Do it yourself tuning
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Do it yourself tuning Can you tell me how difficult it is to learn to tune your car? I was thinking about LS1 edit or EFI live. I am willing to spend some time, just wondering how much of a learning curve. Thanks
its hard to quantify how "hard" exactly it is to learn...everyone is different...some pick it up right away...some dont but stick with it and learn in time...some get frustrated after a month & either give up or blow something up.
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Originally Posted by foff667
its hard to quantify how "hard" exactly it is to learn...everyone is different...some pick it up right away...some dont but stick with it and learn in time...some get frustrated after a month & either give up or blow something up.
but I would make sure that I was pretty sure of what I was doing before I attempted to tune it or make any changes to the PCM.
Originally Posted by CBX
Does anyone know whether or not LS1 edit supports speed density tuning? I can't find this information on their site.
Originally Posted by CBX
Does anyone know whether or not LS1 edit supports speed density tuning? I can't find this information on their site.
Last edited by foff667; Oct 22, 2005 at 10:51 PM.
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Originally Posted by foff667
you can do speed density tuning with all of the 4 major programs because SD just means your shutting off the maf sensor basically...two(hptuners & efilive) just make it easier to tune in SD with the custom histo's and such so you can modify fueling easier...also if you email your vin to sales@hptuners they can tell you if they support your vette for tuning.
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You have a 97 so SD tuning is a little different for the 97-98's. The 97 vette isnt supported by HPT via their order page. I am not sure if that has changed recently but EFILive's Flashscan supports the 97 and 98 vettes and is leaps and bounds ahead of LS1 Edit. Click the link in my sig to readup on thier site and forums the benifits fo the program
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Originally Posted by HumpinSS
You have a 97 so SD tuning is a little different for the 97-98's. The 97 vette isnt supported by HPT via their order page. I am not sure if that has changed recently but EFILive's Flashscan supports the 97 and 98 vettes and is leaps and bounds ahead of LS1 Edit. Click the link in my sig to readup on thier site and forums the benifits fo the program
Nothing beats being able to go in a do it yourself. A tuner can get you close but wont take the time and effort you will in dialing in and getting rid of every little quirk with your car. If you plan on modding any in the future chances are you will have to replay the tuner to yet dial your car in again. Yes the learning curve is steep but if you have time and put forth a little effort you can and will find help, here being one of the places. There are tutorials and guides in the stickies up top this forum that willhelp the biggest noob out and if you still have any questions you can post here. I am not gonna sit here and tell you you will hit the groud running because I didnt and most that post here didnt either. IT WILL take some time and a lot of reading to master and unserstand the concepts being written about.
When you say twice the cost what package are you referring to.
HPTuners package is 650 with WB support Efilive is 850 with WB support and a K-type thermocouple junction for EGT purposes also with black box loggin feature. Edit is prolly around 500 but the scanner is no where near as intuitive as the EFILive or HPT and they dont offer any WB inputs and their customer service is no where near as good as the other two companies
When you say twice the cost what package are you referring to.
HPTuners package is 650 with WB support Efilive is 850 with WB support and a K-type thermocouple junction for EGT purposes also with black box loggin feature. Edit is prolly around 500 but the scanner is no where near as intuitive as the EFILive or HPT and they dont offer any WB inputs and their customer service is no where near as good as the other two companies
Originally Posted by CBX
I would hope it's a lot better, it's almost twice the money, then you have to add for the wideband. Plus I'm still on the fence. I'd like to do it, just concerned that the learning curve is too long. I may just bike the bullet and have a local tuner take care of it. Although I would really like to have this capability, this is just a hobby for me, I have a business to run as well. (I checked with HP, my PCM is not supported.)
as far as teh price difference goes I wouldnt worry about that...you can get the personal version which comes with all 97-98 licenses free of charge & youd get 2 licenses on top of that for only $699. This still has black box logging & inputs & outputs for your wideband and what have you. 25-30 second partial flashes...and a scanner that will blow whatever lives beta unit can do.
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I used HP Tuners. It took a couple months reading, and trying, and experimenting on my own but I figured it out and I am very happy with my results. You have to be willing to put in the time and research effort. Other than that a little common sense never hurts 
This site was very useful in steering me in the right direction.
This site was very useful in steering me in the right direction. Thread Starter
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Originally Posted by Firehawk853
I used HP Tuners. It took a couple months reading, and trying, and experimenting on my own but I figured it out and I am very happy with my results. You have to be willing to put in the time and research effort. Other than that a little common sense never hurts This site was very useful in steering me in the right direction.
This site was very useful in steering me in the right direction.
