I know this has been discussed a lot already but I wanted to share my exciting success story. Friday morning I made the trip down to the small town of Indiana, PA to visit a well known GM tuner who is the lead programmer for 'pcmforless'. He used HP tuners. the tune was $199 and i also opted to buy a new ECU and have the tune put on that, the extra ECU was $249. I have not dynoed my car, but it feels to be somewhere in the 300 whp range, which i am pleased with. It will rip the tires loose from a 40 mph roll on! wow! I love to drive it any chance I get now, can't wait to go beat up on some mustang GT's... rofl. This guy was super cool and really knew what he was talking about. Another neat thing he did for me was to lower my launch rpm to 2700 (upon my request) any of you guys who have tuned thought to try this? Any time I am at a stop, and I floor the accelerator, the engine simply sits at that specific RPM.. pretty cool eh? I thought this would work better since this car likes to have massive amounts of wheelspin in 1st gear and this is about the RPM where the power really only begins to pick up anyways. It would hopefully make launching just that much more managable (crosses fingers). Oh and he changed my speed limiter from 155 up to 205 just for the hell of it. I have a catless clear image downpipe, which was not throwing any codes to begin with, but he deleted my downstream O2 sensor and also 'fixed' my car so I would be garanteed to pass any emissions test, with no cats. This does in no way affect my car's performance to my knowledge, it just changed what was said to the test machines by the car's o2 sensors. Not really sure how it works but that is what he told me. I love how the car sounds now spiking to 24 psi holding 21 psi of boost with no cats, sounds pretty bad ass. Anybody else here have a similar story? Oh by the way, I got sick of waiting for the GM kit. If I change my mind, I still have my stock ECU untouched and will probably just swap it back out if I decide to go the GM route later down the road.

 

Sounds awesome. I'm definitely looking into getting a tune.

 

Congrats on the tune man. I had fun with just the stage kit but with a tune on top of that is a hell of a lot better

 

Whats the name of the shop? I live in morgantown, wv and make trips to pittsburgh all the time. I noticed Indiana was just a little northeast from pitt. I might have to make the trip up there.

 

Bryan Herter
Lead Programmer of 94 and newer cars and trucks for
http://www.pcmforless.com
724-349-4431 M-F 9AM to 7PM Eastern
bryan@pcmforless.com

 

damn how did he lower the launch control

 

HP Tuners does not have that table (only a neural rev limiter) so I guess he uses other software. Either ,the launch control stinks it either bogs or spins like crazy. I would think lowering it would mean a lot more bogging issues but I dunno.

 

OP im from indiana, pa. wish i had known there was going to be another turbocharged in indiana that day! if you come again let me know

 

thats what i was saying

 

He did not have access to lowering launch control rpm specifically, but rather the neutral rpm, as stated above. I am now limited to 2700 rpm (my choice) in any traction mode, as long as I am stopped. He was using HP tuners for sure, I was watching him work. It doesn't bog, but you still have to feather the clutch/throttle because with this much power, you will still break loose with fury once the boost kicks in after letting off!

Come down to Pittsburgh Raceway park wednesday night and chill with me, I will be down there with some friends and maybe making a few passes, love to see some other balts down there! I will be trying for mid 13's since I got a tune!

 

From Pittsburgh as well...what goes on Wed. nights at PRP? I still have yet to make it out there or run my car anywhere for that matter. But I am def. wanting to get tuned as soon as I get my DP from CIA...should be here in a few days hopefully. So you def. recommend your tuner? $450 for the tune and a new pcm doesn't seem bad at all.

 

I definitely recommend him, very smart guy. Super nice and will try to address your needs or wants very well. I will just be going out for test and tune night, just for an evening of fun. You can usually get a good 4 runs in for your $25. You can match up against your buds or just random people. No prizes, just time slips and bragging rights. Come on out. Oh and by the way I love the CIA DP, I swapped mine out right before my tune. I am catless now, and the tuner also made it such that I will pass any emissions test despite the fact I have no cats.

 

thats the first i have heard of this guy. ill have to check him out since hes right here in indiana. now, can you go back to stock tune in case you need warranty work with that?

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but:
If that emissions test includes a test for NOx emissions and not just a visual check for cats, it will not pass.

 

I ordered the Catted DP b/c of emissions...hopefully it will fare just as well as the Catless DP. Does the guy that tuned you only tune on the weekdays?

 

I ordered the Catted DP b/c of emissions...hopefully it will fare just as well as the Catless DP. Does the guy that tuned you only tune on the weekdays?

 

Email him to find out when he prefers if you are wanting an on site in person custom tune. He also does mail order I believe. I did an in person meeting, once we completed the tune he came with me and did a data log/on road test drive to make sure everything was okay. As far as the no cat emissions test, I know what you are saying, it probably will not pass that type of exam. I am not worried anyways, it was more a just for kicks addition to the tune because I do not need to pass emissions where my vehicle is registered anyways. I am only worried about incase I get pulled over and a cop seeing I have no cats. Chances are slim I think anyway.

 

I bought the hahn catted DP and gutted the cat on it. Cost me a little more money but it looks legal and there are no CELs you can smell a difference though.

 

Have you tried to put your stock pcm back in yet? Def. want to do this if the GM techs can't see any proof of a custom tune.

 

I have not tried it 'back in' yet, I am still driving with the new 'tuned' ECM. I am 95% sure that the stock would plug in with no problems though. If I do have problems, my tuner will address the problem at no charge (i hope!)