Hand Held Programer

[littlejohn]

Hopefully with all of the knowledge out there someone can advise me. I would like to purchase a hand held programer. I'm not sure which one is the best. I've read about the "HyperTech" & the "Diablo", but not sure which is really the best. I have a 04 Z06 that is stock except for: Blackwing Air Box and MSD wires. I am going to install some Borla Stingers in a couple of months. I've thought about having a tuning shop tune my computer, but I live about 200 miles from the nearest shop that can do it. Any advice would be helpful. LJ

 

[c4c5specialist]

HI there,
Have your local dealership check for the latest updated calibrations from GM.
Other then that, leave it alone.
Allthebest, c4c5

 

[Hib Halverson]

There are going to be differing opinions on recalibration. I think c4c5specialist's blanket statement above makes sense if the car is stock and still under warranty. If it's not stock and out-of-warranty, I don't feel "leave it alone" is always the most sensible advice. In the case of cars which are near stock, you may or may not need a calibration change. Cars which have quite a bit of modification will require reprograming.

For a stock or near stock Z06--and the Blackwing and the Stingers qualify as "near stock"--it is questionable as to whether or not aftermarket tuning will be a performance advantage. Doing it with a handheld might be worthwhile but I'd go with Crane Cams's hand-held rather than the Hypertech or the Diablo.

Beyond any performance advantage reprogramming can also eliminate skip shift (if you desire) and can lower fan-on tem. Lastly, a hand held usually allows you to reprogram for an axle ratio change.

The downside on reprogramming of stock or near stock engines is that the performance improvement is sometimes not worth the investment.

As for what did I do with my 04 Z06?

Well, I have a stock air filter assy with a Green filter and I have a stock exhaust but the engine has a Crane 1.8:1 "Quick Lift" rocker arm conversion and that did require reprogramming which was acomplished with Crane's hand held. For details of this, see http://www.tomhenryracing.com/parts/features/Quicklift/default.htm

 

[Eric Reeves]

You need to decide if you are going to do any further mods first. When I was in this position I decided to buy HP Tuners for slightly more $$ than a hand held. Since I did the mods myself I felt I should learn how to tune also. There is a world of help on various websites that will help walk you through things. I will probably get flamed for this but you should check out the f-bodies. That group tends to be more do it yourself than vette owners when it comes to tuning. I learned over on LS1tech. Plus with HP Tuners you can also do a lot of data logging and playing with the tune. Not one hand held will allow that. However, if your not a do it yourselfer, disregard everything I just said.

 

[Hib Halverson]

(snip)I will probably get flamed for this but you should check out the f-bodies. That group tends to be more do it yourself than vette owners when it comes to tuning.

If you get flamed, it will be unjustified because, generally, you are correct. When it comes to DIY cal work, the F-car people are better-versed.

That said, I would not recommend anyone "experiment" with HP Tuners. If you're going try your hand at DIY calibration, I'd first do research and learn the basics of the app before I'd try tuning your engine.

 

[TODD L GRIFFITH]

I'm a big fan of dyno tuning, but if I were in your situation, I would go with Diablosport and take advantage of their internet tune download capabilities. It costs around $100.00 in addition to the cost of the Diablosport programmer. The way it works is you download Diablosport's tuning data sheet off the internet and answer specific questions about your car's modifications and specifications. A Diablosport tuning expert will provide a custom tuning file by email back to you based on the information you provided in the data sheet. You'll then download the file into your Diablosport programmer and download the tune into your car's PCM. The results will be far and above what you could ever do with the Diablosport programmer alone. This is because the tuner can change and alter the tuning file far outside what your Diablosport's programming capabilities could ever do straight from the factory. This tune is based on your actual installed mods. If you add mods. you can get a new tuning file from them at a reduced cost.

 

[TODD L GRIFFITH]

If you get flamed, it will be unjustified because, generally, you are correct. When it comes to DIY cal work, the F-car people are better-versed.

That said, I would not recommend anyone "experiment" with HP Tuners. If you're going try your hand at DIY calibration, I'd first do research and learn the basics of the app before I'd try tuning your engine.

Just to add to what Hib said, the majority F-body guys generally do know alot more about the technical aspects of their cars and how to fix them more than the majority of Vette owners. We already had this discussion on LS1tech.com a long time ago. It came down to the younger guys really can't afford the money it takes for major repairs at the dealer, and tend to take it upon themselves to fix their own cars. It was an interesting discussion about 2 years ago.

 

[Eric Reeves]

I wasn't one of those guys who could not afford repairs with my WS6. I wanted to know how to tune the car myself. Kind of like back in the day when guys would change out the carbs. Tuning is very in depth and you can make it worse. However, the great thing about computers is that you can always restore your previous tune or get one from someone you trust via email. I found that the whole group of us that hung out together, work on cars together also learned how to tune together. Some were better than others. I think the reason vette guys are hesitant is because generally the group is older than f-body owners and afraid of the latest technology. Not everyone, but for the most part I find this true. So they are willing to pay the money to have it done.