EFI Live of HP Tuners (VCM Suite)

[Sickbunny]

Hi Guys

I Currently have a car which is tuned with EFI Live but i am wanting to learn about tuning and begin tuning the car myself so i can see what tweaks can be done to it.

Would i be best off buying the EFI live flashscan or switching to HP tuners and if so why do you suggest each one.

Thanks,
Grant:goodjob:

[VXSS346]

:doh: Another thread that will end in a shitfight. :spew:

[IJ.]

If the car already has an EFI Live tune in it I'd buy EFI Live.

[Sickbunny]

:doh: Another thread that will end in a shitfight. :spew:

Hopefully not, im not interested in tuner politics and would rather just peoples opinions on why they chose one product over the other if tuning their cars themselves.

[Soopy]

:doh: Another thread that will end in a shitfight. :spew:

Why?

I have efilive and love it. Hpt and efilive are much of a muchness these days. The efilive side of things has a great support community and allot of guys on here use it. I cant comment on the hpt side of things.

[macca_779]

I'd recommend EFI live even if you didn't have a tune done in it already. But even ignoring that, the tune you have will probably be a custom operating system. In which case EFI live is the only software that can modify it anyway if you don't want to start from scratch.


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[Sickbunny]

Thanks guys yeah i was originally leaning towards HP Tuners as it seemed a little easier but it appears there is more people who are using EFI Live on the forums which will help if i have any tricky questions down the track.

Any suggestions for a wideband O2 sensor and module to suit the EFI live flashscan?

[duke5700]

If the car has all ready been done with EFI Live, just grab EFI Live.

Both do a pretty good job with EFI Live having some nice features. Both have the important things you need to modify.

My car was originally tuned with HP Tuners, so I bought it. The added functionality with HP now having the abilty to do Fords and so forth has been nice additions.

[Soopy]

Im using a techedge 2j9.

Efilive is easy once you become accustomed to it.

[macca_779]

After your PM sick bunny and knowing where your tune came from it will be a custom OS without any doubt. Good luck when you get started and like I mentioned before. We are here to help.


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[A^K^T]

There was a time when i would have recomended HPT .

Go with EFI live.

[Soopy]

There was a time when i would have recomended HPT .

Go with EFI live.

What made you change your opinion?

[Benno25]

I use both. They both basically do the same thing although each of them have some good features with their custom operating systems. I am more experienced with HPTuners however.

Things I seem to think.
EFI live scan tool is way more powerful than hptuners (Excel fixes this problem though)
EFI live custom operating systems give you the ability to command different AFR's at different load and rpms which is good.
EFI live has a useful VE multiplier based on IAT table.
EFI live seems more configurable I guess?

HPTuners gives you the ability to modify some of the main tables you will adjust in real time without having to stop the car and reflash. You can do this with every table in efilive but it means spending more money on a roadrunner pcm or something like that.

End of the day though, they both do what I want.

Cheers
Benno

[Delft Maloo]

I have and use hptuners, i also brought efilive to try swell. I'm happy with my hptuners and efilive didn't really offer anything more to me so i sold it off to another member on here.
They are basically the exact same thing with some different advantages to both but no matter what you buy if you learn to use it properly it you should see success.
I love my hptuners but if your after plenty of help from around here you might be better off with efilive as there seems to be more local users on this forum.

[swingtan]

While not a new topic, it doesn't come up very often. There are two main points to lok at when making this decision.


How do you intend to use the product? Business vs Private is the main consideration here. HPT provides some Ford support, so that may sway a potential buyer. EFILive however has a vastly simpler vehicle licensing structure for the home user.
What sort of support can you get? This is probably more important than #1. Speaking from experience, the EFILive community is extremely helpful. This goes for both the official forum and when meeting others around Melbourne. I can't comment on the HPT side of things here.


When l was looking in to this, I was initially going to go with HPT as they are based close to where I live. However, after looking into it I went with EFILive because....


I found their licensing structure too confusing at the time. HPT uses a "credit" system and each ECM type and each 'tune" type ( MAF / MAFless / Boosted ) took a differing number of credits. With EFILive, you licence the ECM / PCM and get the TCM (if fitted ) included, that's it. No matter if you tweak the stock tune or load up a full Custom OS for boost and N2O, you only licence the VIN once.
I have lots of local support. Jezz talked me in to tuning and was available to help, as was Macca and a number of others. The EFILive forum was also quite easy to use and there was plenty of help.


