GreatWest
Full Member
I searched the board and found that several AV owners have used the HyperTech re-programmer modification on their AV's. However, I did not find any posts (could of missed a few) that have actual numbers to go with their feeling of less or better performance. I purchased and installed the regular fuel profile on my AV/2500 496cid and here is my impression of this inexpensive and easy upgrade, along with real numbers.
Having purchased a 32? travel trailer last fall I?ve been looking for some additional horsepower from my 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche. When I purchased my Avalanche I knew that one day I would be towing some hefty weight so I went for just about everything in the towing package with the exception of the 4:11 gears. With the 496cid under the hood and a 12K hitch on the back, I figured I could just about pull anything I wanted to. The transmission is the stock 4 speed (not the Allison) and everything is factory, at least up until last Wednesday.
With the travel trailer coming in at about 6000Lbs the Avalanche does a fine job of towing. Just down the road from where I live is Highway 30. Coming from Mesquite into Rockwall (Dallas, TX area) there is a very large hill going from Lake Ray Hubbard up into the City of Rockwall. The stock Avalanche pulled the travel trailer up that hill without too much trouble, holding 65 mph in 3rd gear. I could have pushed harder for more speed but 65 is about what everyone else does up that hill. Still, more power would be nice, and if I can get a little better gas mileage, that would be icing on the cake.
I went hunting for the lowest cost upgrade that would give me a reasonable power increase without having to go under the hood. This only leaves vehicle re-programmers. After looking around, doing some research I decided to purchase the HyperTech Max Energy re-programmer. There are plenty of re-programmers on the market. One that keeps coming up is Nelson Tune. The cost is more than the HyperTech but not a great deal. Some of the comments made about the HyperTech is that it is more generic, meaning, yes there will be a performance increase, but HyperTech keeps all the changes within a reasonable range compared to stock specifications. This ensures passing of smog tests as well as not possibly damaging the engine. Since I use my truck as my commute vehicle in day to day driving as well as to pull my travel trailer, I thought this would be the way to go. I ordered my HyperTech tuner from www.truckaddons.com for $287.99 (that includes shipping and handling).
The tuner arrived on a Wednesday. My plan was to go out and run some baseline tests, update the trucks computer and then run the tests again. I have an ODBII computer interface from www.scantool.net. I purchased the scantool many years ago so I could perform my own diagnostics on the truck. The scantool software that runs on a Windows laptop will allow all sorts of monitoring but in particular I wanted gas mileage and ? mile times. Well I couldn?t wait until the weekend to reprogram the truck, so I did it that Wednesday evening. The update was easy with the HyperTech re-programmer. Just follow the onscreen instructions. Driving to work Thursday and Friday, I suspected there was a difference in performance of my truck, but you know how that goes ? wishful thinking, hoping I didn?t waste almost $300.00 on something that really did nothing at all.
Once Saturday came around I went and found a fairly level long road that had little traffic on it. Though the HypterTech re-programmer will change many settings on the Avalanche?s computer, I was only interested in two of them. I wanted the performance increase installed for a regular fuel engine (if you run premium you can get even better performance) and I wanted the transmission (non-Allison) to shift harder and have less clutch slippage. Since these updates were already programmed into the Avalanche?s computer from Wednesday, I went ahead and made a few runs, noting what the scantool displayed.
This was a steady run, cruise control locked over a 1 mile run.
MPH MPG Stock MPG HypterTech Improvement
30 22.2 23 0.8
40 20.72 21.39 0.67
50 20.23 20.88 0.65
60 16.96 17.52 0.56
70 14.74 15.18 0.44
Nothing spectacular and not the 2 to 6mpg that HyperTech talks about on their website, yet there was an increase in mileage. Since I purchased the HyperTech more for power and less for increased fuel mileage I wasn?t disappointed in these numbers. Plus, figuring that most of my driving to and from work is between 35 and 45 mph I could and actually did see an increase in mileage on Thursday and Friday. Now remember, the above is steady speed, locked in cruise control over fairly level road. I know the Avalanche drinks fuel just to get that 6000Lbs truck moving. My actual mileage to and from my office with stops and starts averages around 14.5mpg. I have hit above 15mpg average a few times. That takes a lot of concentration and the stupid drivers that cut me off or can?t figure that vehicles will hold a steady speed must be out of the way. Well, since I purchased the HyperTech for giving me that little towing power I once again used my scantool to give me some timed runs. Here are those figures, and they are somewhat impressive considering this is just a reprogram of the trucks computer.
