For those of you who have been following my build over the last year or so, you'll know I've been in dire need of some form of tuning for quite some time now. Its been a big debate between either a canned tune from Vector, or having my car dyno tuned with HP Tuners. Well, I've gone back and forth changing my mind between the two countless times, and once I think I have finally made up my mind, someone backs out of wanting to tune my car with HP Tuners, or I run low on funds and put of any kind of tune for another few months. Well, after reading more bad than good concerning HP Tuners for a 2.4, and reading that the injector swap won't really benefit me as I only have basic bolt ons, and have no "big" motor plans in the future so to speak of, I've finalized my plan for the Vector tune. After reading it over closely, I've determined its everything I want in a tune, and nothing that I don't need. Also, I trust Vector as a professional company with handling my ECM tuning over a random guy that another random guy told me was "good" at tuning my one and only car with HP Tuners. If something bad were to happen with an HP Tuners tune, I'd have to hold a personal individual responsible, and that wouldn't be pretty. Plus, I like the ease of the Vector tune. I ship them my ECM when I please, they ship it back, I hook it back up and go. No making appointments with random people for tuning in far away places, no re-tuning, no waiting for use of a dyno. Plus, what really pushed me through the door was my girlfriend agreed to pay for half the Vector tune ($350/2= $175 each) for our 3 year anniversery, so that's plain badass. Right now I'm currently prepping my car for the tune by changing my plugs, fuel filter, oil, cleaning the air filter, and then I'll disconnect my battery after I put the freshly tuned ECM back in my car before I start it up. Ill also make a special note to Vector to have them shut off my rear O2 sensor being as I don't have a cat, which is causing one of my thrown codes. So yeah, wish me luck, and by the 2nd week in Febuary (our anniv. is Feb 11th) ill have it all up and running, and after I give the car a few days to adapt to the new tune, I'm taking it to PTuning (www.ptuning.com) to dyno it and get some numbers for everyone. Just so we're clear, I currently have a full exhaust (no cat) and a CAI, so after the tune, I'm expecting about 190whp. Ill keep everyone posted.

 

you'll be needing a big bore TB and a bitchin tune (which wont happen from vector) as well as a dyno jet to crank out a 190 whp #

the problem with vector is they can't account as well for your altitude and do logging when it's running on your car.. so it'll be a very conservative tune

 

Good Luck with everything

I also am in the process of doing the same thing. Deciding to go HPtuners or do the vector.

I too have the CAI, Header, Exhaust modifications. I surely would like to see how this works out for you.

Thanks for being a pioneer for us 2.4s.

 

I've seen other 2.4's w/ just an intake, a more conservative exhaust setup (like a 2.25" w/ a cat) and a tune do like 185whp. Plus, I just want a conservative tune....nothing crazy. I just want the car to be running at a more optimal rate, and for the ECM to allow more power to the ground. I basically just want the the ECM to open up to the mods that are already on it. Plus, it raises the redline and deletes the top speed limiter, so that's plenty good for me. They say about a 10-15whp gain is to be expected also, which isn't too shabby. Either way, HP Tuners just isn't an option anymore, as I'm tired of unanswered promises, sketchy tuners, and hearing numerous bad situations that have arisen from it.

Well, I'm not the 1st 2.4 I've seen to go with the Vector tune. I know of two others that did it, both of which were satisfied, though one did complain about an uncomfortably high IDC rate.

But I did pioneer a few things I'd day. I was def one of the 1st 2.4's with the AEM CAI, one of the 1st 2.4s to put the "2.0 SS/SC only" Ingalls ETD on, one of the first CA header owners (bought it the 1st week it came out), and the VERY 1st 2.4SS to run the ARK N2 cat-back, and the 2nd Cobalt period to run it, only behind the test car, which was a silver SS/SC. (ARK confirmed that for me )

 

Glad to hear that you're finally getting Your tuning problems taken care of. Hopefully you'll be able to resolve everything and end up a little happier with your cars performance. And as far as the exhaust I probably wasn't too far behind you as far as 2.4's with the N2. And I don't know of many if any 2.4's with the Vibrant long tube header. Anyways good luck hope that it works out.

 

orly? seems a bit odd.. what kind of dyno did they get those numbers off of?

i've heard of more issues with canned tunes then with HP tunes , shruggs idk .. good luck man

 

good luck with everything man you have a couple misconceptions about canned tunes though.

canned tunes are not going to "open up for the mods" you have, thats the whole problem with canned tunes. they have nothing to do with your car specifically.

and canned tunes need retuning too. you just cant.
thats not a negative towards custom tuning, thats a BIG negative for canned tunes.

 

hop on a dyno with your AFR logged and send it to em, they could possibly work with that to make your canned tune a little better.

i think you may be expecting a lot though and might not get it...

 

Well, I agree and disagree with you on some things. First off, you took what I said about "opening of my mods" a bit wrong. What I meant by that is that the Vector tune revises the nanny controls a bit, which will allow the extra power my bolt ons are making to actually reach the ground (well, more so than that are now). Plus, you send them a list of your engine mods, and they'll tweak their base tune a little bit to better accomodate your mods. I realize it won't be exact to my car, and that sucks, but its the best I can do. I've been drug through the mud by sooo many people, half of which have dissapeared off the face of the planet it seems, on promises of tuning via HP Tuners. Point is, after a year of trying to get something setup, no one will come through for me, and I've just given up on it. No one out here knows squat about HP Tuners, and the few that have any knowlege of it only how how to tweak the 2.0 LSJ's. Everything is Honda, Mitsubishi and Subaru out here. Also about not being able to alter the tune in the future, that's incorrect. I spoke w/ Vector, and much like Westers, they'll tweak the tune if I were to do more in the future, and I just have to send my ECM back into them with details of what needs to be adjusted. I find that no harder than having to take my car 3 states away and making an appointment at a shop to use the dyno to have it re-tuned, with no real promises of bettering the cars performance.

