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Black Bear Performance Live Tune Done!

firecombs

By firecombs
in Vendor & Product Reviews

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firecombs Enthusiast

firecombs

Posted
Posted

Many of you read my previous post detailing my dissatisfaction with Nelson Performance customer service.

 

 

Nelson Performance -- odd interaction

 

Well, this morning I had my 2007 NBS Silverado tuned live by Justin of "Black Bear Performance", and all I can say is WOW! I'll tell you more about the tune in a moment. First I want to tell you guys well I was treated by Justin of Black Bear Performance. The link above details my frustration with another tuner and gives some back story about what lead up to my contact with Black Bear Performance. Before anyone gets bent out of shape, I am not bashing that competitor's product. I was just disappointed with his customer service. On the other hand, Justin of Black Bear Performance went out of his way to help me out. After my dealings with Nelson fell apart I contacted Wheatly, and Black Bear Performance. Both owners responded to my emails quickly and where very helpful. Justin of Black Bear Performance definitely went above and beyond. He told me that he was going to be out of town on business, and would be in Dallas (where I live) for a day and a half. He also offered to meet with me and tune my truck while he was in town. Unfortunately, I work 24hr shifts and would be unavailable (due to work) all day Saturday. I did not think we were going to be able to meet. Justin told me not to worry about it; he was willing to meet me first thing Sunday morning.

 

 

 

Sure enough at 7:30am Sunday morning Justin was waiting at our designated meeting place. The live tune took approximately 1 and ½ hrs. During this time we made several test drives allowing Justin to make minor corrections. He also allowed me to suggest changes based on personal "feel" and driving preference. Justin was patient with my questions, even though many of them were undoubtedly inane, due to my lack of knowledge concerning the subject. I found out several things about Justin that made me feel confident in his abilities. His reputation is well deserved. Justin is an EFI Live instructor, and has a close relationship to the owners of EFI Live University. He is also like us – an automotive enthusiast. He has owned a slew of hot rods and tricked out vehicles and understands the value we place on our rides. Justin is a real stand up guy, and I have nothing but positive feedback based on our interaction.

 

 

 

Another thing that I am excited about is Justin's current project. Presently Justin employs a system where he sends you data recording equipment for your truck and once returned he makes a tune for you vehicle based on that data. Then he either sells you a new PCM or does an exchange. Well, soon we will have the option of keeping our PCM and purchasing a handheld with that same tune installed. We all know the advantages of being able to back out our tune before dealer visits, but we would also be able to update our tune via email with Justin. Granted, this is not available right now, but it seems to a high priority for Justin.

 

 

 

Now, the tune - Man what a difference. If I did not know better I would think I got in the wrong truck. I have a 2007 nbs with NO mods prior to the tune. This is a whole new truck. The acceleration is quick, with smooth crisp up-shifts. No bogging or lag anywhere. It feels great from a dead stop and even better at 40mph roll-ons. Finally, technology is my friend!

 

 

 

Again, we all know that there are some accomplished tuners out there. No doubt I could have gotten similar results from a competitors tune. But, with Black Bear Performance I also got: timely email response, quick answers to all my questions, a reasonable time invested in making my tune "just right", and no doubt an extra effort to gain a new customer and make them happy.

 

 

 

I have encouraged Justin to spend more time on gm-trucks.com. I hope he does, he would make a great addition to the site.

 

 

 

-Mark

Bish Senior Enthusiast

Bish

Posted
Posted

I will also recommend Justin!

 

I bought EFILive from him the beginning of the year along with a tune for my Denali and I will also have him tune my wife's Enclave. I agree his service is great. I am on my third mod of my tune so far. He sends me a tune, I load it, I drive around logging data and send it to him, he sends me another tune. Since my drivetrain is pretty new, we are taking small steps along the way. He was LIVE tuning another Denali and voila, another tune shows up in my email. Seems to put a lot of effort into the tunes. I am very happy with performance so far and we haven't really gotten into Abuse mode or Torque Management yet.

 

Glad to hear your great story! I took a flier on BlackBearPerformance based upon some positive reviews and I have not been disappointed!

 

I also had a great tune on my old Tahoe from Jesse at wait4me.

ws6_guy Senior Enthusiast

ws6_guy

Posted
Posted

Very very good review. Sounds like Justin is a very good seller. Glad to hear theres still people out there willing to go the extra mile to help

Diabs Enthusiast

Diabs

Posted
Posted

Nice to hear that customer service is the new way of business...considering thats the way its suppose to be!( Justin will be a very busy man!)

 

Its a shame some people/companies just don't get it.....especially with all thats going on in the retail busniess.

 

Its always nice to hear of a place/person/company you can do busniess with and know your expereince will be comfortable.