Test Stock HyperTech Improvement
60' time 5.291 4.307 -0.984
0 to 60 time 11.982 10.654 -1.328
1/8th mile time 13.734 12.801 -0.933
1000' time 17.002 16.01 -0.992
1/4 mile time 19.814 18.731 -1.083
1/4 mile speed 80.778 83.206 2.428
The times above would actually be even quicker if I hadn?t of flubbed up on the runs. The road that I tested on for the mileage was perfectly level. The road that I did the ? mile runs on was actually slightly uphill. After backing onto the road from my turn around spot I checked my rear view to make sure no one was coming. I needed to come to a complete stop to run the ? mile test. I tapped the staging button on my computers screen for the scantool, glanced up in the rear view and here came a truck, and he was coming fast. I floored the gas pedal and the timer was running. I figured I might as well stay in it until the run was done. This means my first run was uphill instead of up on the level area where I really wanted it to be. The second run, without the HyperTech program installed was in the same location, up the slight hill. Still, cutting off a second or more from all times and an increase of almost 2.5mph at the end of the run is a pretty nice increase.
Are the numbers as good as HyperTech claims? No of course not. Any company is going to publish the best numbers and from what I understand, the best numbers were obtained on a Mustang test vehicle. Still I am not complaining. The numbers are better than stock. The throttle seems to respond quicker, the shifts are stronger and I have observed a slight increase in mileage.
Now to play with the numbers a bit ? Gasoline is running $2.97 per gallon right now for regular fuel. At that price, each mile is costing me $0.2048. With the HypterTech re-programmer installed the price drops to $0.1958 per mile. The savings per mile is $0.0090 or almost a penny. This means that to pay for the HypterTech re-programmer, I need to drive 31,834.625 miles with the HypterTech program installed. Of course if the price of gasoline goes down, then more miles are needed, and the reverse if the price of gasoline goes up. Still, remember I purchased the HypterTech for the added power, especially for when I?m towing that monster 32? travel trailer. Since my Avalanche only has 111,120 miles on it, another 32,000 miles is more than doable.
Am I happy with the purchase, yes. For the price, ease of installation, the added power and the added gas mileage, the HypterTech re-programmer was worth the money.
Chevy Avalanche 2500
496cid Rat Motor
4 Speed Automatic (non-Allison)
ODB II ScanTool from www.scantool.net
HyperTech Max Energy re-programmers (PN# 32000)
Having purchased a 32? travel trailer last fall I?ve been looking for some additional horsepower from my 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche. When I purchased my Avalanche I knew that one day I would be towing some hefty weight so I went for just about everything in the towing package with the exception of the 4:11 gears. With the 496cid under the hood and a 12K hitch on the back, I figured I could just about pull anything I wanted to. The transmission is the stock 4 speed (not the Allison) and everything is factory, at least up until last Wednesday.
With the travel trailer coming in at about 6000Lbs the Avalanche does a fine job of towing. Just down the road from where I live is Highway 30. Coming from Mesquite into Rockwall (Dallas, TX area) there is a very large hill going from Lake Ray Hubbard up into the City of Rockwall. The stock Avalanche pulled the travel trailer up that hill without too much trouble, holding 65 mph in 3rd gear. I could have pushed harder for more speed but 65 is about what everyone else does up that hill. Still, more power would be nice, and if I can get a little better gas mileage, that would be icing on the cake.
I went hunting for the lowest cost upgrade that would give me a reasonable power increase without having to go under the hood. This only leaves vehicle re-programmers. After looking around, doing some research I decided to purchase the HyperTech Max Energy re-programmer. There are plenty of re-programmers on the market. One that keeps coming up is Nelson Tune. The cost is more than the HyperTech but not a great deal. Some of the comments made about the HyperTech is that it is more generic, meaning, yes there will be a performance increase, but HyperTech keeps all the changes within a reasonable range compared to stock specifications. This ensures passing of smog tests as well as not possibly damaging the engine. Since I use my truck as my commute vehicle in day to day driving as well as to pull my travel trailer, I thought this would be the way to go. I ordered my HyperTech tuner from www.truckaddons.com for $287.99 (that includes shipping and handling).
