Brother installed a Quadzilla programmer

[QUIKAG]

The one he got has a 50hp, 70hp, 90hp, and 110hp program. I drove it around on the 90hp program and it definitely has a lot more get up and go. The speedometer climbs eerily fast for a 6500lb truck with big wheels/tires and a 4 inch lift in an extended cab 4x4 Duramax 2500HD. It's crazy. He has a muffler delete and the Quadzilla. His truck is LOUD, it seriously sound like a jet on full afterburner when it's at full throttle.

 

Based on quite a bit of experience with fast cars, I'd say it's running mid 14's or so in the low 90's in the 1/4 mile based on what sort of acceleration I felt.

 

I'm impressed with the ability to unleash the power in those Duramaxes and turbo diesels in general.

[Machine]

I too run the Quadzilla. Most of the time I have it stacked with the Edge Juice. The power gained from these things make the Duramax an even more impressive beast.

[QUIKAG]

Could you please explain what 'stacking' means? How can you 'stack' one programmer on top of another? What sort of benefits does this give over just one programmer with a higher hp program? I'm confused and trying to help my brother be smart with his modifications to his truck.

[Machine]

Hi,

 

You made the right choice by recommending the quadzilla. It’s a good product backed by a good old Fort Worth boy that knows his $hit.

 

In a nutshell: stacking is when you combine the advantages of a programmer with a power module for extra HP, and vice versa

 

 

The easiest way to explain stacking is when you take a handheld programmer like the Quadzilla Stealth Tuner, Diablow Predator, etc. and load it on top of a power module like the Edge Juice module or the Quad Power Module. The Edge Juice is a power module that is installed under the hood. The Quad Stealth Tuner is a programmer that you upload in the cab of the truck via the diagnostic port.

 

The advantages of stacking for me was that my Quad Stealth programmer allowed me to adjust my speedo for my larger tires, remove my speed limiter, and upload more HP than my Edge Juice module provides. The maximum HP my Edge Juice offers is 90HP. With the addition of the Quad Stealth Tuner I am able to upload additional HP settings in the range of 70, 110, 135, or 165HP – giving me a maximum of 255 total HP. By the way, the Allison transmission can only handle about 135 additional HP – anything more and you’ll limp it in 5th gear if you don’t lock it out

 

I usually run around with the edge on 90 and my Quad on 70. It’s enough additional HP to take my truck into the VERY low 14’s and/or high 13’s, and it dumps enough smoke out of its arse to intimidate any tailgater.

.

I think I just confused myself trying to explain this. Hope this helps.

[QUIKAG]

That makes perfect sense. Thank you for the explanation. I didn't know you could combine the horsepower effects of a 'chip' and a programmer. That's pretty cool. I'll forward this thread link to my brother.

 

I'm glad you mentioned the black smoke. When I nailed it away from the light yesterday, he wanted to see if any smoke came out the exhaust and a HUGE plume of smoke billowed out and coated all the cars behind us. I started laughing and he started freaking out. I spent the next few minutes explaining to him that it was completely normal for black smoke to come out with a modded diesel.

 

So, if the Allison goes into a limp mode above 135hp, how are you getting around that with an extra ~160hp or so?

 

Either way, he's pretty happy with the 90hp setting, I guess it would be safe for him to run the 110hp mode, which is the highest one he has, but he wants to get a pyrometer to monitor the EGT's first before running the 110. I told him he'd be fine on the 90hp program as long as he wasn't flooring it away from every single light. Is that accurate? He doesn't tow much at all and when he does, it's a few thousand lb. trailer, nothing too heavy. Any recommendations about driving habits with the programmer?

[Mort]

How about a new exhaust down pipe and an exhaust temperature guage if you are doing these mods. I heard that you should monitor your exhaust temps to avoid harm to your engine especially when towing. I see that you already are considering one then that is good.

 

Best of luck with it sounds very cool.

 

[QUIKAG]

Is an aftermarket down pipe supposed to help quite a bit? With the muffler delete it's a 3 inch (I believe) pipe fron the engine all the way out the side of the truck with no restrictions. It doesn't have a catalytic converter or anything.

 

He's also thinking about a less restrictive air intake. Any suggestions? I installed an AEM Brute Force on my 5.3L and it seemed to open it up a fair bit, he might get one of those for his truck. I presume the turbo will be even louder with an open element air filter?

[Firetiger(MN)]

I have the same model Quad (110) and I like it too. It needs to be sent in for an update though to get the latest version as it stumbles at cruise speed which is very annoying.

