chrismcdaniel

iTrader: (14)

Is it worth it to a guy that doesnt know much about computers but plans on future mods for his car. Wouldnt it be smarter to just pay for initial dyno tune and then get the 150 dollar updates down the road? I guess what im saying, is what can "I" do with it with out a dyno that will make it worth 550 bucks other than removing emision codes and channging shift points and recalobration the speedo?

im realy trying to sell myself on it but just cant seem to do it.

Fetumpsh

You need to have a fair idea on engine & transmission tuning to get the most out of it. You also need a decent scanner to monitor things as you make changes.
It's not for the novice tuner, esp when the manual is so

Perhaps for yourself, either take a look at some of the LS1 tuning forums to get an idea on what you are in for, or it might be best left to a good tuner familiar with the software to tweak your car.

Bill Bowling

iTrader: (6)

That is the worst manual I have seen for a $550 price tag. They need a tech writer and a tuner to get together.

BowlingSS

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

It's not so hard to get the hang of when it comes to a many of the fields for basic tuning and adjustments. It is, however, true that you need a scanning device to moniter your changes, otherwise you are tuning in the dark.

Main thing is, you need to know what effects the changes you make are actually having, and you can't do that without understanding what you are looking at on the scanner/atap/etc. If you know & understand what most of the common parameter values mean, you'll get the hang of it.

Bink

Yep, I agree^^^.

In fact - if you don't make rash, major changes and you make sure you understand each area (fueling, timing etc.) it is actually a very good learning tool. But you need to be willing to invest the time to educate yourself.FWIW.
joel

xQuickSilverx1

I have a question about it, say your in your driveway tweeking your car, and you have scanning devices, how would you know if you were acually benfiting your car? wouldn't you need to do most of your tuning where a dyno session can be held?

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

That is really dependant on what types of changes you are trying to make. If you're tuning for more power at WOT, then yes, obviously you would not be able to tell very much about your changes while sitting in the driveway idling....

But many changes can be assessed by logging information while driving; no dyno necessary. Getting cruising Ltrims correct, VE table changes for warm starting/surging issues, and basic stuff like fan temps, shift points, idle rpm & IAC values, TM modification, etc. can all be done quite easily with devices like atap and a little research.

And this statement by binks is VERY true as well.

Team ZR-1

When do you drive the car as it is used in a Dyno ?

So why tune for a condition the engine rarely ever sees ?

Tuning with LS1edit only requires common sense and willing to learn how to use a PCM scanner/recorder and of course using a decent scanner and not some hacker written one.

Your best tune comes from recording what the PCM sees and does while driving the car on the streets, once that is done use a track or open road to record engine with scanner with engine at higher RPMs/loads and tweak the tune for those conditions.

emarkay

The only decent scaner/editor one is one that is affordable, meets OBDII specs, and utilizies the full set of data the OEM and the EPA have provided.
Regardless of it's origins or anything else, if a tool does the job, is easy to use, is logical and unencumbered with baffiling BS (or worse, a non-intuitive interface and cryptic documentatnon), and most importantly is affordable and fully supported, then why throw your money at something that offers less for more?

If you have a specific need to modify the PCM for a specific application and know exactly what you want as an output and have evaluated all the possible repurcussions of that change to the remainder of the powertrain, AND have a well engineered and fully documented scan tool to see the "before, during, and after" then yes, LS1EDIT is a cost effective tool.

Otherwise it's like trying to program a complex feedback loop while blindfolded... Something I would never attempt, and that an awful lot of people are "convinced" that it can be done correctly and safely. There is more to an EFI system than just the PCM programming, and regardless, anyone can make a light bulb shine twice as bright - for a half as long!

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Don't let this post scare you!

Edit is not just about making complex changes to areas of PCM opperation that require mega in-depth knowledge to fully understand the effects of those changes (though this can be a big part of it depending on your goals ).

Some areas of Edit are almost as simple to use and understand as using an HPP3 or similar device. Most absolute paramaters are basically straight forward, and require only a general understanding of what the values mean and what effects your changes will have. Almost anyone can handle these areas.

Comprehensive tuning of a PCM for a heavily modified LS1 can become very complex and usually requires more than a few sleepless nights and many more "on hours" of research and basic experimentation to achive desired results, but anyone with a basic understanding of the PCM parameters can eventually learn, and usually do so without any catastrophic hard parts failures, so long as a little common sense is used.

Bascially, it's all about using common sense, doing proper research, asking questions when needed, and progressing slowly with minor adjustments and regular evaluation of test data as you learn your way though tuning the complex parameters.