1BAD_LS1

iTrader: (36)

Looking to do my H/C in the near future. I know a mail order tune is not near as good as a dyno tune but how good are they? who would you recomend? The nearest place for me to get a dyno tune is 4 hours away. Is it safe to drive my car without a tune that far? I dont really wanna take any chances.

TA info in sig.....

Thanks in advance guys!

edcmat-l1

iTrader: (10)

Up early over there, ain't ya?
Several of us on here do mail orders. Me, FROST, Jesse (wait4me) etc. You could probably get one for TSP too. Do you need to send your computer out, or do you have/are you gonna get software?

poconojoe

iTrader: (43)

Personally, if you firgure how much you're going to risk, driving it without a tune compared to the cost of a mail order tune, I'd get the mail order tune and then use the mail order tune to drive for a dyno tune, if you don't think the mail order tune is getting you everything, you should be getting out of the motor. You might want to buy a spare PCM to put the dyno tune in, since just because, they have a dyno, doesn't mean you'll get a better tune. Its a mater of having the equipment and the knowledge.

1BAD_LS1

iTrader: (36)

Ya its pretty early...i normally get up at 4 to do my run to cheyenne wy with the semi to get back in time to to go to my other job. but i got laid off from driving truck but for some crazy reason i still woke up lmao.

I will be sending my computer out probably.

1BAD_LS1

iTrader: (36)

True...just because a person has a tool doesn't mean they know how to properly use it.

Goldfinger911

iTrader: (24)

Mail order tunes make me cringe. The guys that EDCMAT listed are all good tuners yes.. they are very helpful and knowledgable.... but now search the Tuning forum for "mail order tune problem" and look at the problems people have had with mail order tunes in general, even with bolt on cars. Just be aware that things will be less than perfect. Then if you dont have the software and interface to make tweaks and adjustments because you sent out our PCM...

edcmat-l1

iTrader: (10)

Most of the time, problems with mail order tunes are unrelated to the actual tune.
I've done some mail orders for cammed cars and H/C cars, and have been pretty successful with them.
It starts with good base files that are real close to the specs of the car you're doing the mail order for. That's the key. You have to have really good tunes to begin with.

thunderstruck507

iTrader: (18)

for what you are doing I would recommend Jesse at wait4me

you can get a tuned pcm from him for $160, sell your pcm for about $100...end up with a tuned pcm for $60

then you can drive to get a dyno tune...I've been driving my cammed car with his tune for over 3000 miles, couple small issues but nothing I think could be helped much without tuning the car in person (rough idle cold is biggest)

cam is a copy of the tr230 which some people say can be tricky on the idle anyway, but like i said for the price its a hard deal to beat...cheaper than towing the car 4 hours for sure...plus it gave me a chance to work out the bugs in the car

crzytown69

iTrader: (17)

I hope you take the advice im about to give. I have a fairly decent 383 build and i did the mail order tune from a sponsor. The car started and drove but not very well. they did the best they could but no two cars are a like and pretty much all they can do is make your fuel pig rich and turn some coeds off now like stated above it does help if you have a close map to start off with.....SECOND never drive your car to get tuned especially not four hours... Cars break on the dyno thats part of life i would hate to see that happen and you gotta go home and get the stuff to tow it back or even worse get a tow.... if you dont have access to a trailer you can always rent one but if anything i would not drive that far

kustomkhaos

iTrader: (5)

Guys I was a sceptic about mail order tunes myself. I went to a local tuner to have my car done, and the first tune with basic bolt ons seemed to work well. I then added a cam to my car and went back to the same person. After having it tuned with the cam is when the problems began. I went back when he had time and had it retuned. I was having the same problems as before. I picked up my own HPT and scanned my car. I posted it up one HPTuners forum to have people check it out. The problems ranged from 8degs too much timing to high and low octane tables out of wack. I contacted Ed at the hpfactory and spoke with him about getting a mail order tune. I have delt with many shop owners and tuners, none have taken the time or been as helpful as Ed. He sent me my tune and after writing it to my car in mydriveway the car has not run this smooth since it was stock. The power difference is night and day. I cant thank Ed enough for the help and great tune he has sent me.

edcmat-l1

iTrader: (10)

I don't know who you got yours from, but if they had a 383 file with similar cam profile, they should have been able to get it pretty close right off the bat.

I tuned a SC Vette a week or so ago. It was almost identical in mods to one I tuned a couple years ago. Procharger D1, pretty much stock otherwise. Now, I tuned it 2 bar SD, same as the other one. Plugged the 2 year old tune in, FIRST PULL, NO CODE 1514, A/F WAS GOOD, IT MADE 525 HP FIRST PULL.

Also, we can do more than just 'make your car pig rich'. I use known VE tables, and MAF tables that I've cataloged by CAIs, aftermarket MAFs, VEs by cam profiles, etc.
Same with injectors. If I know the type injector, and what it was flowed at I can set the IFR and because I do things the same way every time, the MAF and VE values will be very close based on the accuracy of the IFR.

On F-bodies, sometimes the throttle blade needs to be opened, or drilled, but that's about all the end user needs to do to make a good tune work. Vettes, because all the idle settings are done in the PCM, come out very very close.
The WOT fueling always needs to be verified and/or tweaked.

Just trying to clarify.........

thunderstruck507

iTrader: (18)

Well the guy who stated about cars breaking on the dyno...that is true, didn't consider that I guess.

My car broke the transmission tailshaft on its second dyno pull (not during tuning, I was just doing it for fun).

I also wanted to have something to compare to when I get the car dyno tuned to see what kind of power difference there is. So far I've been kinda disappointed with only 325rwhp/340tq. But my mpg are good at 25 mpg highway.

1997bird

iTrader: (2)

Yep, Ed is one hell of a tuner! He can get things right when most everyone else seems to be out to lunch and pretty much tells you to deal with it.

Now then, if I could only get my customer's Ford 460 ECM back (Its not mine, so don't hang me).............

edcmat-l1

iTrader: (10)

DOH!!!
Call me first thing Monday!!

crzytown69

iTrader: (17)

TSP did mine and it would hardly run....I figured they would have a good base map being I have one of their custom ground cams.... I dunno my experience was the tune was ok im not ******* them but the car didn't idle well at all with my tune... I have wanted to get hp for datta logging and to learn but i cant bring my self to do it....

poconojoe

iTrader: (43)

Getting a mail order tune isn't much differant then getting mail order clothes, if you don't give them the right info, neither one will fit. By the way I've never had work done by Ed @ The HP Factory, but have communicated with him and I think I'd trust him to do a mail order tune, over any of the local guys around me, that could do it on their dyno. If you get a mail order tune, get some equipment to do some logging. Your tuner could look at the files and see if you need any tweaking

1BAD_LS1

iTrader: (36)

Thanks ill have to check ed out...what equipment to log my data would you suggest cuz i dont know **** about this stuff. lol

kustomkhaos

iTrader: (5)

There is alot of support for HPTuner. Ed will get you right on, but with hpt you can datalog and send it to Ed and he will tweek as needed. I say at least give Ed a call you will be glad you did.

Goldfinger911

iTrader: (24)

1BAD, Keep us posted in this thread how it goes with your tune. There are a lot of people on LS1Tech who need a solution and examples of succesful mail order tunes experiences.

1BAD_LS1

iTrader: (36)

Ill will be attempting a mail order tun after:

Vig 3600 stall
Intake/TB/MAF
LT's
H/C

The tune will be done in march...When getting ready to tune i will keep everyone posted on how my experience goes with a mail order tune.

MAYBEE I can take the fear out of mail order tunes! We will just have to wait and see how it turns out.