In another thread a member was asking about the various 'power chips' on the market that allegedly offer HP and Torque gains. The majority (myself included) think these chips don't offer any benefits other than lightening the weight of your wallet which in turn lightens the weight of your vehicle. Most believe the best method is to have your PCM reprogrammed, or purchase the Powertuner or HPTuner and learn to reprogram the PCM yourself. My interest would be in learning how to reprogram the PCM myself. It seems to me that the additional initial monetary output would be offset by the ability to change the parameters and fine tune the PCM whenever you made changes to your vehicle. So, my question is of the two programmers mentioned - the Powertuner and the HPTuner - what are the members experience and which would you recommend? Are there any other programmers you would recommend? What are the pros and cons of each? All input positive and negative about these products will be appreciated.

 

HPTuners has a higher initial cost, because you buy it NEW and you use credits to tune cars.

DHP is discontinued, so you can ONLY buy it used. This can tune any 3800 powered car for free.

HPTuners has the ability to do more, and tune a wider variety of vehicles. This is the route I am going with my Tax Return money.

Join a forum, and start reading, and reading, and reading about tuning.

 

Thanks for the info, Mike. Any suggestions on forums to join? If they are anything like the other automotive forums there are ones that contain a wealth of info and others that are pretty much useless.

 

HPTuners has its own forum.

 

Found 'em...Thanks.

Looks like I have a lot of readin' to do...

 

is a tune really worth the money??

 

From everything I've read so far having the PCM reprogrammed is one of the most effective ways of improving performance. You can do other mods like improving intake/exhaust flow, change the rocker arm ratio, etc. but to take full advantage of those mods the PCM programming needs to be altered. Whether or not it is worth the money is up to the individual and their goals. If you send your PCM in for tuning then you should have all your other mods done first so they can be considered in the tune. Otherwise you need to have the PCM reprogrammed every time you add a mod. That can add up to a lot of money over time. Since my mods will be spread out over time being able to reprogram the PCM myself is (for me) the logical choice. I will be spending more money initially, but over the long run it will pay off since I can make changes to the PCM any time it's needed. I can also fine tune the PCM to my particular vehicle versus the 'canned' tune you get sending your PCM somewhere to have it tuned. The only place I'm aware of that uses data from your vehicle to tune is BlackBear, but I think they deal mainly with trucks.

 

Yes. Especially if you are altering the car drastically from its stock form. Since I am going to be running a turbo, I want to make sure the car is running perfectly and how I want it, so I am going to learn how to tune this year.

Also, the spring time, is much different weather than summer, so I will want to retune the car to keep my A/F ratios in check.

If you do a few mods, and just want a little change in performance, paying someone for a tune once is well worth the money.

 

How much gain both HP and torque is expected on a stock 3400 with a HP tune?
Also at what time, in the process of building, is good to get your car tuned in relations to add on mods?

 

Oh ok I wasnt aware of that! thanx for the explanation!