Hey all.

Cant find anything on the subject so I thought I would just ask.

I am looking to put a little bit of life into my aging 05 Screw 5.4 and have been looking at programmers. I am not really too interested in custom tunes since I am not planning to do anything crazy. Mstly just looking to get some extra throttle response and maybe more MPG or at least not lose any with the little bit of boost I might get. I do tow a 24' travel trailer, I think the programmer seems to really help in this area. Got a bead on a very old Hypertech Power Programmer III for $40, but really wanted to know if there is going to be much of a difference between one that old and a newer one. Based on what is available to me right now I am looking at the following.

Hypertech Power Programmer III $40
Edge Evolution $200 I think this one can be upgraded to a Gryphon and in that scenario I might pay the $50? that they charge for a custom tune down the road.
Edge CS2 $200
Diablosport Predator $150

Most of these are pretty old, the CS2 is by far the newest I think. Is newer better or will an older tuner accomplish what I am looking for?

Stock tire size
Did the intake mod where I bumped up the intake snorkel to a full 3" ABS pipe
Flowmaster 1 in 2 out exhaust.

 

My brother has this stuff he would sell if you're interested!!

 

I cant comment on the Hypertech or the CS2 but I had the Edge evolution in my 05 for ten years and had no complaints at all, I really liked the dash pod because it looked more finished than the mounts for all the others Ive seen. Towing was improved as was everyday driving with improved shift points and firmness along with a bump in power. I would not however expect anything in the way of mileage gains, you will be sorely disappointed if you buy a tuner with that expectation.

 

Thanks, looks nice, but probably out of my price range.

 

Thanks! That older Evolution ended up going for $200+tax+shipping on eBay. Hard for me to justify spending that much when I can get a MUCH newer version for $200 locally. "Towing was improved as was everyday driving with improved shift points and firmness along with a bump in power." all of that is the reason I am looking so I am glad you acknowledged that. I was looking last night, and they sell the dash pod for the CS2 for $50 to get that more built in look. I think the older version included it, but this one you have to buy it because they make them for a bunch of different vehicles.

Like I said, mileage gain would be nice, but if the tuner at least makes up for the mileage lost from the added power I will be more than happy. I watched a last night where the reviewer had one on a newer F150. He commented that the power gains were mild but he did actually notice a 2-3mpg difference over a week of driving with the CS2 that he had not seen in any other tuner. I think it was american muscle, so he had access to lots of tuners.

I am still curious if there is much of a difference, if any, between and older tune and a newer one. I mean, the vehicles haven't changed, how much different can the canned tune be? You can only get so much out of it. The one pro to the CS2 is that it seems to be compatible with a very wide range of vehicles, so chances are that if I get a new truck it will still work.

 

I ran a Gryphon w/custom tunes on my '07 for 9 years. Zero complaints. Traded my '07 in for a low mileage '04 since I needed the extra room of a crew cab. The first thing I was missing was my Gryphon. PHP stopped doing custom tunes for the Edge CS (which is what I had on my '07) quite a few years ago. I found a legacy Gryphon (monochrome) on here for sale and bought it up. Got custom tunes from PHP for my '04 and couldn't be happier. IIRC custom tunes from PHP were $40 each. I got a tow and performance tune. Use the performance tune as my daily driving tune. Improved throttle response, shift firmness and overall power. Zero increase in MPG (hand calculated). So don't expect that from any tuner. I tune my truck with the legacy and use my CS as a gauge monitor. As far as new vs old tuners, I can't imagine there will be much difference, especially with the canned tunes.

 

Thanks for the response. I feel like the above is probably true, there may be some tweaks, but we are talking about a total of 2-3 real world HP in a canned tuned with more torque on the low end which is what drivers feel along with shift firmness. Makes me wonder if I should just buy a $40 Hypertech and be done with it. Or try a legacy Edge tuner and get a custom tune from PHP.