2014+ Engine & Transmission Tuning

[wvsilverado07]

Iam still waiting on to add a Dynomax 39529 Cat-Back but I will say the K&N 66 Series CAI helped the throttle response with only 14K miles on my 14 Silverado 5.3 it was worth the $198 I spent on it. Iam now debating on a BlackBear Tune with the EFILive or Diablo but leaning toward the Blackbear, I emailed them this morning but since their on the WestCoast now it may take awhile to hear from them. I just wish these companys would talk to you instead of email, the world is turning anti social because of the internet "lol" <- Sarcasm

[WendysOrBust]

Iam still waiting on to add a Dynomax 39529 Cat-Back but I will say the K&N 66 Series CAI helped the throttle response with only 14K miles on my 14 Silverado 5.3 it was worth the $198 I spent on it. Iam now debating on a BlackBear Tune with the EFILive or Diablo but leaning toward the Blackbear, I emailed them this morning but since their on the WestCoast now it may take awhile to hear from them. I just wish these companys would talk to you instead of email, the world is turning anti social because of the internet "lol" <- Sarcasm

From my understanding it is only a few people that work at Blackbear, I assume it would quickly get quite hectic if they opened up a phone line. But I've had no issues with contact and Justin is pretty quick at replying to my emails.

 

I was also on the fence between a custom Diablo tune or going with the Blackbear/AutoCal. The reason I went with the AutoCal BB tune is I believe EFI live allows for more user defined controls and customization compared to the Diablo software. It is one of the best ecu/tcm management softwares out right now and used across a variety of gas and diesel trucks. I also really liked the fact that if next year or so I decide to trade in my truck for a newer GM I can just pay a $300 fee and Justin will tune that as well since I already own the AutoCal.

 

But get whichever you want, both have excellent reviews across multiple message boards.

[07Softail]

I'm on the 91+ tune right now. And I really like it, I feel like this is the way the truck should of been from the dealer. I still havn't sent back the log after the tune since I'm still trying to test it and to see if I want anything different.

 

And I wish I could give you a fair estimation on milage, but its been so cold here that I've been remote starting the truck every chance I get. As it sits I'm at 14.5mpg three quarters of the way through this tank. But here are my overall impressions of the tune;

 

• Tip in torque and response has greatly increased. Before I felt like I really needed to get into the throttle to get it moving. You can de definitely feel the added torque as soon as you touch the pedal, probably from a reduction in torque management.
• Before the tune, the trucks transmission did this annoying thing, kinda hard to explain. But for example, if I gave it 50-70% throttle from low speed it would hold the gear I was in, but over extend the shift point, past its power band to the point that I had to wait till it shifted or blip the throttle to initiate a shift. Now when I do the same it'll do a real nice quick upshift but maintains the engine in the power band. Feels allot better.
• Shift firmness feels better at WOT. Not drastic enough for me to ask for a reduction though, doesn't feel too firm or aggressive.
• I can tell he added 300-400 rpms for the WOT shift points. At first I was a little weary, but I really like it now. Off the top of my head, with my 3.42 rear end, 1st will go up to almost 45mph, 2nd to 70, and I let off at 3rd when I was at 100. It was still pulling really well though. I guess I can hit higher in 3rd.
• Daily driving is much improved with the modified TCM. The truck just picks up speed allot easier and downshifts come sooner and smoother. I wish I could be more accurate here, but the truck never displays what gear I'm in, but I'm assuming that at any point I am a gear lower than what I used to be pre-tune. However I don't feel like I'm overworking the truck, at most on stop and go city traffic I'll see 2500-3000rpm shift points.

 

Driving a truck on a tune, especially giving a review is so hard because all the factors are so subjective. My overall complaint about my 5.3 is that it had overall poor throttle response, and lazy shifting. I can honestly say none of those are issues now. I do plan on getting an air raid jr. kit in a week or so, after that I will probably stop with the truck. I don't plan to race it or heavily modify it. I just wanted a more responsive truck.

I'm good with your assessment... and I would agree that the Throttle and Trans are very lazy and downshift clunky-ness needs improvement. I have also noticed the tranny holding an upshift from 2-3 and can't stand it. Hell my 2009 Silverado DCSB 4.8 City truck is more peppy and shifts better than my 2014 RCSB 5.3. I want crisp throttle and shifts, shift timing adjustments and the AFM Delete.

 

After the tune i'm also done and I already have the Airaid MIT, MBRP catback as far as mileage it is also important to me but I rarely do any interstate running and even running 3:73's I really don't think it will suffer to much if i chose to do so. I'm getting ready for a tune myself with Blackbear and so far the customer service is great...so thanks for your opinion on your tune. Let us know if you make any changes.

 

RT

[Jennabear]

Iam still waiting on to add a Dynomax 39529 Cat-Back but I will say the K&N 66 Series CAI helped the throttle response with only 14K miles on my 14 Silverado 5.3 it was worth the $198 I spent on it. Iam now debating on a BlackBear Tune with the EFILive or Diablo but leaning toward the Blackbear, I emailed them this morning but since their on the WestCoast now it may take awhile to hear from them. I just wish these companys would talk to you instead of email, the world is turning anti social because of the internet "lol" <- Sarcasm

 

 

From my understanding it is only a few people that work at Blackbear, I assume it would quickly get quite hectic if they opened up a phone line. But I've had no issues with contact and Justin is pretty quick at replying to my emails.

