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EFILive V7 FlashScan is delivered complete with software, two PCM licenses, module, interface cables and external sensor connection blocks. V7 retails for $699 and additional PCM licenses can be added for $99, without the need to send anything back for revision. Other a la carte upgrade options are available for those starting with earlier EFI Live/AutoTap versions. For shops, unlimited license versions can be had for less than 7k. |
EFILive takes advantage of super-fast USB (Universal Serial Bus) communications, and the difference from older-type serial scanners is immediately evident. You'll need at least an 800 MHz Pentium PC, running Windows 98 or better, and one available USB port. |
FlashScan is available with individual PCM licenses, or in workshop (unlimited) format. Once you lock into a PCM, that license is stuck with that PCM forever. It comes with two licenses, but additional PCM licenses are available from EFILive and can be added any time. |
V7 will automatically detect supported PIDs for your application. The program is customizable, allowing selection and de-selection of desired PIDs for scanning. This table lists those supported, along with a handy definition chart. |
Virtual dashboards are fully customizable. The package includes the shown dash, a strip chart version and a blank dash for fresh start customization. And yes, this is a live shot with the author bravely flirting with 160 mph...uhhh...on the dyno... |
The tuning software navigates similar to the scanning software--everything is point and click. Handy pop-up windows briefly explain what each button does. Shown is the DTC table, in which each DTC can be adjusted or turned off. One thing we found missing in the diagnostic section were tables for tuning misfire detection parameters, catalyst efficiency tests, and HO2 tests. We hope EFILive adds these critical tables to future versions. For now, we'll have to shut off the DTCs rather than tune them for our setups. |
Bi-directional controls are as close to full emulation as we get on LS1 PCMs. The big dividends from bi-directional controls are with idle tuning--putting a big cam in is sure to send your idle into a frenzy. Being able to scan engine parameters and tweak idle controls in real-time can only help expedite the idle tuning process. Idle tuning is one of the more difficult tuning processes, so the added benefits of bi-directional controls are welcomed. Shown is the handy spark and fuel toggle screen. We used the controls to test a certain setup before making the more permanent tuning change and re-flash. At the top of our wish list to EFILive is full emulation capability. Complete real-time emulation would allow us to change ALL parameters on the fly, as the engine runs. You'll find emulators for older 'chip' ECMs and newer aftermarket controllers, but nothing for factory LS1 PCMs...yet. |
Think EFILiveV7 FlashScan is just another run-of-the-mill scan tool for your LS1? Think again my friend. New Zealand's EFILive, in partnership with Aussie based Starr Performance and PCM Tech, has just introduced its latest product, EFILive V7 and FlashScan. As you can decipher from the name, FlashScan is a fully integrated scan tool and PCM tuner (a.k.a. editor and re-flasher) package. As if this isn't cool enough, FlashScan is packed with more kick-ass features. The recipe for the new design was based on customer wish lists and user feedback, and EFILive's open ear design approach didn't disappoint.
Starting with the scan tool section, FlashScan has proven to be an advanced and extensively capable tool. For starters, the interface unit itself is a stand alone scan and data-logging device; no computer is necessary to log data. Next, bi-directional controls are included with FlashScan--this allows the user to temporarily tweak various parameters in real-time, while both the engine and scan tool are running. In other words, we can very speedily trim a parameter, such as fuel or spark, in a quasi-emulator style simply to evaluate the effects, without the need to edit a PCM parameter, save the tune, and re-flash the PCM with each change. The FlashScan's computer interface is as expected. We were delighted to find the connection to the PC is through the lightning-fast USB, rather than the turtle-slow serial plug. Once running, the software's fully customizable set of screens, charts and virtual dashboards will get you started. Tons of evaluation tools are integrated for surfing through and making sense out of scan logs. All the DTC checks and resets are also included.
