Hey, I like the magazine as much as the next guy, but come on..... Check out this comment in the current issue relating to Project Magnum TPIs 226 RWHP pull with the 165 ECM and a " CUSTOM PROM " (yes, that was a snicker from me you just heard) and subsequent pull of 323 RWHP with a $2300 Accel DFI Gen 7 :

From Jan 2003 GMHTP:
"The factory ECM was not the primary problem, it was the programming. GM has always guarded and continues to guard its programming with encryption, making repair, diagnosis and recalibration extremely difficult. Even if you have access to one of the many calibration programs and an EPROM burner/eraser, the iterative process of tuning for maximum performance and acceptable driveability can take years in extreme cases. If you're not one of the few who has more time than money - or lots of time and lots of money - this may be a viable option for you, but it sure wasn't for us."

Gee..... I must be better than I thought I was at this!!! LMAO!!!

Just figured I would show this to you guys for some laughs and smiles.

Later......

 

And this is why I have not bought this rag in several years.. Have yet to find any useful info in it, and with the attitude they take towards even trying to work with the factory ECM either the 165 or 730, just makes me thank you all here for "putting those years of experience" into real world cars.

Hunkins was more impressive at Muscle Mustang and Fast Fords. At GMHTP hes like a lost kid at the carnival..

 

I dropped that subscription couple of years ago, due to a lack of real tech in the articles. Seems like I haven't missed anything important...their features used to read a lot like endorsements for the folks who bought ad space in the mag. Guess they still do.

Maybe I'll buy a German car so I can read Motor Trend instead...

 

All that shows me is that they are ignorant (or lazy). I read it (but wont be re-sub'ing for all the reasons above) & thought, "Oh yea, they did not want to bother to tune the factory ECM because it was "not capable" of producing the HP numbers that they wanted", so they bought an aftermarket unit & then TOOK IT TO SOMEONE, TO HAVE THEM TUNE IT. Maybe if they tried to tune the factory ECM they might have found all that power & not spend a couple of big Bill's. SAD!

ALL that Dough-Ho in that car & all they are pulling down is 230 HP. Also SAD

BW

 

2 words for everyone; CAR CRAFT
Always full of interesting bathroom reads and budget minded owners. They might not be the perfect cars but they keep the torch lit for hot rodders everywhere.
I own 1 GMHTP only because it had the ramjet in the yellow RS on the cover. Still wasn't that good of an article .
Fast Fords is thick and has good tech but they too don't impress me as much as Hot Rod and Car Craft. Oh well, guess that's because I'm still in college.

 

That's one reason I have about 130 car magazines from over the years that I'm going to getting rid of

Seems like the same stories get repeated OVER and OVER. Nowadays it's all about advertising. C'mon, anybody ever seen a "tech" article where a well known magazine installs a part, reviews it's performance, and then says it's not worth the $$$$?!?!

No product advertsing = no more ad money from that company.

I always liked the "budget" cars they built for $15k!!!

Or spending $350 on a part and praising it for a 2-5 HP gain........

The only ones I even browse thru at the store now is Chevy High Performance and Car Craft....and even Car Craft is getting more Hollywood every day.

Short on cash? Want to build you car for free? Get a journalism degree, go to the West Coast and become a staff writer on a car mag staff.......then volunteer to "donate" the use of your car for build-up articles.

We are in the age where HP doesn't equate with how much you know, or what you learn, it's how thick your checkbook is. Most all organized racing is heading in this direction.


Just my 2 cents.

20 HP for cheap still feels faster than 100 HP for spending a couple of grand $$$$$$$

 

You Gut thing that is funny?
You should go to the shop they had it built at in PA where I live,
OMG These guys were so full of it..
And did nothing but change subject when they told me that car ran 12.2 @ 110 and I said 500 flywheel horse you claim
and 110 trap speed ...where did the other 140 HP go?
Every car in there shop had 500+ horse but no ET because they are still tuning???????
Some of the cars had been there for 2 months I know of.
And any after market part that was not on there shelf was junk
and thats a fact.... and money should never be an object,
They said they buy what they want when they want and dont try bringing your car in there on a budget he said...

I just stopped in to get my friends bottle filled and could not wait to leave.

 

Are you refering to Stropes speed shop? If so, I haven't seen or heard anything good come out of that place either! Thats why I built my own motor. The only thing that I was incapable of doing is the machine work on the block and heads (I don't own the equipment). I will be dyno'ing the car by the end of November and I'm willing to bet money that my combo will make more HP to the ground than that $10,000 396ci.!!!

 

guys things to keep in mind are the fact that hypertech accel and all the other companies have large full pages ads. tunercat cant afford this and i know for sure that winbin cant either. its all about the benjamins in this case.

there also the 80/20 split. in most cases 80% of the people out there will have someone else do it. in 20% of the cases you have the DIY'er do it. then you have 5% of the diy'ers who try it cant get it right and take it to a professional. anyways think about it that way.

if i were you guys who have been sucessful pat your self on the back. you beat the odd's.

 

Yep.
Stropes is who I am speaking about. So I guess you have been there? Have you ever met anyone like that who just keeps changing subjects and telling you about how much he knows about everything? There are 2 brothers and a father that I met when I was there and they all continue each others sentences.



Where are you from 1bad91?