Recommended to get Tuning software for personal use?

[Muzzak]

G'day,

I've been browsing the web regarding tuning as I find the topic quite interesting. I've recently had the car tuned and am overall happy.

There seems to be quite a lot of activity in the personal tuning area. I'm just wondering if any amatures on here have personal expereince with software like http://www.hptuners.com/ and whether they can recommend this pass time.

Primarily I'd start playing around with the auto shift settings and torque management.

Cheers,
Muz

[StevieD]

PM Oztrack- he tunes his own car- to the Nth degree!

[Delco]

G'day,

I've been browsing the web regarding tuning as I find the topic quite interesting. I've recently had the car tuned and am overall happy.

There seems to be quite a lot of activity in the personal tuning area. I'm just wondering if any amatures on here have personal expereince with software like http://www.hptuners.com/ and whether they can recommend this pass time.

Primarily I'd start playing around with the auto shift settings and torque management.

Cheers,
Muz

Muzzak , we sell a personal version of the tuning software we use , same as oztrack also uses as well as quite a few of our customers.

The product is flashscan and can be viewed at flashscan.com (http://efilive.com/).

The main advantage - other than it is the best LS1 tuning software - is that the tune you have can be used in EFILIVE , you will be unable to access it with HPT due to them not having free custom operating systems for you to use and hence wont read any of our calibrations. You also have the option of upgrading to realtime tuning with Flashscan if you desire in the future.

We also use our own in house custom calibrations and I setup customers computers we have previously tuned so they have acess to there cal they have had tuned.

It is a good learing experience to play with your car a long as you keep it to set limits

[Oztrack Tuning]

Flashscan is awesome.
Its easy to pick up.
Great webforums on tuning have lots of people in all different situations that assist. Nearly every question you could ask has probably already been asked and answered.

The Flashscan guys are VERY good at support.
The product is userfriendly with great instruction manuals and will continue to get better.
The custom operating system developed by Flashscan is great with some extra features over the stock operating system.
The software is fun to use - Blackbox logging is also great and with Version 2 wil give hours of logging and ability to flash in tunes without the laptop.

[Muzzak]

Thanks Dan and oztrack.

I will read up on it.

Cheers,
Muz

[pah]

G'day,

I've been browsing the web regarding tuning as I find the topic quite interesting. I've recently had the car tuned and am overall happy.

There seems to be quite a lot of activity in the personal tuning area. I'm just wondering if any amatures on here have personal expereince with software like http://www.hptuners.com/ and whether they can recommend this pass time.

Primarily I'd start playing around with the auto shift settings and torque management.

Cheers,
Muz


Hi Muzzak,

Maybe I'm not brave enough. Trial and error when a reasonable engine rebuild costs about $6k worries me. The fact that some LS1.com members complain about pinging on PULP after an edit worries me.

I bought a mail order tune from Chipmaster and I'm more than happy with it. NO pinging. NO detonation. BETTER economy. BETTER performance. $400!!

Too cheap mate!!

I picked up a spare PCM from a wrecker for $180 so my car was not off the road and it takes me 10 minutes to reset to standard.

How much better is a custom tune when compared with a Mail Order Tune?? 5Kw's? 10Kw's? 15Kw's? You'd have to be good to feel 5 or 10 Kw's!! I'd imagine that guys like Daniel that do this every day of the week have the game sussed out to the extent that there's no trial and error and that matters to me.

If you're prepared to take a risk (small or large depending on the amount of research you're able to do), then I suppose there's no problem working out you're own tune. I wonder if it will be any better than a professional tune or any cheaper than a Mail Order Tune??




PAH

[Muzzak]

Electronic Throttle Control (ETC) calibrations is not available on the personal edition which kind of sucks considering the cv8z has this. I read in a magazine that the ETC can have additional "sampling" points entered to make it more responsive - i.e. more twitchy. However this may be no big deal.


Not too clear on the benefit's of the custom OS in a general sense for my car apart from compatibility with Dan's tune...

Speed Density mode
Valet Mode
Two Step Launch Control
2 and 3 bar Forced Induction
N2O Control


Reference
http://efilive.com/overview_checklist.htm

http://efilive.com/overview_custom.aspx



PAH, I'm already custom tuned by Dan. I'd like to be able to tinker with the car for personal satisfaction. Not to mention not having to waste a tuners time when I feel like making minor trial and error alterations.

Muz

[Tron2004]

I bought a mail order tune from Chipmaster and I'm more than happy with it. NO pinging. NO detonation. BETTER economy. BETTER performance. $400!!

Too cheap mate!!
I read on the EFILive site that $699 will buy the FlashScan Personal kit.

Why is it that the going price to have an LS1 edited is around $1200 ??
What are the professionals doing that "warrants" the extra $$$'s ??

[Tre-Cool]

That's U.S dollars, and that doesnt take into consideration the dollars your paying someone for thier TECHNICAL ABILITY.

Would you hire a plumber to fix an electrical problem?


As for flashscan, just buy the Commercial version if you want to flash in one of the custom os's and fiddle with a ETC. The Custom operating systems alone are worth the extra $150u.s in my opionion.

