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Thread: New to forum -deciding to buy

  1. #1
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    Default New to forum -deciding to buy

    Hi guys
    I currently own another tuner ,and I am new at tuning about three months now , im a mechanic of 23 years and decided I wanted to see what the other end looks like !!!!
    Im am really not pleased with my current tool at all and kieep looking at the pros and cons of both ,I do alot of gm v6 trucks with the 411 pcm's and one problem I have is im forced to have matching vin and os , and the 1-2-3 bar enhancements are expensive cutting into my profit ,not to mention in my opinion the real time tuning is very frustrating ,when pulled up ,the ve table doesnt match whats in the vehicle along with other things , I was looking for some facts and or some opinions one these ,matters , EFI with moates is way more expensive and i will lose all of my vehicle licenses and also I would guess i would have to load all of my current tunes to a dummy on the benchtop and change the file extensions?

    Thanks to anyone who can shed some light on this
    Jim

  2. #2
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    Bump for a possible sale !!!!! please some good info why to switch

  3. #3
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    Hi Jim,
    If I read your initial post correctly, you do a lot of LS1B (512kb LS1/P59) PCM conversions? As for EFILive's licensing structure, it is much more conducive to swap applications where the VIN/OS pair do NOT match (or have to match). EFILive licenses the serial number of the PCM (or ECM/TCM) and uses the VIN as a basis for the scan tool only, it does not factor into the way a particular controller is licensed.

    Custom OSs are free with EFILive, the most popular is COS5 (only for select OSs) then COS3 (more applications).

    I would suggest you look at the EFILive FlashScan V2 with a GM Tuning License as the base product then look at purchasing a LS1B Stream license. This would give you a V2 able to tune any GM vehicle (using 1 of the 2 included VIN licenses) and ALL LS1B PCMs.

    I have not used a Moates RoadRunner, but most of the feedback Ive heard about it positive. You would need 2 versions if you intended to tune both 512kb and 1MB PCMs along with the necessary $199 RoadRunner license.

    Hope that helps out a bit! I've been using EFILive for almost 8 years now, it's an absolutely great tuning suite.
    ~Erik~
    2013 Sonic RS Manual - 1.4L I4T E78, tuned, turbo mods, etc.
    2008 TrailBlazer SS 3SS AWD Summit White - LS2 E67/T42, bolt ons, suspension, etc.
    2002 Chevy TrailBlazer LT 4X4 Summit White - 4.2L I6 P10, lifted, wheels, etc.

  4. #4
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    Thank you very much that was very informative !!!!!, although I am new to tuning, I read alot and have gregs dvd trying to buck up on things on the tuning end , I certainly dont want to bash anyone tools , but Efi seems more user friendly , a bit people like myslef who amore open air to more costly but more bang for your buck and the forum seems to re learning

    Thanks
    Jim

  5. #5
    Lifetime Member EagleMark's Avatar
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    Your issues with VINs and swapping systems or engine transplants along with licensing was my main reason for choosing EFI Live. Next was segment swaps! EFI Live and do it yourself, the other way and you email them in to be done? Then the bonus of COS! Couple years later and having the other demo along with reading both forums and I made the right choice!

    You'll be able to download your calibration right off the car and save it as an EFI Live .tun file at no cost, license is for flash only.

    I also have the RoadRunner and no complaints. It's just amazing! Few bucks more to do it this way but it works great all the time!

  6. #6
    Joe (Moderator) joecar's Avatar
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    I have a couple of 411/512KB RoadRunners, they only use a one-time license specific to the RR itself (i.e. not related to flashing)(actually, you don't flash to the RR, you download via USB and it's ready to run).

    I'm not sure that Moates sells/supports the 1MB RoadRunners (he said there is some problem getting them to run properly).

  7. #7
    Joe (Moderator) joecar's Avatar
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    Also, note the following:
    - V2 supports any wideband that has a serial comms interface (i.e. better accuracy by doing away with analog voltage offsets/loops).
    - V2 supports standalone black box logging and flashing (BBL/BBF), and during BBL it displays logged pids on its LCD display.

  8. #8
    Joe (Moderator) joecar's Avatar
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    Last edited by joecar; February 18th, 2014 at 11:49 AM.

  9. #9
    Lifetime Member swingtan's Avatar
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    I've posted about "which tuning software" on LS1.com.au and boiled it down to two main questions, for a business 3.

    1. Does it do what you need it to do?
    2. How easy is it to get decent help?
    3. What's the "return on investment" going to be?


    Time and time again, this forum has show how eager people are to help others. There's tons a of very good help and whiles there is "spirited discussion" there's virtually no out right arguments. So I'll call it that for question 2, we are probably the best.....

    So does EFILive do what you need? That will come down to what your business mainly does. There's plenty of guys on here that use many different tuning products for different applications. Sometimes you need more than one tool to do the job. EFIlive does GM vehicles very, very well, it also has a significantly better logging tool that its closest rival (the V2) and also allows for remote tuning with the use of the Autocal (you send the Autocal and tune files to a customer, they do the actual flashing. They can also log data and send the files back to you for updating the tune/s).

    So what's the ROI? For initial purchase, the two main contenders are about the same. When it comes to licensing, EFILive is so much better! I've had the developer of the other product explain their "credit" method to me, and I still don't get it. As already said, EFILive licenses the controller ( in most cases you can just say it licenses the vehicle) once, and that's all there is to it. Everything after that is included in the initial license.

    So the availability of good support and the licensing method had me buying EFILive.

  10. #10
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    WOW, you guys have been great , i mostly do one application v6 gm 98 and up ,as far as the credits it seems simple here , and I like the discount stream since ive only done about 25 or so in three months ,, buying the wrong tool was my mistake , it just isnt what I want and very complicated , the credit thing is horrible (scenario) most of my jobs are 4.3 gm 411 computers, i have a ton of them , i have to license each year make and model and pay for credits , when im blowing in my own files , 3 different ones to be-exact, the vehicle license and my program,,so you can see my frustration , when it should be easy to do what im doing , im losing money , BTW thanks to all of you for the support and replies just dont get im new to this and i plan on getting on your nerves !!!!! LOL
    Thanks
    Jim

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