Guest mhp316 Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Hi all - I was closer to being convinced about picking up a Predator programmer for my C5 but ran across a site (and others like it) selling performance chips like "CHEVROLET CORVETTE 1990-2008 X3 Performance Chip with O2 Sensor Control". Just wondering if anybody has an opinion? Thx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Poppa Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 I love the Predator that I have. I thought it was very helpful. I saw 19 hp on the dyno with it. I'm not sure, but I assume the chip is just preset and you can't change it. You can change parameters on the Predator til the cows come home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigfoot Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Go with an actual person to dyno tune the car. Someone like NicD. With hand helds, you usually get people makeing cars too lean and burning up motors.A guy like Nic, running a laptop can get you more power safely. Granted, you as the owner don't have the adjustability, but who cares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChadC Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Go with an actual person to dyno tune the car. Someone like NicD. With hand helds, you usually get people makeing cars too lean and burning up motors.A guy like Nic, running a laptop can get you more power safely. Granted, you as the owner don't have the adjustability, but who cares. with nic its a set it and forget it. depending on how you communicate to him it will costs any where from $250 to $500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewstein Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I would also add that unless you have other mods tuning your car will be a waste of $$$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Poppa Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I would also add that unless you have other mods tuning your car will be a waste of $$$.While I agree that NicD is awesome, I disagree with this statement. With my Predator tune, the one that was in the programmer with me doing nothing to it, I saw 19 hp on the dyno. So, the difference won't be dramatic, but it's there. Plus, if the OP has an auto, it makes a huge difference in that you can change the way the car shifts. With the 6spd you can eliminate the CAGS.As to the programmers putting in a generic tune, true to a point. The tuner takes the tune that's in the car already and modifies it in a generic way. So the tune that was tuned into that particular car is somewhat retained, just enhanced. Plus, if you spend the time, you can use the data log function to monitor what the car is doing while you drive it and modify the tune from there to perfect it for your car. I did that with mine when I got the headers, and it made a huge difference. You won't get it quite as good as NicD can, but you can get it pretty close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigfoot Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 While I agree that NicD is awesome, I disagree with this statement. With my Predator tune, the one that was in the programmer with me doing nothing to it, I saw 19 hp on the dyno. So, the difference won't be dramatic, but it's there. Plus, if the OP has an auto, it makes a huge difference in that you can change the way the car shifts. With the 6spd you can eliminate the CAGS.As to the programmers putting in a generic tune, true to a point. The tuner takes the tune that's in the car already and modifies it in a generic way. So the tune that was tuned into that particular car is somewhat retained, just enhanced. Plus, if you spend the time, you can use the data log function to monitor what the car is doing while you drive it and modify the tune from there to perfect it for your car. I did that with mine when I got the headers, and it made a huge difference. You won't get it quite as good as NicD can, but you can get it pretty close.And that's why you got shut down every pull you tried on the dyno because your car was waaaaaay to lean, if I remember right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewstein Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 And that's why you got shut down every pull you tried on the dyno because your car was waaaaaay to lean, if I remember right. Owned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Poppa Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 While true, and while owned.... That was long before I had done anything but plug the programmer in and say Go. The tune that was in the car from the factory was waaayyyy lean, and once I used the programmer to monitor the O2 sensors and use that data to adjust the fuel trims, I got it right in line where it belonged. The car was lean before the programmer, not because of it. The "Predator" tune in the programmer actually helped it a bit. On the dyno, the factory tune was like 17:1, and the predator tune was like 15:1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1jester Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 I would also add that unless you have other mods tuning your car will be a waste of $$$.While I agree that NicD is awesome, I disagree with this statement. With my Predator tune, the one that was in the programmer with me doing nothing to it, I saw 19 hp on the dyno. So, the difference won't be dramatic, but it's there. Plus, if the OP has an auto, it makes a huge difference in that you can change the way the car shifts. With the 6spd you can eliminate the CAGS.As to the programmers putting in a generic tune, true to a point. The tuner takes the tune that's in the car already and modifies it in a generic way. So the tune that was tuned into that particular car is somewhat retained, just enhanced. Plus, if you spend the time, you can use the data log function to monitor what the car is doing while you drive it and modify the tune from there to perfect it for your car. I did that with mine when I got the headers, and it made a huge difference. You won't get it quite as good as NicD can, but you can get it pretty close.I agree. I put in the superchips and got a very noticable boost in performance. and as mentioned by big poppa, my A4 shift points were really improved, and when I had a little heating problem, I went into the program and was able to drop the temp when the high speed fan would engage, which made me run cooler. my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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