Hand help tuners

[ls1mike]

Never really been a huge fan. I like the dyno myself. I recently wanted to try one on my 2017 to firm up the shifts. I picked up a Diablo through Diablew.
I have to tell it really helped with throttle response and how the transmission shifts. He offers a service where you tune, data log, send it back and he sends you a custom tune. I wasn't looking for huge gains, but it certainly cleaned up the shifts. I was pretty happy.

 

[GoldDot40]

One of the biggest improvements detected in the butt-o-meter from a hand held tuner is the ability to turn off the torque management. There's a surprisingly huge amount of people who don't even know their vehicle performance is choked off with torque management. Setting shift points and firmness is just icing on the cake.

I'm in the same boat. I prefer a custom tune...especially when tuning for other bolt-on upgrades. But these newer programmers are decent.

 

[ls1mike]

One of the biggest improvements detected in the butt-o-meter from a hand held tuner is the ability to turn off the torque management. There's a surprisingly huge amount of people who don't even know their vehicle performance is choked off with torque management. Setting shift points and firmness is just icing on the cake.

I'm in the same boat. I prefer a custom tune...especially when tuning for other bolt-on upgrades. But these newer programmers are decent.

I agree my truck is bone stock and for shift performance this made a huge difference. GM tunes it so soft and lazy.

 

[Skippy722]

One of the biggest improvements detected in the butt-o-meter from a hand held tuner is the ability to turn off the torque management. There's a surprisingly huge amount of people who don't even know their vehicle performance is choked off with torque management. Setting shift points and firmness is just icing on the cake.

I'm in the same boat. I prefer a custom tune...especially when tuning for other bolt-on upgrades. But these newer programmers are decent.

The torque management on our van is insane. The v6 is fairly peppy, but every single shift results in a “pull pull pull, power cut, execute shift, roll back into throttle” feeling.

I’d love to get one for my truck, but FCA has the PCM so locked down you have to either swap PCM’s with Diablo (~$600 including the tuner) or they send you a new unlocked PCM+tuner and you keep the old PCM (~$1,000).

 

[TacoFergie]

Thats hardly what I would call a "handheld" tuner. Big difference between canned tunes sent from bullydog, diablo, banks, etc. Essentially what he did is a mail in tune. Which is as close to a custom street tune as you can get. Many people on many vehicles do this with HPTuners where you can change almost anything engine/trans related. Which I'm guessing the diablo is capable of doing as well, kinda like a COBB AccessPort. Very powerful tuning programs for average vehciles.

 

[gathermewool]

I love the difference with Cobb stage 1 off-the-shelf tune. I run the 91 octane map using 93 octane for a conservative margin.

 

[TacoFergie]

I love the difference with Cobb stage 1 off-the-shelf tune. I run the 91 octane map using 93 octane for a conservative margin.

I'm excited to get it for our 21 Ascent. Not expecting (or wanting) it to become an STI or something it isn't. But I would like to have a more linear throttle response and of course more power is always welcome! One thing I wish the COBB AP was able to do is make the CVT operate like it's supposed to and remove the stupid fake shifts. I hate that manufactures think people want to feel a shift out of something that is designed not to. It's like eating a cheeseburger and expecting it to taste like a cheesecake just because cheese is in the name.

I have HPTuners for my 15 Tacoma. The engine is all stock other than the tune and it helped immensely! The two main factors it helped with was more linear throttle and transmission tuning as well.

 

[ls1mike]

Thats hardly what I would call a "handheld" tuner. Big difference between canned tunes sent from bullydog, diablo, banks, etc. Essentially what he did is a mail in tune. Which is as close to a custom street tune as you can get. Many people on many vehicles do this with HPTuners where you can change almost anything engine/trans related. Which I'm guessing the diablo is capable of doing as well, kinda like a COBB AccessPort. Very powerful tuning programs for average vehciles.

