Practical standalone tuning or practical reflash tuning?

Hi!

I just finished the introduction to engine tuning, EFI tuning fundamentals and understanding AFR courses. What course should I take first in order to have understand better the topic before take the other one? Practical standalone tuning or practical reflash tuning?

What topic do you want to better understand? What software and hardware are you using now?

I'm the owner of a honda civic 5th generation with an D15b3 engine with headers and intake systems, running on a P28 ECU. I'm a beginner.

What I want to do is reflash the ECU because I cannot afford Hondata at the moment. I know that I have to chip my ECU and use a hardware like a ''moates Ostrich 2.0'' to have access to the ECU in real time and then burn a chip with the file of the tune to use, but I haven't bought the emulator yet and no even know what sofware is compatible with moates ostrich. I've reading about HTS software.

I am open to listen suggestion about other ways to do a reflash with honda

To answer your original question I would watch the practical re-flash tuning although the concepts are basically the same. To build a working tune from scratch may be a long learning curve. Using the factory ECU and modifying existing parameters has instant gratification, almost. You still have to know what to change and why to change it. I have used Moates APU1 hardware for my OBD1 GM and with Mark's TunerPro RT software it works great for my needs and solidly built. Unfortunately it's for GM. So I would suggest the Neptune/Demon RTP combo for your Honda. It may seem expensive but you get the hardware and software that work well together and that is worth it. Sure there are a lot of options out there but re-flashing was my first choice. I figured I already have a working car so why not make it the best I can. Enjoy your classroom on wheels.