DIY Tuning! What are the advantages or cons of HP Tuners or SCT?

[CrashOverride]

I picked up hptuners a few weeks ago myself. I have read the tune and I've compared it to the tunes in the repository, but haven't written any changes yet. I did buy Lasota's Coyote Cookbook a few days ago, but I'm waiting for it to arrive. This will be my first time really tuning and even though I have a fundamental understanding of EFI, it is very old and dated. I wish I could find a stock-ish tune (FRPP 1 or something like that) as most of the repository tunes are much more heavily modified cars.

I also like that HP Tuners supports a lot of different cars - not sure if SCT does or not - but the entrance fee into HP Tuners is less than a Bama tune, yet infinitely customizable. Of course one change in one cell can pop a $10k motor, so I plan on tweaking only silly little things at first. I really want to get some pops and burbles on decel, and I'm trying to figure out how to do it (I'm guessing it's some settings in the DFCO settings).

@Notagain, thank you for the article, very helpful for me to look over while I wait for my cookbook.

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[mlabrot]

I picked up hptuners a few weeks ago myself. I have read the tune and I've compared it to the tunes in the repository, but haven't written any changes yet. I did buy Lasota's Coyote Cookbook a few days ago, but I'm waiting for it to arrive. This will be my first time really tuning and even though I have a fundamental understanding of EFI, it is very old and dated. I wish I could find a stock-ish tune (FRPP 1 or something like that) as most of the repository tunes are much more heavily modified cars.

I also like that HP Tuners supports a lot of different cars - not sure if SCT does or not - but the entrance fee into HP Tuners is less than a Bama tune, yet infinitely customizable. Of course one change in one cell can pop a $10k motor, so I plan on tweaking only silly little things at first. I really want to get some pops and burbles on decel, and I'm trying to figure out how to do it (I'm guessing it's some settings in the DFCO settings).

@Notagain, thank you for the article, very helpful for me to look over while I wait for my cookbook.

I appreciate the feedback. Let me know how the book turns out once you read it. I’m curious how good it is. Other reviews said it’s good but leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[EFI]

All of this great information. I appreciate it. I want to tackle the coyote but it is definitely more difficult than than the EVO was.

IMO, there's just more thing to "touch" rather than it being difficult.

As long as you understand the physics of an engine and how cam timing, spark timing and fueling works then it's just a matter of dialing all that in. But at WOT, things are pretty "locked in" as you don't see wild swings of the cams and timing. The most tedious part is the part throttle, but that's where a good base map comes in that already has good part throttle tuning and you just focus on getting the most out of it at WOT.

A really good thing about the Coyote setup is the OEM dual widebands and the fact that the tune is based of lambda and not VE or some other air tables. Back in the day tuning MAF and VE in GM cars took a looooong time, and every little change in mods you had to go back and adjust the fueling table and then go out and see if that worked. With the Coyote, for the most part you just put in a desired lambda that you want to see and the computer adjusts fueling on the fly to get to that goal. In older cars, you had to guess how much fuel a particular engine needed and you had to install cumbersome widebands.

 

[mlabrot]

IMO, there's just more thing to "touch" rather than it being difficult.

As long as you understand the physics of an engine and how cam timing, spark timing and fueling works then it's just a matter of dialing all that in. But at WOT, things are pretty "locked in" as you don't see wild swings of the cams and timing. The most tedious part is the part throttle, but that's where a good base map comes in that already has good part throttle tuning and you just focus on getting the most out of it at WOT.

A really good thing about the Coyote setup is the OEM dual widebands and the fact that the tune is based of lambda and not VE or some other air tables. Back in the day tuning MAF and VE in GM cars took a looooong time, and every little change in mods you had to go back and adjust the fueling table and then go out and see if that worked. With the Coyote, for the most part you just put in a desired lambda that you want to see and the computer adjusts fueling on the fly to get to that goal. In older cars, you had to guess how much fuel a particular engine needed and you had to install cumbersome widebands.