 

I was also on the fence between a custom Diablo tune or going with the Blackbear/AutoCal. The reason I went with the AutoCal BB tune is I believe EFI live allows for more user defined controls and customization compared to the Diablo software. It is one of the best ecu/tcm management softwares out right now and used across a variety of gas and diesel trucks. I also really liked the fact that if next year or so I decide to trade in my truck for a newer GM I can just pay a $300 fee and Justin will tune that as well since I already own the AutoCal.

 

But get whichever you want, both have excellent reviews across multiple message boards.

 

Yes, BBP is only 2 full time employees, so opening a phone line would really bog things down. Between inperson tunes, mail order tunes, and emails, the guys are pretty much working around the clock. People ask "why don't you just hire someone to answer the phone?". The answer to that is, we would love to, but the probablem would be in training someone to answer technical questions that inevitably get asked. Not to mention the people that just want to chit chat.

 

BBP is keeping the prices down by staying small, but hopefully there is room in the future for expansion!

 

In the meantime, Julie and I are on the forums, and happy to help where we can.

Edited February 26, 2015 by Jennabear

[WendysOrBust]

I'm good with your assessment... and I would agree that the Throttle and Trans are very lazy and downshift clunky-ness needs improvement. I have also noticed the tranny holding an upshift from 2-3 and can't stand it. Hell my 2009 Silverado DCSB 4.8 City truck is more peppy and shifts better than my 2014 RCSB 5.3. I want crisp throttle and shifts, shift timing adjustments and the AFM Delete.

 

After the tune i'm also done and I already have the Airaid MIT, MBRP catback as far as mileage it is also important to me but I rarely do any interstate running and even running 3:73's I really don't think it will suffer to much if i chose to do so. I'm getting ready for a tune myself with Blackbear and so far the customer service is great...so thanks for your opinion on your tune. Let us know if you make any changes.

 

RT

Hahaha, this is what I was referring to in my post above. But yes, before it would do this very annoying hold between 2nd and 3rd. And will do, I like my 3.42's but would like to test out the 3.73's, I bet truck feels great with them on.

 

And I'll let you know if I make any changes, still debating if I want him to disable AFM since I recently got a cat-back put on. At first I didn't mind the drone, but it gets more annoying the more I drive it. Its just so much smoother and quieter with the engine running in full v8.

[ricker6869]

Gettin BBP tuned on 3/6...cant wait !

[rhodeislandhntr]

I looked at black bears site and I am a little confused on all the pricing. I never did a tune before but would really like to get this tranny running the way it should because it looks like GM is not going to do anything anytime soon. How much is a basic engine and tranny tune and how difficult is it to do? Thanks, this would be for a 14 with a 4.3litre.

[Jennabear]

For your 14, you would need an AutoCal, due to the computers used.

[rhodeislandhntr]

Thank you, as I am understanding, once I order I get a hand held unit that has the program in it and it then plugs into the obd port and rewrites the pcm/tcm, like I stated I am new to this but cant stand the sluggish drive and tranny feeling my truck has. Thanks

[Jennabear]

The process is this:

-AutoCal is shipped to you

-you configure the AutoCal for your vehicle and collect a datalog as well as stock tune

-you email the datalog and stock tune to BBP

-BBP will review datalog and let you know if anything is needed or if there are glaring mechanical issues

-BBP will then build your tune and email your tune files to you

-you will load the tune files to your AutoCal

-you will use the AutoCal to flash the tune to your vehicle

-you will collect another datalog and email to BBP

-BBP will review the datalog to make sure all looks good

Let me know if you have further questions!

[Bonker]

Any Canadians on here who have done the Black Bear Auto Cal tune? Can you please post your experience and satisfaction with this tune. Thanks.

[skwr1]

Anyone have issues using the Diablo Intune on a 2014 Silverado - Wondering about changing "Throttle boost" and "Shift pressures"?

[mjj]

Anyone have issues using the Diablo Intune on a 2014 Silverado - Wondering about changing "Throttle boost" and "Shift pressures"?

I've had no major issues. Their support helped me out with some adjustments when I felt it hesitated too long on shifts with their new Diablo flex tune so I've been happy with it. On the Diablosports website forum they recommended starting at +15 for the throttle boost and tweaking from there. I have my 2014 set at +10 and it seems good, much better than stock. I have not done as much with the shift pressure. I've set mine on the firm shift tcm then about +3 for each shift and torque management off. This I read as a recommendation from another forum member and it seemed ok. I ended up settling on the hard shift tcm without any adjustments and leaving torque management turned on as I got a lot of wheel spin with it off under fairly normal driving. If you like to spin your tires off the line and continue shifting into second set it to hard and TM off haha.

[antony-454]

Was wondering if anyone has tried a superchip programmer yet. Is there a reason no one has used one? Curious on why the people with can tunes are going only with the hypertech or diablo is there a certain reason for this? Any help would be apreciated.

[ToesonTheNose]

Looking like Father's Day gift to myself is gonna be bb tune