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Pro racer package

R

RAD Merc SVT

CEG'er
Joined
Aug 2, 2010
Messages
489
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Hey guys just interested in getting the pro racer package so I can tune my car myself. My question is, is the PRP only good for tuning one car? does it lock like the Xcals? Or can I use it as many times as I want to upload tunes onto an Xcal? I think it needs a PCM code so... maybe its only good for one PCM. Any knowledge would be great.

Thanks
 
I don't know much about PRP. I do know about doing my own tuning though.

I suggest looking into Binary Editor. I think it's the most powerful tuning software out there. If you're interested, you can search through some of my other posts, and find some more detailed info. You can use the software for as many cars as are supported by the software. There can be some additional costs per car tuned depending on where you get your "strategy" files. I posted a couple relevant links below.

www.eectuning.org
www.eecanalyzer.net
 
The PRP package is able to tune any vehicle that they have the PCM code for, however they you have to purchase to rights to each PCM code, which last I checked was $300.

So if you buy the PRP you can tune your car, or any other car with the same PCM code, however many times you want. But if you want to tune for another code you have to buy another "license" from them, you might also have to show them that you own the car as well.
 
TennTechMan said:
I don't know much about PRP. I do know about doing my own tuning though.

I suggest looking into Binary Editor. I think it's the most powerful tuning software out there. If you're interested, you can search through some of my other posts, and find some more detailed info. You can use the software for as many cars as are supported by the software. There can be some additional costs per car tuned depending on where you get your "strategy" files. I posted a couple relevant links below.

www.eectuning.org
www.eecanalyzer.net
Click to expand...

Do you still use an xcal to flash the tune with this software or how does it work? I was planning to get the PRP in the next few months.
 
You have two options for flashing tunes to the ECM. You can use a special cable to flash from a PC directly to the ECM through the OBD-II port. You can also buy a QuarterHorse. The QH plugs into the ECM's J3 port, and you flash tunes to the QH (USB cable) instead of directly to the ECM.

The pass-thru cable costs about $500, but it has lots of other uses and doesn't have to stay with the car. The quarterhorse is about $250, but has to stay with the car. I've gone the QH route with my Lightning. I will be using the pass-thru cable on my Contour and Geo projects.
 
So that works out to be about the same as xcal and PRP I guess. I already have the xcal 2 with the custom tune currently on my car and factory tune seems it makes sense to just get the PRP.

Is there a reason you went with eecanalyzer over sct?
 
RAD Merc SVT said:
Ok thank you for the help. Any idea what the advantage 3 software costs? and if I have to purchase a license every time I tune a different PCM code?
Click to expand...

I believe it's $350 for the software, and they should include a "base" tune file for your car depending on the mods you have.

Every other processor code is $300 last I looked.
 
Heywood said:
So that works out to be about the same as xcal and PRP I guess. I already have the xcal 2 with the custom tune currently on my car and factory tune seems it makes sense to just get the PRP.

Is there a reason you went with eecanalyzer over sct?
Click to expand...


I thought the PRP setup was like $1500 to be ready to tune. I never looked too far into it. A co-worker and friend was already using BE, so it made sense to go with something I could get some local help with.

For the Lightning, I ended up paying a total of $650 to be able to tune. I was also able to extract my custom tunes from the DiabloSport, and save those in Binary Editor. After extracting those, I was able to sell the DiabloSport handheld to get some of my money back out of it. Once I get my tuning cable, I'll probably sell the quarterhorse. If you plan to tune more than one car, it's cheaper to have the cable.

I've not looked through the PRP software before, but BE seems to be able to control EVERYTHING in the ECM. I put a couple of screenshots below of the Lightning strategy in BE. I like that I don't need to have an extra device. I can tune directly from the laptop. BE has a lot of features that make comparing tunes very easy. The search functions in the software work pretty well. I'd like to see a little bit of PRP to compare, but I just haven't had the opportunity.

Trans1-2Shift.png

SparkandFuel.png
 
The pro-racer pack used to be a lot of money ($700) but I think the price is much cheaper now ($300-400 maybe). If you are buying to tune one car you can write as many tunes as you want and flash as many tunes as you want into your car. As stated above you have to buy the database for each ECU code so you have to pay to tune other cars. You'd also need another Xcal for the other car I believe since the Xcal locks to the vehicle. There is a dealer version as well which I'm sure is very expensive.

Another thing to keep in mind is if you currently have a mail order tune from someone with an Xcal you cannot edit that tune if you buy the PRP software. The SCT set the tunes up so you can't pull a tune out of the Xcal and edit it. That way you can't copy a tune another company put together. You can only build a tune off of the stock base tune you get with the PRP software. If you buy the PRP from a shop they might give you a tune you can edit if you ask for that.
 
That sucks but is understandable. Is it possible to view the parameters of an existing tune in the PRP?

I ask because I have a custom tune in the ECM which I believe is too lean. I would like to be able to look at and maybe adjust the existing rather than start from scratch again.

Rad_merc - sorry for threadjacking.
 
If the tune was a mail order tune from a dyno shop or someone like Nautilus you won't be able to access it. So no you can't edit or even look at it. The only way you could is if the tuner that created the file sent you a version of the tune that was in the correct file type that the PRP can access. There are few different file types. I think that tuners usually send the tune out as the locked format which you can't edit or look at with the PRP.
 
Tuned in a shop by the previous owner. Is it possible a another shop may be able to access the info with a shop version of the software?
Otherwise I'll start from base.
 
Unless you can get the people who tuned it to send you the file, then I think you will have to start from scratch. Honestly its not that difficult to get a workable tune, just select what maf, injectors, fuel pump etc from the file menu and it will load all the information. The fine tuning is what takes time. Just make sure you have all "issues" worked out and your car is in proper running condition.
 
Binary Editor could open an existing tune, edit it, and update it back to the ECU. If the tune was flashed from a handheld (SCT, DiabloSport, etc) device through the OBD-II port, you can pull it either through a Quarterhorse or using a pass-thru cable. If the tune is on a chip, you can only pull the tune with a pass-thru cable. My DS had 6 or 7 tunes on it. I was able to pull them all, save them in BE, unmarry the DS, and sell the DS. I then flashed the DS tune back to the ECU, and mod'ed as needed.


Thanks for posting the screen shots from PRP. Looks like the interface between it and BE are pretty similar. Do all of the parameters have good descriptions? That's one thing I'd like to see a little better in BE. I think that's different for each type of ECU.
 
Yes it gives pretty good descriptions for the parameters. You can edit the parameters in a chart, or by graphing (like the MAF transfer function that I posted), you can also Dual Edit which lets you compare side by side two different tunes when making changes.

As for not being able to get the information from the previous tuner, if your car is having that much of a problem on his tune you will probably be spending more time trying to fix it than you would by starting from scratch.
 
There is also a book that SCT sells that describes the parameters in detail. It's around $75.

Sure you might be able to pull the file out of the flasher but you'd still have to decrypt the data because you can't do it with the PRP software. You'd have to know exactly how the file was built and what it should look like. It would be WAY easier to start from scratch or go to a local dyno and pay them some $$$ for a dyno tune using your PRP.
 
Thanks for all the input and explanations. It seems pretty clear its going to be easier to retune from scratch.
 
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