Black Sunshine 07

i'm ready to order a tuner for my GT and i've decided to go with the diablo predator. the cheapest i've found is at concoursdirect.com for 319.99 and free shipping. just wanted to see if any of you guys have delt with concoursdirect.com and make sure they were a legit site and good about customer service and and help i might need. thanks a lot guys

howarmat

Yeah i bought one there before. I sold it and upgraded with a C&L CAI and predator with the C&L tunes. I would recommend getting a tuner with CAI, you will notice alot more with this combo. I then got some more tunes from B A M A C H I P S.com which really improved my performance. It is a lot more in cost but the benefits are worth it. Doug is a great tuner. You might want to give him a call and see what kind of a combo he can set up for you. Currently he doesn't have a diablosport package listed but I am sure he can do one for you.

Black Sunshine 07

i appreciate that man. but with my car being bone stock, all i need to do when i get the predator is do the 93 octane performance tune right? i don't need to actually have someone tune it until i start making modifications correct?

CrazyAl

Here is the deal. There are basically three levels of tunes.

The most basic tune is the one that comes pre-loaded on your tuner, which was "written" by the factory--either SCT or Diablosport. This is a very mild, one-size-fits-all tune. This is what you get if you buy your tuner from a discount outlet (most shops). Unfortunatley, this tune is also not very good.

The next level of tune is a mail-order tune from a shop that actually does custom tuning. This is what you people are talking about on the forums when they say they got a tune from B amachips, Evolution, or Brenspeed. In this case you get a professional technician who writes a tune specifically for YOUR car and for whatever mods you have, specifically. This is a lot better than the default tune described above...and this is usually free--all you have to do is buy your tuner from a shop like Brenspeed or Evolution. This is great becauseyou will have the support of a real professional. This is what I suggest you buy.

Finally, you can get a true custom dyno tune. This is where you take your car to a shop with a dyno and have them do tests on your car and make a special tune for you. You have to pay for this. This is good if you have serious mods like new cams, heads, or a supercharger or turbocharger. However, for common bolt-on mods there is really no point. A good mail order tune is much less expensive and just as good.

Howarmat's recommendation is great. I would buy a combo of an intake + tuner from an established shop (examples above). You will be much happier with that than a tuner purchased from a discount center.

Black Sunshine 07

i definately see what you guys are saying about getting dyno'd and having a custom tune done after you really start adding mods, but when you've got a stock car, someone that custom tunes wouldn't be able to do anything more than the performance 93 octane tune that comes straight from diablo would they? also, if you stick with big name brands that come pre loaded on the tuner and you add things such as CAI, don't you just have to add it to the tuner since it came pre loaded with companies such as C&L and JLT?

howarmat

The standard tuners (diablospot or sct) dont automatically have the tunes for the CAIs in them. There are very basic tunes for bone stock cars like you currently have......but if you want to upgrade later then your diablosport tuner you bought from concoursdirect or wherever will not have the correct tunes. You will only get the C&L tunes if you buy the combo or purchase them later. You will have to purchase another tuner when you get the CAI probably to get the tunes for your specific CAI. You can purchase just the tunes if you have the ac adapter and cable to hook to a computer, but those tunes will probably cost at least half the cost of the tuner. I am not sure if this helps you any but bottom line is if you want any real performance gain then get the CAI and tuner together as your first perforance mod if you are going to stick to mostly bolt on additions to the car. If you are really going to get some mods like what CrazyAl suggested then you will probably want to go in a different direction altogether.

CrazyAl

Let me see if I can explain it a little more clearly.

When you buy a tuner which has a generic canned tune, that's the problem. Diablosport or SCT has no idea what kind of mods your car might have. They also have no idea what your climate is, what your driving style is, or any of the other specific details of your car. So, their tune is very generic and is also designed with a huge margin of safety. Consequently, it's not very good either.

However, someone that does custom tunes can do a lot better than that. For example, if you order from Brenspeed, the first thing that Brent will do is get your ECU code from YOUR CAR, and will also ask you what kind of tune you want, and what mods you have. He will then send you a special tune designed EXACTLY for your car, and the specific mods you have. For example, if you get the C&L Intake, he'll send you a tune specifically for that intake...not a "generic CAI" tune.

You don't want pre-loaded tunes. You want an expert to give you tunes for your specific setup. In other words, YES, a custom tuner can do better than the tunes which come pre-loaded.

This is not expenisve. In fact, it's FREE. You just have to buy your tuner from the right place.

