What's the best chip for a modest increase in HP and possibly improving fuel milage? This is the second "NEW" style duramax I have owned and both have been pretty rough on fuel. I don't need extreme HP but would enjoy a little more pull. Seems to be lots of products out there just looking for some input from people that have actually used them.
Best chip for 09 Duramax?
- Thread starter snowpilot
- Start date
M
MTdream
Well-known member
in the middle of deciding which rig to buy, but unanimously, it seems there are two primary products recommended by duramaxforums.....
edge attitude if you want plug and play, pre-programmed set ups...
EFIlive- if your willing to do a little work, and yet will yield the best results...but is the most expensive...
edge attitude if you want plug and play, pre-programmed set ups...
EFIlive- if your willing to do a little work, and yet will yield the best results...but is the most expensive...
If you want the best of the best, go with the EFILive. I am more of a powerstroke guy, but i have buddies with it and it is a very very nice setup. It is a little pricey, but well worth it. I have also heard the PPE is ok for them also, but the EFILive is shift on the fly, the PPE is a programmer, so you will have to shut the truck off.
get a banks they have awesome stuff with extensive testing
if ur thinking edge dont go with them they have trouble in winter
thats if u dont mind spending some green
friend of mine had the edge and when he put the truck in park and let it idle it would kill the motor for a few seconds then start running again
hope this helps
if ur thinking edge dont go with them they have trouble in winter
thats if u dont mind spending some green
friend of mine had the edge and when he put the truck in park and let it idle it would kill the motor for a few seconds then start running again
hope this helps
J
JohnnyH
Well-known member
Go Banks and never look back
I have also read good things about EFI Live but no personal experience.
As far as some other chips(older Edge, Bully Dog, PPE Hot+2) go they will plug your DPF exhaust filter and the Dealer will make you flip the bill.
I have been at a GM Dealer for 10 Years and never seen a Banks cause a problem with a truck.
My .02
I have also read good things about EFI Live but no personal experience.
As far as some other chips(older Edge, Bully Dog, PPE Hot+2) go they will plug your DPF exhaust filter and the Dealer will make you flip the bill.
I have been at a GM Dealer for 10 Years and never seen a Banks cause a problem with a truck.
My .02
EFI live is the way to go. The banks yields very little horsepower. It is safe but there is very little gain for the money. PPE is nice, makes good power, but is an injector and tranny eatter. Edge....well I wont even go there since there products have been falling down hill ever since they changed manufacturing facilities (screens freeze). Early edge products weren't bad but again the best bang for the buck is the efi live, the never ending tuning tool
I have an 08 GMC Sierra. I had the same wishes as you. I talked to my Dealer as to what I can do to increase HP and not have Warranty issues. This what we came up with. K/N intake, MagnaFlow 5" SS Filter Back and the HyperTech Max Energy. The Dealers Warranty Rep has this exact set up on his Duramax. You can also reset the program to the stock settings. I haven't installed anything yet. So, I can't tell you my personal findings, but this guy at the Dealership said he was getting 23mpg on the HWY with system.
~Rookie
~Rookie
I have an 08 GMC Sierra. I had the same wishes as you. I talked to my Dealer as to what I can do to increase HP and not have Warranty issues. This what we came up with. K/N intake, MagnaFlow 5" SS Filter Back and the HyperTech Max Energy. The Dealers Warranty Rep has this exact set up on his Duramax. You can also reset the program to the stock settings. I haven't installed anything yet. So, I can't tell you my personal findings, but this guy at the Dealership said he was getting 23mpg on the HWY with system.
23 With the DPF???
I want mainly fuel economy. More power is always nice, but economy is what pays the bill.
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A
AbnRangerM7
Active member
snowpilot
What kind of mileage are you getting with this truck and what did you get with the last one?
What kind of mileage are you getting with this truck and what did you get with the last one?
I have an 08 GMC Sierra. I had the same wishes as you. I talked to my Dealer as to what I can do to increase HP and not have Warranty issues. This what we came up with. K/N intake, MagnaFlow 5" SS Filter Back and the HyperTech Max Energy. The Dealers Warranty Rep has this exact set up on his Duramax. You can also reset the program to the stock settings. I haven't installed anything yet. So, I can't tell you my personal findings, but this guy at the Dealership said he was getting 23mpg on the HWY with system.
