mail order tune any good?

[Semperfiws6]

i have heard that you can get a mail oder tune to support your upgraded mods like cam, intake, maf etc. heres my question - would a mail order tune be good after a cam swap or a heads/cam swap? would it be worth it or not? any opinions would be appreciated. thanks.

[Firebirdjones]

i have heard that you can get a mail oder tune to support your upgraded mods like cam, intake, maf etc. heres my question - would a mail order tune be good after a cam swap or a heads/cam swap? would it be worth it or not? any opinions would be appreciated. thanks.

I installed an LT1/4L60E combo in my Jeep Scrambler, and had Howell Engine Management build a custom harness and computer setup,,,they put in a custom tune and mailed the entire setup to me. Works great, but this was a retro fit and they were already supplying the computer and making the harness,,,so it just made sense to have them throw in a custom tune as well and ship it all.

Here are some of my concerns with this kind of stuff,,,,for one,,,,it probably won't be perfect, but not many tunes are anyway. And if you want to have anything redone, it requires removing your computer and shipping it off,,,meanwhile you do without the car. This may or may not be a problem for some,,,but something to think about.

My other gripe from having custom tunes done by most any shop,,,is the fact that they lock the computer to keep others from tampering with it. I know they have to protect there tuning secrets but it doesn't sit well with me. If this company goes out of business or you move away and need another tuner,,,,what do ya do? What if you sell the car and the new owner does a few engine mods and then finds out the computer is locked from a previous custom tune and can't do anything with it?

These are just some of the reasons why I invested in HPtuner and do this stuff myself. Larry.

[Semperfiws6]

I installed an LT1/4L60E combo in my Jeep Scrambler, and had Howell Engine Management build a custom harness and computer setup,,,they put in a custom tune and mailed the entire setup to me. Works great, but this was a retro fit and they were already supplying the computer and making the harness,,,so it just made sense to have them throw in a custom tune as well and ship it all.

Here are some of my concerns with this kind of stuff,,,,for one,,,,it probably won't be perfect, but not many tunes are anyway. And if you want to have anything redone, it requires removing your computer and shipping it off,,,meanwhile you do without the car. This may or may not be a problem for some,,,but something to think about.

My other gripe from having custom tunes done by most any shop,,,is the fact that they lock the computer to keep others from tampering with it. I know they have to protect there tuning secrets but it doesn't sit well with me. If this company goes out of business or you move away and need another tuner,,,,what do ya do? What if you sell the car and the new owner does a few engine mods and then finds out the computer is locked from a previous custom tune and can't do anything with it?

These are just some of the reasons why I invested in HPtuner and do this stuff myself. Larry.

thanks for the advice. you make some good points. im doing some mods which will require a tune and i guess i need to stop looking for the easy way out and just invest in an hptuner. to be honest, the whole computer/tuning process kinda scares me. i dont even understand all the automotive terms that are necessary to use the tuner. but i am willing and eager to learn. i guess im gonna have to just do it. thanks again.