I still may do it because I want to have the flexibility to make changes. And, like HumpinSS says, a tuner wont take the time to dial your car in and take out every quirk.As fas as the cost. LS1 edit is $450.00 and Flashscan is $700.00 plus the WB input at around $200.00 = $900.00, double the price.
Originally Posted by CBX
As fas as the cost. LS1 edit is $450.00 and Flashscan is $700.00 plus the WB input at around $200.00 = $900.00, double the price.
Also, Tuning without the MAF using Edit is possible, but not for the faint hearted. You will have to be very versitle with excel and have a LOT of patience. I did this with edit before I decided to use a real program and holly cow, it takes FOREVER. What would take me 45-60mins per tune to do, I can now do in about 5-10mins. That in itself is worth it to me. My time is more valuable then that.
Last edited by Black02SS; Oct 24, 2005 at 06:55 AM.
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Originally Posted by HumpinSS
Nothing beats being able to go in a do it yourself. A tuner can get you close but wont take the time and effort you will in dialing in and getting rid of every little quirk with your car. If you plan on modding any in the future chances are you will have to replay the tuner to yet dial your car in again. Yes the learning curve is steep but if you have time and put forth a little effort you can and will find help, here being one of the places. There are tutorials and guides in the stickies up top this forum that willhelp the biggest noob out and if you still have any questions you can post here. I am not gonna sit here and tell you you will hit the groud running because I didnt and most that post here didnt either. IT WILL take some time and a lot of reading to master and unserstand the concepts being written about.
When you say twice the cost what package are you referring to.
HPTuners package is 650 with WB support Efilive is 850 with WB support and a K-type thermocouple junction for EGT purposes also with black box loggin feature. Edit is prolly around 500 but the scanner is no where near as intuitive as the EFILive or HPT and they dont offer any WB inputs and their customer service is no where near as good as the other two companies
When you say twice the cost what package are you referring to.
HPTuners package is 650 with WB support Efilive is 850 with WB support and a K-type thermocouple junction for EGT purposes also with black box loggin feature. Edit is prolly around 500 but the scanner is no where near as intuitive as the EFILive or HPT and they dont offer any WB inputs and their customer service is no where near as good as the other two companies
My sentiments exactly!
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For what it's worth, I think a standalone (while much more involved in installation) is a LOT easier to tune than factory software reworking (HPT, EFILive, etc.). EFILive is awesome (the only one I have experience with) HOWEVER it's about 18x more complicated than a Gen 7, Megasquirt, or any other standalone I've seen. The factory uses MANY more "variables" to run their engines than the typical standalone. Most I know who come to the standalone option have already worked with software like LS1Edit and HPT, and find standalone tuning much easier. It's the price (usually) and extra installation time that is difficult for a standalone install, that keeps people using HPT and similar packages, IMO.
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Originally Posted by dieselgeek
For what it's worth, I think a standalone (while much more involved in installation) is a LOT easier to tune than factory software reworking (HPT, EFILive, etc.). EFILive is awesome (the only one I have experience with) HOWEVER it's about 18x more complicated than a Gen 7, Megasquirt, or any other standalone I've seen. The factory uses MANY more "variables" to run their engines than the typical standalone. Most I know who come to the standalone option have already worked with software like LS1Edit and HPT, and find standalone tuning much easier. It's the price (usually) and extra installation time that is difficult for a standalone install, that keeps people using HPT and similar packages, IMO.
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Originally Posted by Black02SS
To do it correctly you will need a wideband with any program you chose to get so its only a little bit more. Edit shouldn't even be considered anymore with Live and HPT being available. He said it took him a few months of reading for him to get fimilar with HPT, you have no idea how long it will take with edit as there isn't any customer service from Carputing and 99% of the users here prefer Live or HPT.
Also, Tuning without the MAF using Edit is possible, but not for the faint hearted. You will have to be very versitle with excel and have a LOT of patience. I did this with edit before I decided to use a real program and holly cow, it takes FOREVER. What would take me 45-60mins per tune to do, I can now do in about 5-10mins. That in itself is worth it to me. My time is more valuable then that.
Also, Tuning without the MAF using Edit is possible, but not for the faint hearted. You will have to be very versitle with excel and have a LOT of patience. I did this with edit before I decided to use a real program and holly cow, it takes FOREVER. What would take me 45-60mins per tune to do, I can now do in about 5-10mins. That in itself is worth it to me. My time is more valuable then that.
It really depends on your preference. I have done both and prefer SD over having a MAF. Car feels more responsive. IMO, even if you want to keep the MAF, you need to tune the car without it at first to get the VE table dialed in and then re-calibrate the MAF afterwards.