Thats cool man. I bought my Edge before the price hike so I got it for 320 out the door. If I were looking into a tuner/programmer at this point in time there is no question I would go with TP. What do you use the rig for??? Or let me guess you want your truck to do a 5.2 0-60 and still get 22MPGs?? ha ha J/K man

Here is a good post from a member named SKI from another thread in the Chip/Tuner section.

"I have posted on this before. My top choices would be.

1. Troyer= Great Performance and Awesome customer service.
2. Brenspeed= Tune was sent within 5-7 days. good performance. I found
Troyers tune had better acceleration, and performance. If
I didn't have a troyer tune or knew about troyers tune
Then I would have Brenspeed.
3. Justin from VMP= Took a while for him to send me a working tune. The too
was okay nothing crazy. Had a slight hesitation
4. Innovated Diesel= The only reason I'm rating him 4th, was he couldn't get
a tune without throwing a cel light on the AF1. His
tune was totally awesome, great acceleration and
performance, probably just as good as troyer, but
it kept throwing lean condition with AF1. He did supply
a working tune with JLT intake, but it wasn't as good
as the one for AF1.
5.BamaChips= Took forever to get a working tune. I think I eventually gave
up on them. The tune wouldn't shift properly into overdrive.

These are the tunes I have experienced with. The only reason I tried the other tunes, was because I wanted to see for myself just how good one tuner is over the other. Troyer stands above them all. Eric at Innovated Diesel's tune was very, very comparable to troyers tune.(I'll let Mike comment on it if he wants, there is a reason for it being comparable.)

Feel free to send me a pm or email and I'll try to go into more detail of the tunes."

 

Nah, I didn't buy the truck to go fast. I bought it to haul stuff for my weekend projects and tow my 6K lb camper. Also wanted 4x4 to get through the winters up here. I'm looking into tuners to mostly improve throttle response and get more grunt for towing, especially when merging. If I can pick up a few MPG's in the process I won't complain.

 

to answer your original question, I have a super chips programmer I can tell a difference with and with out it. When towing my 7000 pound camper it makes a big difference. I usually have it programmed for the towing performance. I got it used off the classified. I'm sure one of he custom tunes are better but they would have been much more and I didn't have the money for one of those at the time.

 

[QUOTE=Ftruck05]Or let me guess you want your truck to do a 5.2 0-60 and still get 22MPGs?? ha ha J/K man


That sounds like my truck

 

Just my $.02 worth here. I have been reading up on the Hypertech, and it has a key feature none of the others do. Tune for REGULAR UNLEADED PUMP GAS ($2.59 gallon currently) versus PREMIUM UNLEADED PUMP GAS ($2.89 gallon currently) so with a 25 gallon fill up, you would spend $7.50 more each time you filled up. If you fill up once a week, that would be $7.50 x 52 = $390.00 in a year not counting any road trips taken.

I think the write up I saw comparing the Power Programmer III to the Evolution had the PP III coming in at something like 2.5hp lower on 87 octane at the rear wheels as the Evolution with 93.

With hurricanes threatening quality fuel supplies, cost differences, etc... at least for me, there is no question which one is going to tune my truck. If RWHP is your only concern, then sure, a custom tune, or if you want a fancy guage pod, the Evolution, but for other considerations, the Power Programmer III is a great little programmer.

 

I use The Edge on the tow performance program and it is designed to run on regular unleaded fuel, the same with the transmission only program.

The Edge seems like it gets more issues because it is more popular and has the most functionality. The Edge has been installed in my truck for almost 2 years with no issues.

 

A custom tune is "custom". You can tune for any grade of gas.

Another voter for X-cal2 here.

 

You can customize The Edge for any kind of gas well. The lowest setting uses 85 to 87 fuel. The tow performance setting uses 87+ or you may get additional benefits from using 89 (or better) fuel. The highest performance setting uses 91+ (or better) fuel.

 

What do you guys consider to be a "custom" tune?

If plugging in a machine and setting it to a certain perameter (octane level, or whatever) is considered a custom tune, well, that isn't a custom tune in my books.
Just trying to get clarification, because from what I've read from a few on here, it seems that this is what you consider a custom tune to be.

