I have a 95 Z28 LT1 and i just bought the 160 degree thermostat to put in it. I am thinking about buying the Hypertech Programmer to add with it. I was wondering if anyone can tell me about it. How much it makes a difference and if it's really worth it. Thanks!!!

Josh

 

Spend your money on an HPP only if you will be satisfied by being able to only change a few things and using their pre-set programming (which by the way, is geared toward a nearly stock car). You won't really see that much of a gain with the HPP. Maybe a little with a plain, stock car, but when you begin to change other things, their programming can be counter productive.

There are so many other options for programming these days, that the HPP is way over-rated. You can send your pcm to someone like pcmforless and get it reprogrammed to just what you want for about $100.
You can buy software and a cable and program yours yourself, if you are so inclined.

Don't even think about getting a new HPP because it will be an even worse value. Get a used one, but make sure the person you get it from has deprogrammed their car with it or it will be useless.

 

Trust me on this one, save ur money for a custom programming. I have the hypertech PPIII and it is of little use to me now. The only thing i used it for was to adjust my speedometer cuz of the gears, change the shift points and firmness, and change the temp for fans. For $300, u can easily get a custom tuning from ur car, or better yet, go to www.pcmforless.com

 

I got a Hypertech programmer used off of ebay and I love mine. I can tell the difference when it's programmed or not. It was worth it, at least to me anyway.

 

Be realistic about your goals for the car. If you don't plan on doing much future work, i.e. heads, cam, etc get the HPP.
If however you have major plans foir the car stay away from the HPP and spend your money elsewhere.

 

As I expressed before, I have a programmer. What's the downside, especially with a lot of mods. Should I not be programming my car with my mods? Where do you draw the line?

 

if all you will ever need to do is change fan settings or gear ratios then it will work fine.

If you are going to modify your car more in the future (Heads, cam, etc) you may want to look into LT1_Edit for OBDII.

It allows you to adjust just about anything in your car's tune.

DaveW

 

You have very little mods to your car which would require a tune. The HPP tuning is questionable at best. It is a canned program made for a general application. Any difference you feel is more likely a placebo affect. We are talking about 10 years of testing on the LT1 shows no real benefit of hp or track performance. If you want to really tune your car with your mods or with future mods you need to get an actual tuning package. LT1_Edit, Tunercat (when available for OBDII), or go with a pro tuner.

DaveW

 

as shoebox stated

the HPP is best for stock cars...of very few mods.
i bought one for my 94
and yes you feel the difference

speedometer, gears, shift firmness, tire size etc..
its good

but if you have headers don't waste you're money..

oh yeah if you do get hpp dont' get a new one....
used is perfectly fine..