Alright, I am probably going to get flamed for asking another edge question when this forum sees completely overwheled with information about edge products but I cannot seem to find the answers to the questions I am asking. And since I am thinking of asking the wife for a chip for Xmas I need to do my homework now.

So here it goes. I recently bought a 2008 Scab FX4 with the 5.4 and am thinking about getting a chip, I had a superchip in my old truck and loved it. From my research here it seems that edge or gryphon are the two reccomended programmers.

1. I know the edge and gryphon are the same thing except the gryphon comes from PHP with custom tunes. It seems that you only need custom tunes if you are planning on modding your truck, I do not plan on doing anything but this so is there any benifit on spending the extra $$$ and going with the gryphon?

2. Has anyone here ever had any problems with their truck that they feel was a result of the edge or gryphon?

3. Do you have to leave the edge/gryphon hooked up and mount it somewhere in the vehicle or can you install your tune and disconnect the device? i am not really big on having something mounted to my dash.

4. I have read on some vendors sites that you may run 87 octane in all of the power settings available on the edge and on some sites they say you need to run 91 in the maximum performance setting. If someone who has one could tell me what the manual actually says.

5. Is it worth it?

Sorry for the long post, I just want to be sure that when I mess with my truck that I am not doing something that will hurt its longevity and/or be a waste of money.

 

1. I have the Edge, got it before the price jumped. I like it but would get the Gryphon with the 87 performance tune on it. Worth the extra $.

2 Problems, if you change the default settings on either I'm sure sooner or later something could happen. Too much timing, shift pressure, wrong octain, rps set to high, what ever, something YOU did.

3 Install the tune and pull it if you want. The gauges are nice to look at. You can mount it anywhere you like with some thought, glove box, ashtray, pillar.

4 running low octain on a performance tune is asking for detonation, do what they tell you. Read the manual, adjust the timing if you can't get higher octain.

5 yep

 

I have an edge, soon to upgrade to a gryphon for custom tunes, here are some answers, fellas correct me if i am wrong

1)For this it is personal prefference, both the edge and gryphon will perform, i think, the same with canned tunes, I would ask bill , php tuner and a great guy, for more info on that. Yes customs tunes are for mods, but then can squeeze out some more power from a stock truck as well.

2)No problems to report here.

3)No you do not have to leave it hooked up. just remember if you update the software on it to return it to stock first otherwise you will mess up you trucks computer. Once I sent it on my dash i was hooked, i really miss it when its off for updates.

4)The manual says 87 for level 1, 89 for level 2 and 91 for level 3.

5)YES!!! Just the improvment in shifting is enough to warrant getting one.

 

1. I had the Edge with it's canned tunes and thought I was satisfied. I got custom tunes from PHP and they are awesome. The shifting and downshifting are MUCH better. My truck is stock excpt for taller tires and exhaust. You need a tuner to recalibrate with taller tires. I highly recommend the Gryphon over the Edge. Custom tunes are much better and customer service is fantastic.

2. No problems for me.

3. you do not have to leave it hooked up. However, I want mine hooked up as I love the monitor.

4. It comes with two 87 tunes and a 91 tune. YOu must run at least 91 on level 3.

5. If I could have only one mod, it is the one I would choose. Made my truck come alive and fun to drive.

I bought the Edge and converted it to the Gryphon. If I were buying today, it would be the Gryphon.

 

I believe #4 to be wrong, 87 for level 2

 

That is correct. 87 for both levels 1 and 2.

I also disagree that changing settings is detrimental. I changed shift pressure , timing etc and had no problems at all for almost two years with the Edge canned tunes. I went to the 87 and 93 custom tunes purely to correct the deficiencies in downshifting. The canned tune would not downfift at 65 and 70 mph and I needed that in freeway and 2 lane highway driving. Bill's custom tunes fixed that, they downshift at any speed. Plus he set the shift firmness where I wanted it so I do not have to mess with the custom settings.

 

Just for the record there are other tuners that work "equally" as good as an edge or gryphon. 2 other mentionable tuners are the Xcal II, and III, with notable custom tuners such as VMP and Troyer.
Unfortunately, I have no experience with Xcal, Troyer, or VMP, so I will only coment on what i have experience with!
So my opinions are based on usage of Edge Evo and my now upgraded Gryphon with custom tunes.

1. Custom tunes are not exculsive to modded trucks, they work very well on stock trucks, actually better than canned tunes, canned tunes are tunes that come pre-equiped on tuners. IMO the extra money is worth the little extra umph that a custom tuner offers.