Yes I do remember dealing with that on the EVO. I had to install a wide and and run it through the ECU for standalone tuning. I really like the fact the mustang has dual wide bands from the factory. Makes things much easier.

 

[Nuked]

One of the nice things about the Coyote is the stock tune is not that bad to begin with. It drives well as is. For a stockish car you could focus on WOT and not even touch part throttle and be pretty happy. In that aspect it does make it easier than some. I know on the 16 WRX I had, the thing we terrible in stock form. I ended up massaging everything on that tune to make it drive the way I wanted to.

 

[mlabrot]

One of the nice things about the Coyote is the stock tune is not that bad to begin with. It drives well as is. For a stockish car you could focus on WOT and not even touch part throttle and be pretty happy. In that aspect it does make it easier than some. I know on the 16 WRX I had, the thing we terrible in stock form. I ended up massaging everything on that tune to make it drive the way I wanted to.

The stock tunes on those are awful. Is there anything in the repository that has a modified tune I can work with? I only ha e an exhaust at the moment.

 

[EFI]

One of the nice things about the Coyote is the stock tune is not that bad to begin with. It drives well as is. For a stockish car you could focus on WOT and not even touch part throttle and be pretty happy. In that aspect it does make it easier than some. I know on the 16 WRX I had, the thing we terrible in stock form. I ended up massaging everything on that tune to make it drive the way I wanted to.

Exactly. So part throttle may have 27 different maps, WOT or optimum power is still just one as any other car. So you just have to focus on that for the most part.

 

[mlabrot]

Exactly. So part throttle may have 27 different maps, WOT or optimum power is still just one as any other car. So you just have to focus on that for the most part.

That should be a fun project to tackle. I’m used to three maps for each section. Way easier. There was a low, high, and interpolated.

 

[Nuked]

The stock tunes on those are awful. Is there anything in the repository that has a modified tune I can work with? I only ha e an exhaust at the moment.

Use the FRPP2/3 file on there as a good start for your fuel and timing maps. Just make sure your on 93 octane as they are somewhat aggressive with timing.

 

[mlabrot]

Use the FRPP2/3 file on there as a good start for your fuel and timing maps. Just make sure your on 93 octane as they are somewhat aggressive with timing.

Ok. Thanks for the help. Any other tips or tricks you have feel free to send them my way if you don’t mind.

 

[jlstro3]

I don’t tune myself, but a friend of mine does. He used to use SCT and now uses HP Tuners. He said SCT is outdated and limits access for drivability calibrations. I know PBD won’t tune a FI setup with SCT and I don’t believe Lund will either. I used SCT with my NA setup and was happy. Now it’s FI with PBD Ngauge. There’s got to be a reason the top tuners use HP

I have FI and used SCT with both lund and currently PBD. Fact is though, from my standpoint, i hate sct. I wish i had the ngauge. The sct tuner itself seems always buggy and giving me fits! If i was doing it myself i'd be all over HP tuners.

 

[18 Smoke]

I have FI and used SCT with both lund and currently PBD. Fact is though, from my standpoint, i hate sct. I wish i had the ngauge. The sct tuner itself seems always buggy and giving me fits! If i was doing it myself i'd be all over HP tuners.

Guess I wrong. When planning my build and telling Rob I was shooting for 1000+wheel, he said “Ngauge and remote tune”, even after I told him I already had a BDX. So that’s what I did. I’m extremely happy with it though

 

[Bartly]

I’ve had both Ngauge and SCT tunes on mine. My tuner couldn’t make something happen with HP Tuners so he had me buy an SCT and that allowed him to do what was needed to get me through emissions. Course that only worked until the state referee caught on.

 

[18 Smoke]

I’ve had both Ngauge and SCT tunes on mine. My tuner couldn’t make something happen with HP Tuners so he had me buy an SCT and that allowed him to do what was needed to get me through emissions. Course that only worked until the state referee caught on.

Probably wanted to do a KAM reset

 

[Bartly]

Probably wanted to do a KAM reset

Nope, SCT allows setting of emissions monitors to “not applicable”.

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