otto457

Hypertech is near the bottom of the barrel in the canned tuning market. With the CAI you are planning on and trying for a chance at mpgs, custom tunes should be your only option. SCT is about the only good one for the newer models.

maepis

I've been doing tons of reading and it seems that as you said, the SCT tuners are the best. After tromping around on their website I'm still a little confused as to which one I should get. The main difference I see is that one comes with canned tunes and the other one is for custom tunes only. Do you think I'd be ok in getting the one with canned tunes just to help the truck see it's potential while in it's stock state until I get the money to do the mods I want to do? At that point then I could contact someone for the custom mods I need. Or should I do the mods first then worry about getting the tuner?

Franchi Motorsports

iTrader: (9)

If you get a SCT SF3 3015, it comes preloaded with canned tunes from SCT for your vehicle but it also can hold up to 3 custom tunes in addition to the canned tunes do you could always add a custom tune down the road if you wish,

vlcmstnaz

I'm going to go with the SCT X3 from VMP. What do you guys recommend I get for my 3 custom tunes?

I live in AZ where non-premium gas is 87 octane. Should I just go with 87 octane tunes? Get all premium (91 octane) tunes? Some of each?

I tow maybe twice a year. Road trips 3 - 5 times per year. Truck is mostly used as local transportation (a few miles here, a few miles there). Fuel economy is important, but not as important as performance. I'm still immature enough to punch it from red light to red light to red light and always have to be the fastest off the line.

vlcmstnaz

Question 2 -
if i get tunes for different octanes (say i get an 87 economy and a 91 performance), how do i go from the 87 tune to the 91 tune in terms of what's in my gas tank? do i have to have to run it dry, make sure there is NO 87 octane left in the system before i add 91 and switch tunes? or is near E close enough to then fill it up with 91? because, i'm of the understanding that running octane LOWER than the truck needs will cause damage, where running a higher octane doesn't hurt, but is a waste of $$.

MorePowerTuning

If you have 87 in the tank you can only run an 87 tune.
If you have 93 in the tank you can run 93 tune, 91 tune or 87 tune.

The reason for this is the demands are higher on the premium fuel tunes.

If you are running 87 in the tank, I recommend you are pretty much on E and then fill up with 91 octane before installing your 91 octane tune.

Half tank 87 and half tank 91 is not enough.

Remember, it is NOT necessary to go back to stock when going from custom tune to custom tune.

Ol'Blue01

ok couple of new guy questions...How does the custom tune process work? do i just email a guy like mike at 5-star with the PCM code and tell him about other stuff? what about when i get a lift kit, bigger tires and a gear change, does all that matter? do i order the tuner from his site or buy my own and have him email it? any help appreciated.

Franchi Motorsports

iTrader: (9)

Yes, when ordering a custom tune you tell them your PCM code, serial number if the SCT unit if you already have one, and any mods done to your truck and they create a tune based off that info.

otto457

Just to add to what Franchi said, for the gears and tires there is no need to change the tuning. Those are things you will be able to adjust with the user adjustable options.

farm_boy23

Ok so basically I should just scrap the idea of getting an edge evolution cs and just get the sct tuner that can hold up to 3 custom tunes since I have a CAI and TBS with flowmaster exhaust on my 97 5.4?