I've been researching a bit (not intensely mind you) on performance PCM, I know DHP offers one, INTENSE offers one and ZZPerformance offers one also. Now I don't want this to be a flame war, I just want to know if I could order the wrong one (not the wrong P/N), it'* hard to explain but the best way I could explain this is that the motor doesn't have the mods or ablilty to support the PCM'* orders. I'm having a hard time explaining this. An analogy I could use is: Sometimes a car will really benefit from PEMs but the person gets headers and it causes loss of performance but if it got PEM'* in the first place, it would have increased more power.

Let me know if you still don't understand, I know what I'm trying to ask but I can't put it down in words

Are you asking if someone was to get a PCM for their car; could some of the settings contained in the PCM cause loss of power or damage to the car if proper mods are not in place at the time of instalation?.........


Ed

Yeah pretty much, thank god I knew a Ohioan would understand another Ohioan

Certainly you can have wrong settings, or a PCM programmed for some other trim than yours. If that were to happen I can only imagine your engine and tranny might have immediate issues or develop issues after a period of time.

Can you be more specific as to why you are asking the question?

I think he wants to figure out if he should get a PCM now or wait for supporting mods and have it programmed acoringly.

Pretty much and it'll also help me make the decision to where to buy the PCM from, I just don't wanna screw up.

Get your PCM from the vendor you plan on using for your mechanical mods. The tuning is based on that.

In addition, go with one familar with the way your drivetrain reacts with bonneville-specific shift-points.

I know INTENSE is probably more familar with Bvilles, but I also don't know if DHP and ZZP are as familiar.

I'd go with one that has done the most for your engine platform. I think that ZZP has taken N/A'* farther then any other vendor ever will. With saying that ZZP'* PCM are really new to the market. They haven't really proven themselves yet but I'm sure they will in the near future once more people start running them. DHP has a proven PCM for how many years now. I'd spend my money on either the ZZP or DHP.

Most of the "blanket" tunes out there can be run safely on cars that are mildly modded, regardless of what brand products you use.

I don't know what it is like for a N/A car, but for the supercharged ones, all of them are tuned with the idea that the motors have a somewhat smaller pulley, intake, and some exhaust work.

If you run a DHP with just an intake, you'd still get a gain of power because other things in the motor are being optimized still. Once you upgrade something else on the motor, you will still gain power from it. Only if you are doing hardcore things will you need to start custom tuning. Most of us just have bolt-ons, so these PCM packages are great to have.

As for the brand, that is for you to decide.

If you want a recommendation from me, I will say that I am more than happy with the DHP. Many GP'* have these, but there are also a number of Bonnevilles out there with them. One of the guys who makes these PCM'* used to own a Bonnie, so he does have tuning experience with them.

With that in mind I waited to add my Intense Racing PCM until I gutted my airbox, put in a 180* t-stat, a 3.4" pulley, better spark plugs and neon lights.

Ok, the neons don't have any impact but they look cool though.