My advise would be to look into the products and how you intend to use them. then make a decision on what would suit you best.

Simon

[A^K^T]

What made you change your opinion?

The current version of the softwear they have is 2.22 , it's been out for about three years. (relesed 30/04/2008)

[macca_779]

The current version of the softwear they have is 2.22 , it's been out for about three years. (relesed 30/04/2008)

In HPT's Defence ( can't believe I'm saying this ). They do provide Betas that are alot more recent. Still though requests for improvements aren't taken anywhere near as seriously as they are with EFI Live users. Within reason, but we pretty much get what we want and that is why the software has evolved to be as good as it is thanks to the users and the brilliant software engineers that put it all together in NZ and AUS


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[Soopy]

The current version of the softwear they have is 2.22 , it's been out for about three years. (relesed 30/04/2008)

Okay yeah. Thats a fairly shit hot reason.

The efi blokes are very active in taking requests and conversing with end users.

[Delft Maloo]

The current version of the softwear they have is 2.22 , it's been out for about three years. (relesed 30/04/2008)

i seem to get an update every few weeks most of the time, if your still using 2.22 then you probably dont need anything newer otherwise you would have had an upgrade years ago:confused:.

[duke5700]

i seem to get an update every few weeks most of the time, if your still using 2.22 then you probably dont need anything newer otherwise you would have had an upgrade years ago:confused:.

Yeah I've been able to do all the cars needed too including, LS3 VE so I assume all is well.

[ratter]

The current version of the softwear they have is 2.22 , it's been out for about three years. (relesed 30/04/2008)


Mines at 2.23.343

[vuss383]

Being on the BETA program for HPT I get regular updates mailed to me . From this I can assure you HPT software is not 3 yrs out of date.

[ratter]

updates occur almost monthly

[Scott@VCM]

updates occur almost monthly

We do get have more regular updates than this - however the majority of them are just definitions - and therefore unless someone is eagerly awaiting it, we do it monthly after a few updates. If something comes out that a lot of people are after - that's not just a definition update - then we send them out to the database.



When l was looking in to this, I was initially going to go with HPT as they are based close to where I live. However, after looking into it I went with EFILive because....


I found their licensing structure too confusing at the time. HPT uses a "credit" system and each ECM type and each 'tune" type ( MAF / MAFless / Boosted ) took a differing number of credits.


The credit system isn't to bad - it only gets tricky to understand if your tuning a lot of vehicles (ie workshop)- and even then - the software keeps a record of what you have licensed, what has accrued, etc.

2 for a GM V8 + 2 More for a COS (1bar or 2bar or 3bar)
4 for an alloytec
2 for a ford



My advise would be to look into the products and how you intend to use them. then make a decision on what would suit you best.

Simon

Simon is dead right here in that both products will enable you to edit the cars tune - however you need to spend the time to learn what it is your changing in order to get the best result. No one becomes a tuner overnight, and this is where a lot of people become unstuck.

Spend the time learning either product and both will work quite well.

Let me know if you would like a demo version of HPT to have a peruse over.

Cheers

Scott @ VCM

[calais-346]

I have been using EFI LIVE for about 4 or 5yrs now and it has done everything i have needed without any problems.
The forum is great with some very helpful switched on guys which makes the process easier. One day i will get HPT myself to cure my curiosity, i think either will serve you well!

As for wideband go for a Techedge 2J9 ( http://wbo2.com/2j/default.htm )i have had mine for 18 mths with no probs, australian made, inexpensive, reliable, accurate and great service.

I have mine permantley fitted with a LX1 ( http://wbo2.com/lx1/default.htm ) readout on the dash and its been great especially with the nitrous at the track.

[swingtan]

As calais-346 indicates, you need a Wideband O2 controller to correct the WOT fuelling. This is a very important step that can not be glossed over. I also run a techedge ( 3 years now ) and an LA1 ( 52mm round ) display. FWIW, here is some of the stuff you can do with EFILive, the WB display and some opensourced video software....

7YSD1_h0UxE

And if you like real time dashboards....

UEU9Hb8hE1E

Simon.