Sell me on HP Tuners

[Swap-it]

I'll Just come out and say it...

I've been using the competetion for about 7 years now to tune GM gas vehicles. Lately I've been frustrated with them and considering coming over to HP Tuners. I am not completly new to this software, I have had the demo version for a couple years. Also I have a good friend with the setup and we have compared notes from time to time. I haven't been able to find a clear answer to some of my questions so I thought I'd just ask straight forward, does anybody have experience with both systems, and what do you think about them?

Heres some things to keep in mind:

*I only deal with GM gas vehicles, Gen3, 4 and moving on to gen5 now.
*I don't necesarilly tune a lot of stock vehicles, its 95% engine swaps so that's where my concerns lie.
*My biggest complaints with the other guys is the e38 ecms...it seams some functions don't always work even though they appear to have been changed in the tune. Discrete fan settings come to mind, I've been told HPT doesn't have an issue with this, true or not???
*I Flash or tune approx 10 cars/ecms per month, I'd most likely jump right into a stream license, I'd need to check into that...

I don't expect or want a bunch of product bashing but if you can simply tell me the things you like better about HPT that would be great. Either in ease of function, or just black and white issues of function availability, etc.

In my head I have 2 hang-ups about HPTs,

1) the credits system seems confusing compared to what I'm coming from
2) I hear that it is difficult to change vins around for a swap. (theres plenty of times when I need to take a tune, swap the trans segment, and stuff it into a completly different ecm, is this a problem)

Please feel free to ease my mind about these 2 issues.

Also, It looks like some new hardware/software was just released, maybe now is the time to jump in! Thanks for reading all this and putting up with the stupid questions.

[Bill@HPTuners]

using the mpvi2 the credit system is much simpler, universal credits so simply read the ecm, license it and tune away.

regarding vin changes you can only do vin changes on applications where you have either the unlimited license or the year/model license and you can only change the vin to create a valid vin/os pair.

[blistovmhz]

I used to prefer HPT, but I'm now investigating other options.

Something to keep in mind is the current situation with HPT. IE: Once again, customers website accounts have been lost, and the bin repository is just gone (missing now for ... 2 months?) and the only response from HPT so far has been "the website is being transitioned and the repo will be back up in a few days" (it's been a couple months now AFAIK).
So consider my situation. I do a ton of LS swaps, and here I am with my thumb up my ass because the repo just disappeared and I can't finish customer projects because I need some stock bins for segment swaps. Customer projects being held up for weeks or months now because of this, and HPT isn't doing anything about it.

HPT's licensing doesn't make any sense (I do understand it, it just doesn't make any sense). Licenses are stored entirely in your MPVI device, so if it fails or is lost/stolen, you lose 100% of your credits. If you've got a couple hundred customers you've licensed, if they have to come back to you for some followup tuning, you have to relicense them all at $150 each. The licenses also apply not only to the physical ECM, but also to the OS running on it, so it'll cost you credits every time you want to try another OS. There are a lot of guys who've been burned by the MPVI failing and taking all their credits with it.
I've never understood why HPT keys to both the ECM and the OS. This screws me constantly.

My other beef (i'm over it, but not really over it ) is that when I was first looking to buy HPT, I called support inquire about specific support for a specific year/model/OS (4 low shift tables). I was told HPT supported 4l shift tables for this OS. When I bought it and hooked it up, no 4L tables available. HPT support insisted that was because this OS didn't have 4L tables in the first place, but I read them just fine with EFILive, and clearly they existed, as my shift pattern worked in 4L. After arguing about it for 3 or 4 weeks, someone from HPT sent me a beta version of the software, which gave me the ability to set 4L shift points by speed, but no ability to set any of the other shift parameters, so it was pointless. 1:1 isn't the same as 5.44:1. An auto has to be tuned properly (shift pressures/speeds) for every final drive range, especially when you're going from 1:1 to 5.44:1. Keeping my shift tables from high range, in low range, with a 5.44 reduction, ... that blows up transmissions, cases, drive shafts, and axles in short order. HPT didn't agree. Ultimately I ended up just setting up the performance shift tables to work properly with 4L, and they work mint, except that I had to find a way to reliably create an intermittent swtich signal when I go into low, to enable performance mode. This also doesn't survive a reboot, so you have to have a way to manually switch modes.

