[924cgt]

I have never tuned a car computer before, but alas I have a lt1 that I installed in a hotrod project that is running ported everything, a cam, throttle body, headers yada yada and now it needs a tune badly.

I have a modern laptop, so If I buy the cable and software in a kit it will cost me about as much as a mail order tune. So how user friendly is tuner CATS? How hard is it to learn... and will I be ahead to use it over a mail order tune? I have a pretty aggressive custom ground cam and a very light car. I want it to be right but I dont want to spend 6 months learning to use it just to drive my car.

 

[cocobolo95]

The tunercat interface is easy to use but if your not wanting to spend the time to read and learn to tune, your better off having a tuner do the job. This is because major tuning is not something you just dive in to and get a great job done. Even the guys who tune for a living only get the tune in the ballpark on the 1st try usually. After the initial tune you data log and the tuner will use those readings to fine tune your car for optimal performance.

 

[924cgt]

im not saying i dont want to spend time tuning my car repeatedly, i expect to do that and alot of it, but I dont want to get something in the mail that is cryptic, short on explinations and you have to be a computer nerd to use. I know how to use a computer obviously, and I know quite a bit about engines and I dont mind learning alot more about engine management systems, but the internet reading I have done so far on home tuning has not been selling me on the ease of use.

 

[NorthernCrew454]

check out LT1 PCM Tuning - Welcome! Solomon has some good info to read about

 

[cocobolo95]

As I said in my fist post tunercat is a user friendly program. I use tunercat and its easy to edit and make changes to any data in the computer. Now having said that here's the but, you have to know what data to change for the changes you've made to your car, and that is the hard part of tuning. My 95 transam has close to 100 different tables of data, all of it can be changed to suit your circumstance. The trick is knowing what needs to be changed, which direction to go with the change, and how much of a change to make.

 

[e94z]

solomons site is great, he also tuned mine, i just need to get the data logs back to him so he can dial it in. The car runs night and day from factory programing.

 

[924cgt]

solomons site is great, he also tuned mine, i just need to get the data logs back to him so he can dial it in. The car runs night and day from factory programing.

I had looked over his sight before, I have also been looking on PCMforless.com, they seem to have the option for entering more information about the car which makes more sense to me. My setup is hardly standard, but despite the mods my biggest goal at the moment is fuel economy, which makes me think I need to be doing my own programming. I had almost considered ditching the cam but I want to see what kind of mileage I can get with it before I do.

 

[cocobolo95]

If your leaning toward doing the job yourself then after learning as much as you can on the subject, go to www.monodax.com they have a forum with tunercat help and people post up tunes they have put in their cars and , if you join, you can post up a request for a tune for your particular mods. You might get lucky and find a similar tune already posted, or might get someone with the same mods and goals to post up his tune. But you can find a tune thats in the ballpark and upload it to your pcm to have a decent starting place where you can work out the bugs.

 

[e94z]

I had looked over his sight before, I have also been looking on PCMforless.com, they seem to have the option for entering more information about the car which makes more sense to me. My setup is hardly standard, but despite the mods my biggest goal at the moment is fuel economy, which makes me think I need to be doing my own programming. I had almost considered ditching the cam but I want to see what kind of mileage I can get with it before I do.

It seems about a 50/50 split with solomon or pcmforless, i researched before i bought and i can say i am happy with the power tune. I have the CATS, so solomon emailed me the tune, i flashed the pcm myself. Turnaround time was great, about 2 days from oredering. You can write in anything you dont see on solomons tune sheet, fwiw.

 

[Red Sleeper2]

I had looked over his sight before, I have also been looking on PCMforless.com, they seem to have the option for entering more information about the car which makes more sense to me. My setup is hardly standard, but despite the mods my biggest goal at the moment is fuel economy, which makes me think I need to be doing my own programming. I had almost considered ditching the cam but I want to see what kind of mileage I can get with it before I do.

Speaking from experience, Solomon is hands down an awesome tuner and has great customer service. Hell, my car was having problems after some adjusting I did to the fuel, I shot him some logged data on the 23rd of December and he emailed me a tune the very next day; ON CHRISTMAS EVE!! :thumbsup: I just told him what I wanted changed and he would do it, even if it wasn't quite right. He will continue to receive my business.

PCMsforless is a waste of time IMO. I have talked to a few people who tune vehicles (other than LT1's) and most of them say they see mostly the same tune on the computer weather the vehicle has a pro charger or just a small cam. I too didn't believe it at first, but after hearing it from other tuners i did. $.02

 

[924cgt]

Speaking from experience, Solomon is hands down an awesome tuner and has great customer service. 02

I was wanting to speak to hime over the phone and did not see a customer service number. Maybe I just missed it. That was the only thing that stopped me from just sending my PCM to him. I was very tempted.

 

[danegearripper]

ion aka madtuner.com is also a very helpful cool tuner imo!!!!...I JUST STARTED USING TUNERCATS 2 WEEKS AGO....have flashed like 10 times already...lol...very user friendly...and YES soloman's site has ALOT of good info ESPECIALLY bout bumping up timing in closed tps vs spark advance...my car has hotcam and i bumped timing up to low 30's and wat a differenc especially in throttle response!!!...i have not spoken to soloman personally but i have 3-4 times with ion and he was really really helpful i even called him last weekend and he helped me out!!!!!!i have also heard ALOT of good things bout solomans tunes as well!!!!

 

[danegearripper]

oh yeah get on monodax.com alot of very helpful peeps on there!!!!...i even found a guy who posted his hotcam tune...i downloaded it..looked over in tunercats and made some timing and fuel hanges me 95 z28 is running ggrrr8888 so far!!!

 

[Red Sleeper2]

I was wanting to speak to hime over the phone and did not see a customer service number. Maybe I just missed it. That was the only thing that stopped me from just sending my PCM to him. I was very tempted.

I too never saw a phone number.. Email him, he responds quickly.

 

[924cgt]

Well, after alot of screwing around solomon was a waste of money. With all new sensors and hardware on my engine it still runs like a dog. Went round and round with him by email only to discover that he does not check his computers for functionality or defects. My money would have been much better spent on getting a cable and software to tune at home. Live and learn.

 

[danegearripper]

go with ion aka madtunerz28 he is an awesome guy to work with and is very veryy knowledgible!!!!!!!!!!

 

[patricklopez234]

i did a ls swap with the stock harness and computer in a 95 chevy 1500 the truck ran good for a while then i bought a aftermarket harness hooked everything up and noun the truck won't start it has fuel and spark the vats was disabled any idea.