Best tuner?

[Chickensandwich]

Wonder what kind of tuners you guys use? I’ve only used Diablo Sport. Are there any other options? Better options? I want something that I can play around with the settings. Something with a lot of options!

Thanks!

 

[swathdiver]

HP Tuners and EFI Live!. @Kenneth L Nielsen @randeez

 

[Chickensandwich]

I don’t have tweeter

 

[Kenneth L Nielsen]

HP Tuners 4 me.

 

[STORMIN08]

although a custom tune would be best, i ran the diablo intune3 on y 17 burb...slight adjustments to my likings made it drive how i wanted to. i did no power increases, just shifting and throttle response. i wasnt looking for all out power, and the changes i made allowed me to change at my will to my liking.

 

[Chickensandwich]

The HP tuner looks good, but what’s with the credits? You have to buy the thing, then buy credits to use it?? So every time I change the tune I need more credits? Or is that for multiple cars? Doesn’t seem right to sell a device then sell credits in order to use it. Also, does have to remain plugged in even after the tune or can it be removed? They don’t give a lot of info.

UPDATE:

$400 for the unit plus 4 credits at $50 a credit to use it? $600…hard pass.

 

[Staggered 02]

I totally agree on both the price and the hard pass. That being said.... There is a bit of an argument for gong the HP tune and credits unfortunately and that is the simple fact of how one might chose to relate the expense to the performance or contingent on the end user Horsepower that they are trying to achieve.

Adding some relevance and to level set. Tuning the Escalade was fun, straightforward, and basically easy. I had it tuned by a guy in Jacksonville. Did an awesome job on the Escalade's 6.2. One tune did both the engine and trans. The Escalade is lots of fun to drive, sounds great, shifts incredibly fast and all of the cool performance tweaks

When I picked up the High Country I decided to do the same thing. Purchased headers, full exhaust etc. Soon after everything was ceramic coated, polished, and installed, the next order of business was the tune. I went with a local guy. He did an outstanding job. The caveat was that in order to tune these later vehicles, you have to tune the ECM and it will run very good. Or for the "full effect" and be like the 2015 Escalade, you have to also tune the TCM because they are independent. That means that its 4 credits X 2. So $400.00 in credits if you want to tune both. If that happens then it's another $300.00 per tune for the tuner or whatever your local tuner will charge. By that point, you're at $1k.

There's more. In order to tune the TCM you have to send it HP Tuners to unlock the module. Once it's unlocked the tune can be done. In my case, I did not want the truck to be down waiting on my TCM to go back and forth so I purchased a new one from the dealer but then also had to pay to get the TCM programmed to my VIN. That was another 150.00ish for that plus the 17.00 in shop fees which... Shop fees? Ok whatever. I literally lost track exactly of how much exactly but if you factor in purchasing a new TCM, getting it programmed then getting unlocked, then tune etc... It is somewhere ~ $1,500.00.

Lesson learned or if anyone wants to save some $. Remove your TCM and send it in. Or purchase a used one, still have to get it programmed and send it to get unlocked or I think HP tuners offers some on their site. Either way it's a process and was much more expensive than tuning the Escalade, the crew cab, or the supercharged ECSB.

Would I do it again? Based on the results. Absolutely but I would see where I could save on some time and $ wherever possible. It helps that I have an extra TCM now just in case. LOL

The tune is amazing. I super impressed and happy with how much it woke up my 6.2. We did some tweaking to both the ECM and TCM recently with significant results. Interestingly enough, I am not a racing type. I am the type that likes to have the power whenever I might need it. Thus some of the parameters are not pushing the performance envelope but we made use of most of the available power. As an added bonus, I don't tow with this truck. So when I hit the two mode button, the tune is a bit more aggresive with better up and down shift points. Basically better / sport performance.

I am glad that is done and over as I can now move on to the next set of mods. When those are done, I will likely head back to the tuner to compensate for new gears and some mild engine work. The mods are never truly done. LOL

 

[THarber]

The HP tune credits will last forever and for as many tunes as you want for that vehicle. The TCM is extra credits and as the above poster stated, its a process. The entire system is a learning curve, one that I could not conquer on a previous truck. Its an art form and for those that do it, they are worth their weight in gold. Once you make the changes, you un hook the laptop and are done.

If you want something simpler. Look towards one of the site sponsors, Black Bear or I went with Lew Tune and a Diablo Sport. The Lew tune is a custom tune that he adds based on how you drive, so its a few week process. I can not say how the two compare or which is better. I know BB has been around a long time and are on many boards so they would be solid. You can also get the Diablo sport without the custom tune and use its 3 pre programmed tunes and have the ability to change things on your own if you desire. I've not dont that so I can't say how easy or hard it is.

 

[Trey Hardy]

I h

The HP tuner looks good, but what’s with the credits? You have to buy the thing, then buy credits to use it?? So every time I change the tune I need more credits? Or is that for multiple cars? Doesn’t seem right to sell a device then sell credits in order to use it. Also, does have to remain plugged in even after the tune or can it be removed? They don’t give a lot of info.

UPDATE:

$400 for the unit plus 4 credits at $50 a credit to use it? $600…hard pass.

I got multiple friends with the software normally after you purchase the credit you can adjust it whenever as long as your using the same computer/tuner if you took someone else’s hp tuners laptop and tried to adjust your tune you would have to purchase another credit

 

[Chickensandwich]

I don’t like the idea of needing to wait for tunes to be sent to me, like black bear. I like the simplicity of the Diablo but I like the options of the HP.