Getaway

I bought aUSED Predator tuner. I have yet to purchase the intake the previous owner used on his car, so I am running Diablosport's "canned" tunes. I first ran the 87 octane because that was in my tank at the time. I felt only a slight difference, and idle was raised about 50 rpms. On my next fillup, I used 93 octane fuel and the 91 octane tune to get the ramaining 87 out. The difference was getting noticable, and my car pulled harder in all gears. Next fillup with 93, I finally installed the 93 octane or "Performance" tune, and I'm happy with my purchase. An intake will be installed after the first of the year to match the Custom tune that is in the tuner from the previous owner's dyno tune. Any parts I add later, I will get my own custom dyno tune, as will anyone else that purchased their tuner brand new with an intake.

Also, if an email "custom" tune from evolution, brenspeed, or other company is half the cost of an intake, do youself a favor and get your own custom dyno tune for the same money.

Note: After first loading a tune, when you go to start your car, it will take a little while to crank up. Just hold the key to "start" until it roars to life. Mine has only done this with the 91 and 93 octane tunes, and only on the first startup after loading them.

F1Fan

Hi Black Sunshine,

Read these posts carefully. Many folks posting to this thread are giving you general information that maynot be correct for your application orDiablo's Predator handheld tuner. I have a Diablo Predator tuner and have some experience with it.

First, do NOT be fooled into buyingthe "universal" version of the Diablo Predatortuner for the S197GT. Buy the specific version for the CAI you are installing or PLAN to install. All Diablo Predator part numbers have a prefix that tells youwhat version it is, "U"niversal. "ST"eeda, "CL", "P"rocharger,etc. Thepart numbers first two digitsdesignate the base logic, the secondtwo digits designate the secondary version specificfirmware or applicationinfo. AFAIK all of the Predator X71XX parts are the same the differences if anyare very minor andthe firmware installed at the DIablo factory.

I originally bought a Diablo PredatorPN# ST7140with the original Steeda 80mm MAF CAI kit. A year later I bought Steeda's 90mm MAF upgrade and both Steeda and Diablosaid to download the latest firmware from Diablo's websitefor PN# ST7149Predator tuner andupdate the handheld unit withthis latestPredator firmware and I would effectivelyhave a #ST7149 Predator. This worked well and came with new and improved tunes for the newer 90mm MAF housing. The tunesreflect the latest changes, tweaksand bug fixes for the older tunes. The Steeda 90mm MAFspecific firmware contains tunes for the CAI andCMCP deletes using 91 octane fuel. There are alsogeneric multi-octane performance tunes inclueded in the updated firmware along withthe option to alter the factory stock tune.

Something else to know isthe latest version Predator firmware version 8r26 has much better tunes than ANY previous versions did and the motor is much more responsive and holds ignitiontiming much higheras the coolant heats up on HOT days. So if you buy a Predator make sure that you check the version number and update to the latest firmware version before youflash your ECU. If you get an older version of the firmware just look on Diablo's website to order the kit to connect your Predator to your computer or if you have a Radio Shack locally, theRadio Shack part numbers. The specs for the parts you need are also on the website if you are electronically skilled and have a bunch of parts on yourworkbench. In any case I highly recomend getting the parts that allow you to connect your Predator to your computer.Once your Predator can talk to your computer your Predator is much more powerfull and allows you to update the firmware,upload new customtunesto your Predator and upload and store datalogdate from your Predator to helpimprove your tune.


HTH

CrazyAl

Email tunes are generally FREE. All you have to do is buy the tuner from that shop. Of course, if you bought a used tuner then you will probably have to pay for a tune. However, that is why I don't think it's wise to buy used tuners. Why not just get a brand new one with the best tunes straight from the source? Used tuner + good tunes is often more than the cost of buying a new one in the first place. And as F1 has explained, buying new ensures you get the best possible hardware.

Also, even if you do have to pay for your Email tune, understand that a real dyno tune will be much more expensive, and chances are it won't be any better. A Dyno tune isn't magically better than an Email tune. A dyno simply lets the technican see how a tune performs and monitors the A/F ratio. So long as you have common mods that the tuner knows about, he will already know what the proper settings will be. A dnyo tune is only benecifical if you have oddball parts, a complicated combination of mods that affect A/F ratios, or something significant like forced induction. If you have common bolt-ons like a big name CAI, a Dyno tune is a waste of time and money.


This is not normal. Are you sure that there wasn't something wrong with your setup? Your car should start normally after a tune change.