You are not wrong, it is package you buy from him. I just sent my first set of data files back for him to modify. Takes me a bit to get 150 miles on the truck as I don't daily drive it.

Just speaking to the initial tune that came unmodified from Diablo at this point. That really helped the shifts.

I have HPTuners for the Caprice and the Trans Am, both have a bunch of modifications (Caprice is cammed, exhaust and the Trans Am really has too much to list, but in a nutshell heads, cam, full exhaust, Ford 9 inch) I was just interested in trying this tuner because I have no desire to put the truck on the dyno or do much more than firm up the shifts.

 

[gathermewool]

I'm excited to get it for our 21 Ascent. Not expecting (or wanting) it to become an STI or something it isn't. But I would like to have a more linear throttle response and of course more power is always welcome! One thing I wish the COBB AP was able to do is make the CVT operate like it's supposed to and remove the stupid fake shifts. I hate that manufactures think people want to feel a shift out of something that is designed not to. It's like eating a cheeseburger and expecting it to taste like a cheesecake just because cheese is in the name.

I have HPTuners for my 15 Tacoma. The engine is all stock other than the tune and it helped immensely! The two main factors it helped with was more linear throttle and transmission tuning as well.

I’m not on any of the Ascent forums. I’ll have to check out what people are experiencing with the Stage 1 tunes.

Do you plan on getting a protune or e/street tune? I’ve been on the fence about it the entire time I’ve been tuned Stage 1 OTS.

I‘m lucky in that my 14 FXT only simulates shifts in S# mode; it exhibits normal CVT behavior in I and S modes.

My 15 2.5L Legacy simulates shifts at something like >15% throttle. The simulated shifts are surprisingly smooth, except for Anywhere close to WOT. I’m not sure if I’d pay anything to get it to act like a normal CVT, but might I’d pay a hundred or two to get rid of the jerky starts, more linear response (though it’s not bad), and maybe a few percent better power and economy (it is a 2.5L, after all, so a few % is all I would expect).

 

[TacoFergie]

I’m not on any of the Ascent forums. I’ll have to check out what people are experiencing with the Stage 1 tunes.

Do you plan on getting a protune or e/street tune? I’ve been on the fence about it the entire time I’ve been tuned Stage 1 OTS.

I‘m lucky in that my 14 FXT only simulates shifts in S# mode; it exhibits normal CVT behavior in I and S modes.

My 15 2.5L Legacy simulates shifts at something like >15% throttle. The simulated shifts are surprisingly smooth, except for Anywhere close to WOT. I’m not sure if I’d pay anything to get it to act like a normal CVT, but might I’d pay a hundred or two to get rid of the jerky starts, more linear response (though it’s not bad), and maybe a few percent better power and economy (it is a 2.5L, after all, so a few % is all I would expect).

I'm going to run the 87+ Stage 1 tune since we don't really have 93 in my area and I'm not sure how the CVT will do in the long term. Granted we don't tow or haul anything excessively heavy inside and many tow thousands of miles with a 4500lb flat nose campers with their Ascent. So I feel like just increasing power by 10-15hp won't hurt it one bit. Mainly just wanting it for a more linear throttle response and ability to use it as a scan tool. There is an odd throttle dip that I've noticed. Accelerating gently from a stop and once it gets to about 20mph it just stops accelerating like I backed off the throttle to maintain. When I tip in just a little more it feels like I just stabbed the throttle an additional 20%. Kinda odd.

I notice with ours when accelerating at 3/4ish throttle or more that the "1-2" shift has a bit of jerk to it, like it pulls throttle hard, goes back to full throttle and you feel like the drivetrain bushings are moving around. Similar to what it sounds like you experience with your Legacy. I'm exaggerating a little bit, but to me it's very noticeable, not that I think there is anything mechanically wrong, just the way it's built/engineered. Otherwise everyday driving is fine. On the interstate it operates like CVT which I like since you don't get downshifts when it accelerates up hills.