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Thread: How did you get into tuning?

  1. #1
    Tuner in Training
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    How did you get into tuning?

    Hey all, I've been interested in tuning for a while now and finally bought the gear to do it!

    Just wondering for those with tuning shops.
    How and why did you get into tuning?what were the hardest parts to get into it?
    How did you learn to tune?

  2. #2
    Advanced Tuner Dr. Nopps's Avatar
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    For me it was 50% curiosity 50% control freak literally. Half of me wanted to know what theese people were doing on the computer side of a turbo install, the other half wanted to go faster than my factory speed limiter with no other products out there supporting my vehicle. Never had I a want to or would've thought I'd be tuning for other people back then. That being said, one of the hardest parts of (shop/professional) tuning is when a customer neglects to inform you of exactly what they've done to their car so far and that causes a problem while trying to tune. X10 if they actually deny changing anything and you had to find the problem yourself.
    Last edited by Dr. Nopps; 05-03-2016 at 07:36 AM.

  3. #3
    HP Tuners Support
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    Bill@HPTuners's Avatar
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    Personally I got a tune from a local tunershop($550) and didn't like the tune, after going back 2-3 additional times to get it right they simply never could so I took it upon myself, that way I only had myself to blame or pat on the back. I've always liked wrenching on cars & making them faster, with hpt I was able to make it drive better & go faster by sitting in front of a laptop rather than waking with with a sore back ;-)
    It doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to be done in two weeks...

    A wise man once said "google it"

  4. #4
    Advanced Tuner
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    These guys made me do it!!!






    The guy on the far right is my granddad. Those are all his brothers. Every single one of them made their livings in the auto industry in one way or another. My granddad was a shop foreman/lead tech in a Chevy dealership when the '53 'Vette's first came in. He did that during the day and was a cop in the Chicago suburbs at night and weekends.

    Then this guy pushed me further...




    That's my dad. As you can see, he literally had his hands on cars from the beginning. He did everything from also being a lead GM tech and service manager, lead body shop tech and manager, to ending up working for United Air Lines as one of the world's foremost experts on everything relating to aircraft ground equipment. He retired from United after 25 years and slowed down a little for 6 months until a ground equipment manufacturer convinced him to run the west coast end of their world wide organization. he did that until he was about 75 and died at 78. A week before he died he was driving a brand new $90k Jaguar, testing out the adaptive cruise at over 100! That's how I want to go!

    I basically followed their footsteps and have done just about every part of "mechanical experimentation" from working on a pit crew at the Indy 500 to building a house 100% by myself. I do remember exactly when I started "tuning" though. When I was 18 I had a '74 Firebird. In my never ending quest to make things "better" (lol), I went to the junkyard and bought a pile of used GM carbs. (I tried to make my Speak and Spell "better" when I was 6 years old. Yeah I never did get that box of springs back together!) I took them apart so I ended up with a pile of needles, jets, air bleeds and tubes. I must have taken that carburetor on that Firebird apart 100 times! After awhile I got pretty good at just pulling the top and changing jets or needles on the side of the road. It was actually an amazing experience because it made me understand what every single part did by going way too lean or way too rich.

    This is the Firebird that I learned about fuel mixtures and "tuning" on. That's me in the sexy '70's shorts!



    So that's my story, sorry if it's a little long! So for me using HPTuners is just an extension or evolution of having a pile of jets when I was 18! Oh there was a few hundred thousand other cars and other forms of "tuning" hardware along the way. It's all basically the same thing though.
    Check out my V8 Sky build video. It's pretty cool!...

    https://youtu.be/2q9BuzNRc3Q

    https://www.youtube.com/user/gmtech16450yz

  5. #5
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    Very similar to @Bill from HPTuners Support, I too originally purchased a "performance tune" for my 2012 Impala - mainly becuase I absolutley hated the way the car shifted with the stock tune. However, I quickly realized that the performanc tune actually made the shifts even worse (at least for me and my preferences) - it made the shifts quicker, which also meant that they were a lot "firmer".

    I actually prefer my shifts to be as unnoticeable as possible. I found the "firm" shifts were VERY noticable - so I wasn't happy at all with the "performance" tune.

    That's when I decided to take matters into my own hands and start messing with the tune from the performance shop (it was an unlocked HPTuner tune file). So I just started to learn and tinker from there. In the end, I actually went back and started all over from the stock tune (instead of from the "performance" tune). I am happy to report that Ive really been able to dial my car in just how I like it. I am not going for performance though - for the most part, I want "comfort" above all else (for example, I was nice, smooth, un-noticeable shifts)! I also found that just tweaking the shift points and TCC lock/unlock speeds can make a huge difference in drivability as well.

    I never, in a million years, EVER expected that I would be "tuning" my own car. But I must say, it has been an *extremely* rewarding experience. I've learned WAY more about how these cars work than I would have ever dreamed. I literally knew VERY little about the mechanical side of cars when I started - now I know *so* much more!

    Anyway, that's my story!
    Last edited by jtrosky; 05-04-2016 at 09:42 AM.

