Tuneboy or PCIII? Why is there a question?

Hi all, I just read yet another thread about adding a PCIII to a S3. . . . I'm confused. Why would anyone consider the PCIII and not just use the Tuneboy which allows you to directly tune your ECU? I understand why some bikes use PCIII, definitely, because those bikes do not have programable ECUs. Triumph uses a programable ECU which allows you to directly tune in the changes you want. I don't doubt that the PC works, but just don't like how it does it's stuff--tricking the ECU. For example, If I want to change my screen saver on my home computer, I don't add another computer that tricks my real computer into showing a different screen saver, I'll just reprogram my computer to use the new one.

Anyway, I'm sure I'm missing something important. I don't know how you program the PCIII, but I assume if you want to really program it (not just the low, med, and high rough settings on the unit), you need a computer or laptop. That would be the only advantage I would see, if you didn't need a laptop as some people don't have that.

I have the Tuneboy as you've probably guessed, and have told several people about it, but everybody keeps returning to PCIII, let me in on the secret!!! :wink:

Thanks,
Scott

[kuhlka]

Well, there IS the price issue. I got my PCIII on ebay for $40. Yeah, $40. That included shipping. I probably just gotten lucky because no one bid. But when you see a chance to buy a PCIII direct from the company who makes em, you can't beat that kind of deal. Also, in the PCIII software you tune a whole map of levels for each rev range, not just high/med/low. Using anything other than a dyno in combination with a PCIII is not only dangerous for the bike, it seriously craps out the performance gains the device was designed for.

I'm taking mine to my local dyno guru as soon as the weather stabilizes and is in the 40s or 50s pretty consistently. If I had bought the bike and the PCIII sooner than last october, I would have already done it. I don't have any experience with tuneboy, but not many people I know have even heard of it. Are tuneboys as widely dyno'd and certified as Power Commanders?

Interesting, $40. . . holy crap!! I understand that aspect now. There is much less experience with Tuneboy because the only bikes that have the programmable ECU that you need are Triumph, Benelli, and Aprilia I think. So, your Honda and Yamaha croud has never heard of it. I don't know about you guys, but I'm the only Triumph guy in my group.

Since both units adjust fuel/air etc, you will be able to get improved performance with either. Tuneboy also lets you view all of your bike's sensors to look for faults or problems, and also lets you adjust timing etc which is a bonus. I am using stock everything on my bike and added the tuneboy. I had it dyno'd with the stock tune, and with my edited one. Above 4-5 grand, I didn't get any benefit by my tuning, but below that, I got between 3 and 7 lbft of torque. Not too bad. If I had a dyno handier, I think I could extend that to some higher RPMs, but all I had for most of my tuning is the butt dyno!

[argh]

As a new Triumph owner, I'm not sure how consistent the tunes are.

On the Aprilia RST, variations in fuel pressure led to a tune that worked great on one bike totally sucking on another. There was no good way to know, so most everyone just used one of the stock tunes that ran rich, and did a derestrict/air filter/exhaust job that resulted in "pretty good".

Few dyno shops will be familiar with Tuneboy, and some of them now have dynos that can interact directly with the PCIII to create a tune "closed loop". I've heard that Tuneboy can now be updated from the PCIII map, but that is asking a lot from Mr. Friendly Dyno Operator. Presumably if you can find a rocket scientist, you can get much better results with Tuneboy. However, it'll cost 'ya. On the Futura forums, there's a guy who charges ~$1500 or so to do a custom Tuneboy tune - dyno/fuel/air every throttle position, every entry, every cylinder.

[Will]

$1500 seems like a lot of money for a custom tune. Tuneboy does run in PC emulator mode. I haven't tried it yet, but the theory is that you can plug a usb cable into your computer just like plugging a usb cable into a Power Commander. Then the dyno thinks Tuneboy IS a Power Commander. The only reason I can think of for going with a Power Commander instead of Tuneboy (aside from finding a Power Commander for $40) is not having a computer that you can put next to your bike. If you have to buy a computer to run it on, it isn't worth it.

As far as tunes and bikes being inconsistent, you are going to get a bit of that from all manufacturers. Triumph tolerances seem to be as tight as they come, so I would expect to find less variance until you get a whole lot of mileage on your bike.

[linsler]

I often wondered, not having a Tuneboy, how this product comes together. You order it on their web site in Australia, they ship it to you from there I assume. What's in the package exactly? A cable and a software disk?

More like a cable and an email. The software is available for download. All you are really buying is a key to unlock the right to upload tunes. Everything else is 'freeware' so to speak. But - in the software world, when you spend $800 on photoshop (you did spend money on photoshop right?) you're paying for code - not the box, cd and booklet.

I commend the guy that wrote TB, but I can't jusify a toy for that kind of bread.

P

More like a cable and an email. The software is available for download. All you are really buying is a key to unlock the right to upload tunes. Everything else is 'freeware' so to speak. But - in the software world, when you spend $800 on photoshop (you did spend money on photoshop right?) you're paying for code - not the box, cd and booklet.

I commend the guy that wrote TB, but I can't jusify a toy for that kind of bread.

P

[kuhlka]

Its not like Tuneboy is going to give you massive 50hp gains over Power Commander anyway. Save the money, buy some parts, lol.

[kuhlka]

Its not like Tuneboy is going to give you massive 50hp gains over Power Commander anyway. Save the money, buy some parts, lol.