Bish Senior Enthusiast

Bish

Posted
Posted
Wow thats a satisfied customer! Congrats on your tune. Your in dallas, ware is Black Bear based out of?

 

I think he is out of Virginia. I know on the east coast somewhere. I also know he is in Cali quite often.

firecombs Enthusiast

firecombs

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Wow thats a satisfied customer! Congrats on your tune. Your in dallas, ware is Black Bear based out of?

 

I think he is out of Virginia. I know on the east coast somewhere. I also know he is in Cali quite often.

 

 

 

 

Alexandria, VA.

tigerbait Enthusiast

tigerbait

Posted
Posted
Many of you read my previous post detailing my dissatisfaction with Nelson Performance customer service.

 

 

Nelson Performance -- odd interaction

 

Well, this morning I had my 2007 NBS Silverado tuned live by Justin of "Black Bear Performance", and all I can say is WOW! I'll tell you more about the tune in a moment. First I want to tell you guys well I was treated by Justin of Black Bear Performance. The link above details my frustration with another tuner and gives some back story about what lead up to my contact with Black Bear Performance. Before anyone gets bent out of shape, I am not bashing that competitor's product. I was just disappointed with his customer service. On the other hand, Justin of Black Bear Performance went out of his way to help me out. After my dealings with Nelson fell apart I contacted Wheatly, and Black Bear Performance. Both owners responded to my emails quickly and where very helpful. Justin of Black Bear Performance definitely went above and beyond. He told me that he was going to be out of town on business, and would be in Dallas (where I live) for a day and a half. He also offered to meet with me and tune my truck while he was in town. Unfortunately, I work 24hr shifts and would be unavailable (due to work) all day Saturday. I did not think we were going to be able to meet. Justin told me not to worry about it; he was willing to meet me first thing Sunday morning.

 

 

 

Sure enough at 7:30am Sunday morning Justin was waiting at our designated meeting place. The live tune took approximately 1 and ½ hrs. During this time we made several test drives allowing Justin to make minor corrections. He also allowed me to suggest changes based on personal "feel" and driving preference. Justin was patient with my questions, even though many of them were undoubtedly inane, due to my lack of knowledge concerning the subject. I found out several things about Justin that made me feel confident in his abilities. His reputation is well deserved. Justin is an EFI Live instructor, and has a close relationship to the owners of EFI Live University. He is also like us – an automotive enthusiast. He has owned a slew of hot rods and tricked out vehicles and understands the value we place on our rides. Justin is a real stand up guy, and I have nothing but positive feedback based on our interaction.

 

 

 

Another thing that I am excited about is Justin's current project. Presently Justin employs a system where he sends you data recording equipment for your truck and once returned he makes a tune for you vehicle based on that data. Then he either sells you a new PCM or does an exchange. Well, soon we will have the option of keeping our PCM and purchasing a handheld with that same tune installed. We all know the advantages of being able to back out our tune before dealer visits, but we would also be able to update our tune via email with Justin. Granted, this is not available right now, but it seems to a high priority for Justin.

 

 

 

Now, the tune - Man what a difference. If I did not know better I would think I got in the wrong truck. I have a 2007 nbs with NO mods prior to the tune. This is a whole new truck. The acceleration is quick, with smooth crisp up-shifts. No bogging or lag anywhere. It feels great from a dead stop and even better at 40mph roll-ons. Finally, technology is my friend!

 

 

 

Again, we all know that there are some accomplished tuners out there. No doubt I could have gotten similar results from a competitors tune. But, with Black Bear Performance I also got: timely email response, quick answers to all my questions, a reasonable time invested in making my tune "just right", and no doubt an extra effort to gain a new customer and make them happy.

 

 

 

I have encouraged Justin to spend more time on gm-trucks.com. I hope he does, he would make a great addition to the site.

 

 

 

-Mark

 

 

:sick::D

 

+1 for Justin.

overlord1 Enthusiast

overlord1

Posted
Posted

I'm getting a tune done by Justin as well. I'll be driving up to VA to meet him in person as I have friends in the area I plan to visit. So far Justin has answered every email I've sent him very promptly. He doesn't respond with one word or sentence either, but instead gives detailed responses to all of my questions. You can tell that he knows what he is doing and is very friendly on top of that. I have a Predator programmer running their 93 octane performance tune and am very much looking forward to seeing how much more performance I get with a custom tune. I will definitely be posting the results.

firecombs Enthusiast

firecombs

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 questions...

 

1. How do I get this tune, how much $$

 

2. Will is affect my warranty?

 

I have a 2007 NBS, 5.3

 

1. Blackbear web page

 

2. loaded question. no one can promise you it won't. in all likely hood it won't, but... you should really do a search on warranty questions and tunes. several threads about this subject already.

 

good luck

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