What is everyone's preference when it comes to tuning software?

I have seen Andre use Link on one of his webinars. I noticed many people like Winols. Any others that you would recommend and why?

Thanks

Bob Zecca

I Have a Link G4X reasons for getting were:

- The parts supplier I've used years for all my toyota/aftermarket parts supplies them

- Link do a plug and play unit to cut down on wiring so less to go wrong

- Link are very good at answering questions on their forum (this was the clincher) as I've bought items from other companies that I've had to ask questions and it's really frustrating when something isn't working as it should and you can't get an answer from the manufactuer. It can hold the whole build up for something simple.

Unless I understand your question wrong - when you mention PC Link and Win OLS in the same sentence it sounds like you either have your wires crossed or maybe a lack of understanding of what they are used for? They are for totally difference purposes.

PC link can only be used to calibrate a Link ECU - just like Motec software can only be used to calibrate a Motec ECU - So if you have an aftermarket ECU, then your choice is already made for you - you have to use the specific manufactures software, in most cases it is free or a license to use it is supplied as part of the ecu purchase. Software for aftermarket ecu's generally has multiple functions - for instance they will have tools to read and write from the ecu, tools to visualise logged data, tools to manipulate maps as well as configuration and firmware updates etc so it is basically all you need to totally calibrate/tune the engine. Generally all of the tuning is done on a live/running engine.

Tuning OEM ECU's on the other hand is very different - and Win OLS would sometimes be used as one of the tools in this scenario for a very specific range of ecu's. With OEM ecus you will generally need special hardware and software to first read the Eeprom file from the ECU, another software and hardware suite to datalog and visualise data, separate software to access/find/reverse engineer maps inside the eeprom (this is where Win OLS might be used) and then there is another process to get the modified eeprom back into the ecu. Most of these software and hardware tools are highly specialised, usually expensive, have a steep learning curve and usually only cover a small range of ECU's. So you need to research heavily and choose carefully based on what you ecu you want to tune. Win OLS for instance is ballpark Euro$2000 just for the software, then you still need to buy credits for each file you modify and you will need at least another tool to get the ROM file out of and back into the ecu.