Tune file for sale?!

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Groundczero
Posts: 93
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2018 7:52 am

Re: Tune file for sale?!

Post by Groundczero »

Dfreehd wrote: Mon Jun 17, 2019 12:55 pm
Groundczero wrote: Sun Jun 16, 2019 10:58 am Tunes like this are all over the HPT repository they are already free.
I searched and found nothing other than stock tunes for caprice’s. As a novice tuner i was not comfortable mixing and matching tunes from camaro’s, g8 and other rides. So i paid a local shop to do a dyno tune the right way. If you have found good caprice tunes you should share links etc for other users. I am sure we would all benefit from that.
You can use a G8 since it is the closest thing to our cars. Here is the list of them on HP repository.
https://www.hptuners.com/my-account/tunerepository/?

I am not nocking you taking it to a tuner, I was just pointing out that this is already freely given away.
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elc32955
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Re: Tune file for sale?!

Post by elc32955 »

Hi folks,

I've just read the posts in this thread. I'm not very happy about this, and I'll tell you why. There are basically three types of tunes out there in the wild. 1) The OEM factory tune that the car left the GM plant with. 2) Tunes written by a professional car "tuner" or a after-market facility and which may or may not be customized to a particular car (if not a customized package it's usually referred to as a "box tune" or something similar. 3) Tunes self-authored by car owners based on the original GM tune.

Let's take one forum member from this system as an example, Chris Henry of Chenry Motorsports. Chris is a really decent guy, a excellent tuner, and is a member of the SS, G8, and Caprice forums. He makes money to feed his family from cars, one portion of that is sales of his proprietary transmission tune. The phrase "Intellectual property" comes into play here. Chris spent a considerable amount of time developing his tune and tweaking it for the individual powertrain configurations of the cars it is applicable to. Chris charges a base sum for his box tune, and charges additional to tweak it on a dyno to maximize and individualize it for a car owner on request. At least when I had my car tuned, Chris did not lock his tunes to permit a car owner to go in and change parameters if needed to do so, as long as the car owner has HP Tuners (as I still do). My car's tune was last updated before it was sold, I believe it was in 2017 or so.

Now... let's fast-forward to 2019. Tunes are flying all over the place, and there are forums on HP Tuners for folks to post customized tunes, etc. Chris would not be very appreciative of open posting of his proprietary tunes, which would give another shop the means to decompile the tune, see what mods were made from stock, and offer their own version at say... 2/3 the asking price. Yeah, I know people swap tunes - it was even done back in the B-body days. Remember the Bryan Herter tunes before he founded PCM4LESS? Box tunes can be really expensive, a prime example was the tune for my 2008 Mercedes E63 with the M156 N/A V8 (507hp rated). A medium grade box tune for that car to bring it to 540HP was $750 when I bought it - now it's $1,199 from Eurocharged!

All it takes is one lawsuit from the legitimate original author of a tune alleging theft and/or unauthorized distribution of intellectual property and..... BAM - the folks in the black Suburbans with sunglasses and legal papers descend. And, guess what? Your forum just got shut down because of a legal cease and desist order and also BTW the tune owner/author is also suing the forum operators for damages!

SO.... Point of the story, leave the HP Tuners modified tunes on the HP Tuners forum. Unless you individually wrote the tune, or have received a valid written, legal release from the author of a tune you are trying to pedal, don't sell or post it here. The Zap Gun will be unlimbered on anyone trying to pedal unauthorized intellectual property, see some of the older posts where people were trying to do the same with respect to GM copyrighted software.

Thanks
Eric
System Manager and your tour guide for the day. 2015 Caprice w/LFX, former NC DPS staff car. Partial hybrid G8/SS/Camaro SS interior mods, SS MyLink radio upgrade, 2016 Camaro V6 rims, GMPP Malibu chrome exhaust tips, otherwise bone stock for now.
SSpeedracer
Posts: 149
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2018 6:34 pm

Re: Tune file for sale?!

Post by SSpeedracer »

I bought a "tune" from a well known Camaro "tuner." It was shit. He merely maxed all transmission pressures, that was it. And the naive Camaro5 crowd keeps promoting him.

I was better off copying a stock 2014 SS tune into my 2016 PPV and tweaking a little bit here and there, displacement, gear ratio etc. (I've got LS3 and !DOD) I wouldn't call what I did a tune. I tuned my '00 f-body 10.2:1 with supercharger years ago, that was a real tune. Took months.

My understanding is that GM owns the ECU firmware and anyone hacking it (with HP Tuners etc) is violating their IP. One tuner suing another tuner or a website for distributing tunes isn't likely. I'd be more concerned with GM directly or EPA/CARB.

Re-selling tunes could be unethical or free-market depending on the individual. I'd give my bought "tune" away for free because it was shit. fuck that guy.
2016 Caprice
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