hey guys,

once money picks up again in two weeks, lol, im looking to get vcm suite pro.

question is, after reading multiple threads and such in the tuning section, i am very confused- i dont know all the lingo, what it all means...basically, i cant see the "big picture" nor do i have any first-hand experience.

i suppose that the best way to learn is through experience- at least that is how it is for me...but how did you guys learn? where can i start out to get the basics down?

 

the best way is to get a mentor (or 10)
get to know people who are willing to help you learn,
its FAR more helpful IRL too, learning over the internet is helpful,
but having someone show you in front of your face is golden.

spend plenty of time reading the FAQs in HPtuners, and reading the forums there.

 

Got sat in a dual fuel hydrogen-gasoline truck, on a mustang dyno. Got handed a laptop hooked to a Motec M8... got told to tune it.
3 years, 5 trucks, 3 cars, and 1 tractor later I decided I could tune my own car, and bought HPT.



Edit:
I don't suggest anyone follow the way I learned...

Here is something I posted in a thread a while back...

 

wow...problem is, my car is a lil off from stock...lol, that would be an issue to start off with? and thanks for the info, btw

btw, anyone know where i can find a stg 2 tune file or any other file to give me for that matter? something i can possibly work off of and observe?

2.8 pulley
60 lb injectors
meth injection

 

Search out those advance tuning books, they were helpful for me. I've been calibrating test equipment, and machines for years, when I read tuning is the calibration of the engine I couldn't resist and had to try.

I've also learned nobody likes to give away their secrets.......... unless you pay attention

 

as it has been mentioned....found a mentor...lots of questions, lots of reading, after I thought I understood it, lots of questions, lots of reading again.

 

http://www.thetuningschool.com/classes.html

 

that seems ideal

 

Its tailored specifically to HP Tuners.

 

marked for after work. nice lotus btw

 

I molded this thread against what I thought would've helped me when I first started out many moons ago http://www.hptuners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11178

In effect its a "Damn I wish I had/knew this back then list" lol

-Bill

 

I bought it with no one to really help me....Paul (06blackg85ss) in Long Island did help me out twice though when I ran into a wall...But I mostly just went in blind...I read the hptuners guide like 5 times which helps out A LOT..HOWEVER, if you read it without having hptuners, like I did, you're going to be like WTF!?!?!?!?!?!?!? But when you recieve it and you start fiddling around with it you will make sense of what you read and be like OH SH*T that's what that is

PLUS, the hptuners forum is VERY helpful as there are very knowledgeable people on there including foff

Oh foff, I never took that offer you gave me on teaching me hptuners...I should've done that since I regret it...I don't know if you remember or not but you were willing to teach me hptuners a long time ago...but i'm getting there...I still don't have a clue when it comes to v8's...the cobalt looks SO MUCH EASIER to tune than say a ls1 or even the v6's for that matter

 

Thanks Bill.

 

many books, lots of classes and working next two 3 different guys n lots of practice

 

Oh and I have a gm stage 2 file if you want...I don't know if it's the fix for the idle or not though or w/e problem they were having at first with the stage 2's but I can send it to you if you want

Note: It's not made for your 60lb injectors though

 

I think I have a few stock stage 2 tunes as well.

 

buy hpt blow your engine and live and learn.

 

Hells to the yeahs

 

Damn good!!!

 

thanks for all the info/input guys

and thats tuning guide from foff is great just for some good pointers

 

Yeah when I actually had time before I used to offer a run through of the program usually a couple of hours of going through some of the features & what certain things do & don't do in exchange for a meal & meeting someone new...unfortunately a couple of hours is rarely enough for anyone even when its hands on.

Yeah everything mentioned on that link was either from personal experience(I had several mentors for a good long while and still do considering I ask questions on a daily basis to the founders of hptuners) or things I got to see all too often on our forum(people would call out people that were giving them advice,etc). So many traps to fall in when it comes to tuning, but I've always felt it was my part to throw a lifeline when I could.

-Bill

 

the part i love the most about that thread, is "dont be afraid to try new things"

for a long time i was very locked into "what all the good tuners seem to do"
once i began to step outside those boundaries....i found quite a few things that worked far better for me and my car.

 

Exactly, you've gotta find your own way


I honestly LOVE tuning my car....HOWEVER, I do wish I had a dyno or at least just a big roller that can spin freely and put load on the chassis since tuning on the street limits me to late night runs on the highway, which is starting to make me tune less since it's dangerous and I just don't want to endanger anyone's life...even though I make sure the road is clear before I do a run..but you never know....NJ sucks when it comes to that..Especially when you live like 10 minutes from nyc I need to move out west where there are millions of empty roads

 

I am in the same boat here in OK. There is no one in this state who can tune. I would like to learn how to do my own and would love to have a live person to help me BUT there is no one in this state who can help out. I guess I have to learn the hard way and read and experiment (which I do not think is a good thing).

 

Coop-definitely agree with you. I've decided that I'm going to have to get HP Tuners and get started on it myself. I've read tons on this site and on HP Tuners, but there's still some things that are unclear. As soon as I get HP Tuners, though, and start messing with it, I'm sure things will start to click (I hope).

For the Stage 2 setup--has anyone found that they have to change the injector information on the stage 2 injectors? What I mean is, can you assume that the IFR information and minimum pulse and all that are fairly accurate? If not, how would you approach that issue? I'm planning on just working with the Stage 2 + 2.9 pulley tune for now until I get very good with the tools.