~Rookie
I hope thats hand calculated and not by the console reading. Because stock that guage isnt all that correct and with a chip is ussually thrown off quite a bit. Also thats still not possible with the DPF still on there. And still not possible with out driving 55-60 down the interstate vs what most of us drive at 65-70+
I have a 2007.5 LMM Duramax (new body style) and when I first got it it had the Edge juice w/ attitude. This was my second duramax with the edge, and I had no problems with it. It gained mpg's and hp and was nice with the 5 power levels that change on the fly. It also had several nice features including a turbo cool down timer. I personaly like the edge attitude display because there are so many perameters you can watch with it, and the ability to reset DTC's (diagnostic trouble codes). But about a year ago I decided I wanted to get rid of that stinking DPF, so I spent the money on EFILive. $1000 at www.duramaxtuner.com got me the programmer and a year long subscription to a tune library and a technical suport site that will answer any questions you have. So, my truck is now running 5" straight pipe (no dpf or muffler) and an AFE stage 2 cold air intake, and best of all it doesn't throw any codes! I also have a 12" lift and 37" tires and am getting about 17-18 mpg with the cruise set on 80 mph and the A/C rollin. Not too bad in my opinion. I have got well over 22 at speeds around 65. That is with a mild everyday tune that adds about 50 HP.
I also sold my Edge juice and bought the Edge Insight so that I could have the same guage display with my EFILive.
So in my opinion EFILive is a far superior system than any other out there, but it is also very technical. It takes 3 parts diesel mechanic a 2 parts computer nerd to write your own tune with it, but there are plenty of pre writen tunes out there to save you from that. The nice part is you can take a lap top and plug it in and look at/change pretty much ANY perameter of your truck in real time. Also, another option if you do not want to spend $1000+, there are many guys out there that offer the service of programming your truck with a tune made just for you to meet your specific needs, and will only charge you a fraction of the price of the full EFILive system.
Oh, and one other note: EFILive just came out with a 5 position switch for the LMM to change between tunes on the fly!
Sorry this is so long and I hope it helps
I also sold my Edge juice and bought the Edge Insight so that I could have the same guage display with my EFILive.
So in my opinion EFILive is a far superior system than any other out there, but it is also very technical. It takes 3 parts diesel mechanic a 2 parts computer nerd to write your own tune with it, but there are plenty of pre writen tunes out there to save you from that. The nice part is you can take a lap top and plug it in and look at/change pretty much ANY perameter of your truck in real time. Also, another option if you do not want to spend $1000+, there are many guys out there that offer the service of programming your truck with a tune made just for you to meet your specific needs, and will only charge you a fraction of the price of the full EFILive system.
Oh, and one other note: EFILive just came out with a 5 position switch for the LMM to change between tunes on the fly!
Sorry this is so long and I hope it helps
I have a 2007.5 LMM Duramax (new body style) and when I first got it it had the Edge juice w/ attitude. This was my second duramax with the edge, and I had no problems with it. It gained mpg's and hp and was nice with the 5 power levels that change on the fly. It also had several nice features including a turbo cool down timer. I personaly like the edge attitude display because there are so many perameters you can watch with it, and the ability to reset DTC's (diagnostic trouble codes). But about a year ago I decided I wanted to get rid of that stinking DPF, so I spent the money on EFILive. $1000 at www.duramaxtuner.com got me the programmer and a year long subscription to a tune library and a technical suport site that will answer any questions you have. So, my truck is now running 5" straight pipe (no dpf or muffler) and an AFE stage 2 cold air intake, and best of all it doesn't throw any codes! I also have a 12" lift and 37" tires and am getting about 17-18 mpg with the cruise set on 80 mph and the A/C rollin. Not too bad in my opinion. I have got well over 22 at speeds around 65. That is with a mild everyday tune that adds about 50 HP.
I also sold my Edge juice and bought the Edge Insight so that I could have the same guage display with my EFILive.
