Tuner Or Chip?
 

I am looking for the next upgrade to my car, which would i benefit more from the tuner (any) or the chip (sct 4-bank eliminator chip), or perhaps both.

for the chip installation i just plug it into the port by the pedals right?

You can do one or the other not both. It doesn't matter what you use (chip or tuner) as they both do the same thing which is uploading a different tune to the ECU. The person that tunes the car makes a bigger difference then which one you use.

The chip gets installed on the ECU's service port on the side of the ECU itself. Its found on the passenger side kick panel (the one on the right of the front passenger side floor) its behind that plastic piece there.

A tuner plugs into the serial cable port there on the driver side and uploads the tune threw that onto the stock ecu.

Oh also if you have a 05+ ford vehicle you dont have a service port anymore on the ecu so you have to use a tuner.

tuner....

yeah but i wouldnt know how to tune it to best settings

you dont know what gears you have? You dont tune the settings, you take it to a tuner to do it for you. But you have to know all the upgrades of your car first.

Lets get a few definitions straight. I know Dustin tried to help, but I think you might still be confused:

CHIP: This is more of a permanent install. You have to pull the ECU, clean the terminals, and plug it in. Some of these can hold multiple tunes which gives you the advantage of changing tunes on the fly. The are are NO user changes that you can make. If it needs to be re-programmed, you need to pull it and mail it, take it to a dyno tuner, or have the correct computer program and do it yourself. You can't datalog unless you have the right software.

FLASH TUNER: These are hand-held devices that plug into the diagnostic port. They can hold multiple tunes, but you cant change the tune on the fly. They also have diagnostic capibilities (they can read codes) and the user can changes on his own, though most are very minor. You can data log with the new devices.

TUNER: This is the person that puts the tune on either the chip or the flash tuner. Often times the flash tuner is referred to as the tuner, but this causes confusion.

MAIL ORDER TUNE: This is a tune that is placed on a chip or a flash tuner w/o performing a dyno. This types of tunes can be a hsot in the dark. They are generally fine on stock or near-stock applications, but that can depend on the year of the car.

DYNO TUNE: This is a true custom tune that is installed on the chip or flash tuner as a result of getting data from a dyno.

What is best for you depends on you. The best combination for a serious race application would probably be to have a switchable chip with the programming software, while for a street car, a flash tuner is probably best. But, to each their own.

Personally, I use a chip. I also think that drivers tend to dick around with the settings too much when they use a flash tuner which can cause issues. IMO, nothing beats a solid dyno tune.

+1 to the dyno tune. Thats what im doing as soon as i get home after putting in the cams/torque converter. Dyno tune is the only way to go.

so your saying the flash tuner will convert its self because it can read the code and the user can also make changes?

The flash/tuner can give you the "check engine" codes. But you shouldnt try to tune the car yourself unless your just changing the rim/tire size.

no i wasn't planning on tuning it myself

just get an Xcal2 and have a custom dyno tune done. Then you've got the best of all worlds and you'll never have to pull the ECU to change tunes. It's a realy PITA to be yanking the computer every time you find a glitch in the tune or change your setup.

XCAL2 FTMFW.

Other than that, I fully agree wtih waterdr.

I'd hardly call the Xcal the best of anything, it's actually a peice of shit, but sadly is the less of a peice of shit than the diablo.


If you not planning on anymore mods take it to a tuner get a dyno tune on a chip and be done with it, if you plan on doinign other things or want to tinker you need to cross your fingers and hope sombody make a flasher that actually works.

that's an opinion not proven by the numbers. You might have had a bad experience but I know from experience tuning and assisting on dozens of cars that the Xcal2 and SCT's Advantage software are solid.

The Xcal2 and predator are about equal quality... the support and software are the variables.

yep, pulling chips is a PITA. I have not had mine out in 18 months which was the lastime I got a dyno tune. Get a good dyno tune, and you don't make any more changes to the car, you won't need to pull the chip.

Buying somthign that doesn't work, come on over and i'll prove it, from a company that offers little support, go to the SCT forum and look at all the unresolved issues, I can say its more than opinion. Sorry but I'll never recomend a SCT product to anybody, nor will i ever buy anythign they make again. If the Granatelli unit was proven I'd buy that but I havn't seen anythng about it either way.

I feel the same way about Diablow.

rofl...diaBLOW...lmao.