Jared

Administrator
Feb 8, 2012
20,572
117
63
North Dallas
Well, finding a tuner can be a bitch sometimes, and while I like my BBP on my stock truck, I want to be able to have really good results on my cammed car right away, little to no down time! The two really good LS tuners in Dallas are A. expensive and B. hard to get ahold of. I'm afraid to do the work and have to wait to get a tune done correctly. I have the ability to work with a couple tuners out of state that are really big tuners/racers from an acquaintance I know. I believe between them, and online tuning forums I shouldn't have an issue with a NA car.

So, what are the pros/cons of both?
 

gmc00z

Active Member
Jan 23, 2011
844
168
43
34
N Ft Worth, TX
8hr drive to lethal racing in lafayette. They primarily tune the 6.2's it seems. Always advertising camaro SS, cts-v's, etc.
 

Jared

Administrator
Feb 8, 2012
20,572
117
63
North Dallas
no thanks, as I stated, I want to tune my car, I have ZERO desire to drive 8 hours after camming my car. And I know who they are, they have a couple really nice g8's, still not helpful to the question.
 

Khaos

Bed Dent Club Founder
Mar 24, 2012
20,378
1,566
113
Albany, NY
From what I've read, HP tuners is more user friendly than EFI Live.

From your post, you're making it sound like you want to try and tune it yourself? Or are you saying you'd have help from those people you know.
 

HackMcMaster

Active Member
Jun 26, 2012
4,758
9
38
Dunes
no thanks, as I stated, I want to tune my car, I have ZERO desire to drive 8 hours after camming my car. And I know who they are, they have a couple really nice g8's, still not helpful to the question.
call j.mo/ffb rent trailer attach to ccsb u havent sold put cammed G8 on trailer drive 8 hours get tune, prawfit.
 

Jared

Administrator
Feb 8, 2012
20,572
117
63
North Dallas
misunderstood :shake:

no worries. This all came about when a friend and I were talking about tuners, and how getting ahold of them can be a bitch sometimes, and I know first hand it is, although my truck wasn't a priority because it wasn't "cool" and heavily modded, it just bothered me that I was ignored or put on the bottom because of that. My money is still good money, it spends the same as someone with 1000hp.
 

Jared

Administrator
Feb 8, 2012
20,572
117
63
North Dallas
From what I've read, HP tuners is more user friendly than EFI Live.

From your post, you're making it sound like you want to try and tune it yourself? Or are you saying you'd have help from those people you know.

yes, besides me fooling with it, I will have the help from a couple guys that have tuned cars before, cars that were/are heavily modded. Plus, there are online forums and FB if I need it.
 

barrrf

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2012
832
271
63
Jared, I have both.

HPTuners is slightly more user friendly and is better to learn tuning on. EFILive has a much larger user base. Both have pretty good online forums but HPTuners has some pretty awesome stickys for learning how to tune your shit right the first time. Either one will require LOTS of reading BEFORE you plug in.

I highly recommend going with HPTuners as a first go around. Get the pro version so you can plug your WB02 into it directly (you cant correctly tune WOT without a WB02). The only problem with this that if you want to give up and have someone send you a tune via email then you have to find a tuner that uses HP and not EFILive - which is a bit more difficult. BUt if you plan to tune your stuff forever all the time then this isn't an issue.

HPtuners comes with 8 credits. This will allow you to tune 4 vehicles with non-custom OS's. Custom OS's cost 2 credits. So you could do advanced tunes on 2 vehicles.

Before you purchase - read a lot. If it seems overwhelming, read more. Then purchase. The hardest part about buying the software was worrying about how difficult it seems. Its really not.

Any questions, let me know. Linz has HPTuners as well.
 

fortplainman

official CGM slut
Feb 8, 2012
9,398
115
63
34
utica ny
not sure if this is an option for you, but ive seen where there are classes taught at local places for efilive around me on how to tune. would be really interesting actually to take a class like that.
 

Jared

Administrator
Feb 8, 2012
20,572
117
63
North Dallas
Jared, I have both.

HPTuners is slightly more user friendly and is better to learn tuning on. EFILive has a much larger user base. Both have pretty good online forums but HPTuners has some pretty awesome stickys for learning how to tune your shit right the first time. Either one will require LOTS of reading BEFORE you plug in.

I highly recommend going with HPTuners as a first go around. Get the pro version so you can plug your WB02 into it directly (you cant correctly tune WOT without a WB02). The only problem with this that if you want to give up and have someone send you a tune via email then you have to find a tuner that uses HP and not EFILive - which is a bit more difficult. BUt if you plan to tune your stuff forever all the time then this isn't an issue.

