SCT Livewire

Anyone here using the SCT Livewire? If so, how do you like it?

I've been researching this for quite some time, and decided to go ahead and get one and try it. Initially, I didn't think that they supported custom tunes, only canned tunes. ( the old information on SCTs website didn't say anything about supporting custom tunes, but the new info does) I just found out that they have always had the ability for custom tunes, but there used to be problems loading some custom tunes into them.

The information on the website is also not very clear as to the features that are included vs ones that you need to buy extra sensors for. The picture shows AFR and Boost displayed on the screen, but these are both add on features. (I figured that boost was, but I thought that it may get the AFR from the ECU, and while not nearly as accurate as a stand alone wideband, it would be nice to have)

I called Brenspeed, and got some really good clarification on this tuner. Basically, it's an XCal with a built in G-Tech. It does everything that the XCal does, plus it will display estimated HP, TQ, 1/4 time, reaction time, etc. If it is as accurate as the G-Tech, then it will be a pretty cool feature.

You can also ADD sensors to be able to diplay other parameters such as AFR and Boost. I have not looked into the cost of the add on sensors yet, but I've been looking for an all-in-one solution to add guages, so since I need a good tuner anyway, I figured that I'd start with the Livewire, and see if its worth adding to.

Well, I've had my Livewire for a couple of weeks now, so I figured that I'd post my impressions......

First of all, Brenspeed was great to deal with. I got everything sooner than expected, and their tunes are great (even though my car is completely stock). The 93 Octane tune didn't do much for my horrible gas milage as I had hoped, but that'll probably take some more in depth research. The car definately runs stronger and there is a noticible difference on the butt dyno. It also runs smoother without the dead spot in the throttle that it used to have. The only downside, is that now that I've got a tuner, I'm itching to do more mods. Plus my clutch has always been jerky (like its glazed or has hot spots), and this will only speed up it's demize.

Secondly, I did have a problem at first with reading diagnostic codes. It worked the very first time that I tried it, but every time after that it would just have a bunch of stuff scrolling across the screen, and the livewire would lock up......it would just keep scrolling and you couldn't exit out. Turning off the key also did nothing. I had to unplug the unit to reset it. I've heard some negative feedback on SCTs customer service, but let me tell you that my experience was nothing short of excellent. I spoke with Rudy at SCT, and he had a solution for me immediately. He had me load the stock tune back to my car. Then he connected to my laptop remotely while I was AT A COFFEE SHOP, and he flashed my livewire ON THE SPOT! I took it out to the car, plugged it in, and everything worked perfectly. He even put a PDF of how to make a cable to connect additional analog sensors (such as Boost and AFR) to my livewire on my laptop so that I would have it. I'll soon be b uying the sensors from PLX Devices so that I can try out those features.

Installation was quick and easy. It has a very good suction cup that sticks to the windshield and is adjustible both horizontally and vertically, so placement is easy. It just plugs into your ODB connecter, like any other tuner. I took the trim off and routed the cable behind it so that its a more permanent and clean install.

The only complaint that I have about the unit itself, is that the cable connectors are on the bottom of the unit. So, the cable (and another cable when I install the analog sensors) loop down kinda' in the way. I wish that the connectors were in the back of the unit. But, i may be able to find some right angle adapters that will help some. The connections are just a standard RJ-45 connector for the ODB cable, and a Firewire connector for the analog inputs.


For the realtime monitoring and datalogging, it took some playing with the different parameters to figure out what all was available and useful. For example, Fuel Pressure is called inj_press_drop, and timing is called spark. You can have up to 6 parameters displayed at a time. I currently have Fuel Pressure, Timing, Intake Air Temperature, Voltage, RPMs and Speed. Some of the parameters are static settings, such as idle RPMs. I see no reason to have static settings shown on the realtime monitoring screen, since they are set it and forget it types of things that only need attention when tuning.

I have yet to try out the G-Tech type features. I need to go to a scale to get an accurate vehicle weight so that those will be as accurate as possible.


Overall, I give it a