College degree to tune?
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
From: Knoxville Tennessee
College degree to tune? Sounds to me like you need a college degree to tune the LS1. Is there not a simple program out there to use? Maybe one where the desired performance is entered and the programmer does the rest?
You don't need a college degree. But you do need to
have a gut understanding of the old school basics,
and pick up the "mapping" of how all of the mumbo
jumbo in the PCM pertains to what the motor and
transmission are asking for and telling you, and how
to use said mumbo jumbo to get what you want.
And as they say, "happiness consists of wanting
the right thing". That's where the gut comes in.
It's complicated and detailed in total, but the basics
are pretty plain and if you work clean and keep a
focus you can get where you need to go.
Then again, you can deviate yourself silly if you
have to go and touch every **** for the hell of it.
Not to say that having a lifetime of mad scientist
experience isn't a bonus. But you don't need it to
do a good job. It just helps you to make nice with
the monster.
have a gut understanding of the old school basics,
and pick up the "mapping" of how all of the mumbo
jumbo in the PCM pertains to what the motor and
transmission are asking for and telling you, and how
to use said mumbo jumbo to get what you want.
And as they say, "happiness consists of wanting
the right thing". That's where the gut comes in.
It's complicated and detailed in total, but the basics
are pretty plain and if you work clean and keep a
focus you can get where you need to go.
Then again, you can deviate yourself silly if you
have to go and touch every **** for the hell of it.
Not to say that having a lifetime of mad scientist
experience isn't a bonus. But you don't need it to
do a good job. It just helps you to make nice with
the monster.
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dude start asking and people will start explaining things up here...do searches spend time looking..you will learn a great deal...I gained 20HP and TQ out of my car from just listening and learning up here. I have probably spent 30+hrs looking things up doing google searches and searches up here to understand everything. I have the EFI LIVE tuning tool and I love it because it shows you where the numbers you are looking at are coming from and if they relate to another table or not. I haven't looked at other tuning software for the LS1's so i couldn't tell you about HPTuners. A motor is formulas...you will find what people have discovered to work and people will help you up here if you need it. I learned all that i know from up here and the EFI Live forums. We have yet to go serious into the motor but i guarantee you when my dad and I do that we will both be up here and we will both be gathering formulas, equations, and doing a lot of calculations and determining what will work.
I'm more quaified to tune ls1's than I am with the degree I graduated with 
Also, most college professors would just tell you engines are evil and we should all own a Prius. lol
Also, most college professors would just tell you engines are evil and we should all own a Prius. lol
Originally Posted by SmokingWS6
I'm more quaified to tune ls1's than I am with the degree I graduated with
Also, most college professors would just tell you engines are evil and we should all own a Prius. lol
Also, most college professors would just tell you engines are evil and we should all own a Prius. lol
Tell me about it Im a senior a guilford college a school full of granolas and women who dont shave but Im getting a good education and its only taken me 6 years and 2 universities. And who would of guessed years ago when I was taking calculus that some of the same concepts I could use down the road to tune my trucks trim levels
Do you need a degree no, just a vast hunger to repeat steps over and over until you get them right and learn is a must.
Originally Posted by iquois
Sounds to me like you need a college degree to tune the LS1. Is there not a simple program out there to use? Maybe one where the desired performance is entered and the programmer does the rest?
It's a little steep on the learning curve, but doable for those that seek knowledge. Imo, there are two types of self tuners, the ones who follow step by step procedures without knowing why, and the ones that understand when/where/what they are tuning for based on an understanding of the internal combustion engine. Knowledge is power, literally. Like was said, just ask, as there is plenty of knowledgable guys that can answer any type of question. I ask questions all the time, and I am a trained, and in field 30years, master mech, but do I know it all, no. Some guys have a knack for this (read: math). Jump in, you'll have a blast. 