 

The Edge+Attitude is currently on my truck and I think it gives better all around power. I'd have to give the "edge" to the Edge (pun intended), but it lacks the speedo correction and top speed limiter that the Quad does. I'll have that stacked on the 0 tune when I get it back. Stock tranny so I don't want to abuse it too bad. The 125HP shot of Juice does that enough.

[Mort]

I am not sure about the intake. I put one on my 6.0L and it hurt performance so I am back to the stock intake. It will definately wake the sound up if you have an open element. Some people like the AEM, others the UPD (NSV) (what is with the (NSV) I could not get ride of them?)and the Volant. TByrne is offering a new one by VR called the King Cobra which will be available soon. There are lots of $40 filters on Ebay and the list goes on. I am not sure if the intake on the duramax would benefit from an intake kit or not.

 

It used to be that the downpipe was considered as the most restrictive part of the exhaust but that may not be true with the way your brother's is opened up. I think it may be worth looking into to get those EGTs down.

 

[Firetiger(MN)]

Many like the AFE open intake system....similar to a K&N filtercharger. Not much is realized in HP gain, but it will help the EGT's and also make the turbo really whistle from what I've read although I've not heard one in person. That's worth the price right there!

[Machine]

Hi -

 

Any time you add a power upgrade you should consider installing a pyro and boost. I can easily hit some nice temps while nailing it with only the Juice set @ 90 and the Quad set at 0. No need for a bigger downpipe - the stock one is fine, but a less restrictive exhaust installed after the downpipe could cool you down as much as 175*.

 

When I pull my boat I usually only use the Juice and I keep it set at 40 or 60 HP. I live in S. Texas so the terain is pretty flat, but I still watch the Pyro real close. Your brother needs at least a pyro if he plans to pull something with the Quadzilla, and I would only use the 50HP setting.

[QUIKAG]

Is the downpipe diameter less than the rest of the stock exhaust system? As I mentioned, for Christmas, I actually took something away from him, his muffler. I had a piece of 3 inch straight pipe welded in place of his muffler, so, to my knowledge, he has 3 inch exhaust from the downpipe all the way out the back. You can't be much less restrictive than that. Of course, it's loud under throttle and sounds like a jet engine, but I love it.

 

I believe he does plan to install a pyro, though what is the benefit of a boost gauge, other than the know what sort of boost you're running (though through the program, you can't really adjust the boost level, maybe just lower the hp setting). Speaking of which, what sort of psi is the turbo generating on the 90hp setting? 110hp setting? Isn't it something crazy like 30psi? Either way, it sounds awesome.

 

Speaking of which, if the open element intake makes the turbo whistle more pronounced, I would think that would be worth the price of admission even if little performance gain is realized.

 

He really doesn't tow much, he has a lawn/landscape business and his heaviest trailer w/ equipment is maybe 4-5,000 lbs. and he normally uses other gas work trucks to tow that stuff around.

 

I appreciate the comments so far!! The diesel performance world is a new place for my brother and me. I need a diesel myself now.

[Machine]

The stock exhaust on the Dmax is 3.5" Your adding a 3" replacement pipe where the muffler was still lowers the EGT's better than the stock muffler setup, though. I ran around with that type of setup but the noise finally got to me.

 

Max boost for me has been 27 at 110 HP, 25 at 90 HP. Stock is 22. I raise a flag if I happen to pass 30 on higher settings.

[QUIKAG]

I stand corrected, I had the muffler guy weld a pipe that was identical to the diameter of the rest of the stock piping, so it is 3.5" For some reason, I thought it was 3".

 

So, at the 90hp setting, he's running 25psi, huh? It sounds great, I'm surprised it's only 3psi over stock. I can't believe the power it picks up. I guess there are other adjustments that are made to the program to pick up the power besides upping the boost? I don't see 3psi making 90hp....either way it's crazy..

 

Machine, what exhaust setup are you running now? Is an aftermarket 4 inch system really going to be any more powerful or reduce EGT's any less than a straight 3.5" exhaust setup?

[Machine]

A 4" aftermarket setup may give you a little cooler temperature up and down the range, but a 3.5" straight pipe like you did does the job perfectly - if you like the noise. I run a (DPPI) Diesel Performance Products 4" unit with a 5” tip. In my opinion, it's one of the best - no noise in the cabin while cruising but fairly aggressive when getting on it.