Cummins Tuner

[MikesRammin]

Alright boys I got a good one for you. My dad has a 2006 2500 quad cab longbed bighorn edition with about 58,000 miles on it. He's wanting a tuner for it for better mileage and performace. Mileage is our main goal but we also realize the more effiecant and less harder the engine has to work the better mileage I.E. more power.

He was looking at the Edge Juice with attitude tuner and from the hear say I've heard its a good tuner. But I've also heard smarty is really good to. From what I understand is EFI live is the best but I'm not for sure if they offer it for more then just the durajunk right now.

The specs on the truck right now are stock except for a K & N filter. He is gonna get a cold air intake soon too. between the CAI and the Tuner we are trying to keep it under 800 bucks which is doesn't give us alot of room. Now he uses the truck for DD and towing once in a while.

I've heard that the Smarty is amazing but you need a built tranny. And I've heard with the Edge that it's good for stock because if it sense tranny slip it pulls fuel back. Something we were wondering about the Edge tuner is how come for Level 6 you need a Hot Unlock code for it. Because when we looked at the specs its the same hp and tq gain as level 5.

I was gonna post this in the Cummins section but 3rd gen sees alot more traffic. I trust you boys so lets hear your opinions. I would like to know what you have for tuner, pros, cons, cost and a rating on a scale of 1 to 10. Thanks guys!

 

[schroederMP]

They make EFI live for the Cummins...

I have the Smarty...great tuner, great power. I noticed a 2-3 MPG increase once tuned. BUT I have the tranny to hold the power.

The Edge I'm not to familiar with...my step brother has one on his 02 and loves it. Loves the shift of the fly. He runs it on the miliege setting and gets good MPG but I've never really talked to him about how much.

I know to NOT getting Superchips for a Cummins...I had one...hated it...

You will get mixed emotions about all tuners for Cummins. One will say this, one will say that. Not everyone has tried all tuners (except for a few) so most have a personell preference.

My opinion is a Smarty and keep it all the 30HP setting... a co-worker did that on his 07 (6.7) and saw and increase in MPG.

I'm sure others will chime in with there personal experiece.

 

[zack]

i have a smarty jr for sale now i am going bigger 400 obo new they are 500..#1 is 40hp#2 is 70hp an#3is 100 hp

 

[Stangshcky12]

The edge is nice because you can get the CTS monitor and have all of your gauges. If you goin to run any kind of tuner they are very important
At the same time you can get the insight CTS monitor or a set of mechanical gauges and just run the smarty
Efilive is available for that year but it's a lot of hassle for what your looking for
H&s also sells a really nice tuner for 06-07 5.9

Your best best is going to be to find one used
Have you looked into making an intake? You could do it for under $100

 

[MikesRammin]

I wouldn't have any problem making an intake I've done it on my old Ford and the ram I drive now but I would have to convence my dad because it's his truck. So it sounds like everybody is leaning towards smarty and edge. Anybody run bullydog or Hypertech?

 

[Uncle Ugly]

The best for cost are as stated already.......Smarty Jr and the Edge Insight or Juice w/Attitude Monitor.New you will spend around a grand on the Edge with engine programmer.

The Smarty Jr is designed to be run with the stock transmission and provide the best results.The one Zack has is about $125 lower than the book cost new and is a good buy.The newest software update is on the MADs website and it runs very well.

Hope that helps...........Andy

 

[infernoredram]

From what I've seen and heard bullydog sucks.

But to be honest, if your priorities are focused around mpg, the smarty jr isn't gonna do much from my experience. I've messed with all three tunes, power on demand, torque and timing settings, and the best I could get was a 1.5 increase. But I will say, it is a damn good tuner for power (with stock tranny at least). On SW3 you can feel the massive torque increase lol

Edit: down side is, it really smokes.

 

[MikesRammin]

Lol smoke isn't a down side to me. But I think we are leaning towards an edge juice with attiude we've found a couple for 829 so if we go that way the CAI will be on hold. Now does any of the vendors on here sell it and if the do do we get a discount?

 

[MikesRammin]

Also what do you guys think of the Quadzilla Adrenaline?

 

[infernoredram]

I think Dave (Ramhunter) runs the adrenaline if I'm not mistaken. If its the same one, he swears by it, so it must be pretty good. Shoot him a pm.

XDP is definitely the vendor to go to....that's where I get all my stuff

 

[Stangshcky12]

Check out XDP or genos garage here
I would look used as well, there is always something on craigslist here

Dave loves his quadzilla, I've heard mixed things but nothing bad

 

[JP03]

i have the edge with attitude great tuner 5 on the fly settings i would recommend it to anyone

 

[reddot]

EFI live from what I read is the best. Issue is you need someone to tune it for your truck. Dyno tune is pretty much needed. If you have a good duramax shop around they would be good to tune for the cummins as well.

I have the smarty Sr and they say your safe up to level 3 with a stock trans, and I love mine. BD also makes a trans booster. I just got it but have yet to install.