I know that the you can tune your car with software and a laptop like from HP TUNERS

Can any members post their feedback about tuning your pcm

How is the throttle response after the tuning

How much horse power gain is there

How has your car performed by changing the shift points

How is you MPG

Please post your reviews on pcm tuning

Thanks all, I am intested in knowing the positives on this performance upgrade and learning more about the performance aspect.

 

I have the HP suite and learning to use and how the tuning will effect the performance of ur car is very difficult...a custom tuned pcm will do wonders for u very quickly and relatively cheaply but u will not learn how and what they have changed to make it that way...i took the longer route and bought the tuner and am learnin to do everything myself

 

 

ermm Nice station wagon.

I had mine tuned, didn't do it myself. Definite increase in HP, lost mpg (because of mods not tuning i think). The shift points were changed and are much stiffer, it feels really good know. Better throttle response, mostly because of the mods though. He also changed my air tables and fueling to balance out all the air I was pulling in with the larger throttle body and ported LIM. I watched him do it and it didn't look too hard, he walked me through everything he changed and said why he was changing it, he used HP Tuners. He also increased my timing advance.

 

i use the DHP Power tuner. as it is the only software that was ever said towork (even thought not originally made for) my DOHC. Custom tuning is deff the best, but like said you need to know what your doing. this takes a lot of time, reading, practice, and a sharp person.

that all being said, gains: 10-15% is about right for most tunes, as you get more mods on the car and start tuning for them the gains will be more as with when you start adjusting spark timing and fuel to make more power above and beyond some basic tuning....

your basic tunes will add some fuel and in some cases a little timing to make power, when custom tuning the goal is to optimize everything... Efficency!! is the key... this not only will get you power but better mpg too.

my car for example is 12 years old 190k miles and gets about 2mpg better then stock, and is over a second faster in the quarter mile. (mpg would be better but i have a very low gear ratio)

custom tuning also alows you to do mods and add parts that you would not be able to do otherwise. you can remove things like the EGR, rear O2, EVAP without setting SES codes that will push the car into limp mode... also if you need bigger injectors or need to swap to a diff MAF for more flow, you wont be able to do this without custom tuning.

besides the HP and mpg gain, i think the shift points have made the biggest diff to the car while driving... the factory shift points were crap. it would constantly command a up and down shift where they werent needed!

Basicly long story short Custom tuning ROCKS but only if you Rock lol its a lot of work and learning...but the reward is worth it

 

Better once you get your timing and AE dialed in.

How good of a tuner are you? If you're just buying a tuner and have no experience- then expect 0 horsepower gain the first week. However, as you learn what all the functions do- what you should be monitoring as you make changes, and what the general tuning paths are- then you will start to see horsepower improvements. Learning where these improvements can be made takes time.

You can't just plug it in, and tell it to add 10 horsepower- you have to go through the factory tune and look for areas that could be dialed in better- areas where you can push the limit a little more without causing harm- and it takes a somewhat trained person to realize this.

I can garauntee the minute you buy one and start reading- you're going to be overwhelmed. But the more you read, and the more you tinker with it, and the more you understand exactly what each table effects- the more you can get out of a tune.

I'll agree with the others that transmission tuning probably has the greatest felt change. Adding a couple hp here or there is hard to feel- but changing shift points so it is in the correct gear when it needs to be can make a lot more seat of the pants difference.

This is too dependent on mod level. On my heavily modded monte, its a good bit worse than stock- especially with a lot of city driving. With my mostly basic bolt on gtp (about 300 crank hp, or +60 bhp from stock)- I'm getting right at or maybe a small pinch above stock mpg. With my bone stock impala, I'm probably only +1 or +2 mpg city, but I also left its tune closer to stock.

You have to realize that if the factory could've gained more mpg stock- they would have done it. Nowadays, MPG is one of the first things people look at when evaluating a car, so squeezing an extra +2, +3, +4 mpg is a really big deal- and if they could do that, they would.

You will however gain a little bit by custom tailoring your fueling tables to exactlymatch your specific car (something the generic GM code cannot do), but I wouldn't expect anything ridiculous.

I think my review is the same as everyone else- there are lots of gains to be had, but there is a ton of learning and reading that must be done first to take advantage of any of it.

 

is urs an SS or did you just put the badges on? the only thing keeping me from beleiving its an SS is theres no lower bumper spoilers on ur car. but if it is i have a diablo sport tuner thingy. i played with timing, air to fuel ratios, rev limiter, and converter lock time. it has made a difference the mileage tends to be better when i can drive normally.

 

Thanks guys, I will have to gain some knowledge but I will study on this and try to get my dialed in one day nicely, I think there are some performance shops near me that might be able to help me a little to when I get to tune my car, It needs a tune though I wish it was quicker than it is but its ok, Can't wait to engine swap one day in the years to come to really change the performance.