HPtuners comes with 8 credits. This will allow you to tune 4 vehicles with non-custom OS's. Custom OS's cost 2 credits. So you could do advanced tunes on 2 vehicles.

Before you purchase - read a lot. If it seems overwhelming, read more. Then purchase. The hardest part about buying the software was worrying about how difficult it seems. Its really not.

Any questions, let me know. Linz has HPTuners as well.
this is what I was looking for! Thanks bart
 

Samuel6731

Cant Get Right
Mar 11, 2012
674
1
18
New Roads La.
Like I have already posted on FB. Maybe some of my personal experience can be at help here.
first i will say EFI live= Hptuners they are both great softwares and can achieve the same things in Gasoline tuning its mainly personal preference.

I chose HP tuners because of the simplicity and user interface. Once you become familiar with the relationships/values/interface it'll begin to make sense to you. I know for me that was the largest issue was actually knowing what the values of the numbers represented. I'm no professional but i do know the basics, I'm self taught with the help of the hptuners forum and by a local tuner who only tunes for himself who happens to be a friend of mine. EFI live i seen and clicked around with, i really did not like it all it seemed to be for more of a professional, was very in depth and I disliked the user interface design and the way it was organized.

Hptuners has small dialogs that pop up when you hover over different charts briefly explaining what the values are and exact what they do/change/affect. The interface organizes all of the tables very nicely in a sort of manner that allows you to find and adjust what you want even if its your first time ever opening the program. The forum and support for HPtuners is great. By explaining your troubles and uploading the tune file and log file, the guys there most of the time can help guide you in the right direction to correct the tuning issue you are having and explain further on. Learning the software does not happen in hours/days/weeks but months. I spent countless hours of adjusting and data logging to see what exactly I was changing and doing and how it affecting the truck. There are plenty of write ups and tutorials to follow to aid in tuning for a cam/nitrous/boost... just about anything. The tune depository is also a great tool, it stores tunes that everyone uploads for others to use, by simply applying your model vehicle it will populate a list of different tunes for X mods. Your able to download and use tables from those tunes if your unsure/missing/needing/referencing.

When/if you purchase hp tuners it comes with hp tuners vcm suite and scanner. The scanner is a powerful tool to use not only for tuning but its amazing for trouble shooting if you know how to use it. There are over a hundred sensors and pids you can pull up and view in real time. It very important to learn how to use/read/setup this scanner to view what you need and properly calibrate and change what you need in a tune. Tuning and punching in numbers to fill data columns and rows is one thing, but its no good unless you can data log save and review to make sure the data entered is safe and isnt hurting or hindering the performance of the vehicle.

One thing I wish i had and will eventually do, is get a wideband o2 to use with hptuners. It makes things alot simpler. Another thing to note, Im unsure now but when i bought mine it came with 8 free credits, thus enabling me to tune 4 gm trucks. credits are 50 bucks a piece. some vehicles require more than 2 credits, but once you run out you will start having to buy them to edit and flash tunes to vehicles if you ever begin tuning for others.

As said above, which i too have done. You can email your tunes and logs to other tuners with Hptuners for them to assist you if they are willing. Just like using the forum. Some may want a few bucks but its better than driving hours away.

As you said above, little to no down time. its possible hell it took me 20 minutes to get my truck to idle good and run decent and drivable. However to get a 100% tune and WOT and perfect it may take you awhile to perfect. It goes back to understanding how to data log and what to adjust get a desired affect

Sorry for the 100000 grammatical issues. If you have any questions post, and ill try to answer them as best as possible
 
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Graystone

Well-Known Member
Apr 25, 2014
1,315
213
63
41
I use hp tuners. What everyone else said is about right so I am not writing anymore.
 

CammedVmax

Still stuck
Jun 5, 2013
5,042
0
36
Longview, TX
I've never seen efi live before. But I've used hpt maybe 5 times and I'm already pretty familiar with it. There are still lots of things I haven't messed with I'm sure but the basics are super easy. No matter what you can always data log and have a reputable tuner write your tunes like me. Super simple that way. Then I change small stuff.
 

Hunter

New Member
Jan 14, 2013
1,220
0
0
Brownwood TX
If your building your own tunes not just using someone else's tables and tweaking little shit and calling it "yours" i would really really really really do my reasearch and learn from somebody who has experience in tuning, your engine just ins't something i would fuck around and "learn" on lots and lots of man hours go into these gas tuners learning how to tweak every table etc. Diesels are a bit easier but i would really do your research and try to get classes, hands on help, watching and taking advice from current tuners and always take everything with a grain of a salt. Like said before a good wideband 02 guage and lots of data logging will help also
 
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