What is this, and should I buy it?

[Timnineside]

I know very little about these, but see them used on others cars.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SCT-...essories&fits=Model:Viper&hash=item5ae2611732

Would it be worth buying for my 99 GTS?

Do I need to get tunes put in? If so who? and where?

Thanks!

-Tim

 

[Doug Supercharged Vipers]

You will need to have one of the tuner's on this site install a custom tune in it if you do purchase it.

 

[345s-bspinnin]

1) What? Blank SCT programmer.

2) Tunes? Yes, you need tunes put in it. Holds up to 3 max, plus your OEM tune

3) Who? Most of our vendors on this site. A&C Performance, Roe Racing, etc.

4) Where? Give mods list to tuner -> tuner emails tune -> download tune to Programmer -> Programmer reprograms PCM

 

[Timnineside]

1) What? Blank SCT programmer.

2) Tunes? Yes, you need tunes put in it. Holds up to 3 max, plus your OEM tune

3) Who? Most of our vendors on this site. A&C Performance, Roe Racing, etc.

4) Where? Give mods list to tuner -> tuner emails tune -> download tune to Programmer -> Programmer reprograms PCM

Questions answered!!!!!

The only mods I have are K&N, soon smooth tubes from Partsrack. High flow cats.
Worth buying?
Will I actually gain HP?
Worth $150?
Also any idea how much a tune will cost??? Just a round about price?

THANKS for the HELP!

 

[ViperTony]

It's worth it. Also, your engine fan can be reprogrammed to come on at a lower temperature, better throttle response, etc. Talk to Sean, Dan, Todd and others about what kind of tune they can do for you and what it may net.

 

[Timnineside]

It's worth it. Also, your engine fan can be reprogrammed to come on at a lower temperature, better throttle response, etc. Talk to Sean, Dan, Todd and others about what kind of tune they can do for you and what it may net.

uhhhh who? Not sure who these people are. Have their screennames perhaps so I can PM them?

Thanks!

 

[ZYellow01RT]

It's worth it. Also, your engine fan can be reprogrammed to come on at a lower temperature, better throttle response, etc. Talk to Sean, Dan, Todd and others about what kind of tune they can do for you and what it may net.

Hey Tony....

How "worth it" is it? Any estimates of HP gain or "seat of the pants" gain...?

 

[Timnineside]

Hey Tony....

How "worth it" is it? Any estimates of HP gain or "seat of the pants" gain...?

Dito

 

[ViperTony]

Dito

Sean Roe @ Roe Racing. Dan Cragin @ DC Performance. Todd @ AC Performance. And I'm sure there are more site sponsors that can tune the SCT but these are the folks I've used and they know their SCT. Gains? It depends on your mods but the folks above would definitely know, they've done hundreds of tunes. For the price of that SCT tuner and probably $75 for a tune, it's worth it.

 

[scottmcc]

I know very little about these, but see them used on others cars.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SCT-...essories&fits=Model:Viper&hash=item5ae2611732

Would it be worth buying for my 99 GTS?

Do I need to get tunes put in? If so who? and where?

Thanks!

-Tim

Tim, being a DJ you can get them from I-tunes at a discount..

 

[FRC Z51]

I got my tune from Roe Racing for $160-ish and am very happy with it. Roe was the cheapest and he was very knowledgeable. I never felt like I was "hassling" him with my numerous questions.

 

[TowDawg]

All of the guys mentioned above can write good tunes. My only experience is with Dan at Viper Specialty. I bought the tuner and tunes from him. You can definitely pick up power after mods using the canned tune they will write, but the best thing to do is load their tune and then get on a dyno. I'm not sure how it works with the other guys, but after a dyno session, I send Dan the dyno info and he can truly write a tune specific to exactly what my car is doing and find even more power than the canned tune. Best part is, he doesn't charge you for tweeking it. If I make a major change, like forced induction or an engine build, of course I'll have to pay him to start a new tune all-together.

Another thing to be careful of when buying a "blank" tuner at a great price is whether it has ever been used or not. From my understanding on the SCT's, it "locks" to your car when you enter the VIN (you have to do this to use it on your car) and then cannot be used on another vehicle without paying SCT a fee to "unlock" it so you can use it on yours.

 

[Timnineside]

Tim, being a DJ you can get them from I-tunes at a discount..

I looked. The only thing for my car was Mustang Sally and Richard Cheese

 

[Timnineside]

All of the guys mentioned above can write good tunes. My only experience is with Dan at Viper Specialty. I bought the tuner and tunes from him. You can definitely pick up power after mods using the canned tune they will write, but the best thing to do is load their tune and then get on a dyno. I'm not sure how it works with the other guys, but after a dyno session, I send Dan the dyno info and he can truly write a tune specific to exactly what my car is doing and find even more power than the canned tune. Best part is, he doesn't charge you for tweeking it. If I make a major change, like forced induction or an engine build, of course I'll have to pay him to start a new tune all-together.

