I need to purchase a scan tool to tune my Buick and I am not sure which one to buy? I do have a laptop computer? Which scan tool do you recommend and why?
Turbolink because it is the easiest to use and has outstanding support that is always available.
Thanks Steve
I thought turbolink is the way to go but I was considering others. I notice alot of GN owners have scan masters. Steve what do you think about scan master? Thanks again.
Take a look at:
http://www.turbo-link.com/tlink/scanchart.html
It lays out the Pros and Cons of the devices ... they all have their strengths, just depends on things that are important to you for the way you are going to use the car.
Thanks Ken,
Not sure what you meant by the things that are important to me and the way I am going to use the car? Really wanted something that I see while I am driving the car? By the way Ken which one do you use. Thanks again.
Well, the chart is laid out to give you the Pros and Cons of the different tools. Some of the things that are "Pros" are more important to some people than others...
For example, if you are a low 10 second racer and tweak/burn your own chips, the data provided by DirectScan is invaluable.
If you are a home tuner with an 11/12 second car and like to move the unit between cars easily ... and you need complete recording/playback capabilities. TurboLink is a good choice.
If you want a "guage" type of set up that you can use without the laptop in the car, then the ScanMaster is a good step.
Depends on what is important to you!
... and (of course) I use <*drum roll*> TurboLink
... for a good reason... It's my product!
Thanks Ken you've been very helpful.
TURBOLINK it is since I am a home tuner and have a laptop.:} Just wanted to make what would be best for me. Thanks again.
Scanmaster is nice...I own two of them....BUT
they have no recording function and are basically useless for determining what happens during a run.
It is nice as it records maximum timing retard and lowest o2 reading and it is very useful in programming a MaxEffort chip. After you have a recording scan tool, the SM is the second choice. I use mine for iac/tps adjustments, programming my MaxEfforts, and keeping an eye on retard. It just has limited utility in diagnosing problems and fine tuning for performance.
I'd like to offer a dissenting opinion here...
I have DirectScan installed in my car, and I'm convinced that it was a great investment. There's a big difference between getting a frame of data every 1.5 seconds, and getting 18 frames of data per second. With the data capturing that DirectScan offers, I can see everything my car is doing during a pass, especially transient stuff like knock. The DirectScan data is also easily convertable to spreadsheets, if you're so inclined. I have some graphs that I made from DirectScan on my web site: http://people.mw.mediaone.net/mgmshar/gndata.htm . I wouldn't have been able to see all that detail with TurboLink.
Of course, DirectScan costs more, is not transportable between cars, and requires you to hack open your car's computer. In fact, I owned a copy of Turbolink for about three months before I bought DirectScan. I thought the extra money was worth it.
I'm not trying to knock TurboLink or anything - it's an excellent package. Just pointing out an alternative, depending on how much information you want to get.
My $0.02...
I have both, The DS definetly has more whistles and bells though many are not really necessary. The 18 FPS is nice, If you're a computer kinda guy, and crave LOTS of information it is great. However, for the average guy running a mid 11 sec car who dont burn his own chips, Turbolink is pretty darn good. Also the boost record feature of T.Link is a MAJOR plus. When running D.S. I really miss that.
The one thing that Turbolink has over any and all others is CUSTOMER SUPPORT. Ken goes WAY beyond the call of duty to help his customers out with any problems or questions they may have. I'd be willing to bet that 99.9% of his customer support calls come from first time users, (like I was at one time) who just need some basic ?s answered. I cannot express how important it is to have someone like Mr. Mosher to call when you have a ?
Most other scan devices, like xray, otc-whatever aren't supported by a Turbo Buick guru. Or the actual maker of the product is too busy with other things to deal with the product that he has vendors sell. Being able to go right to the guy who designed and built the thing is a luxury that we don't see in this world very often.
Dwight Hayden
87 GN 11.33 stock - with a few bolt ons (and that full season was tuned with Turbolink)
Hi Ken,
I was wondering, where is the best place to buy turbo-link?
Hi Mick ...
We haven't got a distributorship arrangement worked out with many of the Buick vendors yet (it's kind of tough since it's the end of the racing season, I guess ...)
Easiest is to buy direct from us ... http://www.turbo-link.com if you want to order over the web or give us a call at 970-226-3867 if you want to use a credit card instead of PayPal.
Send me email direct at accelerate@acceleratetech.com if you have any questions (or call). Thanks!
I got my Turbo Link ordered....8^)
Thanks Ken!
anyone know where I can get Direct Scan? My friend showed it to me tonight, he bought his used. Ive seen the others , and DS is so much faster, my friend had to slow his down. I guess since it reads directly from the ecm rather than the under dash port. Thanks!
Mark
Conley's is the master dist for the Direct Scan.
They are usually in stock.
Take Care