I really hate to talk shit but last night, once again, I needed to do a segment swap for a customer vehicle that was supposed to be out the door yesterday, and I'm just here with my thumb up my ass like an idiot, hoping I can find someone on the Internet who happens to have the OS bin I need to get this thing out the door. I suspect I can probably call support today and they might get me a bin, but having to wait all weekend to access features I've paid for, and rely on, is crap.

@Bill, why is the repo still missing? Did you guys just lose all your data? Do you not have the bins anymore, or is this just an issue of pushing the button on the new website prematurely, and not wanting to post up the bins publicly until you have provisions to keep non-paying folk out?

[Bill@HPTuners]

I used to prefer HPT, but I'm now investigating other options.

Something to keep in mind is the current situation with HPT. IE: Once again, customers website accounts have been lost, and the bin repository is just gone (missing now for ... 2 months?) and the only response from HPT so far has been "the website is being transitioned and the repo will be back up in a few days" (it's been a couple months now AFAIK).
So consider my situation. I do a ton of LS swaps, and here I am with my thumb up my ass because the repo just disappeared and I can't finish customer projects because I need some stock bins for segment swaps. Customer projects being held up for weeks or months now because of this, and HPT isn't doing anything about it.

I really hate to talk shit but last night, once again, I needed to do a segment swap for a customer vehicle that was supposed to be out the door yesterday, and I'm just here with my thumb up my ass like an idiot, hoping I can find someone on the Internet who happens to have the OS bin I need to get this thing out the door. I suspect I can probably call support today and they might get me a bin, but having to wait all weekend to access features I've paid for, and rely on, is crap.

@Bill, why is the repo still missing? Did you guys just lose all your data? Do you not have the bins anymore, or is this just an issue of pushing the button on the new website prematurely, and not wanting to post up the bins publicly until you have provisions to keep non-paying folk out?

Nobody's account information has been lost, there was just no easy way to transfer it to the new website so customers need to reregister.

New website has been up for roughly 1 month so at the most the repository has been down for that period of time, plan is to have the repository back up and functional this week.

[80gus]

Nobody's account information has been lost, there was just no easy way to transfer it to the new website so customers need to reregister.

New website has been up for roughly 1 month so at the most the repository has been down for that period of time, plan is to have the repository back up and functional this week.

just to add my 2 cents
Ive got accounts with other places that have set up new sites and had to re-log its no biggie, the one thing they have all done and HPT did not was a group email (hey were updating sorry but log in again please) or even a banner on the new site explaining it. I'm sure every1 has had to waist there time wondering whats happened to there account.
I know you guys live and breath it, just be mindful of the guys that only play with it time to time.


Awesome product poor communication.

[Bill@HPTuners]

just to add my 2 cents
Ive got accounts with other places that have set up new sites and had to re-log its no biggie, the one thing they have all done and HPT did not was a group email (hey were updating sorry but log in again please) or even a banner on the new site explaining it. I'm sure every1 has had to waist there time wondering whats happened to there account.
I know you guys live and breath it, just be mindful of the guys that only play with it time to time.


Awesome product poor communication.

https://forum.hptuners.com/showthrea...l=1#post529868

[80gus]

valid point, then maybe a pox up box on the site would have been the answer.

[misk]

I feel a sticky in each forum sub group or just a pm at least advising that this was even happening would have been best, I never check these parts of the forum unless theres issues, it has no other useful info for me to be checking in every day to make sure shits still gonna work when I wake up the next day.
I'm sorry but its poor form to do a major update like that and remove access to the tune repository for a month without some form of communication.