Another thing to be careful of when buying a "blank" tuner at a great price is whether it has ever been used or not. From my understanding on the SCT's, it "locks" to your car when you enter the VIN (you have to do this to use it on your car) and then cannot be used on another vehicle without paying SCT a fee to "unlock" it so you can use it on yours.

Okay I just went ahead and purchased the unit. Do you have contact info for Dan? I can surf the web and find out if not, or PM me if you can please.

It said the unit is "new" but I will double check upon its arrival. Is the unit worth putting in and pressing buttons, or should I just ship it out right away to get tuned?

Thanks as usual!

 

[345s-bspinnin]

You don't have to ship it out to get it tuned. Simply provide your tuner a picture of the code on the rear of the programmer and a picture on the face of the ECU. That's all they need. The tunes will then be emailed to you.

 

[Dom426h]

Be Carefull not to blow your motor up. Vipers have pinged/knocked/detonated on email tunes from our VCA vendors.
I recommend going to a dyno that has a wideband A/F sensor and doing a couple pulls Stock. Then uploading the tune and doing a couple pulls to compare the change in the A/F. And be sure to have an extra couple people around listening for pinging so they can give you the signal to cut her asap if needed.

To save your time and money i suggest finding a tuner that is willing to be on-call when you are on the dyno so that if any changes to the tune or fine tuning need to be done they can quickly email you back and fourth to get everything right while you are strapped to the dyno.
Chris @ DCPerformance was able to do this for me. Look into him or Dan at ViperSpecialty
Dan's website is currently down...(http://viperspecialtyperformance.com/)
http://forums.viperclub.org/members/22161-Final-GTS (go here and click on "about me" for his contact info)

See this thread for more info about my above comments:
http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/646004-Dyno-Result-Help

 

[Timnineside]

Be Carefull not to blow your motor up. Vipers have pinged/knocked/detonated on email tunes from our VCA vendors.
I recommend going to a dyno that has a wideband A/F sensor and doing a couple pulls Stock. Then uploading the tune and doing a couple pulls to compare the change in the A/F. And be sure to have an extra couple people around listening for pinging so they can give you the signal to cut her asap if needed.

To save your time and money i suggest finding a tuner that is willing to be on-call when you are on the dyno so that if any changes to the tune or fine tuning need to be done they can quickly email you back and fourth to get everything right while you are strapped to the dyno.
Chris @ DCPerformance was able to do this for me. Look into him or Dan at ViperSpecialty
Dan's website is currently down...(http://viperspecialtyperformance.com/)
http://forums.viperclub.org/members/22161-Final-GTS (go here and click on "about me" for his contact info)

See this thread for more info about my above comments:
http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/646004-Dyno-Result-Help

Sounds like great advice. This is the last thing I need to happen. I have been dealing with Dan already and via email discussions I will be dealing with him. He has been GREAT on email response and very helpful.

Thanks!..................

-Tim

 

[Camfab]

You must be on the fence about selling your car.

 

[Timnineside]

You must be on the fence about selling your car.

Currently back off. May be back on but IDK. I love the look/styling of my car, but some things were kinda getting to me. FYI picked up the SCT and SRT big brakes..... I think this will take care of some of my issues

 

[KNG SNKE]

Be Carefull not to blow your motor up. Vipers have pinged/knocked/detonated on email tunes from our VCA vendors.
I recommend going to a dyno that has a wideband A/F sensor and doing a couple pulls Stock. Then uploading the tune and doing a couple pulls to compare the change in the A/F. And be sure to have an extra couple people around listening for pinging so they can give you the signal to cut her asap if needed.

To save your time and money i suggest finding a tuner that is willing to be on-call when you are on the dyno so that if any changes to the tune or fine tuning need to be done they can quickly email you back and fourth to get everything right while you are strapped to the dyno.
Chris @ DCPerformance was able to do this for me. Look into him or Dan at ViperSpecialty
Dan's website is currently down...(http://viperspecialtyperformance.com/)
http://forums.viperclub.org/members/22161-Final-GTS (go here and click on "about me" for his contact info)

See this thread for more info about my above comments:
http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/646004-Dyno-Result-Help

This is the best advice in this thread. I have seen first hand one of our members do a single dyno run, flash the tune while still strapped down, do another dyno run to lose horsepower and run lean in spots. Contact Johnny Viper to see if he got a tune on there to pull more HP out of it. It could be because his car was red and didn't want to go faster but who knows (sorry for the shameless red plug).

 

[345s-bspinnin]

While the advise is great, there is no knock/ping detection system on the OPs Viper. People standing around a dyno can try to listen to the pings, but some aren't audible considering loud exhaust noises. Reading the spark plugs is probably a better indicator of potential issues with the tune.

 

[DrumrBoy]

Agreed on the dyno tuning vs "assumption tuning". If two engines are mechanically identical, then a tune done on one is probably good for the other.....but as soon as they're not identical (wear, heat, extra miles, different fuel etc etc) strange things can happen in transferring a tune. I'm sure it can be done successfully, especially with minimal mods, but for a few hundred, why risk it?

