BEST STAND ALONE TUNER

Hey guys,

I have a 94 GT and Im looking to upgrade to a tuner this spring.
Was looking for some ideas of which would be the best for me.
I am a beginner and I would like a tuner that is not extra complicated/sophisticated and that can make my bolt ons/mods perform at their potential. I have heard of Tweecer, PMS, Quarterhorse. Are there others? Which one is most recommended? Thanks in advance for your help/suggestions/knowlwedge.

Banger
 
  • Sponsors (?)


It really depends how much knowledge you can find that will be easy for you to tune yourself. In other words for me the P.M.S was easiest because it simplified things better than the rest. However the twEECer, Quarterhorse seem to be the more popular choices due to price. Plus you can do more (sometimes that's good or bad depending if you know what you're doing) The P.M.S. can be expensive, luckily I found one for like $325 used on the Corral and snatched it up (it was local too). I'd read into those choices and decide which on you think you can handle.

I had the old style P.M.S. controller. Pics doing 80MPH down the highway,
PMSlocation.jpg


As you can see RPM at 80MPH is 2390, PR-is the Program I using, you can have up to 3 tunes, O2-Running rich (fine with that, better than lean) and total timing is 47 degrees.

PMSat80MPH.jpg


Here is the twEECer hooked to a FOX body. The datalogging feature is fantastic. You can dial in TPS, check injectors, MAF, Fuel, O2's, etc from one screen. We had an issue with the TPS sensor while datalogging, it showed like 3.9v at idle and wouldn't move, car would barely stay running. Loosened the screws to adjust it, when I moved it the sensor didn't feel right. I took it off and both ears inside the TPS were sheared off. Bought a new TPS and adjusted it to .98v and the idle was rock solid at 750rpm. Would have chased this problem for who knows how long, 2 minutes of datalogging found it.

1cf10c5b.jpg
 

Attachments

  • PMSlocation.jpg
    PMSlocation.jpg
    62.2 KB · Views: 519
  • PMSat80MPH.jpg
    PMSat80MPH.jpg
    43.1 KB · Views: 452
  • 1cf10c5b.jpg
    1cf10c5b.jpg
    54.9 KB · Views: 698
Personally I would save your money based on the mods in your sig the gains will be minimal if any.....
I agree, a stand alone is a modification that should only be done when the stock ECU cannot control/operate the engine within it's design parameters. The stock ECU can handle a ton of modifications before it needs to be replaced.
 
since you guys are on the subject what about the SCT tuners with the bama custom tunes cause i was thinking of getting the 4-bank elim for my 95 gt and that being said do you guys know if that tuner gets rid of the adaptive learning?
 
You really do not want to get rid of adaptive learning on a street car. The SCT multiple bank chip is fine but with your mods I don't think you will get the bang for the buck. I also prefer to see the car on the dyno custom tuned instead of some canned tunes.
 
I can't recommend the SCT/Bama tunes.
We have a mail order tune for life through Bama, and it's a real pain.
The tunes haven't been right, and turn-around to get the chip reflashed is painfully slow.
It's just not worth it with all the down time alone. The chip spends more time in the mail than in the car.
 
I can't recommend the SCT/Bama tunes.
We have a mail order tune for life through Bama, and it's a real pain.
The tunes haven't been right, and turn-around to get the chip reflashed is painfully slow.
It's just not worth it with all the down time alone. The chip spends more time in the mail than in the car.

agreed, if I had to do it all over again, either the PMS system or... the very expensive
XFI 2.0 System
The ECU 301000 $1645.45
Main harness 301100 $356.95
Injector harness 301203 $120.55
Ignition harness 301308 $70.65
Sensor Kit 307051 $148.87 (this does include a 3-bar map sensor)
IAC Housing 307022 $95.42 (This adapts Ford to GM IAC motor)
IAC Motor 307014 $50.45
Total $2488.34 (Free shipping in the lower 48 states)

That was my quote for my supercharged application. This system is completely self tuning.
 
I can't recommend the SCT/Bama tunes.
We have a mail order tune for life through Bama, and it's a real pain.
The tunes haven't been right, and turn-around to get the chip reflashed is painfully slow.
It's just not worth it with all the down time alone. The chip spends more time in the mail than in the car.
Shelf tunes are ALWAYS a crap shoot. I've typed those words more times than I care to count. Guess it's an alien concept of some sort.
 
You really want to trash the adaptive learning comp if you don't wanna have problems tuning and if you ever
wanna make seriousr power


Translation: "I don't know what I'm doing and should probably seek the assistance of a professional".

Adaptive learning is the ability for the EEC to account for changes in temperature, barometric pressure, and even humidity. If you're tuning for quick passes down the race track then by all means, get rid of adaptive control. You can always adjust tuning just prior to setting up at the light. If you're running on the street then adaptive learning is the strategy that takes care of those minor adjustments. Disabling for a street car is going in the wrong direction. The adaptive strategy has NOTHING at all to do with how much power you're able to produce.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user