programers good or bad ???
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 329
Likes: 0
From: SoFla
If you can afford HP Tuners or EFI Live, go that route. You can also have it dyno tuned. If you prefer a programmer, I had the Hypertech for my 94 Z28 and it was alright. I now have the Crane Power Tuner for the 02 and like it much better. It's a "cookie cutter" tune but you can make changes to some of the more important variables (i.e. timing & fuel) and it has tunes for some of Crane's cams as well as a tune for forced induction.
Programmers kinda do a generic tune. It's better than stock and if you just have a few bolt ons should show you some improvement. Once you cam it and start doing major modification... your way better off getting it dyno tuned. I'd even go as far as say you'd benefit at all times more from a dyno tune than a programmer, BUT if cost is an object than you will find some gain from a programmer.
You're not going to go in your current program and get major gains anytime soon.
You need a wideband to get the most out of your tuning stuff, for me that was $350 extra and the Innovate LM1 was such a pile of **** I sold it.
A one time dyno tune may be more cost effective depending on what you do to the car in the future.
I have HP Tuners and haven't seen the most power out of anything but I've turned off codes, swapped transmissions, improved driveability, it's a good diagnostic tool too.
I did delete torque management from a friends car, increased timing and he said it ran 3 tenths faster in the 1/4 mile. And the car was dyno tuned before I got to it.