  6. #6
    Advanced Tuner
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    Quote Originally Posted by jtrosky View Post
    Very similar to @Bill from HPTuners Support, I too originally purchased a "performance tune" for my 2012 Impala - mainly becuase I absolutley hated the way the car shifted with the stock tune. However, I quickly realized that the performanc tune actually made the shifts even worse (at least for me and my preferences) - it made the shifts quicker, which also meant that they were a lot "firmer".

    I actually prefer my shifts to be as unnoticeable as possible. I found the "firm" shifts were VERY noticable - so I wasn't happy at all with the "performance" tune.

    That's when I decided to take matters into my own hands and start messing with the tune from the performance shop (it was an unlocked HPTuner tune file). So I just started to learn and tinker from there. In the end, I actually went back and started all over from the stock tune (instead of from the "performance" tune). I am happy to report that Ive really been able to dial my car in just how I like it. I am not going for performance though - for the most part, I want "comfort" above all else (for example, I was nice, smooth, un-noticeable shifts)! I also found that just tweaking the shift points and TCC lock/unlock speeds can make a huge difference in drivability as well.

    I never, in a million years, EVER expected that I would be "tuning" my own car. But I must say, it has been an *extremely* rewarding experience. I've learned WAY more about how these cars work than I would have ever dreamed. I literally knew VERY little about the mechanical side of cars when I started - now I know *so* much more!

    Anyway, that's my story!

    NICE! Might as well close this thread, that's the best story I think we're gonna hear!

    Why? Because here's a guy that didn't know a thing about something and because a software program was available, he learned new things and got a TON of enjoyment and accomplishment out of it. That's pretty d@mn cool! For a lot of us, this is just a tool. We end up doing the same thing day in and day out. You opened your mind to learning a totally new thing and did! To me that's what life is all about. They say that if you take on something you've never done before and dive into it that it definitely makes your brain have more connections. Like somebody that's never danced learning ballroom dancing, it ends up opening up and energizing new parts of your brain. For somebody like me that's amazed at the brain's "wiring", that's a big deal.

    GOOD JOB!!!
    Check out my V8 Sky build video. It's pretty cool!...

    https://youtu.be/2q9BuzNRc3Q

    https://www.youtube.com/user/gmtech16450yz

  7. #7
    Advanced Tuner omega_5's Avatar
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    Hard for me to pin point exactly where I got started.
    Being a gear head, I started working on carb'd motors at a young age.
    When I left for college, I bought my first EFI car. I used to tinker with the PROM in it on and off, but nothing too crazy. It was still over my head for the most part, and hadn't put in the time to learn it right.
    I got my first job, and had to learn tuning out of necessity. Within the first week on the job I got brought over to a prototype tractor running on hydrated ethanol, running on a Motec M400. I got told to mess with it and make it run right. Talk about a learning curve. At least the old mechanic for that department gave me a few good schooling lessons on EFI fundamentals, and set me on the right path. Within a year I was moving on to tuning other projects; trucks, cars, tractors. Ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen, natural gas.
    When I finally upgraded to a modern EFI car, I bought HPT and took the time to learn the interface. The rest is history, I guess.
    Tyler

  8. #8
    Tuner Jggregory99's Avatar
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    Had limited options. After dealing with a local shop for a tune, I decided to let the guy do some actual work on my 14 Camaro RS V6 M6. I brought him some parts to do a bench build on my rear diff, (upgrade to a 3.91 from 3.27)as well as new shocks, struts, and sway bars. After six months of him sitting on my parts and giving me nothing but excuses why he had not started the work I needed done, I went back to retrieve my parts..So the guy says "Take your parts if you want, but good luck getting anyone to tune it..And if you take the parts, then our business is concluded..." Unfortunately, he was right... I could find quite a few highly recommended speed shops to do the work... but, finding a reputable tuner was a different story. After some research, I found the Tuning School and their Enthusiast pack... and after doing my 06 Silverado, then my wife's 05 Suburban, Some friends at work let me tinker with their trucks...for just the cost of the MPVI credits... Nothing major... Just some Trans settings, VE and Maf calibrations, and PE adjustments... Love watching their faces the first time they hit the gas and realize they don't have to run up to 5500 RPM at 90% Throttle for PE to kick in. Some day I may even decide to get serious and go for the advanced and expert training... I just think it's fun... As for the Camaro.. It's a work in progress...
    Last edited by Jggregory99; 08-18-2016 at 07:11 PM.

  9. #9
    Potential Tuner
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    I'm a tuner fail. I have no problem turning wrenches, but just can't seem to dedicate the time to learn it. I have actually bought it TWICE and ended up selling it because I've resolved to have someone else tune it which is a double edged sword. The guy I have do it is really good, the problem is I live on an island way the hell away from everything. It takes an hour and a half to get to his shop, so I don't get to tweak it much... I'd rather be confident the tune is good than take a chance on my 20k engine, so it's all good. Maybe when my business slows down (not looking likely) I'll enroll in a class.