It's finally summer and I'm working full time again, and this summer I plan to tune my car. So many choices though, I don't know which to choose. I sort of want the HPtuners, which is the best buy for $650 but I have no idea how to tune and I don't want to pay some proffesional $150 an hour to tune it for me, because before I know it, it'll be $650 plus $600 just for someone tuning it. I saw a Greddy emanage (a new version though) and I was wondering if that was any good? It's about $500 but I heard it was hard to tune with that too. And then finally, I could give it to JBP and let them reflash my ECM for $675 (one time fee) and just send it back to them anytime I want.. The JBP way is the safest way, but then again I can't dyno it and send it back every week.
So basically I was wondering how hard is the HPtuners, and would it be cheaper just to send it to JBP? And also, how good is the Emanage compared to HPtuners?
Mods: Bolt-ons, JBP Stage III Cams, P&P next week. Maybe, maybe nitrous if I have enough money left over. If not, I'm actually debating if I should tune it this summer or spray and put the other one off to the side til Winter.
Any imput will be helpful and appreciated, thank you.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2208703
Truly it does not matter which option you go with you will have to pay someone to tune your car. The only real way to get a proper tune is to be on a dyno with the car your tuning the ECU for and making adjustments based off the readings your getting. Go with HP Tuners.
FU Tuning
John Higgins wrote:Truly it does not matter which option you go with you will have to pay someone to tune your car. The only real way to get a proper tune is to be on a dyno with the car your tuning the ECU for and making adjustments based off the readings your getting. Go with HP Tuners.
k... for starters..... ummm no
Im not really sure why people belive that you need a dyno to get a good tune. what ever happened to using a wideband? hell, back in the day there were tuners that would spend hours with a narrow band a scan tool and a beat fmu.
but really all you need to do is start asking your self questions. like
what am i tuning? (engine mods)
what kind of power am I making?
what tools do I have?
what tools do I need?
and most importantly what kind of control due I want?
if you awnser these then you wont need us to help. BTW dont just go HPT becuase everyone eles says its great. if you are only looking for a decent tune there are other optoins.
"
boobs now with Riboflabin"
Jcavi wrote:John Higgins wrote:Truly it does not matter which option you go with you will have to pay someone to tune your car. The only real way to get a proper tune is to be on a dyno with the car your tuning the ECU for and making adjustments based off the readings your getting. Go with HP Tuners.
k... for starters..... ummm no
Im not really sure why people belive that you need a dyno to get a good tune. what ever happened to using a wideband? hell, back in the day there were tuners that would spend hours with a narrow band a scan tool and a beat fmu.
but really all you need to do is start asking your self questions. like
what am i tuning? (engine mods)
what kind of power am I making?
what tools do I have?
what tools do I need?
and most importantly what kind of control due I want?
if you awnser these then you wont need us to help. BTW dont just go HPT becuase everyone eles says its great. if you are only looking for a decent tune there are other optoins.
I guess I should have been more clear. You know since the ORG does not like to hear us talk about doing illegal things on the orad ways tuning on a dyno is the safest way. You could always go to a track as well. Truly just adding timing does not mean your getting more power. A dyno will tell you if the adjustments you made actually gave you power or not. Air/Fuel number are only part of the complete picture. Butt dyno's do not work.
FU Tuning
Yeah I don't want to go to HPT just because everyone is so hyped up about it. I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars just to spend hundreds of more dollars to use it. I'm thinking that I'm just going to go with JBP and probably add nitrous in the mean time. And plus, JBP is the shop that made my cams, so they'd know how to tune my ECM it properly adjacent with my cams. Thanks for the imput.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2208703
dario wrote:Yeah I don't want to go to HPT just because everyone is so hyped up about it. I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars just to spend hundreds of more dollars to use it. I'm thinking that I'm just going to go with JBP and probably add nitrous in the mean time. And plus, JBP is the shop that made my cams, so they'd know how to tune my ECM it properly adjacent with my cams. Thanks for the imput.
I will say again that unless you drive to JBP they can not properly tune for your set-up. It is best to tune a ECU on the car while either dynoing, or making runs with the car. Sending a ECU and getting a tune and putting it on your car does not mean it is tuned correctly. Every car is different every set-up (regardless if same parts) is different.
FU Tuning
Gonna chime in here... A piggyback like the E-Manage is a good option but keep in mind that you will have to work within the confines of the ECU's stock parameters. Piggybacks alter the signals going to the ECU, thus forcing the ECU to remap itself for a more performance-oriented tune. But again, it's within the stock parameters. With HP Tuners you have full control over the ECU itself, so there aren't as many limits. And you can save the stock profiles so if you f*ck up, you can start all over with a few clicks of the mouse. A full stand alone does many of the same things the HP software will do, but you have to start from scratch or use base maps that very well may not work with our engines, and last time I checked there isn't a plug and play system for the Cavalier. They all have to be wired in before you can tune. And if you completely remove the ECU, you'll lose all the interface for the diagnostics and gauges and cruise control, and in order to keep those things, you have to keep the ECU just for that purpose, and use the stand alone for the engine. I drive my car daily so that kind of thing is important to me. With the HP software, it's done directly through the ECU, so again, there's a plus. No wiring involved, you keep all the stock functions of the ECU, but you can tune jsut like a stand alone. The reflashes I can't say much about since I've never had one done, but personally I think they're a bit of a waste unless you live close to one of the what, three places, that actually have the ability to do it. And if you don't, you have to send it in, wait, test it, and if it's still not right, keep sending it back until it is. With the other options you can tune the car right then and there, no waiting. And as far as dyno tuning, yes, it's the best way to get a tune, but there are plenty of guys who just plug in a laptop and tune on the fly.
I'll stick to nitrous, once I get more then another grand, I'll think about tuning. Maybe wait awhile til more people mess with HPT on here so I can follow their steps. Thanks guys.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2208703
