I'll have a lid and Pacesetter Longtubes soon, AIR is removed, along with rear 02s and the catalytic converters. I'll need a computer tune to remove these and get the most power out of my car. But my question is, is it worth it to get a "dyno tune"? Can they really get a lot out of your car in the short time they have or will you get a lot better results tuning yourself?

After seeing what HPTuners can do i'm curious how long it really takes to get things right.

Opinions?

 

Yes it's worth it, but it depends if a shop is going to tune it or you. If you can get a Dynotune special (~$300) from a sponsor then I'd say it would be worth it for you since there isn't a whole lot to tune until you get a cam.

If your close to me I'd tune your car.

Buy either HP Tuners or EFI Live and do it yourself, that way you'll always have the equipment, but it will cost more up front and a lot of learning time.

 

Yes, I agree, a dyno tune is only worth the money if you take it to a shop that knows what they are doing. Research and happy customers posts are about the best thing you can look for.

Also, with your mods and changing a couple tables in efilive software you can tell the computer to Automatically adjust your wot fuel to a specified a/fuel value you select.

It is suprisingly very accurate. Especially for using the factory o2s.

 

I don't agree with this..

The last 4 stock or bolt on Z28's i've had on the dyno picked up 18rwhp or more. The most I got out of one was 24rwhp (dynojet) w/stock exhaust + flowmaster muffler, intake, and 4.10' gears.

 

I do agree with this.. You see some jacked up dyno tuners out there.. they buy a dyno and a copy of LS1-edit and suddenly they are tuners.

 

YAh, getting 20 hp is pretty easy. 11.9 commanded af is really ruff from the factory flash.

 

The local shop here is DynoSport. The guy says he uses TC unless you have a 98, then he uses HP. Something about keeping costs for the customer down?

I basically want to get the most out of my setup and get the car running as good as it can. It's basically a bolt-on car at this point. I'm assuming either program will do what I need?

 

how do you guys deal with making sure the cats dont dissentigrate? The a/f thats commanded is mainly there to keep them in tact...leaning it out & toying with timing would lead to an early demise I assume...do you just not lean it out as much as non catted cars?

 

I won't be running catalytic converters so I won't worry about that

 

yeah i know...just kinda wondering how people that have done this day in/day out for years handle cats & how they keep them alive while still grabbing 10, 20, 30hp...without cats its easy...with I have to wonder how they are getting a ton of power yet keeping the cats in tact.

 

The guys says $300 for a HPT tune and $150 for TC which is what he normally uses...

 

why the difference? They should both end up with the same outcome :shakeshead:

 

hmm, that seems odd.

 

What is "TC"?

 

...answer...

More of a sliding scale thing. If you are swapping enough components to seriously alter the air/fuel tables, then yes, it's definitely worth it. It's worth it at that level to invest in some tuning/diagnostic software for yourself.

Owning LS1_Edit, but having seen how much friendlier and easier HP_Tuners is, I'd go that route. (It wasn't out when I bought into mine.)

If yer doing a big enough cam, big enough heads, swapping intake and exhaust, then you are definitely wasting a lot of hp 'cause that PCM ain't got that kind of learning capability.

 

tunercat

 

Not sure why the price is different, he mentioned something about HPT costing more for the customer...

 

shouldnt matter...neither are vin locked so its not like it costs him any more money if he's already got the licenses. And again they've got pretty much the same tables to mess with. Pretty if you ask me.

 

lol, if anything he should charge more for tc tuning. It takes 5 times as long....

 

I tried to navigate through their demo version & I found it just wasnt user friendly. And their scanner is still in beta & only available to a handful of people. & I think when it does come out they(monodox) is going to charge extra for it.