Opinions on OBDII auto tuning software

[Montecarlodrag]

It seems you have not used HPT for a while. With the new updates, it can run circles around Efi. It has one of the most extensive Ford tuning support with both editor and scanner. It also works on popular Dodge vehicles including Viper.
It's being constantly improved.
I hate the new licensing system, it's very restrictive with VIN/OS changes, but the tuning and datalogging capabilities are superb.

[ERM Performance Tuning]

It seems you have not used HPT for a while. With the new updates, it can run circles around Efi. It has one of the most extensive Ford tuning support with both editor and scanner. It also works on popular Dodge vehicles including Viper.
It's being constantly improved.
I hate the new licensing system, it's very restrictive with VIN/OS changes, but the tuning and datalogging capabilities are superb.

Agree ^^^^^^ I do not see how you can say that TCII nor EFI Live (I use EFI daily as well) would be less capable than TC. Lets see TCII tune a 2016 A8 Z06 Corvette, Camaro A6 or even a Viper. HP Tuners software (as well as EFI Live to a lesser extent) is integrated to the the vehicle systems including Torque Management, SC/TC control etc. As stated above, HP Tuners engineering is constantly listening to its users and implementing much needed updates such as the ability to change the TAC/PCM delta error to prevent P1516/REP, A6 transmission upshift torque management control (even added clutch air purge to prevent clunking on built trannies and the ability to disable up/downshift skip neutral to prevent rev limit hang). I mean they even just implemented a fix to preclude the E38 Rich after Flash headache and all tables to support a Double Stoich/Half IFR methodology to beating the dreaded hardcoded PCM limits for larger injectors thus precluding the arduos task of scaling the entire PCM/TCM tunes.

Many shops across the country as well as International (I know, I have them as clients) utilize HP Tuners because it is the best, all around capable GM/Ford (SCT may argue this :-))/Dodge tuning and logging package available. Yes we didn't even begin to discuss the capabilities of the Scanner and complex filters and A6/A8 Parameter logging.....

So all in all I would have to respectfully disagree with the "beginner/casual DIYer, EFI next.." statement.

Ed M

[LRT]

Hi Ed,

Glad to see you on this Forum, your input and expertise will be greatly appreciated. I trust your Florida retirement is going well (lucky SOB !).

This line of discussion is essentially the Chevy versus Ford, Coke versus Pepsi, etc. dialogue. Much like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is the perceived "use" of a given tuning software.

So I will toss in my highly biased two cents !

You will find there are people on this Forum who delve into the raw Hex, looking for undiscovered parameters which are specific to their individual tuning needs. Both EFILive and Tunercat allow the user to add their own parameters to the software - HPT does not. This difference alone severely limits HPT's usefulness to me.

I have always disliked HPT's scanner - EFILive's scanner has always seemed much more intuitive to me.

HPT's VIN / OS licensing requirement is just a money grab - plain and simple. EFILive licenses the individual controller ($125). Once the controller is licensed, EFILive allows users to flash as many compatible calibrations into that controller as they wish - they can change the OS, change from an automatic to a manual calibration, whatever they wish. HPT requires users to license the controller ($99), and also to license each and every calibration (another $99 for each one) that they wish to flash into their already licensed controller.

Tunercat has a onetime $80 fee for a specific vehicle / OS type - and does not charge any additional ongoing fees for controllers or calibrations - that is very user friendly, and without any hint of the greed that permeates the other software companies.

Also, I only work with GM products - so support for other manufacturers is moot to me. HPT does not support the 1995 - 1996 LT1 PCMs, nor the 1996 - 1997 Vortec (Blackbox) PCMs, nor several early OBD2 V6 cars - but Tunercat does support these vehicles.

To your challenge of "let's see Tunercat tune a 2016 A8 Z06 Corvette or a Camaro A6" - the A8 is not supported yet, but Tunercat certainly can tune the 2016 LT4 Z06 engine, and the Camaro L99 engine and A6 transmission. Most of the A6 features you listed from HPT are available in Tunercat. Any that are not available may be added by the user.

My crystal ball tells me that the A8 may have a short lifespan - just like the two model year only E40. The A10 will be out in the 2017 ZL1 in a few months. I'm betting the A10s quickly replace the A8s, and the A6 will remain in use in the V6 trucks. If this prediction comes true, then I'm OK if Tunercat never supports the A8.

You mentioned that "HPT engineering is constantly listening to users and implementing much needed updates". This is only partially the case. HPT has a habit of fixing one thing, and then moving on to something completely different - with seemingly little attention to detail. Take the Gen 3 PCM WOT 4WD shift speeds as an example - they added this "new" table to only one OS - and never went back to add it the rest of the many, many OS that were used between 1999 and 2007. Take the 2007 TBSS Default Trans Limit table, which was completely wrong for quite some time - they eventually fixed this. So, yes, they do push forward, but they often fail to check the validity of their progress, and equally often fail to roll out progress unilaterally.

I have always been a fan of Coca-Cola - and don't like Pepsi !

[ERM Performance Tuning]

Hi Ed,

Glad to see you on this Forum, your input and expertise will be greatly appreciated. I trust your Florida retirement is going well (lucky SOB !).

This line of discussion is essentially the Chevy versus Ford, Coke versus Pepsi, etc. dialogue. Much like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is the perceived "use" of a given tuning software.

So I will toss in my highly biased two cents !

You will find there are people on this Forum who delve into the raw Hex, looking for undiscovered parameters which are specific to their individual tuning needs. Both EFILive and Tunercat allow the user to add their own parameters to the software - HPT does not. This difference alone severely limits HPT's usefulness to me.

Going well...working harder than ever though with the new business. Passed my 1 year anniversary for ERM Performance Tuning and 2 years retired.....Hope all is well with you. Retirement and the move to Florida, though great, hasn't been quite what we expected what with caring for Karin's parents....but still better than killing myself in that high stress job on Long Island...and we get to see the kids when ever we want to :-)

I have obviously stumbled into a sandbox where I am not qualified to play :-). I came here a couple of weeks ago because I was Googling an FPCM issue and found a thread here...needed to register to see the attachments, so I did. After being here a while and your assistance, I see this is more slanted for the tuners who are pushing the envelope and doing things that aren't provided by the vanilla providers Like HP Tuners. I knew that Live had the .cax feature and poked around a bit, but never had the time or need to delve deeper.

With that in mind I'll temper my participation until I either get smarter....or thrown out :-) Whichever comes first :-)

Ed M