So the question is whether to get your corvette tuned by someone with a dyno or do it yourself with a hand held tuner. The common way is through the use of a hand held tuner. In this article we'll talk about the difference between getting tuned on a dyno and tuning yourself from a hand held tuner.
First, the hand held tuner. The typical corvette hand held tuner is going to come with a few programs on it. Usually the tunes are only for premium fuel like 91 octane, and 93 octane. Each program that comes on the corvette tuner has been dyno tested on a dynamometer which measures horse power and torque throughout the entire rpm ranges. This allows you to see the maximum output of the corvette as well as its horsepower and torque curves which allows you to see where the power is at. The tuners also have several additional features such as reading and clearing trouble codes or check engine lights. They also allow for speedometer recalibration for those who go to larger or different sized tires, or even for different axel ratios. The Diablosport Predator for example offers 20 hp and can hold up to 5 custom tunes on it. Most Corvette tuners come with extra tunes for the people that have added an air intake or an exhaust system. Diablosport doesn't batch test their tuners when they make them either, they are all tested individually to ensure the best quality possible.
Second, we have tunes or programs that are created by someone that has your specific corvette on their dyno. Now remember, we mentioned that most corvette tuners were tested on a dyno before they are made for the masses. All corvettes are slightly different, even if they have the same engine and were made at the same manufacturing plant. When you put your own corvette on a dyno, you know you are getting the most specific tune for your car...as long as the people making it know what they are doing. You will typically have slightly better gains from a dyno tune, but in most cases we're only talking about a few horse power. Getting your corvette tuned either way is going to improve combustion efficiency, which is going to translate to more power at the tires. Usually this will also yield about another one to two miles per gall on fuel economy as well.
Our preference here is the hand held tuner and I'll explain why. Each time you add another part, like an exhaust system, or an air intake, to take advantage of those changes and gain the maximum power, your corvette should be tuned for those modifications. Taking a trip to the dyno each time to get the corvette re-tuned gets expensive fast. With the hand held tuners, in most cases you can get a hold of the manufacturer of the tuner and they can email you the tunes that you need, so you can avoid a dyno trip. Their are some items that require a tune to make the engine even run after you've put the parts on. Like the new STS rear mount turbo systems. They use the diablosport predator to tune the corvette to make use of the turbo system. Without the hand held tuner, the car wouldn't even run.
The hand held tuners are a lot more usable by the people that are slowing making upgrades to their vette. If everything that is ever going to be done to the car gets installed at the same time, then having your corvette tuned on a dyno is the best way to go, cause you'll get that extra bit of power, and you don't have to worry about it getting re-tuned in the future. Anyone who's like me though is always looking for their next mod.
