Personal tuning options?

[Rich Z]

Well this is another topic that has been driving me batty lately. I really want to do a tune on my Z after getting the headers and other stuff, but not sure about which option would be best. A lot of people like the dyno tunes, but heck, as far as I know, there is no one within 2 or 3 hours of here to do that for me. And do I really want a WOT tune? I am more interested in seat of the pants oomph with normal street driving, so I'm not sure a dyno tune is really for me. Plus it would cost me $700, and for that kind of money, well I could BUY my own tuning software or handheld. And here is where I stumble.

My vette tech at the Chevy dealership really seems to like the Diablo Predator. And I have heard good things about the Vinci handheld as well. But on the other hand, some people will say they are rather limited and I should go for HPTuners of EFILive for a more full featured PC based program. But both of them are on the verge of an upgrade, so it wouldn't make sense to buy the product now and then have to pay for an upgrade in a month, when I would get the upgraded product by just waiting a bit longer. But do I want to have to lug my laptop out to the Z for this stuff? So then I start going back to thinking about the Diablo or Vinci.

I don't know. It just doesn't seem like the perfect product is out there yet. What I guess I want is a handheld like the Diablo that I can cart out to the Z to do the programming and scanning and data collection. Cart it back to the PC to do the voodoo experimental tinkering, dump that to the handheld, and then take the handheld out to plug into the Z to see how it does. I think Diablo does have something like this, but the PC based program appears to only be available to distributors so they can program the Diablos they sell.

Darn, this makes my head hurt. I feel that no matter what I choose to buy, I'm going to regret it and wish I had gone the other route. But I guess I can just hold off and learn more. The Z runs just fine now, so there is no pressing reason to rush into things. And maybe that perfect solution is just over the horizon.

 

[SteveGel]

FRC Tom from Z06vette.com i heard he is the man, he is located in Tampa. He's going to be at the Z06 Fest in July. I email him a few times for a tune when my hearders are install this week or the next or ask IV0.

 

[gsjack]

FRC TOM did my tune, he is the the man when it comes to tweaking the puter.:yesnod:

Jack

 

[Rich Z]

I hear ya, but that is a pretty long drive from Tallahassee........ Does he make house calls?

 

[exile]

FRC TOM did my tune, he is the the man when it comes to tweaking the puter.:yesnod:

Jack

I'm only an hour from Tampa and I want to do this. How much does FRCTOM's tune set you back. Any ideas?

 

[MADN3SS]

FRCTOM did my tune as well....and he is the man! :thumbsup: Rich, I believe Tom has done mail order tunes before. Not sure how it works though. Don't remember how much it was for the tune, I did a bunch of stuff that day. Column lock bypass, intake install, lowered the car and some dyno pulls. Greg at AntiVenom did the work, Tom did the tune. I will be doing another tune after my header install in a few weeks.

Scott

 

[Rich Z]

The only problem with that mail order tune option is that from what I understand, I need to pull out my PCM and send it to them. They then program it, and then send it back to me. I am just not real comfortable with taking the brain out of my car and entrusting it to UPS.

Personally, I guess I also have my doubts of the worthiness of a mail order tune anyway. Since it cannot be customized exactly to my vehicle, and is instead a rather generic tune based on the tuners experience with the type vehicle with particular mods done to it, I dunno, it just seems like it may not be the best option for me. But heck, this opinion is subject to change without notice, I guess. Still in "learning mode" about this entire topic....

 

[MADN3SS]

I don't know that I would feel comfortable either. Honestly, I think it would be well worth the drive. Could always come down and have the first Corvette Florida get together. About a 270 mile drive. Average 70 and you could make it in about 4 hours!

 

[Rich Z]

Well maybe. But this is the busy time of year for me with the critters. I will get a break between egg laying and egg hatching in late may and into June it looks like, so that's a possibility. Once the eggs start hatching in early July, my outside life is over with until late October.

But I am still thinking hard about a handheld or laptop based tuning solution. So at this point I really don't know which way I will bounce.

 

[gsjack]

I'm only an hour from Tampa and I want to do this. How much does FRCTOM's tune set you back. Any ideas?

I can PM you Tom's # if you want to talk to him about a price for a tune. Really don't want to get into Tom or Greg's pricing, they set it.

Jack

 

[exile]

I can PM you Tom's # if you want to talk to him about a price for a tune. Really don't want to get into Tom or Greg's pricing, they set it.

Jack

I can respect that. Hadn't given it a thought. You're right, thanks.......Tom

 

[Z06 Rocket]

FRC Tom from Z06vette.com i heard he is the man, he is located in Tampa. He's going to be at the Z06 Fest in July. I email him a few times for a tune when my hearders are install this week or the next or ask IV0.

I was gonna say the same thing. I bought a Hypertech that did not work. I will be setting up a time with FRC TOM to get my car programmed. I have heard good things about him. :yesnod:

 

[Rich Z]

Well earlier this morning I was talking with the vette tech (Shane) who works on my car at Champion Chevrolet and we got to talking about this tuning stuff. He highly recommended the Diablo Predator and the more I thought about it the more I think I am better off with something like that. The PC based tuners are more powerful and comprehensive, but they also allow you to get yourself into hot water as well. Quite honestly, I just don't have the knowledge or skill level to put one of them to optimum use anyway, and I don't think it would be a good idea to try a whole lot of shoot in the dark experimentation.

I'm not really inclined to get a dyno tune at the moment, I guess mostly because I'm not interested in WOT performance as much as I am seat of the pants low and mid range performance.

Now the latest revision of the Predator does not VIN lock the unit to your car. Once you put the regular stock tune back in your vehicle, it can be used on ANY vehicle within it's design range. It is ONLY VIN locked when you download the optional tunes into your vehicle. VIN locking was one of the major sticking points I had with buying one, which now appears to be resolved. And all of the other sideline functions will work on those other vehicles regardless. Shane mentioned that he found a place on the web selling them for $319 with a 30 day money back guarantee AND free shipping, so what the heck. I just ordered one. I also ordered the optional PC interface as well.

So we'll see. Of course, if I use it on my wife's Silverado and give at a performance tune and she LIKES it, she may confiscate it from me. :ack2:

If anyone is interested in checking these out, here's where I am getting mine from -> http://www.concoursdirect.com/99gmgasveprp.html