not a question that is appropriate for me to answer, since we only work on our own in house stuff. Every shop can make their own choice when it comes to this. For a customer that literally doesn't have a clue, I personally would not take on the job in the first place, but that is just me

 

Thats what I want. I don't plan on changing any of the important stuff or I might as well save the money on the tune and put it towards the next motor after I blew up that one. As long as I could go in there and change the basic stuff needed to track/street drive the car id be completely ok with it.

 

I think it would be great if an end user could datalog, tag those logs in real time where they think the car isn't working well (say going uphill in 5th gear during the winter), and be able to ship off that data as a neat packet via e-mail to their tuner, who could then make an update and send it back via e-mail.

I also think it would be cool if end users could adjust more than just than just the parameters you listed but limit the amount of change to a set percentage specified by the tuner (plus or minus 5 or 10%). That way they could make tweaks in real time as instructed by their tuner without having to schedule a retune or drive back to their pro-tuner. I think this would work well for simple stuff where it's a pain to datalog, such as for cold start cranking where the ECU has just booted and all the inputs may not be accurate or you need to tune by feel, like enrichment sensitivity.

Just some ideas that may work well for some tuners/customers... If the end user really is an id!ot, then they're going to be able to break the car no matter what kind of safeguards you put in place and the EMS isn't the only thing to worry about.

 

Perhaps I'm wrong, but my understanding is that you will not need to reflash or retune for those types of conditions. The Pro-EFI itself will adjust for these things and on a new power cycle make changes up to 5%. Obviously, it wouldn't completely correct the problem if the original tune was far off, but if it was close, then it should be within 5% for whichever parameters need to be adjusted.

 

+1 it is very hard for a tuner to replicate every single condition that you will encounter on the road. Being able to datalog is very valuable and sometimes a single change/tweak can be done over the phone. Why is it people always assume that others will just **** things up? What about people that want to see for their own that the tuner actually did their job. I see people complain coz they thought they have a perfect tune and yet found out they really didnt have one. I'm a believe of data logging so at least give that option to the owner.

 

Anyone have experience with the Haltech interceptor? Feedback?

 

Well, yes, that's the theory. I can't really comment in detail since I don't have first hand experience with the ProEFI but I have seen a couple reports of users having trouble and needing to go back for tweaks to the tune. I have heard of several that are happy and don't notice any difference. Perhaps because the software isn't finalized it works for some and not for others as well - I don't know. I do know I wasn't happy with my stock ECU after putting on some bolt-on mods and that operates on the same principle as I understand it. The bar is no longer set at just getting a "safe" tune - it's gotta be perfect these days. I don't think that's unreasonable given the power these standalones have.

Tuners are human - not perfect - and there can always potentially be room for improvement. There's a lot of data to tweak in a tune since every build is a little different and trust me the more time a tuner spends, the better that car is going to run under various conditions. Having this ability also adds a measure of quality assurance that is very comforting even if the tune is spot on.

The Haltech unit specific for our platform is I believe termed the "Platinum Plug and Play"

 

The Intercepter is a wire-in piggyback. It works, but controls fuel and ignition by modifying the maf/crank signals. It fits better in a piggyback conversation with others such as emanage.

The Platinum is a plug+play standalone fuel, ignition and cam timing controller that runs in parallel with the stock ecu.

 

Ok but how tuneable is it? Better or worse than utech? Say I want to throw on a turbo kit and tune it for around the 600hp to 700hp range is it feasible with a piggy back or do you absolutely have to go standalone?

 

I won't say it can't be done... but I will say I personally wouldn't do it with a piggyback. While it does provide more resolution than utec's 10 load sites, there are too many changing variables with a piggyback. The final product would drive nicer, safer, and more consistent with a proper ems.

 

I concur.

-George

 

Not to mention weight reduction due to a lighter wallet.

 

LOL. Mine is so light, it actually floats. I will be modding it next week; adding some more pictures of the family. I'm hoping this will create additional down force to get better traction without too much extra weight.

 

Just remember the adaptive learning features of the ProEFI are still tuner selectable. If they don't turn it on...it won't adapt. The type of system that the ProEFI is however will automatically cover those odd conditions that the tuner can't "get to" in their shop or on the street in the middle of winter. The ProEFI is volumetric efficeincy based, and true speed density, not a look up table like Motec or AEM...not sure if Haltech has gone that route yet, I know their older stuff was lookup as well. Speed density is one of those overused terms. The bottom line is that if you don't have to enter an engine displacement, or an injector size and fuel pressure, you can't accurately figure the density of the air charge and mass flow of air.

Looks like I am going to be able to purchase a ProEFI for my car this week...got my "stimulous check".... So I will be able to give some real first hand feedback! The car will still be slow...but one mod at a time! Turbo kit to follow.

 

Not sure why a tuner wouldn't turn on the adaptive learning... I don't think that's the explanation behind the reported issues thus far. Looking forward to your review of the ProEFI - though I suppose without the end user software or data logging, basically no news is good news (i.e. no noticeable problems). That may be enough though because I think you can go by feel for a lot of the tune and you'll be able to tell if something's off.

Haltech has both VE and injector pulse width tuning. The tuner can select (see snapshot). The interface is very well done for this kind of stuff. (hope its ok to post a snapshot like this - just let me know if not and I'll delete the pic - I'm probably supposed to get permission but I gotta admit, I never read the TOA in detail when I clicked "Yes" to install the software! damn end users!)

 

i hope you tune yours based on VE

 

what about the greddy e-Manage Ultimate if i use it on stock motor with 7-8 psi? ((i really can't afford a standalone unit and i have 07 so no utec for me))

 

IMO, if you can afford FI, you can't not afford a standalone. It's just worth it. Less headaches and in the long run, less $$$.
Just save up and get one. Till then, stay with what you've got and keep boost low.

EDIT: The UTEC is an exception to this rule, because while it may not be "smooth" under certain conditions, it can be tuned safely due to true control over fuel and timing, unlike other piggybacks.

 

With the adaptive stuff, I think with most tuners it is a comfort level, not saying this is the case, but it may very well be. I look forward to playing with this as well, I have had this car for a while stock, so I know what it feels like. I really don't care to do ANY tuning as long as it is running correctly...which thus far is what I have seen. Really, in the end...who WANTs to have to tune and tweak stuff? Wouldn't you rather just bolt on 1000hp in mods and have it run and act as if it came that way off the showroom floor? I know I would!

Looks like I will have it installed on Thursday, so I'll post my results!

 

I agree with you on wanting an OEM like tune - safe and smooth. Forget about tweaking and tuning by the end user - I think very few actually will even if they are given that control. However, it's possible for you to be unaware of issues with the tune until its too late if you have no way of double checking yourself (data logging if nothing else). The tuner may have just forgotten a setting or switch... **** happens, unfortunately. The more opportunity for QC, the better. Suppose you feel a little hesitation, but it's intermittent. Do you go back and ask that your tuner checks it out? Is it urgent? How will you know? This was my main beef with the FCON and I got a bunch of Innovate data logging equipment on the side as I didn't know about the Haltech at the time (well, it wasn't released). (I still run the Innovate auxbox and SSI-4 equipment but rarely look at in favor of Haltech's ability to log CAN data so easily).