Qustion about licensing for ECM's

[jpliss]

Please forgive this question but I need to clarify a couple of items before purchasing EFI live.

I am pretty familiar with tunning BS3, Fast and Tuner Cat some. Most of my customers so far have been Turbo Buick guys with a couple of LS1 and 1 diesel which have been tuned with pocket programmer types. These are very limited and are too static for me.

I am interested in EFI live just due to it's expandability and large platform of usage. It does not make sense to recommend a 2000.00 ecm package to someone with just a cold air kit, exhaust and tires. I can not justify that to myself none the less to my customers. The Stocker PCMS seem to have so much potential left in them.

Question 1. When puchasing a license, does that license only work with 1 cars PCM or will it work with any PCM that is used. IE if a 99 - 2001 corvette LS1 uses the same PCM can I tune 20 99 - 01 corvettes or only 1 car?

Question 2. Are there any PCM flash files that I could use as starting points. IE basic flash for a 99 corvette with cold air kit and exhaust that I can use as reference?

Question 3. I just talked to a user using the SCT line of products, local ford tuners. SCT just released a GM platform that they are just starting to support. I am a GM person but do have 1 03 mustang that my wife wants to work on. Are there any plans to possibly support this platform or are you sticking with GM only?

Last Question, If using the commercial version, and I reach 25 licenses, am I required to go to the workshop version? I am a small shop and do not want to be stuck with having to spend 5000 plus to get more cars to tune.

Thank You

Jim Pliss

[dc_justin]

Valid questions and welcome to the forum.

Question 1. When puchasing a license, does that license only work with 1 cars PCM or will it work with any PCM that is used. IE if a 99 - 2001 corvette LS1 uses the same PCM can I tune 20 99 - 01 corvettes or only 1 car?

A PCM license locks to that individual PCM. EG, you buy a license for Bob's 01 z06. That license will tune Bob's z06 PCM only.



Question 2. Are there any PCM flash files that I could use as starting points. IE basic flash for a 99 corvette with cold air kit and exhaust that I can use as reference?

Check out www.holdencrazy.com (http://www.holdencrazy.com) for a bunch of stock and non-stock tunes.



Last Question, If using the commercial version, and I reach 25 licenses, am I required to go to the workshop version? I am a small shop and do not want to be stuck with having to spend 5000 plus to get more cars to tune.

As I understand it (and am banking on), you can purchase and fill up 3 personal or commercial cables before you would really "need" to upgrade to the workshop. At that point the cost of the workshop license (under the V1 pricing) would be pretty cheap ~ $1000-1500, as ~$80 of every license you buy can be put towards the full cost of the workshop.
It appears that V2 workshop pricing utilizes a different format.

Justin

[jpliss]

That means I need to charge 200.00 per customer to cover the license and 1 hour of my time tunning. I will have to compare this to pocket tunners. If this customer only comes once then that license is now no good to use. I was concerned about this. From this I am assuming that a license is permanent and can not be deleted and reused for someone else correct?

[jpliss]

I would be interested in seeing this new pricing. I guess this works out compared to 350 plus for a pocket that can only be used on one type of car.

I like the fact that 80% of your investment can be reused on the upgrade. Starts to make it worth more as I lok at it now. Like I said just starting out it is tuff to lay out that kind of capital. I am lucky to have made a deal with the local guys to use dyno time for a few dollar savings. Hey we gota get started somehow. Great info and please keep it coming.

I juslike the fact I do not have to use a static flash, or have to buy an aftermarket PCM to add a blower or turbo. The stock PCM's seem to be pretty good so why not use it.

Have you done any blower turbo combos yet with this?

[dc_justin]

That means I need to charge 200.00 per customer to cover the license and 1 hour of my time tunning. I will have to compare this to pocket tunners. If this customer only comes once then that license is now no good to use. I was concerned about this. From this I am assuming that a license is permanent and can not be deleted and reused for someone else correct?

That's what I've been charging and most people are more than willing to pay that considering the cost of a handheld . I do this not as a main source of income but as a means to work my way up to the workshop version.

[dc_justin]

Have you done any blower turbo combos yet with this?

A few. My truck is blown and has had a few hundred flashes on it. One of my customers has an 04 GMC Sierra with a Whipple. Fairly easy to tune with a wideband hooked up.

[jpliss]

This is great info. I only wish GM had someting compared ot my wifes mustang with out loosing an arm and a leg. That thing was cheap. I always by used for the savings but gettng harder to find really good condition low mileage fbodys anymore. If I get a newer truck I am going diesel though. Sounds like the trucks are pretty big here.

[Blacky]

Once V2 is released, the V1 Workshop upgrade and associated PCM license discounts will no longer apply because the V1 workshop product will no longer be sold.

However there will be a comparable VIN license upgrade system for FlashScan V2, here's how it works:

A single VIN License covers one engine and transmission combo. The FlashScan V2 interface can hold up to 221 VIN licenses. Compare that with the V1 style PCM license that required two licenses to cover an engine and transmission combo.

A STREAM License covers unlimited tuning for an entire stream of vehicles. This is not a model-year license, it covers all vehicles and all years in a particular stream. FlashScan V2 can hold up to 120 streams. The streams that will be supported first are:

Engine/Powertrain Controllers
S-LS198: 97/98 LS1
S-LS1: 99-04 LS1
S-LS2A: 05-06 LS2 (E40)
S-LS2B: 06-07 LS2 (E38)
S-LB7: LB7 Duramax
S-LLY: LLY Duramax
S-LBZ: LBZ/LMM Duramax
S-LL8: Inline 6
S-L52: Inline 5Transmission Controllers
S-ALLA: Allison (LB7/LLY type)
S-ALLB: Allison (LBZ type)
S-T42: 5 Speed Transmission
S-T43: 6 Speed TransmissionNew streams will be added as EFILive adds support for them. Stream will cost less than $2500, depending on the extent of vehicles covered by the stream. I.e. The LL8 stream will cost substantially less than the LS1 stream.

The streams concept allows workshops to pick and choose which vehicles they expect to tune the most and only purchase unlimited tuning for those streams.

Discounts will be applied to stream purchases of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%, when 2, 3, 4 and 5 or more streams (respectively) are purchased on a single order for a single FlashScan cable.

PCM (V1 style) and VIN (V2 style) Licenses can be used to apply discounts to stream purchases. 80% of the cost of each license will be discounted from any stream purchase, up to a limit of 50% discount.

For example: Let's say you intend to purchase two streams for $1500 each.
First, you would receive the 5% discount for purchasing two streams, bringing the price down to $2850.
Then you would apply PCM and/or VIN Licenses to receive a discount of up to 50% of the $2850 cost of the streams (i.e. up to $1425).
To achieve the full 50% discount you would need to apply 18 PCM and/or VIN Licenses.
Each PCM/VIN License is worth $99 and you can apply 80% (i.e. $79.20) of the $99 towards the stream discount like this: $79.20*18=$1425.60

Regards
Paul

[dc_justin]

Thanks for the explanation paul. So based on that information there, I would receive a 50% discount on two streams with the 22 licenses I have purchased, correct? If that's the case, when can I trade-up and buy :) I've got 5 tunes lined up in the next month and only three slots left. ;)

[jpliss]

Thank you for th info. This is great and am glad that even VIN can be used. Great to see this kind of support.

When will V2 be released?