So in my opinion EFILive is a far superior system than any other out there, but it is also very technical. It takes 3 parts diesel mechanic a 2 parts computer nerd to write your own tune with it, but there are plenty of pre writen tunes out there to save you from that. The nice part is you can take a lap top and plug it in and look at/change pretty much ANY perameter of your truck in real time. Also, another option if you do not want to spend $1000+, there are many guys out there that offer the service of programming your truck with a tune made just for you to meet your specific needs, and will only charge you a fraction of the price of the full EFILive system.
Oh, and one other note: EFILive just came out with a 5 position switch for the LMM to change between tunes on the fly!
Sorry this is so long and I hope it helps
be careful with nick's tunes (duramaxtuner) and anything else sold by him, he has f*cked over a lot of people with poorly engineered internal engine products and terrible tuning.
efi live is the best as far as custom tuning if you want to do it yourself or pay to have someone else tune it for you.
PPE is the best as far a handheld programmer but is expensive $600-1000
edge etc are all great introductory tuners if your looking for mild/ cheap power.
just remember anything over a tow tune and your playing with fire as far as the transmission.
if your truck is a 6spd allison spend the $70 on the allison transgo shift kit, will make your transmission hold up a lot better.
W
w4cstriker
Member
I have a 09 duramax bought this summer just got back from a trip average mpg a hair over 20 speeds in my state 63 to 65 in idaho drove about 72 it dont like 70+ it did a regeneration guess thats what you call it while I was over there only got 12 mpg during that time till it was done.Hand cal was 19.5 average.
if you dont care about warranty, do a dpf delete, turbo back exhaust, intake, and a mild custom tune from someone that knows how! gain 4-6 mpg no problem. careful on the tune anything over 100hp from stock and the tranny will start slipping.
Banks is nice for warranty, the big hoss bundle is the way to go, but is pricey, $3,500 with the new IQ monitor.
Banks is nice for warranty, the big hoss bundle is the way to go, but is pricey, $3,500 with the new IQ monitor.
banks two years running
bought an 08 at the end of 07 and have had a banks intake exhaust and six gun tow tuner on my truck for two years running...no problems..i average 14-16 city and a little over 19 highway..and i'm not reading the console for those numbers..i drive pretty hard and no trans problems to report..
bought an 08 at the end of 07 and have had a banks intake exhaust and six gun tow tuner on my truck for two years running...no problems..i average 14-16 city and a little over 19 highway..and i'm not reading the console for those numbers..i drive pretty hard and no trans problems to report..
The delete kits are pretty cool, I'm told the one I bought won't void the warranty but I haven't had the opportunity to test it. You really do get 4-5mpg gain and a lot cooler egt's. I'm on my 3rd souped up D-max and this time I just went with a "supertune" which is safe programming and gains about 100 ponies over stock if you do the exhaust work and AFE filter. It's very drivable, respectable power, and tires seem to be wearing well.
If you do go with something that gives you a lot of snort, I'd recommend something you can control yourself. I had a 03 D-max that had $7000 in mods (from previous owner) and was close to 600 horse but it was programming- all on, all the time. I couldn't get more than 15k out of a set of tires and it was terrifying on icy roads. (It sure was fun on dry roads though, like a vette with a box.) Also, be a little patient after you do the hp increase because it takes a while for the allison tranny to relearn the shift points, it will shift like a garbage truck for a couple days and then smooth out.
If you do go with something that gives you a lot of snort, I'd recommend something you can control yourself. I had a 03 D-max that had $7000 in mods (from previous owner) and was close to 600 horse but it was programming- all on, all the time. I couldn't get more than 15k out of a set of tires and it was terrifying on icy roads. (It sure was fun on dry roads though, like a vette with a box.) Also, be a little patient after you do the hp increase because it takes a while for the allison tranny to relearn the shift points, it will shift like a garbage truck for a couple days and then smooth out.
The problem with Edge is it flashes the computer. So even if you disable it before you take it in the the factory it will still show its been chipped. So depending on your dealer it could effect your warrenty.
I just recently ordered the brand new banks touch screen kit. Ill let ya know when it shows up
I just recently ordered the brand new banks touch screen kit. Ill let ya know when it shows up
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