[SSBarney]

I read on the EFILive site that $699 will buy the FlashScan Personal kit.

Why is it that the going price to have an LS1 edited is around $1200 ??
What are the professionals doing that "warrants" the extra $$$'s ??


As you noted that is a personal kit, I am pretty sure that professional tuners pay many times that to be able to have the right to use the software on any car.
As well as already noted, the experience is also what ur paying for.

[Tron2004]

As you noted that is a personal kit, I am pretty sure that professional tuners pay many times that to be able to have the right to use the software on any car.
As well as already noted, the experience is also what ur paying for.
Yup, and this is wot I was wondering... Paying less than half the cost for a pro tuner and doing it yourself (and the ability to scan / tune many times over), OR paying big bucks for a pro to do it... ONCE!!

Hmmmm... decisions... decisions... :confused:

[Tre-Cool]

Yup, and this is wot I was wondering... Paying less than half the cost for a pro tuner and doing it yourself (and the ability to scan / tune many times over), OR paying big bucks for a pro to do it... ONCE!!

Hmmmm... decisions... decisions... :confused:
Or you can pay a Pro to do it and then make sure you can modify the tuning afterwards, but before making any substantial modifications you learn up on what it is your doing.

You cant exactly take your car back to your tuner when you pop your engine because you were to niave or stupid to find out what it is you were doing when fiddling around with the pcm.

[VooDoo]

Yup, and this is wot I was wondering... Paying less than half the cost for a pro tuner and doing it yourself (and the ability to scan / tune many times over), OR paying big bucks for a pro to do it... ONCE!!

Hmmmm... decisions... decisions... :confused:

You can buy a scalpel for $10, Would you operate on your families brain or let a surgon do it for $10000+ ?

Buying a tool doesnt mean you have the skills, experiance or patence to use it.

[Oztrack Tuning]

Guessing.

I dont think it is guessing once you know what the stock tune settings are and where people get their improvements The Flashscan custom operating system has dual spark when in SD Mode so that adds an extra safety buffer on top of a regular mafless tune.

The fact is that because you log yourself - you know when its pinging. How things change with IAT and ECT temp in real conditions - a tune done in one set of conditions cant match the ability to customize the tune to suit your conditions.


It takes time to learn - but thats whats fun about it. Thats also what anyone is paying for when they pay for a tune. The issue with a commercial tune is you dont usually see what you are paying for and my bet is that some are a mess. Most knock retard your car experiences you cant hear. Or pay for a tune by someone who doesnt lock it and be aware of your own settings.

Get the commercial version - the custom op system is worth it.

You can get the VE table much more accurate for all conditions with it and specify AFR at any MAP and RPM - something that cant be done with the stock system. You can have the car in open loop for some situations and in closed loop the rest of the time.

[Muzzak]

It takes time to learn - but thats whats fun about it.


I'm just about sold. I downloaded the software from the website, I'll see what it does at the surface, obviously i don't have the logger. I don't see this as something I'd need 24/7. If anyone in Perth, preferably south of the river wants to chip in for a timeshare scenario I'm open - with the option to buy out if both parties agree.

Cheers,
Muz

[jsttry]

I too use FlashScan and find it very easy to use and operate. Things like the AutoVE feature make it so simple to get your AFR's accurate and the Custom OS's have some very nifty uses.

[Oztrack Tuning]

You can get all the stock tunes from www.holdencrazy.com
Compare them and see where the genius is.

[Muzzak]

You can get all the stock tunes from www.holdencrazy.com
Compare them and see where the genius is.


Brilliant oztrack. I just realised I can't do much with the software without a *.bin or *.tun file. i was about to post asking if someone can email me one. We're off baby...lets see what's in here.

Cheers,
Muz

[johnv]

Yup, and this is wot I was wondering... Paying less than half the cost for a pro tuner and doing it yourself (and the ability to scan / tune many times over), OR paying big bucks for a pro to do it... ONCE!!

Hmmmm... decisions... decisions... :confused:

Its not just the tuning software you need at 699 US ($850 cause you'll need the comercial version) then a laptop $1500 plus and a good wide band aniliser
$800.
so you do pay to play:thumbsup:

but haveing said that I have it and love it:banana:

[carneb]

Looking at the demo version of Flashscan is certainly an eye opener. It looks a bit daunting at first but there are plenty of tuning forums including the specialised efilive and hptuners ones where you can do heaps of research and it doesn't take long for things to start to make sense.

Now that the tuning packages and wideband controllers are becoming so affordable, I think doing your own tuning is a good next step for anyone who loves to tinker with their car.

[wrexed03]

I used to do my vehicle and my mates. We bought Hptuners and shared the cost. Worked out well for both of us. If you have the patience and are willing to learn you will do well. I think its a good skill to have and learn. Tweak it as often as you like but start small and work your way through till you understand what does what. There is a fair bit to learn. As you have found out there are other forums which are dedicated to tuners etc. So there is heaps of info out there to educate you. There are also people who are willing to assist if you do run into any problems. Since then i have sold my SS and software. Selling the software wont be a problem at all there are people who are willing to pay if you decide to take another direction. Either way you will be infront dollars wise and aquired another skill. Good luck with it but remember have patience and dont change something your not sure about otherwise it can become an expensive excersise.

