oddwraith

iTrader: (1)

Just wondering how these hand helds work? I mean I've never owned one but I was just wondering:

1) could I expect any gains over what I have now by adding a lid and a tune?

2) Do I need training to use one of these suckers and can I resort back to default if I mess up?

*I don't even know how one would tell if they were on the right track while tuning or if they are hurting their numbers. Is there like a preset or something or do you HAVE to know what you are doing? I don't want to waste my money on one of these if I don't need one. I just figured that since I will be doing future mods it might be good to have one.

no1izspeshl

iTrader: (19)

I personally don't think it is worth the money imo. I had one for my 99 cobra and saw 0 performance gains. Tested at the track btw. I'm sure there were hp gains but nothing noticeable to me. Great for reading codes or setting tire size to speedometer or gear changes but that was it for me. Now i'd rather spend my money on a dyno tune.

myk

iTrader: (4)

The problem with handheld tuners is that they have cookie cutter, generic tunes that may or may not help a car's individual needs. Only by hooking the car up to a dyno, running the car at various speeds and then seeing what the car needs during various conditions can a car be tuned exactly the way it needs to be for maximum performance. I mean, handheld tuners are handy for changing the gear ratio in the car's PCM, if you need that done, but other than that, a dyno tune is the only way to tune your car; it's costly, but it works...

ItsNotStock

iTrader: (24)

I had a diablo programmer in the past with just a lid and exhaust and felt gains. Granted the tunes aren't as powerful as an actual dyno tune they help nontheless and I recommend them to anyone not going too crazy with their vehicle.

And yes they come with pre-loaded tunes, but Diablo, for example, has a wonderful community and company support forum. If your car isn't too heavily modified you can have one of their employees send you a custom tune for your vehicle and upload it to your handheld.

108dragon

iTrader: (5)

I purchased mine used along with the ECM that it was VIN attached to. On a bone stock engine, I wouldn't expect to see much gain either. The Diablosport is a great tool to have when you are adding performance parts and just need to dial them in individually. Granted, it probably isn't as precise a tool as a professional tuning shop might have. But I don't have to run back and pay the professional tuner everytime I add something to my car either.
Expounding on no1izspeshl's point; This is a great tool to use to disable the secondary O2 sensors, desensitise the knock sensors, or adjust your idle, or getting rid of that pesky "skip shift" issue, while you are dialing in engine. Just remember to save your stock tune for reference and restoration. Losing it will cost you as much as the Diablosport tool itself to get back.
The Diablosport's controls and parameters are fairly straight forward and easy to use. It walks you through the process, sets up a tune based on your input, then allows you to adjust some of the parameters afterward. Once you get the controlled parameters down, its easy money. It is also possible to download software and tune upgrades.
Would I buy it again knowing what I know now? Yes. Because it is an invaluable home tuning tool for my garage. Will I upgrade? Yes. When I'm done with my new engine, I will need a lot more control over the mapping and parameters than the Diablosport provides. I'll probably go to an LS1edit or HPTuner's program.

4get gto

Stock my car ran a best of 13.8 sec.........

Added a lid and a Jamms Ram Air Kit........Ran a 13.6

Spent $369.00 on a Diablosport . Not without hesitation mine you.............Ran a 13.1 at the track...It did well in my book.!!!!!!!!!

oddwraith

iTrader: (1)

Ok thanks guys. So from what I gather, some tuning can help *(some more than others) but I may be better to spend my money elsewhere on more tried and true upgrades and pay someone to tune it for me. "4get gto" I wonder if SOME of your perfomance gains were also to do with track prep, wheather cond., and maybe you improved your 60ft by hooking better. Either way i'm quite sure these handhelds must do SOMETHING, and are useful for certain things, but I can't be sure whether my car will respond well to it or not. Thanks again everyone for the feedback. I'll have to consider my options carefully and maybe i'll just say screw it and buy it anyways. I gotta say though, it would be nice indeed to lower my et (I don't go to the track but still) by as much as 4getgto did~! Nice.

Mike@Diablosport

iTrader: (2)

oddwraith, I would venture to say with the mods in your sig you'd see about 15 rwhp and a nice gain in torque across the board with the Predator tune. You could even get it on a dyno and dial it in using the adjustable parameters to optimize WOT A/F and timing.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks
Mike