Learning ECU Tuning Yourself

[SUSPECT_BRZ]

Hey guys! I'm somewhat new to the FA20 platform as I have been around GM engines all my life. When I bought the BRZ a few months ago, I told myself I would try and learn to do everything myself including maintenance and basic repairs.

I am a shift worker and I do have some free time and was looking into learning how to tune myself.

I'm from Canada so my options are limited. Not sure if there are tuners are there who actually offer hands-on classes but I stumbled across HP Academy and was wondering if any of you had experience with them. You can pay by course and they also offer a starter learning class bundle.

https://www.hpacademy.com/

I was wondering if this was a good idea and if they cover the Ecutek software properly. A lot of schools focus on HPTuners but this one seems a little more general.

Since there are absolutely zero tuners in my area, this could also be a good way to make good money on the side when I am confident enough to work on someone else's car.

Any input will be greatly appreciated.

Regards

[gt7877]

U r at open source platform
No need for hpt


There is lots of titles here explained everything

Just use searsh option to find what ever u need to know



And the easy way for stage1-2
OFT ots maps for 2012+

Tactrx openport 2.0 cable

Ecuflash
Romrider

[DarkPira7e]

Learning tuning itself is more of understanding the principles of what values generally you're going to need to adjust and what effect they have on the performance/drivability of the car.
Tuning isn't about knowing what the best AF/R is for power and pasting it across the whole map; I would suggest starting out by talking to some tuners and ask what generally they start looking at first in order to " tune" an engine. Maybe look up some guides on basic tuning with the platform you're into, and any time you see a phrase you can't say " I understand what that does and directly can affect", you look it up exhaustively. Like "LTFT" or "Injector Pulse-Width"

Learning how to tune yourself takes years and years of trial and error- something that's best not learned on a car you truly love.
I'm not intending to come across as discouraging or condescending - it's an arduous, stressful, long road that never ends.

EDIT::
Huh, HPAcademy has a giveaway going on. GIVEAWAY: ECUMaster PMU + Training Courses

[SUSPECT_BRZ]

Originally Posted by gt7877

U r at open source platform
No need for hpt


There is lots of titles here explained everything

Just use searsh option to find what ever u need to know



And the easy way for stage1-2
OFT ots maps for 2012+

Tactrx openport 2.0 cable

Ecuflash
Romrider

I am aware HPTuner is not needed for this platform, as somewhat stated above. Just wanted to focus on a course explaining Ecutek more in details as I would like to specialize with this software! Will check the forum for sure once I understand the basics. Thanks!

[SUSPECT_BRZ]

Originally Posted by DarkPira7e

Learning tuning itself is more of understanding the principles of what values generally you're going to need to adjust and what effect they have on the performance/drivability of the car.
Tuning isn't about knowing what the best AF/R is for power and pasting it across the whole map; I would suggest starting out by talking to some tuners and ask what generally they start looking at first in order to " tune" an engine. Maybe look up some guides on basic tuning with the platform you're into, and any time you see a phrase you can't say " I understand what that does and directly can affect", you look it up exhaustively. Like "LTFT" or "Injector Pulse-Width"

Learning how to tune yourself takes years and years of trial and error- something that's best not learned on a car you truly love.
I'm not intending to come across as discouraging or condescending - it's an arduous, stressful, long road that never ends.

EDIT::
Huh, HPAcademy has a giveaway going on. GIVEAWAY: ECUMaster PMU + Training Courses

Thanks for you insight! I could not agree with you more. Tuning is an art that is mastered over years of work, that's for sure. I would love to learn the basics and at least understand what I'm looking at. I know Delicious tuning make great tunes for our platform, so I guess I could get one from them and at least monitor the numbers myself until I am confident enough to do my own tuning. It is something I would really like to learn, at least how to base tune and make the car a little more fun to drive.

Or I could get a shitbox and tune it myself....decisions decisions....

