HPTuners or EFI Live?

[softballnrd27]

I want to get my own tuning software and would like to know which one you use and what you like/dislike about it. I would ask this on ls1tech but they have some issues with this type of question and problems with it turning into a company bashing thread. I know they can both support Wideband, which I will definitley use, and that HP is a little cheaper than EFI, but beyond that I don't know.

[BustedTruck]

I can only speak for efi live. I think its a good program and haven't even got in it deep yet. Its a bit intimidating.

[BR3W CITY]

i think youd find more community support for hpt on gm stuff. Most of the tuners in my area use hpt for their customers, so between that and the price diff I'd go (and did go) with hp tuners.

[softballnrd27]

Originally Posted by BR3W CITY

i think youd find more community support for hpt on gm stuff. Most of the tuners in my area use hpt for their customers, so between that and the price diff I'd go (and did go) with hp tuners.

I take it you did your own tuning? How was the learning curve? Did you have any knowledge prior to this?

[matthew20061]

I know a lot of people that use HP Tuners, as well as myself and it seems like there is a lot of information out there about how to use it and such. I'm still learning with it but I'm getting better with it. Also if you do go with HPT get the pro version so it supports the wideband input! I made the mistake to not get the pro version and I'm kicking my self now.

[BR3W CITY]

Originally Posted by softballnrd27

I take it you did your own tuning? How was the learning curve? Did you have any knowledge prior to this?

I had my tuning done for me, but I have taken an interest in it since the beginning. When my tuner said he was going to use hpt I started trying to learn what was involved. I wanted to be able to do small tweaks to my truck without having to go 1.5hr out to the tuner.

I started on http://www.hptuners.com/forum/ and read from there.

[Shon]

they both do the same thing. HPT has a nicer look to it but you get used to EFIlive after using it.

[softballnrd27]

There is quite a price difference as well. I think I am going to go with HPtuners. I am also going to buy the SA design book on tuning to learn some as well, hopefully. I plan to do some upgrades later on and it would be nice to be able to tune the truck myself.

[Shon]

If you want to know about tuning, sit down with the Greg Banish vidz.

[softballnrd27]

Originally Posted by Shon

If you want to know about tuning, sit down with the Greg Banish vidz.

I would love to but damn it's expensive. I am getting the book on tuning that he wrote and if I don't get it after that I might try the dvd.

[raic65]

I decided and use EFILive, but the main reason was that there is a local dealer/tuner for it. The credits thing with HPTuners also confused me. Wasn't sure if I needed to keep purchasing credits everytime I wanted to make a change to the tune on my truck.

[Shon]

Originally Posted by raic65

I decided and use EFILive, but the main reason was that there is a local dealer/tuner for it. The credits thing with HPTuners also confused me. Wasn't sure if I needed to keep purchasing credits everytime I wanted to make a change to the tune on my truck.

u purchase credits for each VIN, once you 'own' the VIN there are no more purchases for the VIN. unless you do custom stuff.

[Jim_PA]

Originally Posted by raic65

I decided and use EFILive, but the main reason was that there is a local dealer/tuner for it. The credits thing with HPTuners also confused me. Wasn't sure if I needed to keep purchasing credits everytime I wanted to make a change to the tune on my truck.

With HPtuners, you need to license both the tune in the computer, and the computer itself.... it's a matched combo. Once you licence a PCM/tune combo, if you should decide that OS doesn't work right with your swapped parts, you need to buy additional credits to write another OS to that PCM you already paid $100 to license.

With EFI live, you licence the PCM hardware itself. After you license that hardware, you can flash whatever compatible OS you want on top of it.

I know I'm seeming a little biased towards EFI live, but in the end, HPTuners is a PPV service like your cable box, EFI live is like having a descrambler. Even if you pay full retail for the EFI live, it's totally worth the extra $150.

[Jim_PA]

EFI live hands down.

Digital wideband input, the licensing scheme, the free custom OS upgrades, black box tuning and logging, the list is endless.

[Jim_PA]

And for the record, I started with HPTuners, but after realizing they are basically selling you a service that you need to keep paying for additional features or abilities to modify your operating system, I realized I had bought the wrong thing from the start. I sold it and found a great deal from a place that sells EFI live for the same retail price as HPTuners with the MPVI pro.

If you have a stock car with bolt ons that is pretty plug and play, HPTuners will do you just fine. If you want to start playing around with swapping OS segments, trying different operating sytems, etc, EFILive is the only way to go.

You will pay a lot more money in the end if you start messing around with HPtuners.

[Super73]

I have HPtuners and never used EFIlive.

I have done segment swaps and custom SD tunes with it. It works great for me, not to say EFI live won't get the job done too, but I personally see no need to change. Plus I used an old A-tap and LS1edit cable as trade in. I have 99-02 f-body completely unlocked along with many other vins unlocked for customers. It would be too costly for me to switch.

[BR3W CITY]

Im pretty sure HPT also has an unlimited credit option for shops.

[Shon]

they do.
its the same arguement you did not want from LS1tech, each person likes what they like and they all get the job done.