. Without trying any others, its silly to claim how good a burger is.

 

Exactly what my opinion was after reading the OP's writeup on the Vette Sette website. It's a typical reaction when an owner who is mostly satisfied with the factory product, but later makes a change without doing research. What then happens is that other people read what the uninformed wrote and assume, in their own ignorance, that it's the best thing since sliced bread, which perpetuates the problem.
My advice to the OP, is to remove his tech tip from that page.

Now as far as the "best" tuner is concerned, the best is the one who provides a tune that completely satisfies his customer. Apparently the OP has had buyer's remorse, so that wasn't the best for him.

 

Even then, your needs could be satisfied, but another person could go above and beyond.

There are 3 tuners in AZ that I would let touch my car or recommend. All 3 are excellent.

 

That may be true for you, but for Joe Blow Vette owner, your opinion of a poor tuner is still a good tuner if he satisfies the needs of his customer.

You don't need a top notch vascular surgeon to stop a wound from bleeding when the fire station paramedic can accomplish the task.

 

Ugh. Don't talk to me about surgeons. Got to fly to DC Sunday to watch a surgeon do a surgery. Its scary how bad most doctors are, let alone most tuners.

 

To all: The calm voice of reason begins to show up. Good. Go back and look at the first batch of responses and you'll understand my annoyance. They start out assuming the whole job was fxxxed up and I'm a fool for permitting it.

But, as Jim2092 said, that was then and this is now. I feel some progress, especially with some PMs I've received.

Above, HOXXOH hits the nail on the head. I went into the process looking for a specific set of results and I got them, mostly; enough to be satisfied: some improvement in performance and a set of transmission shifts that suit me. Are there a couple of ****les? Yeah, and I really don't care enough to pursue them except sometime, out of curiosity. No buyer's remorse, at least not yet. I certainly didn't think it was the perfect tune, best since sliced bread; only that it was okay for me.

The remaining question in my mind that flows from all this furor is this: Did the dealer do me wrong in what he sold me and told me? To answer that, I've contacted HP Tuners to see what they demand of their vendors.

And once I've heard from them, I'll get the maps from Lamb and post them here.

And if they are truly fxxxed I'll edit the website to reflect it, and then get the software and begin, with help here, I hope, to work on them myself. As I said somewhere else, I never screwed anything up so bad I couldn't throw it away.

Kent

 

HP tuners doesn't demand anything. Anyone can buy it. They are just a place that sells a package. They have zero control or care what people do with that package.

 

As Nick said, HPTuners is just a tool that anyone can buy from various vendors. Many, including myself have it to log and tune our own cars. That and a laptop and you are officially a tooner !!!

 

AND...you don't even have to purchase anything to try it. You can download the entire and complete VCM suite from the WS and begin looking at tunes and scans with NO obligation including your own if Lamb gives them to you. You just cannot edit a tune w/o a control unit and credits.

Go to the WS and download for free. That's the way I started.

 

Hmmm... that brings up a question. Who does the engineering and development on the product, I wonder? You think it's all done on engine emulation software?

I'd been assuming, without reason, that HP would be similar to Zipper's Thundermax in the Harley world, an outfit whose product has a selection of canned maps available that they developed on a dyno, selectable based on the basic engine and typical mods. T-max provides technical suggestions and support to the field as users refine their basic tunes.

 

Ah, Grasshopper, now you are asking the right questions. No, the HP Tuner software is a professional tuning suite that allows many thousands of tuning changes. What you are describing is a "hobbyist" (no insult intended) software and allows you to pick from a short list of options to tune your car with, not withstanding other changes that can be made. It will take some dedication to take on the use of the HP Tuner software. There are several "Jedi" warriors already on this thread who can help you.

 

HPtuners does all the development, and they are very good at it. The unit only allows for changes of parameters. It does not come with any "tunes", as they are not in the tuning business. It starts with you downloading the stock tune from your car. Then changes are made and it is uploaded back to the car.

 

Some basic "general" reading is in order here...

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/compu...ations-review/

http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/070...-tuning-tools/

Not the be all end all..but will help shorten the learning curve on tuning software packages and it's uses..

 

HP doesn't mess with GM tunes/etc. They develope software/hardware to allow you to modify OEM ECUs.

Their system works on GMs, Ford, Dodges, Mercedes and other cars. They just crack the ecu. What you do with that is all up to the end user.

They are nothing like T-max. HP tuners is like Microsoft. The ECM suite is like MS word. You don't call/email microsoft on how to write an essay. If you have a technical question on how to save a document they can assist in that just like HP can assist in how to download a file or interface. Asking them tuning questions is like email microsoft about your kids college paper and wanting help on writing a book report.

 

No kidding! I just took a stroll through the dummy setup (well, maybe not best choice of words) I downloaded. It looks like a challenge - Roman Numeral calculus comes to mind.

I don't know what site I looked at before I entered into the HP transaction, but I don't think it was the one I just escaped from. This one has way more information.

Thanks to all.