Regards

[Muzzak]

Learning alot looking at the demo version. The stock tunes are a marvel to look at. It's interesting to see the differences between a GTS and a Clubsport, even a Corvette.

Dan, you have my stock CV8Z tune, I was wondering if I can trouble you to send it to me, I'll pop you an email to that affect.

Cheers,
Muz

[vyssls1]

hey even if you dont tune with it the scan tool software is great to help you diagnose faults and extract diagnostic fault codes.

[Tron2004]

Its not just the tuning software you need at 699 US ($850 cause you'll need the comercial version) then a laptop $1500 plus and a good wide band aniliser
$800.
so you do pay to play:thumbsup:

but haveing said that I have it and love it:banana:
Not worried about the laptop. I already have one.

Got an email from Paul Blackmore - EFILive mob.
No mention from him about an $800 Wide Band Analyser.
This is part of what he said.....

EFILive can do everything LS1Edit can do and a lot more as well. With EFILive FlashScan, you can tune your own engine as often as you like until it is running exactly the way you want it to. If you change anything in your powertrain or you just want to alter the way it runs or shifts gears, then you just reconnect FlashScan and continue tuning.

If you want a hand to help you get started with a customised base tune for your engine combination, one of our resellers (www.wait4mepreformance.com) will do that for you, free of charge, if you buy EFILive through him.

[Oztrack Tuning]

PLX M300 widebands are great. Cost about US$350 and will be needed to get the tune right.

[Tron2004]

Tweak it as often as you like but start small and work your way through till you understand what does what. There is a fair bit to learn. As you have found out there are other forums which are dedicated to tuners etc. So there is heaps of info out there to educate you.
Any particular tuning forum you'd recommend??

[Muzzak]

So Dan sent me a stock CV8Z tune (my car). Iteresting stuff comparing it to a Clubbie and a GTS. What puzzles me is the Cv8Z tune data shows the Auto box to be 4L60E ?!? I'm quite certain the car has the tougher 4L65E...any comments ?

Also in EFILive are there any paramters governing direct (mutliple) gear downshift ? e.g. 4->1 or 4->2 etc. Or is this something that makes no sense at all ? I thought I saw something related but cannot locate it now - perhaps it was in HPTuners documentation.

Cheers,
Muz

[Tre-Cool]

there is no need for a 4-1 downshift option, if you have your tables setup right or how you like, between the 4-3,3-2,2-1 throttle kickdown tables & Shift at VSS tables then depending on speed & throttle position etc it will perform exactly what you tell it to.

[VZKOOP]

I read on the EFILive site that $699 will buy the FlashScan Personal kit.

Why is it that the going price to have an LS1 edited is around $1200 ??
What are the professionals doing that "warrants" the extra $$$'s ??
The initial tune from a workshop is worth what you are willing to pay and what the owner of the workshop is willing to sell it for. Not all workshops charge the same price.
Having said that it's important to remember that workshop proprieters are in business to make money not as a charity. If you begrudge them this then you probably won't mind going to work tomorrow and telling your employer you don't need the money and will work for free from now on. You will most likely get - for your money - the use of their dyno and personal expertise if you are not getting a mail order tune. It also costs money to rent/pay mortgage on a factory. Taking these things into consideration the average price of between $900 approx and $1500 approx isn't that much to ask for IMO.
Most tuners will give you the details of their tune for your car so you can go away and 'fine' tune the car further.
All tunes are different because all cars are different. Should you be the type of person that enjoys tinkering then you will undoubtedly get mucho enjoyment out of tuning your own car...... Me I'd rather someone else do it for me so I dont f*&^ it up. My tuner makes the vast majority of changes for free because he knows that the happier I am the more likely it is that I will return for more work. I'm pretty sure you will find most are the same. Tuners?

[Muzzak]

there is no need for a 4-1 downshift option, if you have your tables setup right or how you like, between the 4-3,3-2,2-1 throttle kickdown tables & Shift at VSS tables then depending on speed & throttle position etc it will perform exactly what you tell it to.


Sorry I didn't explain - what I beleive I saw was something simple like enable/disable or a yes/no which governed if direct multiple gear downshifting was allowed to occur. It may have been my imagination tho.

Cheers,
Muz

[Tre-Cool]

Sorry I didn't explain - what I beleive I saw was something simple like enable/disable or a yes/no which governed if direct multiple gear downshifting was allowed to occur. It may have been my imagination tho.

Cheers,
Muz
Yep, Imagination. lol

[Oztrack Tuning]

Try for Tuning Info

http://www.ls1-australia.com

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7

http:/www.hptuners.com/forum/

http://forum.efilive.com/

But filter the info carefully - there are lots of conflicting ideas around.

Best to download all the stock tunes are study them carefully looking for differences and the development from model to model. Holden really held the power back from VT to VX then to VY. It was easy gains.