So I keep coming back to this topic. I'm currently considering the SCT but still not quite sure how it works.
First of all, I like the idea of being able to make tuning upgrades as I add stuff to my car (cam/exhaust/intake/heads/etc). As each step is done it would benefit from being 'added' to the program as well. Having to re-flash each time would be costly. Or I could wait until everything is done and do it once.
The thing I am still confused on is how the SCT actually works. My previous experience with handheld tuners allowed you to plug in to the OBDII and install a tune basedon stock/towing/performance pre-loaded tunes. On some you could even change tire height, shift points, EGR settings, cat delete, cooling fans on/off, etc. Will any of the handhelds for the Viper do exactly this? I keep hearing it doesn't come pre-loaded with a tune. So what good is it if I have to go get a custom tune from a shop that specializes in that?
Can someone please clear this up? I'm looking for a simple answer as to whether or not the handheld will give me personal tuning capabilities without having to buy a custom tune on top of buying the programmer.
Thanks,
So the SCT itself is just the device that allows a tune to be installed on your car. You can save up to three tunes on the device and flash them to your car at will. I believe it can do more that just fuel and spark remapping as you mentioned, but I am not sure it's full capabilities as I have not messed with any software for them. I know it can turn off shift lights and I believe downstream O2 sensors, so I'd wager it could do most if not all of the things you listed.
Making the tunes is a different story. You can buy the software that creates tunes that you can load on the SCT, but it is costly. There is also next to no documentation (especially for Vipers), so you're kind of tuning in the dark and making changes to see what works. These are not high volume cars, so not many people are familiar with the computer's capabilities. I have debated getting the software myself to see what I could change, but the price tag wasn't worth it for just idle curiosity. I believe the way it works is you buy the base software, then "tokens" for the cars you want to tune with it. The SCT handheld itself can be used to talk to several different vehicles, but they limit what you can create tunes for by making you essentially buy a license for each kind of car you want to tune. You can buy bulk at a discount (like all supported Dodge vehicles for instance), or just one vehicle (like a Viper) at a time.
The other caveat with the handheld itself is that it can only be used on a single vehicle at a time. By that I mean if you use it to push a custom tune to your car, it "locks" itself to your car until you push the stock tune back. At that point you can then use it to push a tune to another vehicle, which will then lock it to that vehicle until you flash it back to stock. You can only use it on three different vehicles before it completely locks itself so you can't use it anymore. You can get the handheld unlocked to be used again, but I'm not sure what the cost involved is (probably a few hundred bucks if I had to guess). I do not know if the software will allow you to unlock it though.
That's more or less the extend of my knowledge on the SCT. Typically speaking you buy the handheld, have a shop create a tune for you based on your mods, load it to the handheld, and flash it to your car. If you make changes to your car, you have the shop send you a new tune and load it up to the handheld to repeat the process. The shop can email you the tune file and there is software that comes with the handheld (for free) that allows you to move a tune from a personal computer to the handheld, but it is not tuning software. I realize this all sounds very convoluted, but I didn't design the system, lol. Does this make any more sense to you? If you want to tune your own car, then you'll be paying a hefty amount to get the ability (I think the tune creation software is something like $2000). I think many shops will charge you more for an initial tune and then maybe give you a discount if you go back after making smaller changes. Say maybe $500 for a custom from scratch tune and then $100 for an update after you swap headers or something like that.
