LT1-LT4 Modifications 1993-97 Gen II Small Block V8

pcmforless vs. madz28

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Old Dec 23, 2005 | 05:37 AM
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Default pcmforless vs. madz28

I want to send my pcm out for a tune. I was wondering if anyone has ever used either one of them and what they thought about either one. Price wise, performance wise etc...

Thanks.
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Old Dec 23, 2005 | 07:26 AM
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Really not going to go wrong with either, if it helps though Bryan of pcmforless is just right down in Philly only a few hours away should you plan on getting to the point where more indepth tuning is necessary.
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Old Dec 23, 2005 | 11:08 AM
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PCMforless did several tunes via mail-order for me, I never really had a complaint untill I started doing alot of changes one at a time. I was willing to pay for the retune, but Bryan messed a few up and then got a little crapy with me. Saying it was my fault that he didnt read the sheet I packaged with the PCM or load the correct previous tune for the changes. Which resulted in SES lights on a few in a row because he didnt turn this code or that code off. Its a shame because he does do a great job and really knows his stuff. If he wouldnt have placed the blame on me changing things and got an attitude about it, I would have probably continued working with him a little longer.
I ended up getting a dyno tune by Jeremy Formato, picked up 50hp over the mail order tune, and will never spend money on a mail order again.
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Old Dec 23, 2005 | 11:17 AM
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IMO there is nothing wrong with getting a mail order tune and then having the rest tweaked by a the use of a dyno or several datalogs and wideband info. I'm satisfied with my PCMforless.com tune, but I know there's more in my car than what it's currently tuned to. Would I recommend Byran to anyone, sure I would.
Matt
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Old Dec 24, 2005 | 05:39 AM
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I say Pcmforless.
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Old Dec 24, 2005 | 05:48 AM
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I ordered my tune on friday its not here yet but will see how good my madz28 tune is gonna be.
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Old Dec 24, 2005 | 08:11 AM
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I had really great results with PCMforless
really quick turn around too
if you want to head on over to speeddensity.org and you can read up on all kinds of Alvin and Byran's work.

and after a PCMforless tune SmoknTA's car has never been meaner.
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Old Dec 24, 2005 | 10:09 AM
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The combo make s a difference too. A stockish car all are going to probably hit pretty dead on first time out, same with the nausiatingly overdone crap like the HOT cam. You start getting more radical or into boost and they have to play it safe and you can very likely then do better with some handson work or doing extensive datalogging andf emailing back and forth. That is a BIG hassle on a 96 though with the OBD2, with OBD1 there is free software to load the flashes, not so for OBD2.
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Old Dec 24, 2005 | 07:19 PM
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mad z28 here.works great,good service and price
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Old Dec 25, 2005 | 12:48 AM
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They both have similar pricing, and both have many dozens (hundreds?) of positive reviews, so I don't think either one is the clear winner. Both generally do a very good job.
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Old Dec 25, 2005 | 04:08 AM
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Well I have had the opportunity to play with tunes from both and can tell you in my mind there is a clear cut winner. I have adjusted probably 100+ pcmforless and about 20 Madz28 tunes. The Pcmforless has a great tranny program that just needs the shift points tailored to the individual car as every trannys shifts different, They are always pig rich though, every one that I have gotten a PCMFL tune from complains about the same thing, also his timing tables are a little lame IMO. I got another .2 in the 1/8 mile out of Data logging and adjusting my personal PCMFL tune. The Madz28 tunes seem to be a little closer IMO and I have personally found it harder to get much more out of though it is possible through datalogging and such.
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Old Dec 25, 2005 | 04:41 PM
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How long does it take for a tune to come in i have been waiting since december 16th i need my tune im in cali i dont know where ions located proly holidays slowing down the shipping.
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