Tuner thoughts and a little industry buzz (long post)

[Wrecker]

Disclaimer: I do not have any affiliation with nor do I sell any product from any of the companies whose products are described below. Your results may vary.

I have just completed phase one of a months long completely unscientific tuner evaluation. Thanks to Unit453 and Cougar281 for their trust and support. They will probably have their own thoughts and I would love to hear them also.

The truck involved was an extended cab long bed 2006 Chevy Duramax LBZ. The one in my sig, running Cooper 285s on Procomp 16x8" wheels. Stock exhaust, and stock intake, Autometer Cobalt Boost and EGT gauges.

The tuners involved were: Superchips FlashPaq, Diablo Predator, and PPE Xcelerator. PPE was only tested to level 4, I was afraid for my stock trans.

I'll rank sotp/unscientific test evaluations.

Throttle Response: 1. Diablo 2. SCT(close second) 3. PPE

The Diablo makes the truck feel very "light on it's feet" on the 85 setting, very driveable and responsive, the best feeling tune of any. On the 120 setting, the shifts defueled hard and came early. The SCT on #3 (Performance Level) was a very close second. All levels of the PPE came on much slower and had far less throttle response, my wife called them "doggy"


EGTs (Lower is better) 1. PPE 2. SCT 3. Diablo

PPE was the king of the hill, substantially lower EGTs than the others. SCT was a fair bit higher. Diablo was smokin'. 1500F was not uncommon on the 85 tune, and 1300+ was almost unavoidable on the 120 tune. WOT got really hot really fast. Remember this is a stock exhaust (until Friday, thanks to Chad at Alligator).


Smoke (Less is better) 1.SCT 2. Diablo 3. PPE

SCT gives a little haze on the highest setting at WOT. Diablo will throw some smoke but must be on the highest setting, 85 and below are clean. PPE on level 4 smokes like it's on fire, lots of fun for tailgaters!

Mileage I have no idea, I quit bothering to keep track. It was all over the place, my right foot has a mind of it's own.

Flashlight drag 1. SCT 2. Diablo (PPE not tested due to weather conditions and scheduling issues)

This was the most surprising result to me. Using Jahesh's truck as a control, we used a hill we both know and tested the Diablo 85 and 120 tunes against his tuck running the same SCT top level tune.

Results:

Both of us running the same SCT top level tune, I just edged him out. Probably due to weight difference.

Me with Diablo on 85. He walks away, I was shocked. Repeated several times with the same result.

Me with Diablo on 120. He walked away even more, I think the massive defueling during shifts/short shifting was to blame.


Finally, I just updated the SCT today with the new mileage tune, I'll report on the results later when I can somehow evaluate it so that the results mean something. To update the tuner I had to call SCT, they told me some new things are in store for the first of the year. I told them I hoped this meant a "bigger" tune. The rep told me to be patient and I should be pleased with the results. He was hinting at a more powerful tune that would need to be purchased separately for $5 or $10.

 

[durallymax]

Ive heard from a few people that the PPE tunes are doggy. Ive noticed it in some of the trucks ive ridden in with them.

 

[Unit453]

Exactly what I thought of PPE as well. It literally had to be planted to the floor to move anywhere. Running on the 225 tune smoked so much that I was constantly afraid of getting stopped. I could fog an intersection and clog it up for 10 minutes. What I didnt like was when you stomped on it, smoke poured out and nothing happened for 2 seconds. It smokes at any and all rpms and all throttle positions. I would get a haze constantly and my exhaust tip and rear bumper corner was always black with soot. My shifts never got right either. It shifted quirky the entire time and never seemed to learn this power.

I also didnt think that PPE on 225 was really any stronger than my Hypertech on 90.

Good write up.

 

[richard cheese]

glad to see that the diablo hung in there quite well in these tests. best bang for the buck, imo

your test trucks have kittys?

 

[BudTX]

That is an interesting take on the PPE tuning. I see exactly the opposite with mine, albeit on the 350 setting with a lift pump, fuel shim mod and intake. I have to be extremely careful when accelerating, because the truck will get sideways very easily.

I do like the slow speed throttle response on the PPE much better than the Predator. I found the Predator to be very twitchy at parkign lot speeds.

 

[Unit453]

glad to see that the diablo hung in there quite well in these tests. best bang for the buck, imo

your test trucks have kittys?

He said its got stock exhaust.

 

[richard cheese]

He said its got stock exhaust.

you dont gotta be a dick about it ):h

j/k

 

[Mad Maxx]

Damn, I'm shocked you guys say you felt that the PPE was Laggy and that you got crazy amounts of Smoke.

It wasn't as Jumpy as the Edge Evo Level 4, but past 1/2 Throttle, it was dumb Fast.

I REALLY had to Stomp on it to get any Smoke when I was on Level 6, and after doing the Trans. Quick Learn, after about 20 minutes, I was Shifting fine.

 

[BudTX]

What was the tuning date of the PPE that you tested?

 

[Unit453]

He ran the same programmer that I ran for about a month or so. Its owned by Cougar281 (Dave) and he let me (us) try it out to see how it felt on our trucks. It ran good but it was too damn sluggish and entirely too much turbo lag for my liking.

You'd have to ask Dave what the last date was that it was updated.

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

A friend sent me some PPE tunes to look at, and I can see why they are so smoky. They purposely built them to fuel like no tommorrow below 2000 RPM's and then cut back and fuel like they should up top. Would make for a good show if you like smoke, but not good to bring the power in fast and strong.