I just know that with Vector, my car will run better, have a higher redline, etc etc. I have no REAL promises with HP Tuners from any professional tuners familiar with the software, and I'm not guaranteed any REAL results. Plus, after reading Jackalopes horror stories concerning HP Tuners, I just really decided against it.

The guy that dynoed 186whp was that guy that got banned from here, had a blue '06 2.4SS w/ a CA header, XTC downpipe, GMPP cat-back, GMPP intake and HP Tuners.

 

there is an ion that has 186 whp from a mustang and has
Cobalt Addiction Shorty Header
Custom Magnaflow 2.5 Exhaust
HP Tuners
Injen Intake
Ported Throttle Body
XTC 2.5 Highflow cat

i'm guessing they dyno'd on a dynojet to get that number i mean TB doesn't help a huge amount but it's good for a few hp or so and better response

 

Not really, I'm just expecting my car to be a bit more lively, and a little bit of extra power. I'm not expecting my car to be some crazy supercar afterwards, lol.

Yeah, a ported TB dosent give big numbers but certainly helps. Also keep in mind that I don't have a cat, which will give me minimal gains over his highflow cat. But yeah, roughly between 180-190whp is what I'd love to see w/ my setup, but who knows.

 

have you baseline dynoed?

the numbers would make ALOT more sense then.

otherwise its just a number.

 

dosent GM have a different than off the lot tune for the 2.4 SS? i believe it's called the competition driving tune.. were the PCM let's the motor have more power( and in an auto's case quick down/upshift's) for longer with slightly elevated IAT's..

 

Lol, c'mon now, I'm not a complete tard sack. Like I said, I'm going to change my long overdue fuel filter, get some fresh plugs, and then change the oil and clean the air filter for good measure. That'll all be done by the end of the 1st week in Febuary. Then I'm going in to get a baseline.....guess I should've mentioned that, but I figured it was a given considering I said "I'd get people numbers afterwards", but yeah my fault for not being clear. I'm hoping that replacing my clogged fuel filter will resolve at least one of my a/f codes that's thrown right now, as I read from several people that changing actually cleared a code they were experiencing. I have 11 total codes thrown (worst I've seen is 16 from SSBOOST on his 2.4), so I'm not sure if my car will exactly be running its strongest when I go in for the baseline. I'm not sure if our cars have a limp mode or not. But car hesitates from what I think is the clogged fuel filter, but other than that it typically feels like it pulls pretty strong.

 

i vote hptuners..is wut i use..any question pm me..ive been tuning this thing since ive got it...so dude seriously PM ME ill help u out

 

Well, I did some more research after hearing some negative things about the Vector tune. I read a bunch of good things about Tune Time Performance in NJ. From what I've read, they have a vast knowledge of tuning the LE5 motor, and a custom dyno tune is only $400. For only $50 more, ill def go with a custom tune over a canned tune. But the drive to NJ is gonna be shitty......but well worth it.

 

HPTuners is deff. the way to go... they can accomidate for all your mods and make a more "personal" tune.

 

It takes me 3 hours to get to Toms River from Albany, and it's definately worth it. Matt knows his **** and has tuned some pretty nice balts'. Just be prepared to wait when you get there. Matt is always busy, typically on at least one phone all the time, sometimes two. I always plan to be there in the morning and ALWAYS plan for it to be a full day event...but never regret it.

 

doesn't he do re tunes for life too?

 

It'll def take me over 3 hours, but it sounds like its worth it. And trust me, I'm not gonna just drive up there and expect to hop on the dyno for tuning. Ill plan ahead and make an appointment for all of this. I'm assuming $400 will get me 3 pulls on the dyno for tuning, right? But yeah, thanks for all the input guys. Hopefully come Feb. I'll be able to head up there and get it all tuned up. Also, one more quick question. Should I take the 19"s off the front and put the stock 17"s on when I put it on the dyno? I know 19"s slow ya down on the street, but will it make a difference on the dyno? Keep in mind I want the tune to be setup for the 19"s as they're my primary wheel, and will want the tune to calibrate for the 19"s.

 

Within reason. You can't go turbo swap on him and expect to be retuned for free. But he'll adjust it for small mods and other things.

Take the car exactly how you want it to be tuned. Fully equiped like you'll drive it everyday. Call ahead of time, and touch up on your comedy movie quote knowledge. You'll have fun while you're there...

When you meet Jordan, say Erik said "I knew it, I'm surrounded by ********!"

He should reply with "KEEP FIRING ********!" As loud as he can...

 

yeah but hptuners u can change everything..at any time if u go with it..there are a few guys that have a solid tune on there cars with hptuners..ive been tuning the car for almost a year now and it runs real strong..need to change it up with my addition of my other mods..hptuners is nice also due to yeah u can just walk out to ur car and tune,log the car, etc. u cant get that with a canned tune and or dyno tune..so yeah..i wud go with hptuners.

 

First, he will be tuned with HP Tuners, what do you think the car gets dyno tuned with, magical farts?

Second, the majority of blown engines on here have been due to "self-tuning." I would stick to having someone knowledgable tune my car and learn from them while they're doing it before I picked up HPT and just started changing things. Good tuners are few and far between...

 

Alright, thanks for the advice. Ill def call ahead and schdule an appointment. As for comedy movies, I'm set, b/c I'm an avid movie watcher in general. Ill keep the "*******" comment in mind as well, lol.