A mail order tune is not a custom tune either. Every engine is different, even if they came from the same assembly line and they're the exact same model/style engine.

 

good morning Tbird I had a Hypertec 3 for about 6 months then got the XCalII planing on the blower install Hypertec3 cant program for that my 1/4 times were comparable XCal 2 tenths faster but the drivability on the street XCal by Troyer was unbelievably faster (throttle response ) shifts and when you want to change tune XCal hands down faster (and has a back button hit the wrong button on the Hypertec and spend the next half hour programing then going back and reprogramming because you cant go back or abort the programing )

 

Well enlighten us on custom tune then
Because I Have a Custom Mail order tune with spot on A/R first time

 

Do you have a sheet to show your A/R throughout the entire powerband, and how do you actually know it's bangon?.
What is your A/R?
What I'm getting at here is, without actually driving the vehicle in a realworld scenario or tuned on a dyno with a bung and properly fixed 02 sensor and A/F readout, how do you know your engine is tuned for optimum performance? Has the timing curve and A/R been adjusted accordingly and specifically for your vehicle, or did you simply give the details about your engine to a programmer to have them send you a generic tune that matches every other setup that is the same as yours?

 

Hi.

Buy me a coffee, and I'll learn ya REAL good LOL!

A custom tune via mail order starts with a full 7 digit strategy code match ( not just 5 like for a canned tune).

In the case of TP, who has tuned literally thousands of these trucks, and knows how each strategy ( of which there are hundreds) behaves - and rest assured they are all different like you said ( some not even allowing open loop operation), TP can, with a very high degree of probabilty, supply a first-iteration tune that IS spot-on. Happened to Bootleg, and it happened to me - as it's happened to countless others.

For data, I used one of the methods TP documents - several second-gear-WOT-to-redline sideroad pulls, datalogging via a laptop connected to my Xcal2, to which my LM-1 wideband AFR recorder was interfaced. Running SCT's LiveLink software.

So - I know my AFR's fuel trims and all the rest - approx 15 PID's DMR's captured to do this properly.

Sent off the data for review - and NO adjustments were required. By not using a dyno facilty - and around here there is dearth of places that do these trucks on a rountine basis - I saved money, can do this at will for any future mods, and had a boatload of fun. Only thing I don't know is my RWHP.

TP does not use a SCT template - all tunes done from scratch - and they practice continuous improvement - as you can read if you search. There are hundreds of parameters and they are ALL examined - for EACH specific FULL strategy code - which is what is unique about custom tuning.

Sorry for the windbag answer - but this is a common misconception.

So yes it is indeed possible and is being done for a lot of folks - TP has this procedure down to a fine art - and NO ONE provides documentation as exhaustive and detailed as he does, nor does anyone else approach his level of customer service, IMHO.

And I totally agree - changing a few settings on a canned tune does not meet my definition of 'custom'. LOL!

BUT - the important thing is do whatever makes you comfortable & happy - just try to make an informed decision. A lot of folks are enjoying their Edge and that's all that counts.


Cheers
Bubba

 

Yes I drove to TP and had my truck on Dyno Mike up dated firm wear and did richen AF up above 5400 rpm But I will never see that rpm But hes so thorough he did it any ways And I have not seen to many trucks with my mods so ""CUSTOM"" is the word I would use http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtUt4u8CTl4

 

I'll buy you a coffee anytime. I already told you a couple of places to show up for a meet and greet In fact, if it's not raining (although rain's in the forcast for today), I'll probably make a visit to Timmies on Upper James tonight around 8 or 9. I haven't been to either location in a while because I've been up north vacationing for the last month or so. There are always a bunch of us with performance cars and trucks hanging around shootin the shiat about cars and trucks, so I'm sure it would be right up your alley

I needed that long winded answer to clear things up for me, so well done...lol
You've schooled me on this Xcal gizmo, because I had no idea it was that intensive, and certainly with the datalogging capabilities you've used, the results should be of a higher quality. I still think there'd be a margin of improvement to be had on a dyno though, because you'd be able to make adjustments according to what came up on the dyno in regards to losses or gains in power. By doing so, then you'd have concrete evidence on those 20+ rwhp and torque claims
Either way, it certainly sounds like the Xcal is superior to some of these other tuners.