The only reason I ask this is because when I bought my car, this was part of the package. The previous owner had put on limited mods which included a cat back, CAI and a HPP with a 160 degree stat. The shifts were much too harsh for street tires so I put that aspect back to stock. Am I better off going back to stock on the program with the listed light mods? I want a custom tune when I do my heads/cam package, but until then is this slowing me down? Do I need this to go with the 160 degree stat that is already in? I've read post where people were losing hp with the HPP-III, so I need to know if I should get rid of it entirely.

 

Custom tune should put that 160 degree stat to use, I believe. Probably wouldn't be life changing if you went back to stock on the program.

 

im running the hypertech tune with just a catback, intake, and TB..same deal for me, the last owner purchased it. I've taken the tune off before and really didn't feel a difference..pretty much the only good thing about the hypertech is that you can change the program for gears/tires. other than that It's pretty useless in my eyes. I say if your car runs fine with it, just keep it around until you get the h/c, no sense in really tuning for just a cat-back. maybe you can try to sell it off later on to help pay for the real tune!

 

The tune part, most likely not any HP there. You can set the fans to come on earlier, to go with the 160 thermostat. You can change the rev limiter and shift points, and you can adjust for different gears. But if you download it back into the programmer and sell it really cheap, you can have all of that and a tune that will pick you up some HP. Just talk to one of our tuning vendors.

 

I doubt you are losing power with it, but if you have a 160 degree stat, you will need it to keep the cooling fan on/off temps set to come on earlier. I would just leave it be for now. As mentioned above, once you are ready for a better tune, remove it altogether and sell the programmer.

 

Leave it on until you can get another tune. Then take it off and sell it. That's what I did.

 

I love my Hypertech...on my 2500HD Duramax

 

That's because they're so much more undertuned from the factory.

 

the 2 cars I tried the HPPIII tune while I needed the gear change portion - the car fell on it's face. Random misfire - lag - like crap. My tranny builder highly suggested NOT firming shifts through the computer - excessive line pressure. I returned the performance tune to stock and utilized the gear ratio/tire size and t-stat options. Have it tuned by a pro after your major mods are installed. Keep the HPPIII for simple things - not the engine tune.
I bought my HPPIII used knowing this by asking your same question - 100 bucks is worth the little things it does.