Performance upgrade, which one is best?

[Jimamatic]

To all those who have made the jump to more HP torgue and fuel economy, which one has been found to be the best one for the money? The most important thing I'm looking for is increased fuel mileage. I've heard of alot of different programs out there like hypertech, edge, etc....
Appreciate any replies.

Jim

[29OUTLAW]

want to know the same..... Predator, Egde, Dog

[ 12-30-2005, 06:49 AM: Message edited by: 29OUTLAW ]

[Kennedy]

Depends if you want to do tire size etc.

I'll first state that my stand on mpg (contrary to what the "yes men" say) is that you should modify for power and IF you gain mpg, consider it a bonus. The HP is something that I can test, verify etc, but mpg gain can be elusive. Either of my trucks will produce similar mpg numbers (approachiung 20 mpg) with or without programming/chip mods.


The two best mods in my opinion are the Edge Juice/EZ and the Diablo Predator. The choice between these two comes down to features and personal/vehicle preference.


I prefer the way the Edge tows, especially if you add a Boost Stick. Being load driven, it really shines when you put a load on the truck. There is also an added (but not failsafe) protection feature to cut back the power in the event of a transmission slip. The Predator on the other hand is a bit more responsive to light load inputs and allows for changes in speedometer for tire size and for top speed limits. There is also some benefit to not having any working hardware to fail.


That said, I've had customers choose one (either Edge or Diablo) dislike it, and trade for the other and become perfectly happy. Comes down to personal/vehicle preference some times.

[Jimamatic]

Thanks Kennedy. That's some good info to start with. I'm acually doing the research for my wifes uncle who has a 01 or 02 one ton D/A with stock tires. I'll forward this info and give him your web address. Thanks again.

Jim

[drthv8r]

I've had nothing but bad luck when running The Edge Juice. Just my $.02 worth and worth every penny.

[Kennedy]

Originally posted by drthv8r:
I've had nothing but bad luck when running The Edge Juice. Just my $.02 worth and worth every penny. Like I said above, I've had people change in both directions. I've also run the actual toublesome Juice in this case on my own truck w/o issue. There just seems to be an occasional incompatibility...

[poolman12]

29OUTLAW
When you install & use your edge w/attitude a while, you will feel lost without it if you ever take it off.
Have a nice day
Poolman

[oyazi]

Being on fixed income, I'm unable to purchase all the stuff I'd like. I must settle for one. I did so. I chose the Juice w/'tude and for some reason it didn't like my truck. It didn't want to come on when first started but would when restarted after reaching temperature. This is uncommon.

Edge has one of the best customer service in the business. They replaced the unit w/an improved unit that seems to work w/my truck. Don't know about Diablo. I purchased some gages from Banks once and they refuse to talk to me about the issues I had w/them. Perhaps they would be more responsive if I was a cash cow.

[Bill Voitel]

I have the predator on the PSD and like it alot it can do a bunch of stuff ajust for tire size look for fault codes & clear them and such read IAT and lots of neat stuff that you may never need but you got it. The one big downside is no changing tune on the fly. The main reason i went with a programmer is if I melt the motor down or break it I will back out the tune install the stock one and tow it to the sealer and say "I don,t Know just quit runnin" It did loos the stock tune backup once called the guys @ Diablo gave me a code and re-set the tuner no problems after that...Just anothe tip fron the DARK SIDE...Bill. :eek: :eek: :eek:

[oyazi]

Originally posted by Bill Voitel:
.......... It did loos the stock tune backup once called the guys @ Diablo gave me a code and re-set the tuner no problems after that...Just anothe tip fron the DARK SIDE...Bill. :eek: :eek: :eek: Now, that scary. Sounds like my kind of luck. Thanks for sharing.

[More Power]

The Edge/Attitude (http://www.thedieselpage.com/reviews/attitude.htm) is a favorite. Gauges aren't necessary (cuz it includes the ability to monitor boost/egt), has an adjustable/automatic EGT backdown feature, and power levels can be toggled on the fly. The new A2 takes all this to the next level (including sat navigation), but costs quite a bit more.

I also like the Van-Aaken (http://www.thedieselpage.com/reviews/dsgvanaaken.htm) module. Had one on my 2001 for about 3 years. Power level adjust on the fly, and I like the power delivery. I usually tow on the first level (70 hp), but need to watch EGT on the long hard uphill pulls with a trailer.

The Predator (http://www.thedieselpage.com/reviews/programmers.htm) is another good one, but as has been mentioned earlier, all programmers come with some risk of messing up the truck's ECM. I did it once... by not warming the truck up before loading a program. Varying voltage due to the glow plugs caused a load failure, which required dealer intervention... I've used one on Lil Red dozens of times without a problem. Works great to correct the speedo, read/reset codes and see realtime engine data. Indispensable for these sorts of activities...

Jim

[Kennedy]

Just FYI, I've hit a few speed bumps while programming my LB7 with a Diablo custom tune. These were errors caused by the custom program and caused teh ECM to be blank. What I found is that if you disconnect and reconnect the Predator it sill recognize the fault and ask if you want to restore it. This of course only works if the tune has been saved. It's definitely the smartest of the hand held downloaders...