Is Dyno tunning really better than emailed tunes? I've called 4 shops and 3 wanted $300-$400 to dyno tune my Diablosport Predator, the the 4th shop was willing to do it for $150. Is this really worth it, or should I just go with the Gryphon and the emailed tunes from Bill?

 

I suspect it depends on who's doing the dyno tuning. In competent hands, the tuner can produce the absolute BEST tune for your truck using a dyno, while not impacting negatively on it's longevity or reliability. In the hands of a "hacK", your truck can receive a ruinous tune.

The same is true of a mail order tune of course, but they are probably a bit more "conservative" than a dyno tune.

Can you tell the difference? Maybe, but probably not. We're not talking HUGE performance gains in a dyno vs mail order tune.

- Jack

 

It all depends on whom is doing the tuning. The dyno tune should get slightly more performance out of the truck, but that is no all that important to me. I was not looking for optimum performance. The problem with a lot of the local tuners is that they have a lot of experience with race tunes on cars. The trucks are totally different. I prefer the emailed tune from PHP or Troyer where I know they have been tuning the trucks for years. They make my truck fun to drive and that is all I need, not the cutting edge. Now, if I were close to Troyer or PHP, I would go to them for a dyno tune, in a heartbeat, but not the local speed shop. That is just part of my caution.

 

Are you looking for the best economics? I mean by price?
Reliability?
Longevity?
Warranty?
It all boils downt "What do you want?"
I and other users can tell you what's been our best experiences and our worst.
But in the end you have to decide what's best for you and your truck. If you want to go with a totally new programmer with email tunes then you'll have another programmer laying around collecting dust while you try and sell it.
There is nothing wrong with email tunes or dyno tunes.
PHP's 91-93 octane custom tune on a stock(no mods) 5.4 3V is approx +35hp.
If you are looking for the best gains for your dollar then do a supercharger that will get the brick going!

 

Bottom line is that a drag racing tuner is not going to give you the best or safest tune for your truck. There is a lot more to drive-ability than 1/4 mile times. You want someone with experience tuning these trucks.

 

Well I called the guy back and spent quite some time on the phone with him this time, and he really seems to know his stuff. They do everything from trucks, to boosted mustangs. And they seem to stay in the Ford family. He told me that for $150 I'll get dyno time and 2 tunes of my liking. Seeing as how the Predator holds up to 5, he said I could get more if I wanted, or come back later on down the road with new parts installed and get new tunes for a cheap price. They really seem to take care of the customer. As for customer service, so far it seems top notch, as for actual service, I obviously wont be able to tell until I get home.

As far as their custom tunes, if they're bad tunes, I'll see if they can work something out, if they refuse, then I reprogram the truck to stock, order a gryphon and call it a lesson learned.

 

are you talking about Mike at Sunshines????

 

anyway, if you are


you can feel safe that your truck will be tuned correctly, they will be doing the next tune on my green truck

 

Sunshine wanted $300 for one tune. The place I'm talking about is Gearhead Performance.

 

so lets look at something here: Sunshines is right there in town, its a proven shop, and yet you're willing to drive almost 7 hours (and cost you how much in fuel and meals) to have a few dollars (off the tune price) to try out an un-known shop...


obviously you see my point about spending more to save off the top but you should compare all your options and check shop feedback before you trust them with a motor...



have you called the car shop (right there on ft hood street behind Napa) and compare thier prices (they use sniper), plus there's a few shops in Austin that you should check with (even though the most popular tuning device in the area is SCT)

 

Arlington is actually only 2.5 hours from Killeen, I'm not sure where you got 7 from. I do see where you're coming from with it being an unknown shop. From from talking to them, they seem to know what they're doing, and from pictures of their shop, they look reallyh professional. Of course, this is all just assumptions from what I've seen over the computer.

I also haven't heard very many good things about Sunshine, most of the people I've talked to say that they're overpriced (as is anything in a military town) and that they're sketchy when it comes to dealing with the customer. I'm definitely not trying to spark up an arguement, because I do appreciate your input.

As for the other shops around town, I already have a Predator, so I want to see what I can get out of it before I move to another programmer.

 

I'll see what the lighting guys say about shops in Austin maybe there's a diablo shop closer

 

I apreciate it man.

 

Matt at Gearhead is a great guy and a wonderful tuner (he's also one of our dealers ). I don't think you'd be disappointed with him at all. Just please let me know if you'd like me to cancel your Gryphon order as soon as you make that decision so that someone else can have it.

 

Well your approval of the shop is good enough for me haha. You can go ahead an cancel the order. If I'm not satisfied with the tunes from Gearhead, I'll definitely be going to you guys at PHP. It just makes sense to work with the programmer I already have before I spend the money on something else.