Tallgumby

I've never tuned before and I would like to know what kind of software I should get and where I could buy it. I would like to find something that can do a wide range of cars from older Honda's to newer ones. Any info would be very helpful thanks

motoxxxman

You're gonna need to do a whole lot of research on your own. There's about 30 encyclopedias worth of knowledge that would need to be typed in order to answer your questions in full.

To start though;
-a tuning system is only as good as the tuner working with it. So WHAT system to get largely depends on WHO is tuning it.
-there is no single system that can tune all hondas. Every year group has a different type, different options, different wiring, and other things that are different.
-some tuning systems the software is free and the hardware is expensive. Other tuning systems the software is expensive and the hardware is cheap.
-some tuning systems require the ecu to be sent out to get modified. Some you can do yourself if you're a pro solderer. Some are plug and play. Some require adapter harnesses, some don't. Some require ecu swaps, some don't. Some require a heavy investment in cables, communication boxes, chip burners, chip emulators, etc, some don't. Some work better on older versions of windows, some work better on newer versions of windows.
-ALL forms of tuning requires a DEEP knowledge of how an engine computer works, and what things affect what things, and what things affect many many other things in the process.

If it sounds like I'm scaring you away from tuning, it's because I am. No offense. Majority of "tuners" should never go near a honda computer, as they usually cause more harm than good. It takes years of research and hands on experimenting to get a general idea of it all before even being able to tune a single car correctly. And the level of knowledge and intelligence required is a good amount higher than your average person. There's even people such as a self proclaimed "pro tuner" in my area who has been tuning hondas for almost as long as I have; 15 years, who blows up more than half of the cars he tunes even to this day. There's a reason reputable tuners charge anywhere from $600-$2000 for a quality tune, which sometimes can take several days to get right, or can take only a couple hours at most. Every vehicle is different, and the cost often doesn't change according to how long it actually takes.

But, if you do really want to get into tuning hondas, and feel you have the time, patience, intelligence, finances, and motivation; by all means go for it. There really aren't too many honda tuners out there who truly have a deep enough understanding of how to do the whole thing correctly. And to get started, I'd suggest buying a 92-95 civic and a couple spare motors for it, and go to town teaching yourself hands-on. There's also classes you can take to get started learning, and endless websites and forums discussing an infinite number of topics

Tallgumby

Thank you and I do agree with you Im about to buy a 96 Civic with a d16 I believe and I have a b16a2 I believe as well I plan on doing both and I do plan on blowing a motor because without a mistake I'll never know how to do it the right way. Im a big muscle car guy I've built trucks and cars with a V8 but I just wanna get into the Honda world it's all new it's all different but I feel like a can do it. It's a Honda, i build a 1.8 Audi A4 that was a nightmare. I have never got into to tunes. I have always had someone do it for me. I would like to know what is a good software to start. A lot of Honda guys I have met all say hondata and I'm just getting started so I'm hoping it's a good learning software for me to **** some engines up. I do like the feedback it does tell me that I need to do research and get alot of hands on experience to tune my own rides plus anyone elses. Thank you for your time

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

Head up to the Grey area of the FAQs. Those give a lot of information there on how to get started and even give an idea of how different over I-4 & H-4 systems are to even Honda engines. So , start there, and start learning the names of the professionals to contact.

motoxxxman

And in addition to what Shodan said, yes, Hondata is a good system to start with. Its software is the most userfriendly and fairly self explanatory. And almost every parameter within the whole thing has a button to click that redirects to the help section, explaining some decent detail about that specific parameter.