 

[jay01m]

IMHO, I disagree with the advise on using a dyno to help tune the car. A "mustang" dyno is about as close to real world driving conditions as you can get, but even that is still not the same as real road driving conditions. How often are you going at WOT in 5th gear on the road when you're driving the car? This is a rhetorical question, the answer is not often, maybe 10% of the time, 20% for those in denial . You want a tune that strikes a balance between normal driving (done most of the time) and hauling ass. You may get what looks good on the computer when you're on the dyno doing WOT runs, but the conditions are different on the road, and your tune will end up being off, and potentially risky for the motor. Also, no dyno on the planet can simulate the same load that's put on your motor when driving it on the road, so unless your tuner is good at making assumptions and swagging what the real load will be and dial in the right timing, you're motor's at risk when you stomp on it on the road.

My recommendation is to hook up a scan tool, such as EASE, and drive the car for at least 30 minutes around town, and include at least 3 WOT runs to triple digit speeds. Send your results to your tuner, and he'll be able to cook up a baseline tune that should get you close. Repeat once or twice to tweak it and you should have a good tune that gives you a nice idle, good normal driving, and good WOT without risking any damage to the motor. Yes, this process will cost you more money, but if you want to play... This also accounts for the variable fact that no 2 engines are exactly the same, and your tune is truly customized to your motor.

A good tune will gain you much more HP (and overall responsiveness) than what you might think. I'd venture to say so long as the injectors are staying below 80% duty cycle at WOT, and you have good intake air flow and temps, a good tuner can probably get you more HP than bolting on a set of headers/exhausts.

Again, just my $.02. Ok, flame suit is on now, give it to me

Jason
Viper GTS
Corvette ZR1

 

[KNG SNKE]

Partially true. On a dyno with the hood open you can hear pinging usually. I can tell you Johnny has a very, very loud exhaust on his car and a couple folks close to the car heard it. Then when the afr was looked at it was obvious the tune was way off. Yes you want a balance of a good tune during normal daily driving and WOT but the chances of you blowing your motor from normal driving vs the chances of blowing it at WOT with max load on it are significantly different. On top of that typically you want to do a 4th gear pull for logging which brings you into speeds WAY above posted speed limits in the US and if you were to have your motor go at 130+ mph who knows what the result will be. Safety first and throwing on the dyno is a cheap way to find out you have a problem then finding out at the top of 4th or even 3rd gear on a highway pull and experiencing your motor let go.

 

[Timnineside]

Local shop says $50 and they will Dyno it. I am going to speak with Dan about this before I do it however to see what pulls he needs. Thanks for the advice Jason, I will certainly look more into this. I am primarily making sure after I add my K&N, exhuast, etc I don't end up losing power.

Thanks!

-Tim

 

[moparracing]

Another thing to be careful of when buying a "blank" tuner at a great price is whether it has ever been used or not. From my understanding on the SCT's, it "locks" to your car when you enter the VIN (you have to do this to use it on your car) and then cannot be used on another vehicle without paying SCT a fee to "unlock" it so you can use it on yours.

my experience is that this is partially true..... while the sct does lock to your vin by holding your stock tune, you can put your car "back to stock". This unlocks your sct to be used again. You get 3 vin changes before it has to be sent back to sct to be unlocked - ~$150.00.... I'm using the same sct from my viper truck on my gts, with different tunes of course. Sean Roe did my gts tunes based off my dyno runs...... if you leave your viper with someone you're not quite sure of (dealer), a "valet" tune will limit how they can drive your car... limit rpm & speed.

 

[ViperTony]

Find a dyno operator that knows what they're doing. At a minimum, you need to log your AFR. Folks like Dan, Roe, Lesser can work off of the dyno sheets, at a minimum, and customize your tune based on them. Pulling the plugs to check for detonation is a good idea. My dyno guy does this for me and it's cheap insurance. Some tuners may also ask that you log OBD data. I use ScanXL from Palmer Performance to capture this data. Todd @ AC Performance looks at a number of things such as short/long-term fuel trims, spark advance, etc. I believe Lesser also like data logs. This further helps dial in the tune. The more data the tuners can access the better.

 

[dyc1077]

Local shop says $50 and they will Dyno it. I am going to speak with Dan about this before I do it however to see what pulls he needs. Thanks for the advice Jason, I will certainly look more into this. I am primarily making sure after I add my K&N, exhuast, etc I don't end up losing power.

Thanks!

-Tim

any updates? how did your car do before and after the tune? i am thinking of getting this just to eliminate skip shift, have the fans turn on earlier and help fix the idle issues caused by the o2 sensor readings. any gains in hp and/or tq are just gravy on top!

 

[Timnineside]

Local shop decided to Viper tax me. Price went from $50 for everyone else to $150 for me...... Decided to wait until next year. I'd prefer not to deal with people like that.

I will do some more research over winter. Didn't know what the SCT did half of what your saying thats exciting!

I will keep posted. The car is up on stands right now getting full exhaust done.

-Tim

 

[dyc1077]

which shop had $50 tunes? from my brief internet searching, looks like one tune runs about 150 and an additional 25-50 per additional tune