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New Avy owner looking for some advice.

coops09gxp

New Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2015
Messages
3
Location
Iowa
Hello all, first post on the site and also a new Avy owner.  I wanted to say hi and introduce myself to you folks on the forum.  I purchased a 12' LTZ last weekend and so far I'm loving the ride!!!  I have been reading through the site for a couple weeks now, reading about advice when buying and things to look for, and I must say, it helped a ton so thank you for the forum and all the posts!  I have also been reading as much as I can about what people suggest for hand held tuners.  The one thing that stood out to me the most is when folks would ask the question "which one is the best?" it was never really mentioned what the person was looking for until much later in the post or if at all.  The other thing I noticed is most of the posts I searched seemed to deal with 2008 or older models.  Being new to the Avy scene, I'm not sure how much if any would apply to a 12' model.

I've been in the "game" of modding for a good while but new to the Avy scene.  With that, I do realize that there is little comparison between a hand held tuner and a full dyno tune in what you can gain.  With my Avy, I am just sticking to bolt-ons for performance gains and/or appearance mods, so that will take the dyno tune off the table for me.  Plans include, CAI, and a cat-back exhaust along with the tuner to get started.

On to what I would like to find from a hand held tuner.  First is the ability to turn off AFM!  Second would be a tuner that helps the performance of the tranny, i.e. torque management and shifting traits, (firmer and quicker).  Next on the list would be a tuner that stores my stock, (factory) tune and allows me to go back to full stock whenever I want.  From there, a tuner that can display various parameters of the vehicle as I'm driving like tranny temp, AFR, LTFT and STFT.  Lastly, for what I can think of at the time, a tuner that provides the best increase in HP/TQ for a canned tune, yet also offers different levels of performance for varying grades of gas or driving styles like towing and such. 

Thanks in advance for any input that you are able to provide and I look forward to gaining more knowledge from the site as I go.  Have a great day!

Tony
 
Look up www.diablew.com.  Disabled is a member here and does custom tuning on Diablo programmers.  I have done a lot of research and I am going to go with the Diablo inTune or Trinity.  Send him an e-mail, he is a wealth of information, and I believe does everything you described.
 
Rubiconguy2,

Thanks for the reply to my post.  I tried the link you listed and it didn't take me anywhere.  I did some digging on google and found his actual site to be www.diablewtune.com.  Mods, if posting this link isn't cool please remove it for me and accept my apologies!!  I spent some time reading on his site and it sounds like MANY people have been satisfied with what he is doing to help their vehicles.  The that I liked most is I could buy a Diablo Trinity tuner and have him do a custom canned tune right away of wait a bit and just run the Diablo canned tune to get a good sense of what a basic Diable does and then the addition of his vehicle tailored tuning.  From what I've been reading it does look like the Diablo covers most if not all of the things I am looking for.

If I choose to go with his custom tailored tune on the Diablo I would wait until after I have the exhaust and CAI in place.  That will be the next topic of discussion as well, the exhaust.  I have narrowed down the CAI to a couple, the exhaust though, that's a whole different ball of wax there!!

Again, thanks for the reply and keep me/us posted on how things go if you decide to do Diablew's custom tailored tuning.

Tony
 
Ahh yes, that is the correct one.  I was trying to go off memory.  From what he says, you use the Diablo for about 150 miles, then you send him the file from the unit, he then makes a custom tune off of that.  I'll let you know how it goes!

 
rubiconguy2 said:
Ahh yes, that is the correct one.  I was trying to go off memory.  From what he says, you use the Diablo for about 150 miles, then you send him the file from the unit, he then makes a custom tune off of that.  I'll let you know how it goes!

So any updates?
 
I currently have a K&N intake (I am hesitant to call any intake a cold air intake, but it is "cooler"), and Corsa Touring exhaust. I went with the K&N because I liked how their air box looked, aside from that it's pretty much the same as all the other CAIs out there. The exhaust is a big deal, I am a BIG believer in Corsa being the best one out there, by far, although it costs a bit more then others.
 
WhoAteMySoup said:
I currently have a K&N intake (I am hesitant to call any intake a cold air intake, but it is "cooler"), and Corsa Touring exhaust. I went with the K&N because I liked how their air box looked, aside from that it's pretty much the same as all the other CAIs out there. The exhaust is a big deal, I am a BIG believer in Corsa being the best one out there, by far, although it costs a bit more then others.
(y) X2 on a Corsa exhaust. And no they dont cost a little more, they cost a lot more. I try and try to tell the "individualists" who refuse to admit Corsa is better. They all buy lesser systems or since the are smarter than the high paid engineers, decide they know a better then (do some reading and check me on this) and piece together something "better". Most of them waste money and time down the road chasing a certain sound or covering a droning at a certain rpm. The nonbelievers dont just throw it on and leave it like Corsa owners.
 
Sorry about being tardy in responding to the thread!

Mikeyjm1, you are VERY correct about the Corsa exhaust system!  I have run many brands of exhaust of the years, some sound great but kill you with drone while some kill drone but just don't last due to cheap material.  Corsa is the only exhaust I will run on any of my vehicles.  It all comes down to, you get what you pay for.  With Corsa, you get a top of the line polished 300 series stainless, i.e. won't rust, great sound, and best of all, NO DRONE!  Every system I have ever bought from them has always fit perfectly, sounds great, and looks just as good 3 years later.

So far, I am really happy with the Diablo tuner.  The ability to pick shift firmness options is nice, but what I really like is the ability to adjust shift rpm points.  I have played around with different options while loading tunes to kinda hone in on what I like best.  The Diablo has given me that option to do so, nothing like a full dyno tune ever will, but for a hand held I think it is pretty damn nice.

Since installing the exhaust, filter, and Diablo it is a different vehicle.  Runs much better, shifts great, and best of all.........NO AFM!!!!

Hope this is some decent feedback for you about what I've done so far.

 
I love the Corsa Sport cat back that I have.  Sounds great and no drone.  The best part is that I bought it off this forum about 4 years ago for $400.  It was used but you can't tell.  The only part you see is the tip and it is still nice and shiny. (at least it will be when I wash the truck again)
 
Wickman said:
I love the Corsa Sport cat back that I have.  Sounds great and no drone.
Corsa is a MUST for boat owners! Great sound off the line and NO drone on the highway...  (y)
 
coops09gxp said:
Sorry about being tardy in responding to the thread!

Mikeyjm1, you are VERY correct about the Corsa exhaust system!  I have run many brands of exhaust of the years, some sound great but kill you with drone while some kill drone but just don't last due to cheap material.  Corsa is the only exhaust I will run on any of my vehicles.  It all comes down to, you get what you pay for.  With Corsa, you get a top of the line polished 300 series stainless, i.e. won't rust, great sound, and best of all, NO DRONE!  Every system I have ever bought from them has always fit perfectly, sounds great, and looks just as good 3 years later.

So far, I am really happy with the Diablo tuner.  The ability to pick shift firmness options is nice, but what I really like is the ability to adjust shift rpm points.  I have played around with different options while loading tunes to kinda hone in on what I like best.  The Diablo has given me that option to do so, nothing like a full dyno tune ever will, but for a hand held I think it is pretty damn nice.

Since installing the exhaust, filter, and Diablo it is a different vehicle.  Runs much better, shifts great, and best of all.........NO AFM!!!!

Hope this is some decent feedback for you about what I've done so far.
You have the Touring... I'm interested in your thoughts on Sport vs Touring? I'm pondering the Touring as well vs Sport as I don't want the real loud roar. I tow some good weight during summer and I like the subtle growl. What's your experience on the Touring vs stock?    ???
 
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