dynocar

98redoranget writes, "Maby if i hit the lottery this week i will get all the same modle years for hpt and save my self a little loading time"

Having been in this profession for a number of years and watching the leap froging and companies come and go, I am quite reluctant to send anyone, who I can't even talk to on the phone, thousands of dollars and gamble as to if there software will stay competitive and if they will be around long - I don't do lotterys either.

Alvin

iTrader: (2)

Tunercat definately has some awesome flexability.. with the OBD1 stuff I've gone back and made custom defs for 2 bar stuff, extend maps, added 'cool' factor things like launch control and a half *** 2 step....etc.. I haven't dove much into the OBD2 defintions but the same thing can be done because theres a tuning shop selling OBD2 Diesel definitions.


If you ask me HP tuners is my LEAST favorite software right now.. To bubbly and so clumbsy its hard on laptops that aren't the latest and greatest

I don't think I would reccomend the OBD2 tunercat to anyone starting out in this though. There is no help, tables aren't explained in detail and you will need a seperate scanner. I wouldn't hesitate to reccomend EFI live which I have also and am very pleased with.

Alvin

iTrader: (2)

Let me clarify.. John gives the best techincal support but there isn't any tuning help for tunercat like there is for the others.


If you ask me its the perfect thing as alot of the tuning help out there gets pretty comical sometimes

hellbents10

iTrader: (10)

As more of a pro tunner shop I love tunercat. Its very capable software. My read times are 4-7min and write times are 45-65seconds. Yes slower then HP. Still no big deal. I have made big power time and time agian with ease with tunercat. I have also used and owned versions of HP, EFIlive, and LS1 edit. The only thing Hp has over TC right now is the LS2 stuff.

I use a Gensys scan tool for logging.

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

Well, it's nice if Tunercat is doing LSx stuff now, it's only... what... 2006? Not sure why some folks would exhort members to jump on the bandwagon when they are the last ones to the dance.

Alvin

iTrader: (2)

I've had mine since aug 04..

I don't think HP tuners or EFI live beat them to it much earlier than that.

2xLS1

iTrader: (25)

Tunercat OBD2 has been out for over 1 year now. They support a lot of OBD2 vehicles that no one else does like 96 and up Gen 1 Vortec Trucks that are OBD2. Their 96-97 LT1 support blows away Vin locked LT1 edit. I own it and also HP Tuners. If you are a real tuner, you won't have any trouble using it. I believe EFILive was late to the dance, but that does not make their product any worse than the ones that got there on time. Look at LS1 Edit. I think they got to the dance first but are nowhere near the best. I'm sure Tunercat would get a lot more support here if they were a sponsor.

dynocar

I have a feeling that the hobby Vs tuner shop people have two different viewpoints as to what is good or bad software. We do both Ford and GM and it is very apparant that the Ford software suppliers are much more tuner shop friendly then the GM suppliers. It is to the point that we are considering getting out of GM for this reason. Example, we've had a Camaro on the dyno now for 4 hrs without being able to tune because our new upgraded USB software does not work. Instead of emailing, forums etc, if it were a Ford, we could have called our supplier and most of the time have had a tech on the phone within minutes and had this problem resolved. Such support does not exist in the GM custom software world and when your living is dependant on this, we either have to charge more for GMs or get out of them.

foff667

iTrader: (2)

LS2 tuning
LS7 tuning
read/write times
1 bar custom OS
2 bar custom OS
3 bar custom OS
I4 support
3.1,3.4,3.8ltr support
Detailed online help file
Scanner with analog inputs/outputs

I would say its a little more then just LS2 tuning

slow

iTrader: (7)

Well said dynocar....

There are 2 different points of view for this, most of the GM guys will tell you to just tune it yourself and buy the software. For this, some of the options out there are a great bang for the buck.

For the guy who does tuning for a living, having a supported product, (and telephone number to call) is certainly a good thing to have.

Ryan

foff667

iTrader: (2)

I could see that being a good thing for the tunershop...to open up the phone lines to possibly 10's of thousands of people to answer questions that could usually be answered via help files or on an online forum in minutes would quickly get overwhelming. I don't really know how many individuals do their own tuning on fords with software such as hptuners or efilive so correct me if im wrong, but in the past two years I've seen an explosion in the self tuner market. 150 tunershops with 1 question a week is alot less time consuming then 5000 individuals with questions about how to adjust wot fueling what timing they should use.

dynocar

foff667 quote, "I don't really know how many individuals do their own tuning on fords with software such as hptuners or efilive so correct me if im wrong,"

I don't have any scientific evidence to support this but from my observation I think there are many more Ford self tuners than GM both percentage wise and due to the larger market of Mustangs alone. Some of the suppliers we work with have a special support number for dealers only which obviously helps to limit the number and types of calls they receive. However, if tuner software companies are set up more to support the hobbiest than the pro-tuners that certainly is their right, but as I am finding out the expensive way, we have to find out who they are and stay away from them.

98redorangeta

iTrader: (10)

So what softwear do you use cause the guys at hptunners havent let me in on there phone numbers yet. Also i dont think you could even spend $2000 before you would have all the supported obd2 cars with tuner cats.

dynocar

That's the problem, I haven't found any GM software that I trust sending thousands of dollars to for unlimited licenses, so I pay as I play plan.

foff667

iTrader: (2)

yup lets just get rid of the hobbiest all together apparently thats what your aim is remember most people on this site are hobbiest's and everyone started somewhere. In addition every software has its place...but because the software currently available, for gm, to you doesnt have a phone number to contact the owners directly you want everyone to boycott them?

98redorangeta

iTrader: (10)

ok that makes more sence then i like tuner cats for that reason much cheaper to do it that way than it is with any of the others.

dynocar

NO NO NO, by "we" I meant we as a company, not we as a forum. I'm not for boycots, let the free enterprise system play out. I respect the companies who cater to the hobbiest vs tuner shops, that's their business decision and if it works thats great, tough to do both, I'm a businessman and completely understand. As far as the hobbiest go, I was once one, that's how I got started here, and many of our (our companie's) best customers are car/truck hobbiests, don't want to pxss them off too.

foff667

iTrader: (2)

sorry i misunderstood...back on topic

98redorangeta

iTrader: (10)

I think that i have been kind of misleading in my posts saying that tuner cats is the best solution for every one this in fact is not true. Tuner cats is a great solution for a limited group of people.

Cases where Tuner cats would not be good.
1. You have little to no experience tuning.
2. You dont not alredy have some sort of obd2 scanner.
3. You are only interested in tuning a few cars 1-3 especialy if they are the same modle year. The quick load times and user freindly set up are worth a few extra dollars here.

If you are like me however and are planing on tuning a veriety of fbodys and vettes and have a scan tool and have previous experience with other tuning softwear. You cant beat the price that tuner cats offers I can get all the cars i need for what it costs me to buy 3 modle years from hpt or upgrade to usb and get 2 modle years. Dont get me wrong hpt is very user frendly but i just cant afford it any more i have other things that i could spend that money on.

Ed Wright

iTrader: (1)

John, I don't think anybody is trying to get anybody to jump ship, just defending the ridicules statement that Tunercat is junk. Nothing could be further from the truth.