preadtor vs. ls1 edit

2002Z06Yellow · 04-11-2004, 04:04 AM

i have a frined who lives overseas and want to tune his car.. he doesnt have any technical backround nor is he willing to learn on his car.. what is he better of getting? should he get ls1 edit and have one of the vendors email him a customize tune? or should he get preadtor and learn using it? i heard the predator is pretty user frinedly and doesnt require much .. is that true?

rwj383 · 04-11-2004, 08:34 AM

I have experience using every popular type of LS1 PCM tuning tools: LS1Edit, Predator, Hypertech, and the new one on the block HP Tuners.

Predator is a hyped versiun of Hypertech meaning that it is relatively user friendly but has major limitations. While it can be used to tune a great number of PCM tables, the user has to contact the vendor with what he wants to change beyond the readily available PE spark/fuel, rev limiter, fans, etc. Then the vendor has to post the tune on their site so the user can download it to his hand-held Predator, then in turn downloads it to the car PCM. But before the user can know what parameters he needs to change, he has to be able to scan the car. Yes, the Predator scans, but only a handful of parameters and it doesnt record or datalog that I know of. So, you have to watch it real time and make notes. big time useless. $400 or so, I believe. This product suckks IMO. Many complaints from users, it is quirky and buggy but most of all you have to rely on availability of the vendor to write you a new tune when you need one.

LS1Edit- powerful tool, user has complete access to all tables. A great tuning tool. Not very intuitive which means the user needs to know what he is doing and/or get help from experienced tuners, forums, etc. Also, Edit is only a tuning program. It does not scan. $550 for 1 locked license.

HP Tuners- this is the complete package; scanning & tunning capabilities. You have complete PCM access much like Edit but you also get a really nice scanning program similar to ScanEase or EFI Live. The scanning use is quite intuitive. The tuning program, much like Edit, is not so intuitive which means the user needs to know what he wants to tune. $500 for a model year specific programmer & scanner software. I like this product a lot.

If your buddy is doing mods that will require tuning and scanning capabilities, he needs the HP Tuners. Everyone talks about which one is most user-friendly, that they dont want to have to learn how to tune, etc, but bottom line is that any PCM tuning that will be needed will require the user to do his homework first. Even if only finding a competent person locally to help use the device or do the tuning for him. There is no PCM tuning device available that takes all the guess work out for the end user. Would be nice, though!

hope this helps.

Robert Judd
http://www.gen3motorsports.com

2002Z06Yellow · 04-11-2004, 03:32 PM

yeah it helps a lot... thanks for the detailed reply...

so ur saying that either way whichever software he choses tunning is not a a usual DIY thing.. and you will have to know your desired parameter settings before playing with it.. and thats why you recommend going with the whole package so that ur able to change whatever you need without any limitations right?

rwj383 · 04-12-2004, 01:34 AM

Quote:

yeah it helps a lot... thanks for the detailed reply...

so ur saying that either way whichever software he choses tunning is not a a usual DIY thing.. and you will have to know your desired parameter settings before playing with it.. and thats why you recommend going with the whole package so that ur able to change whatever you need without any limitations right?

Yes, correct. Unless he found a trusted experienced tuner over seas that he can simply turn over his tuning/scanning stuff. Even in that case I am sure the tuner will have to go through the learning curve to familiarize himself with what the program can do. Your friend wont be totally alone in the dark on this stuff. As long as he can figure out how to at least scan and record some data during a drive with his car, he could reach out to the experience of the forums to help translate/reduce that scanning data. Then once he figures out where the car needs tweeking he can again outsource to the forums for recommended tuning. Some tuners, such as myself, can assist with all his needs from abroad at a cost, if he chooses. I typically have the customer email me a couple scans, I then reduce that data, then build them a tune that I can email back to them. They download the tune into a file in their laptop then go out to car with laptop and tuning cable then download the new tune themselves. Long distance tuning, while possessing many challenges, is very doable. I've helped many tune their cars from afar. Have him contact me if he'd like to chat about his needs/options.

Robert
http://www.gen3motorsports.com

2002Z06Yellow · 04-12-2004, 09:45 PM

but the condititons there are way differnet than over here... so i dont know if you will able to help him out with the tunes.. these are the conditions
89 octane fuel
lightly modded(full exhuast, intake)
very hot(100+ for 9 months)
very humid(100% all year long)

would you be able to make a tune for this kind of unusual conditions?

rwj383 · 04-13-2004, 12:59 AM

Quote:

would you be able to make a tune for this kind of unusual conditions?

absolutely. Especially if he can send me scan datalogs. This is why I recommend the HP Tuner so that he will have the scanning capability, he can go log some miles on the car then send me the scan in a .csv file in an email. I can write a tune from that data. BTW, where exactly is he? What exactly are all his current mods? what are his mod plans? year/make of vehicle? You can have him contact me directly via my website: http://www.gen3motorsports.com

Robert

[Modified by rwj383, 9:01 PM 4/12/2004]

LittleBoyBlu99 · 04-13-2004, 09:14 PM

shurite44 · 09-17-2004, 05:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2002Z06Yellow

i have a frined who lives overseas and want to tune his car.. he doesnt have any technical backround nor is he willing to learn on his car.. what is he better of getting? should he get ls1 edit and have one of the vendors email him a customize tune? or should he get preadtor and learn using it? i heard the predator is pretty user frinedly and doesnt require much .. is that true?

Hi, I do not know what year your friends vette is but I have a hypertech III for 2003 LS1/LS6 for sale. This thing works great and is easy to use. I am asking 250 includes shipping to lower 48, probably 270 to Europe.
good luck