So I'm a huge noob to tuning I'm not going to lie, but I've been reading up lately on all the handheld tuners. I have just finished a 5.3 swap into a 1981 firebird, and it has a dorman intake, a different cam and full exhaust, I talked to a local shop about a tune and they told me close to $1000. I expected somewhere around that price, but what if next year I switch the head, which I plan on doing eventually, is it going to cost another $1000? Is there a handheld I could get to make the car more driveable and run a little better until I get all get these bigger upgrades done. Fyi, the cars driveability is a little rough right now, it doesn't like to stop, lol, and almost dies when in gear while stopped. I appreciate any help, thanks.

 

might as well bite the bullet and buy into a tuning suite now if you're gonna be rolling more changes into your combo later

 

So let's say I stay with this setup for a couple years and then change the heads and maybe port or change the intake later, what would you recommend I do. Right now it's no fun to drive, lol.

 

Get a professional tune now that can become the basis of your tune later when you change things. Just be advised, tuning has a steep learning curve and carries some risk of destroying your motor if you run your fuel-air mixtures too lean and too hot - can melt a piston top.

Rick

 

That's the reason I don't want to try doing it myself, already spent enough money on the swap, I don't want to blow it up now, lol. Thanks for the advice guys.

 

true it's a steep learning curve, but for me it's become the most enjoyable part of swapping motors and boosting them

make small changes and then observe the results. make notes. ask questions. be patient. double check your work---read plugs etc

have I hurt motors? yes I have. Will you? It's possible if you get greedy enough with timing



right now even with the problems HP Tuners is having with the new interface I still think it's the best buy

 

a handheld is not going to work for that swap/setup... you need to take it to a shop to get tuned on a dyno...

 

Thats what I figured. Thanks for all the info.

 

Absolutely any time a handheld tuner is good enough, you are wasting money. It may or may not give you any gains, and it may or may not compromise reliability. You just have no way of knowing what you may get. You could lose power and drivability just as easily as you could gain it, because their program is nothing but a guess designed to grab your cash.

 

Handheld Tuners are junk. Expensive and limited. Buy efil ive or hptuners and study up on it. Yes it's a learning curve but it's a ton of fun.