Just curious. What need is there or what advantage comes from turning them off. I've heard of people doing it but never heard or understood there reason.

 

There's no advantage to turning them off. The primary reason is avoid a CEL when the cats are altered. The rear O2's monitor cat efficiency. If high flows or no cats are in place, it usually triggers this. The reason most want them turned off after they alter the cats: 1) they don't have to look at a CEL 2) if a CEL light comes on it's for other reasons than their altered cats.

 

Anyone have luck with the Bully Dog?

 

hey guys, im looking to get a programmer for my 2003 f150 FX4 and i was just wondering what brand you guys would recoment. im looking to get one to increase fuel economy and would like to stay around $500. thanks for the info!

 

My edge does good power and good mileage gains. Next step is reprogram to a griffon

Sent from my iPhone using F150 Forum

 

I would go with the Edge Evolution. I'm getting 15.4 mpg city hand calculated with my 5.4. I don't econo drive it either. I'm sure I could get better if I tried.

I'm prolly gonna get a gryphon custom tune on it this summer when I get my Ram Air Hood and OBX Headers.

 

i just ordered a new edge cs for my 2000 5.4 4x4 and just did a 3.73 gear swap ill post some pics when i pick it up friday around lunch

 

This is a long reply but, I wanted to try and illustrate my results on both the vehicles that I have installed an aftermarket tuner in.

Before you read on... My 05 Z is a daily driver logging 20-30k a year on the roads, do the math... I dont race her, run her hard, or otherwise try to outrun every civic I pull up next to. I simply enjoy the Z experience and will always have at least one in the garage.
Recently I purchased the Bullydog GT Tuner, installed it in an 05 Z with an automatic transmission, and wanted to post a few details on what I have experienced, nothing grossly negative but no substantial improvements either... Right out of the box, very nice little unit emphasis on little, very small display but very clear and easy to read. I updated the unit and installed it without flaw in roughly 20 mins. Once I installed it I uploaded the premium tune, removed the WOT restriction, and drove to a long lonely stretch of road. I recorded 3 consistant 0-60 times of 5.2 - 5.4seconds. Ok, happy here... I got on the open road, set the cruise at 70mph and recorded 33mpg on the bully dog. Here is where I start to question the unit overall. The unit recorded 33mpg over a 10 mile run however, the cars avg mpg said 21mpg. At this point I did a couple of things; I filled the tank, drove 100 miles over 2 days and broke out the calculator when I filled her back up. The Bullydog said I had averaged 26mpg over 100 miles but the cars avg was 21 which was confirmed but simple math when I filled it back up, yes I had actually got 21mpg over the 100 miles and not 26 as the Bullydog displayed. That is 4-5 less than what I typically get. Ok, an MPG loss here. I started to question more regarding the information on the Bullydog. The Bullydog RPMs are off 150-200 compared to the analog tach on the car, the speed is consistantly off 2-3mph compared to the cars digital gauge.
No, we dont buy Zs for the mileage and what is a couple hundred diff in RPM among friends but...for close to $400 I would have expected for the information to be accurate and at least mimic the information that is shared with the cars internal gauges. No, I have not contacted tech help and dont intend to.
So, for me, was it worth the expense? Of course...the extra readings are cool, goes right in line with my IPOD, Droid phone, and GPS. Its portable tech and portable tech is where its at these days.
For performance gains I got substantially more out of the Crawford Cats, exhaust, and Stillen Shift Kit but, they cost 5 times more than the Bullydog.

Yes, the Bully Dog is primarily for trucks but they offered a tune for the Zs and the G35s so, with a truck that they cover as well as the Z I chose the Bully.

I just returned from a 1000 mile road trip which I tried all 3 tunes while on the road. Overall, I didnt notice or log any appreciable increase in gas mileage but, when I had the premium tune loaded there was a substantial increase in top-end acceleration. She pulled harder from 80-120mph than with the factory tune uploaded. The acceleration was smooth and very aggressive with no hesitation.

The single largest gain that was had was more in the line of a notice... While on the road for 200 or so miles I noticed that my tranny temps were running 20-30 degrees higher than expected. I had roughly 50k miles on the transmission fluid at the time so, a quick trip to the dealer to replace the fluids and my temps returned to normal. That in itself essentially paid for the unit, possibly saving me the cost of a new transmission.

Since my original post I have returned it to the stock programming and installed the Bully in my F150. In the F150 I have noticed appreciable gains in MPG. Prior to the install I was averaging 12-14mpg in city driving and 14-16 on the highway. After installing and uploading the regular tune I am averating 15-16 in city driving and 19-21 on the highway.... At that rate the unit would pay for itself in roughly 6-8 months, just in time for the warranty to run out. lol

 

I recently just bought the hypertech max energy programmer!
$400 investment, I just retuned truck yesterday and so far only drove 10. Miles. Ease of operation and only took about 20 minutes after updating device on lap top! I'm driving 2005 ford f150 5.4l
Just also put brand-new k&n filter in truck. I have the king ranch package which comes with 18" wheels! New 10 ply tires. This truck wouldn't impress no one before the tune, it seemed to be lag in the take off. Prior to tune I avg 15 mpg all over in town plus little highway . I have pulled trailer (32') camper and 20' enclosed cargo trailer and could not get over 8 mpg and slow take off. I'm making a 600 mile round trip tomorrow to c what the difference is. Just eager as I was I took truck for a spin yesterday no load and to amazing suprize the wheels spun like crazy unlike before u couldn't slip a single tread. Got on the highway and gave a good mash on the right pedal and wow it took off like never before! So my review so far is great. Will keep u updated on more results later

 

After hauling the 32' camper I did not notice any real fuel gains there and no gain coming back without camper. I still avg 8.8-9.5 while pulling camper. Did slow down to driving 60 mph but saw no difference so this review was done at 68-70 mph. Although no mpg gain, the Getty up and go while under a good load was better than ever! People would look at me with surprise when I mashed it to go pass them in left lane towing that long 32' with just my 1/2 ton gasser! Very happy again with the power. It was a tad windy both wats so I reset mpg and ran today to work and back with no real gain in mpg! I wish that u could c that as well but I'm glad I atleast gained the power and other features as well