The tuner arrived on a Wednesday. My plan was to go out and run some baseline tests, update the trucks computer and then run the tests again. I have an ODBII computer interface from www.scantool.net. I purchased the scantool many years ago so I could perform my own diagnostics on the truck. The scantool software that runs on a Windows laptop will allow all sorts of monitoring but in particular I wanted gas mileage and ? mile times. Well I couldn?t wait until the weekend to reprogram the truck, so I did it that Wednesday evening. The update was easy with the HyperTech re-programmer. Just follow the onscreen instructions. Driving to work Thursday and Friday, I suspected there was a difference in performance of my truck, but you know how that goes ? wishful thinking, hoping I didn?t waste almost $300.00 on something that really did nothing at all.
Once Saturday came around I went and found a fairly level long road that had little traffic on it. Though the HypterTech re-programmer will change many settings on the Avalanche?s computer, I was only interested in two of them. I wanted the performance increase installed for a regular fuel engine (if you run premium you can get even better performance) and I wanted the transmission (non-Allison) to shift harder and have less clutch slippage. Since these updates were already programmed into the Avalanche?s computer from Wednesday, I went ahead and made a few runs, noting what the scantool displayed.
This was a steady run, cruise control locked over a 1 mile run.
MPH MPG Stock MPG HypterTech Improvement
30 22.2 23 0.8
40 20.72 21.39 0.67
50 20.23 20.88 0.65
60 16.96 17.52 0.56
70 14.74 15.18 0.44
Nothing spectacular and not the 2 to 6mpg that HyperTech talks about on their website, yet there was an increase in mileage. Since I purchased the HyperTech more for power and less for increased fuel mileage I wasn?t disappointed in these numbers. Plus, figuring that most of my driving to and from work is between 35 and 45 mph I could and actually did see an increase in mileage on Thursday and Friday. Now remember, the above is steady speed, locked in cruise control over fairly level road. I know the Avalanche drinks fuel just to get that 6000Lbs truck moving. My actual mileage to and from my office with stops and starts averages around 14.5mpg. I have hit above 15mpg average a few times. That takes a lot of concentration and the stupid drivers that cut me off or can?t figure that vehicles will hold a steady speed must be out of the way. Well, since I purchased the HyperTech for giving me that little towing power I once again used my scantool to give me some timed runs. Here are those figures, and they are somewhat impressive considering this is just a reprogram of the trucks computer.
Test Stock HyperTech Improvement
60' time 5.291 4.307 -0.984
0 to 60 time 11.982 10.654 -1.328
1/8th mile time 13.734 12.801 -0.933
1000' time 17.002 16.01 -0.992
1/4 mile time 19.814 18.731 -1.083
1/4 mile speed 80.778 83.206 2.428
The times above would actually be even quicker if I hadn?t of flubbed up on the runs. The road that I tested on for the mileage was perfectly level. The road that I did the ? mile runs on was actually slightly uphill. After backing onto the road from my turn around spot I checked my rear view to make sure no one was coming. I needed to come to a complete stop to run the ? mile test. I tapped the staging button on my computers screen for the scantool, glanced up in the rear view and here came a truck, and he was coming fast. I floored the gas pedal and the timer was running. I figured I might as well stay in it until the run was done. This means my first run was uphill instead of up on the level area where I really wanted it to be. The second run, without the HyperTech program installed was in the same location, up the slight hill. Still, cutting off a second or more from all times and an increase of almost 2.5mph at the end of the run is a pretty nice increase.
Are the numbers as good as HyperTech claims? No of course not. Any company is going to publish the best numbers and from what I understand, the best numbers were obtained on a Mustang test vehicle. Still I am not complaining. The numbers are better than stock. The throttle seems to respond quicker, the shifts are stronger and I have observed a slight increase in mileage.
Now to play with the numbers a bit ? Gasoline is running $2.97 per gallon right now for regular fuel. At that price, each mile is costing me $0.2048. With the HypterTech re-programmer installed the price drops to $0.1958 per mile. The savings per mile is $0.0090 or almost a penny. This means that to pay for the HypterTech re-programmer, I need to drive 31,834.625 miles with the HypterTech program installed. Of course if the price of gasoline goes down, then more miles are needed, and the reverse if the price of gasoline goes up. Still, remember I purchased the HypterTech for the added power, especially for when I?m towing that monster 32? travel trailer. Since my Avalanche only has 111,120 miles on it, another 32,000 miles is more than doable.
Am I happy with the purchase, yes. For the price, ease of installation, the added power and the added gas mileage, the HypterTech re-programmer was worth the money.
Chevy Avalanche 2500
496cid Rat Motor
4 Speed Automatic (non-Allison)
ODB II ScanTool from www.scantool.net
HyperTech Max Energy re-programmers (PN# 32000)