2. To be honest I've read about people having tranny problem, and I personally had a throttle body go bad(primarily because i was using canned tunes with an intake). But for the most part the tuner shouldn't cause problems. And if the tuner does cause a problem its usually when people adjust parameters without knowing the full effect.

3. Yes, you can program your vehicle and remove it, but why? I like to be able to monitor my tranny temp, intake temp, avg. MPG, etc.

4. Funny, I have never read ANYWHERE that you can use 87 on a 91+ tune??? And from the knowledge people I've encountered here say unanimously that you should not run 87 on a 91+ tune....

5. WORTH? depends on what you expect? If you expect improved throttle response, slight increase in MPG, and overall better performance, YES.. Its worth it. Don't go expecting to have to tuner pay for itself in gas milage saved that would take a few years.

Hope that helps .. I too was skeptical and weary just like you.
I've had an edge evo for 2 years, a gryphon for about 2 months, and custom gryphon tunes for a bout a week.
Hopefully bluejay or JackAndJill, can offer more insight? as they have long term usage of custom tunes.

 

Not "JackandJill", phatboy! (No "Jills" in this house)!

But back to the subject, all I can really do is "echo" what everyone else has been saying, with "emphasis" on the "fun to drive" part that Bluejay talked about.

Additionally though, my custom towing tune IS saving gas and I calculated (and reported this in another thread) that it saved me at least (and I think it saved more) $42 on a recent 2400 mile trip towing our trailer in the Colorado Rockies. So, in that one trip I've probably recovered the cost of that one custom tune.

I'm comparing these results to my previous "high" mpg using the "canned" towing tune that you get in an Edge/Gryphon. And, that figure was better than what I was getting pulling the trailer before I got the programmer.

I like the custom towing tune so much that I'm now waiting patiently for a custom, "economy", 87-octane, non-towing tune.

And, once I stuck the Gryphon on my dash - I was hooked! It tells you so much more about your engine's health, or whatever you want to monitor. It doesn't look "ugly" or "added on" at all. And, it can alert you if any parameters that you set are exceeded as well as telling you right away if your truck is "throwing a code".

Finally, Bill and Corey at PHP (home of the Gryphon) are the best! Call them and let them tell you what you are getting for your money! I keep saying this, but it bears repeating - They will not try to sell you anything! You get to decide, and I predict you will "sell yourself", like the rest of us did!

- Jack

 

Boy, thanks for the responses. It sounds like people love the edge but once they went to bill at php they loved the gryphon even more. I am glad to hear that no one has had problems with their truck that they feel were caused by the tuners. Looks like I have to decide if the extra $100 is worth the custom tunes.

It sounds like the edge requires 89 for level two and 91 for level 3, if that is the case if might be worth it to get the grypon that way there is a towing and a performance tune for 87 octane.

 

No, Edge and Gryphon are both 87 oct for lev 2. Lev 1 just changes shift patterns, its pretty much a waist of a tune.

 

I was trying to say don't over due it. You can adjust some levels, just don't go to extremes

 

Ok, I didn't read it that way and you are absolutely correct. Just use common sense and good judgement. Or, get custom tunes from Bill and forget about it!

 

DA-ANG! As I posted earlier this week, I think I could go away for awhile, and you guys would totally keep PHP in business! (We'll need you in September... check out the calendar on our news page... it's going to be a busy month!) We sure do appreciate you!

NVERL8, feel free to give us a call if you want to pick our brains. We'll tell you flat out if it's worth it to pay a bit more for a Gryphon -- or not! Life is too short to play such silly games and promote our product without being able to justify it.

You can get our phone number off our website. I'm not sure if it's okay for me, as a sponsor, to post it.

Good luck!

 

If you want an Edge, don't waste your time with it, just get the Gryphon. If not, get an Xcal2 or Xcal3 from a reputable custom tuner. I had the Edge when it was cheaper and I had too many damn problems with it. Screen went out, torque converter would unlock/lock violently around 68-72 mph, rough idle, etc, which none of the problems could be fixed by Edge. I ended up getting a custom tuned Xcal2, kept the Edge for the gauges, and was much more happy. So with all of that said, custom tuning is the way to go, whether it be with a Xcal2 or Xcal3 or even a Gryphon.

 

Aw, Thump, that must've hurt, but we appreciate the help. There's a bar near where we live called Thumper's, but instead of an apostrophe, they have a comma. Go figure. I don't even know if they know it's wrong. I keep meaning to take a picture for you. I'll try to do it this weekend. It just makes me smile.