Just something ive been thinking about lately in regard to tuning.

We all know Trifecta does remote tuning and usually gets lack luster results, which I attribute to people not having widebands and not continuing to try and tweak the tune. That and also some peoples cars have mechanical issues that cause issues.

That being said..

Why is remote tuning not done by some of our well known tuners on this forum? I know it would open up a ton of business for the tuners and if you charge a little more it would make up for the hassle. I see it alot on CSS and people have no issues with the remote tunes.

Reason why I wonder this is in the end if the person thats getting the tune done has a wideband and all needed parts including hpt whats stopping someone doing a remote tune? Is it not just looking at the computer and seeing what the car is doing and going through all the info?

Or is there a reason that you need to be there to do the tune?

(only thing I can think of is hearing the engine?)

reason you need to be there is things happen instantly that the cannot be seen remotely. can shutdown instant if need be. you can hear and feel the car and just know what its doing. just a lot better, as well as more simple and reliable.

I'll bite.... There are a few reasons. First off, our platforms PCM sucks a major big one is the main one... The fueling tables are VERY limited. Other platforms have a lot more specific data which can be put in. Also, the aftermaket support for other platforms is there too. With that being said, you can usually manipulate a MAF to those mods for a "general" rule of thumb. What Vince is saying is correct also. There is more that can me said on this subject, but I'm too busy to keep typing.....





P&P Tuning
420.5whp / 359.8wtq

Another issue is that I have to be connected to my hpt cable in order to initially license a car, and the consumer would have to use their laptop or yours.

Essentially I figured the business model out to be, you pay me $250 + a $700 deposit and I send you a hptuners cable and netbook. You connect the netbook to your wifi, I team view into the laptop and pull the tune, and set up a base tune right there and flash the new tune. Then you drive and data log and come back and I team view back into the laptop. Play with the log and tune and that jazz. You plug it back into your car and I flash again over team viewer. Rinse and repeat. HPTuners is what makes it a major pita. What would be awesome would be if hptuners would get a tablet version and I could remote onto the tablet over 3/4g and be able to see the data while the car was running and driving. But its just not practical.

The other way to do it is if the customer already has HPTuners and is either not confident in tuning it or just cant get something to work right. Though even in person tuning these cars sucks a big dick compared to the v8's or standalones.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
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^^Thats the situation im in.

I have acess to hpt but dont feel fully confident in tuning. Especially when people say how bad our cars are to tune for.

Seems like a bad car to learn on even if others have done it. I have read the hpt how to guide and i just have to many questions. Luckly im supercharged so tuning is what from ive heard alot easier to deal with since its fairly linear.

Its that or I hump my car down to Seattle and get Vince to tune it in person.

There is a local company that does tuning here but is very limited with its experience. A local member got 232whp/193 tq and he is running stock pulley, header, exhaust, cams, and nbs delete. Non intercooled.

Don't know if that's good or not. They defiantly were not cheap though so im trying to see all available options.

above number seems pretty good for the mods.

I will not remote tune period. I do not believe in it, and I'm not going to put my name on something I can not verify in person.



FU Tuning

Exactly^ i sign a waiver when ever Ryan tunes my car. Releases him of all liability and thats even when he is there.

Remote tuning just won't work... plus you'd have to setup a tuning bench to do it - which is something that Ron did but had issues with.

A car should be tuned in person, in real time... the end user can't tell if something is going wrong and shut it down. We have PID's we can watch, histograms we can review, etc. If I sent you a tune and it was banging away 8 degrees of knock in a spot on the map you wouldn't know... but I would - and I'd make you shut it down so we could review whats going on.

I cannot stress this enough - your engine be it near stock or heavily modified is an INVESTMENT. I personally do NOT mess with other people's investments or money unless I am 100% sure I can control most of the variables and give them a proper return on their money that I get (which isn't a lot since I'm no pro).

Learning HPT actually isn't hard. Learning all the ridiculous nuances of the JBODY pcm is the hurdle you must jump, and that simply takes a lot of time and practice. If you are smart and conservative and PATIENT you can tune your own car conservatively with moderate knowledge and experience... but if you are looking to milk the engine for every last drop of horsepower it's got then you have to turn to a live professional.

Either way mail-order is not an option for us, and most likely never will be.

-Chris-



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Slowly but surely may some day win this race...