New Avalanche Need help! Which Tuner?

[General21]

Hey guys im new to the site and a new avalanche ower. I have purchused a 2007 avalanche lt. Ive been dying to modifie the thing. I have a Flowmaster 40 series Delta exhaust on the way already. I have done some research and now thinking i should go with a CAI and then a tuner. Is this correct? Also i have found a couple Diablosports tuners for about $150. Is this a good tuner and a good price? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Marty_OH]

I just found out something about the Diablo Predator tuners today. If you buy a used one, besides obviously making sure it is not "VIN locked" to another vehicle, check into the firmware version. If it is an older old, it is not Internet updatable. It needs to be sent to Diablo to have a firmware (and/or hardware) upgrade that costs $99. If you don't want to be able to upgrade firmware via the Internet, you can still use an older tuner, as long as it is not "VIN locked" to a previous vehicle.

I almost bought one of a few different Diablo Predator tuners on eBay over the past week, or so. Boy, am I glad the one guy did not accept my "best offer".

Anyway, I decided to bite the bullet and I bought a brand new one from an online retailer (not sure if I'm allowed to name - names on this board). I got it for $254.55 with a whole dollar off to beat another online retailer. But, one of the nice things about the online retailer I bought from, is that they have a 1 year price guarantee.

With all of the said, I actually bought the Diablo for my 2003 Vette. I have a Cortex 2950 I'm currently using on the Vette. Superchips just released a new update for the 2950 for new Avalanche's (and other GM's). I'll switch to using the Cortex 2950 on my 2012 Avalanche. Superchips wanted $199 to add a second VIN capability to my 2950. This way I'll have a dedicated tuner for each vehicle.

[Grantn13]

How's the chip working out on your truck? I am still looking to get one myself, looking at the edge.

[Marty_OH]

I haven't tuned my Avalanche - yet...

I have a K&N 63-3070 intake kit sitting in the garage.  And, I have a Corsa "Sport" cat-back exhaust P/N 14914 being delivered tomorrow.  My plan is to get an average MPG with my Avalanche completely stock for at least the first few thousand miles (I just rolled past 1,000 miles last week - I purchased it new on 3/6/12).  Then, I want to see what kind of improvement I can get with the intake, exhaust and tune installed.

Obliviously, the mods listed above are more geared towards performance improvement (adding HP & torque), but an added benefit can be increased fuel economy when driving in a more conservative manner.  But, I will still have (and definitely want) the increased HP/torque there when I want/need it.

I'm not familiar with Edge tuners.  But, the Edge GM EvoHT tuner looks eerily similar to the Superchips Cortex 2950 I have that I will be using with my Avalanche.  The Cortex 2950 worked very well with my Corvette.  But, when I saw that there was no "fuel economy" tune available (even after updating via their web site) I called Superchips directly to ask about that.  They explained that while it was a correct Superchips tuner to use with my Corvette, their products are designed more for use with full size trucks.  Superchips recently released an update for the 2950 tuner that includes 2012 Avalanche's.  And, it has a performance tune and a fuel economy tune.  So, that is why I'm going to use the Cortex 2950 on my Avalanche.

[james21]

I'd agree with the Superchips tuner. I've heard a lot of good things about them, and there newest tuner coming out seems like it will be one of the best on the market.

James.