HP Tuners LLC, founded in 2003 by Keith Prociuk, Chris Piastri and Ken Cannata, is one of the youngest aftermarket flash-tuner companies. In the few short years of its existence, HP Tuners has hit the market with some of the most powerful and user-friendly flash-tuning solutions out there. HP tuners initially shook up the tuning community by offering tuning for vehicle platforms other companies had simply passed over, such as V-6 cars. They didn't stop there. By driving the company on innovation and functionality, and providing first class support services, they've successfully established themselves as a real leader in the tuning market. HP Tuners caters to both the individual tuner and the professional shop with a wide range of price options.As part of our ongoing flash-tuner series in GMHTP, we jumped at an opportunity to get our hand on a pre-release Beta version of HP Tuners' newest and most powerful tuning solution, VCM Suite Pro with MPVI Pro Interface and 2.1.6 VCM Scanner and Editor software. Keith Prociuk, part owner of HP Tuners and fellow speed addict, was quick to get us set up for our LS7 test guinea pig.
The new MPVI Pro unit is a quality interface with fast USB communication (faster than serial communication of past models), an enhanced input/output (EIO) terminal block, and scan logging keys for eventual black-box capability. Black-box scanning (scanning without a laptop connected) is not functional yet, but should be working with a firmware update later in 2006. The unit includes everything needed to get started, short of the car and a computer. The slick EIO allows integration of wide-band data to the scanner, or any other 0-5 volt signal. A total of four possible analog inputs are supported. The two outputs can be used for any number of tasks, such as an LED or replay control. As HP Tuners promised, the supplied electronic help files explain in detail all the functions and capabilities of the package.Our testing, scanning, and tuning session went well. The VCM Suite software was very easy to navigate and intuitive to learn. Our ECM reading and flashing took only minutes. For the $649 cost of our tested package, we squeezed most 16rwhp out of our test 2006 Z06. Besides the power gain on our otherwise stock car, the residual value of the scanner and our limitless ability to continue to tune the car for further mods makes the package well worth the cost. Hp Tuners' “credit” system also enables us to add further capabilities to our unit for future tuning jobs and future vehicles.
We at GM High Tech were looking forward to testing HP Tuners' newest and most powerful product. The natural vehicle choice for the test was GM's newest and most powerful product as well, the 2006 LS7 Z06 Corvette. Seeing that we don't have a staff-owned Z06 yet (rumor has it GMHTP Editor Rick Jensen passed on the Z06 and is holding out for the Blue Devil), we solicited a local Jersey boy, show car polish czar Sal Zaino (www.Zainostore.com). Sal was generous enough to carve out a Saturday between polish applications to let us test our beta-version HP Tuners on his Z06. We're still hoping our blazed retinas will recover from the blinding shine of his “Zaino'd Vette.”Software is downloaded from the HP Tuners web page. A customer username and password is assigned with each purchase. Updates and install instructions are easily retrieved from the site. The site also hosts a message forum for the quasi-live Q&A. The message forum is monitored by HP Tuners owners Keith, Chris, and Ken, along with many other experienced and helpful tuners. Two main programs are included with the package, VCM Scanner and VCM Editor. As the names suggest, one is for scanning vehicle data and the other is for editing the utne. To limit confusion, questions, and mistakes for those just getting started, the VCM Editor can be adjusted to show basic, standard, or advanced (all) tune data. The VCM Scanner comes ready to run out of the box, or it too can be modified to suit the advanced tuner's needs.
After downloading and installing the HP Tuners software, the first order of business is bringing up the help files. Help files are not something we're accustomed to relying on when evaluating flash tuners because they are normally very limited (if even existent) and are typically vague or incomplete. This is absolute not the case with HP Tuners. They did an outstanding job making the most complete and comprehensive help files for a flash tuner we've seen yet. The help section is equipped with a functional keyword search, so getting to the answers is very easy.We found detailed instructions rich with photos and schematics, comprehensive definitions with sufficient theory explanation, and a few tuner-supplied advanced tuning sections.