That covers most of the base scan tool features, but there is more to this package. We've all become addicted to our wide band O2s. Factory O2 sensors are typically great for closed loop control, but less than adequate for accurate engine mapping. The problem is that the wide band is typically a totally independent instrument, or at best tied into the dyno. With FlashScan, you can directly log the wide band signal, and the good news is that most any wide band sensor will work, as long as the output is a voltage. For that matter, the FlashScan will technically allow for a 0-5 volt analog input channel of your choice. For most of us, that will be a wide band. And if you're old school and still swear by EGT, rather than a wide band O2? No problem, FlashScan can also accept a type-K thermocouple reading. Better yet, run them both--knowledge is power, and nothing is truer when it comes to PCM tuning. With the FlashScan, data scan logging can include all the PCM based parameters, plus your external wide band and thermocouple signal. This is simply outstanding in our opinion.The guys at EFILive put the same effort into creating the tuning end of the software. The result is a truly professional-caliber and seriously powerful tuning program. Again, the advantage of a USB connection is evident as a PCM read completes in less than two minutes--we've seen this take as long as 20 minutes in the past. Exhaustive PCM editing freedom is available, from the most basic tables through the most obscure parameters.
The user interface is quite friendly and we love the fact that it is intrinsically navigatible. It's a point-and-click program, and offers just enough description or explanation to make sense of each parameter. Data is visible in numeric format and color-rich chart format. The three-dimensional charts are interactive: the user is able to rotate the charts to any angle desired, and without bogging down the computer or waiting for a refresh. Chart labels automatically move with the rotating charts, making reading a cinch. Correlating chart data to plot data is as easy as highlighting a section of a table, and watching the program highlight the corresponding area on the plot.
This interaction between the plots and tables helps tremendously in making sense out of engine mapping. Tuning changes can be made in any number of ways, such as numeric trimming, multiplying, percent change, copy and paste, or clicking and dragging with the mouse. Built-in mathematical smoothing functions can be applied to help blend in your changes, without the tediousness of manually adjusting numbers in each adjoining cell. The software also has an UNDO/REDO option, so any mistake is easily undone with the click of a button. When it comes to sending the tune back into the PCM, a sense of security has been added to the process. We are all too familiar with the dreaded 'failed' or 'frozen' re-flashing and resultant scrap PCM, which is generally associated with tuning. To our delight, the re-flashing process with FlashScan is SAFE! According to EFILive, if re-flashing halts for any reason, simply restart it. In other words, if you trip and pull the cable out of the ALDL or your laptop battery dies, you won't be screwed with a dead PCM. Simply restart the process and you're all set. (We'll take their word on this, rather than test it!)
Ok, so we have two truly professional tools, one for scanning data and one for tuning and reprogramming the PCM. Why integrate them? Besides the obvious advantages, like having one piece of equipment, familiar and similar software, and a lower total cost, we found one more killer reason: scan data can be directly correlated to tune data. What this means is that when you are studying your scan logs you can, at any point, check and see what the PCM tune was calling for. For instance, when evaluating a saved data scan log you may notice a parameter is not appearing as expected. By correlating the scan data with the tune maps, it becomes easy to identify where the logged value came from. After reviewing correlated scan data and the tune map, it may surprise you to see the actual course or path the engine takes across a map. If nothing less, studying the correlations will help you learn the functional significance of various maps you may not be familiar with. For example, log some zero-to-sixty passes and then link the scans to the tune data. Familiarize yourself with where on the maps the engine is operating during the acceleration runs. This will help you concentrate your tuning efforts on portions of the maps that deserve tuning.
Once you know how an engine travels through a map, you can tune it more smoothly, since you know what cells will follow as the engine revs under load.Theoretically, we could add the latest G-Tech Pro to our arsenal of high-tech electronic tools and be tuning completely at the track, no lab equipment or dyno required! We'll save that for a future project. For now, we chose to test and tune more traditionally on SLP Performance Parts' chassis dyno in Toms River, New Jersey. Our testing and tuning was completed on a bolt-on beefed 2002 LS1 Corvette M6. Being only a bolt-on modded car, idle tuning and fuel mapping were not necessary. If we had added a camshaft of any sort, both idle and fuel mapping would have been forefront tuning initiatives. The same could be said about increased displacement or forced induction mods; both would require extensive work to the idle, fuel and spark tables. We wanted to fully explore and evaluate as many aspects of the new EFILive FlashScan as possible, rather than concentrate on tuning theories, so we chose to stick to the less demanding tune of the bolt-on C5 for this evaluation.