I bought my 2014 Sierra 1500 SLT 5.3 3.42 rear three months ago. While I generally liked the truck, the poor throttle response and mushy shifts were maddening. After much thought about voiding my warranty, I decided I had to do something about it. So, I ordered an Intune.
It arrived and I spent a few hours trying to get it to update
. Finally, I used a different computer and it reluctantly updated after a few tries. But, man did it take a long time!!!! Preparing/writing/preparing etc for almost an hour!With an updated Intune in hand, I went out to the truck and loaded the 87 octane tune with the firm shift TCM tune. The only thing I changed from the canned tunes was throwing in 15% off throttle boost.
The tune installed without a hitch and the truck was immediately different... In a good way. Throttle response was substantially improved, shifts were quicker and more positive while still being very comfortable.
I drove around I bit with a grin on my face
and decided to make a few changes. I went 7% softer on the 1-2 shift to make it more comfortable. I also bumped firmness on the WOT shifts by 5% because I thought they were still a bit soft.The truck seems noticeably quicker, and more responsive. I get some very minor pinging for a second or two if I mash it. In my mind this means the wizards at Diablo pushed the tune right to limits of 87 octane and left nothing on the table. This is in no way a negative if you ask me. Gas mileage has not suffered. In fact, it seems slightly better around town... Maybe because I don't need to mash the throttle trying to get some response out of it.
OK, so I promised results... Using my iPhone's Dynolicious app (rollout turned off), I ran 0-60's with the stock tune vs the new tune. With the stock tune, 0-60 was a very consistent 7.5 seconds. With the Diablo tune, 7.2 seconds. That's not a "best time" either: that's an average! It's very consistent.
I can't help but wonder how it would be with the 91 octane tune. But we don't have 91 around here, only 93 and it runs over $4/gallon... Maybe one day I'll treat her to a tank of 93 and try out the 91 octane tune.
The only thing I'm wondering, is what effect elimination of torque management has. What would be the effect on the truck? I don't want to keep programming it over an over with endless experimentation.
Cheers!
John
