Buy HP Tuner or take to a tuner?

[TheGambit220]

Good afternoon,
I am up in the air if I want to buy HP Tuner or bring my car to a shop. I would rather have the tuner in hand that way I have control of things when I add on later. I currently have the Diablo Predator 2, but this tuner is very limited. I have heard good and bad about HP tuner. The shop that would tune my car will be using HP tuner. It will just cost more as it is a dyno tune and they have experience. I have a 2001 Trans Am WS6 with a stock bottom end, LS6 intake, Speed Engineering long tube headers/true dual exhaust out the back, Sloppy Stage 2 cam and springs (283/286, Lift .585/.585, Lobe Sep. 112), Volant cold air intake, Ram Air hood, MSD Wires. Automatic 4l60e with a 323 rear gear. I also have a wide band O2 installed, and a trans cooler. The Diablo can tune in there now is OK, but I have idle, rev limiter, shift point issues, etc.. It is shifting at about 5800/5900 rpm if I let the car shift. If I try to hold it longer as the car is still building power I hit the limiter and its over after that. I have never tuned a car myself with a computer. Carbureted cars are no problem! I have someone that will help me that has some experience, and has the Holly EFI to tune his car. I will be adding on after the tune. A 3000ish stall convertor and plan on a 373 rear gear. Eventually a shot of nitrous. Any help would be great.

Thank you

[Ben Charles]

Buy Hp tuners, worst case get someone here from the boards to help you

[cobaltssoverbooster]

+1^
if you have the tuner you can do it yourself and learn in your own time and speed. other benefits to having it is the tuner can just send your files over email and you can flash and log them which means you dont have to drive to a shop if they are far away. also handy for reading codes and diagnosing for repairs.

i think if you went without it that you would eventually get tired of sourcing a tuner that could put you in the schedule or find a friend that would allow you to borrow the software. not worth the hassle when you could have the tool available whenever you need it; if you have the cash to acquire it without issue.

[Srblacks13]

I didn't know a dam thing a month and a half ago. I successfully tuned my cam G8, got more power out of my shop tuned C5 and am working on my neighbors truck. Just do it. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy. I watched goat rope garage YouTube videos and this forum for learning.

[TheGambit220]

Thank you everyone, I will most likely buy the tuner. I bought the Diablo thinking it had more options. Being that HP does not come with any tunes at all, where do you start? My setup is pretty common, maybe someone has a tune close enough, or maybe a good base tune.

[Srblacks13]

Start with your stock tune file. It's not that crazy of a set up

[tjd1991]

I did both. I paid the dyno tuner to do a few ecm changes and they also included an mpvi2 and used my credits do to the tuning. I dont believe he edited much of the tcm so now i am here looking for info on how to start. Good luck.

[kingtal0n]

I don't think its feasible to own a high performance car and not tune it yourself. Either jump in both feet, or stay away from high performance setups.

[jaydubb71]

I don't think its feasible to own a high performance car and not tune it yourself. Either jump in both feet, or stay away from high performance setups.

Amen. Learn how to tune it yourself. You wont have to rely on a tuners availability. Trust me, its worth it. I made the initial investment in 2014 and Im glad I did.

[2therock]

I purchased HPT because of getting a rogue dyno tune on my FI Silverado.
After asking around here I got extremely lucky and received a PM from a member offering help. He stayed with me for months instructing me how drive it for particular scan logs and flashing his calibrations. We even did WOT spark plug read runs. Everything from putting around to WOT was logged.

She has been a dream to drive since. Linear throttle, no KR issues, I owe him so much.
I learned a lot doing compares as he made changes.

Sometimes its hard to get responses or help like this here. GM tuning is easier or more populated. Make your questions clear and use paragraphs. One big blob of text gives some a headache. When users pitch in to help they are being generous with their time and experience.

[jaydubb71]

One big blob of text gives some a headache.

Truest statement on the internet. LOL!

[Corvette Chris 39]

Hey guys , I also recently got a HP tuner . I built a 1988 c4 corvette with my three yr old daughter an my 8 yr old son helped a little bit also . The guy I bought it from never opened the box an he had purchased 8 credits as well . It’s not the newest version by any means but it is a mvp1 . My question is , I’ve been trying to tune the car but keep hitting snags . It’s a gen 3 4.8 stock bottom , 862 heads , btr stage 4 cam an aluminum intake with 92 mm throttle .

It’s my first time ever building an engine an I’m quite happy with it . It runs but only for about 10 seconds a that’s all I get every time . Any help would be appreciated so much . Thank you for listening

[abc]

Do you know how to use the HPT software? If so, post the tune file and a log of the start up for us to look over. If you do not know how to use the software, learn that part first. Should be able to google how to retrieve the stock file from the car and start there.

[gtstorey]

Will HPT even read a '88 Vette? Will even Tuner Pro read an '88 Vette?

[edcmat-l1]

Hey guys , I also recently got a HP tuner . I built a 1988 c4 corvette with my three yr old daughter an my 8 yr old son helped a little bit also . The guy I bought it from never opened the box an he had purchased 8 credits as well . It’s not the newest version by any means but it is a mvp1 . My question is , I’ve been trying to tune the car but keep hitting snags . It’s a gen 3 4.8 stock bottom , 862 heads , btr stage 4 cam an aluminum intake with 92 mm throttle .

It’s my first time ever building an engine an I’m quite happy with it . It runs but only for about 10 seconds a that’s all I get every time . Any help would be appreciated so much . Thank you for listening

Start your own thread instead of bumping a 5 year old one.