[churchx]

SUSPECT_BRZ: problem is that most commercial tuners lock their tunes. You'll be able to monitor only result, not how they got there. Imho you'd be better off with OFT OTS tunes as base for self education

[SUSPECT_BRZ]

Originally Posted by churchx

SUSPECT_BRZ: problem is that most commercial tuners lock their tunes. You'll be able to monitor only result, not how they got there. Imho you'd be better off with OFT OTS tunes as base for self education

Right, I forgot about that detail. The thing with OFT is that I eventually want to go forced induction so Ecutek would definitely be the best option.

Can you tune yourself using OFT?

I don't know...I really want to learn but maybe it's something better left in the hands of a professional. Wouldn't want to blow my engine with trial and error...

[Kodename47]

FWIW I bet there are a few that learnt on this platform. If you see Steve99 and Wayno mentioned, I'm pretty sure they learnt here, I did as well (on a supercharged car). I used both EcuTek and Romraider. The benefit with Romraider and OFT/Stock ROMs is that you can look at maps and learn/research with no investment and these can be flashed with OFT or Tactrix. EcuTek needs money spending to get the basic package and even more to get the RaceROM upgrade to open up more tuning abilities but it's well worth it if boost is the end goal.

The ECU and engine setup is modern so, on an NA, there is very little that you could do wrong unless you go crazy changing stuff with no understanding due to the knock protection. HP Academy is pretty good and comprehensive. Mix that with some reading on Romraider, as the ECU is similar to other Scoobies, and on here. NASIOC is a good place to google for answers and this is a good file to have to hand:
https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho....php?t=1626520

[MiraCorta]

Originally Posted by SUSPECT_BRZ

Hey guys! I'm somewhat new to the FA20 platform as I have been around GM engines all my life. When I bought the BRZ a few months ago, I told myself I would try and learn to do everything myself including maintenance and basic repairs.

I am a shift worker and I do have some free time and was looking into learning how to tune myself.

I'm from Canada so my options are limited. Not sure if there are tuners are there who actually offer hands-on classes but I stumbled across HP Academy and was wondering if any of you had experience with them. You can pay by course and they also offer a starter learning class bundle.

I was wondering if this was a good idea and if they cover the Ecutek software properly. A lot of schools focus on HPTuners but this one seems a little more general.

Since there are absolutely zero tuners in my area, this could also be a good way to make good money on the side when I am confident enough to work on someone else's car.


Any input will be greatly appreciated.


Education is hard work. Also, if you have any problems, you can always turn to https://edubirdie.com/college-term-paper for help. Educational resources make life easier.

Regards

They have quite legit courses.

[dholloway543]

This isnt an end all be all but can be a very good place to start. lol giving this guy free advertising.



https://www.youtube.com/c/learntotune/videos


He has good tuning basics and theory videos but you have to search for them because there is no playlist.


You show the paid version of it which is very in depth. If you want to have the understandings on what things change and test around yourself then he posts lots of free videos on his youtube channel.

[SUSPECT_BRZ]

Originally Posted by dholloway543

This isnt an end all be all but can be a very good place to start. lol giving this guy free advertising.



https://www.youtube.com/c/learntotune/videos


He has good tuning basics and theory videos but you have to search for them because there is no playlist.


You show the paid version of it which is very in depth. If you want to have the understandings on what things change and test around yourself then he posts lots of free videos on his youtube channel.

Thanks for the information. I will definitely have a look and start learning this winter. It's definitely something I want to get into. The information is out there but I need to start with the basics. I will start with the free stuff and then evaluate if paid courses are worth it.

[BRZoomTX]

FWIW, EcuTek comes with extensive documentation not only for the general software, but as EcuTek applies to the 86 platform specifically.

I also learned how to tune here. I started with a tactrix cable, EcuFlash, and RomRaider using OFT definitions. NASIOC is a great resource, but EcuTek has its own specific quirks on top of that general information. Make sure you read EcuTek docs top to bottom before diving in.