CRDMiller wrote:
If chris is accurate, and the gde has less peak tq (witch is something they clearly state when they say instead of shuddering it downshifts) It would be nice to not have the rumble, but to be honest with all of you, with the in motion, i never drop out of top gear. I have seriously set the cruise control to 65 (62 on my speedo) and gone from San diego, to vegas, on the 15, and never changed gear. I can also go through the imperial/san diego pass without loosing top gear. IS this better than better mpg?
Probably not.
To be honest here, the imII is not advertised as super economical.
And as far as smoke goes, i can make it all day long, at will, and it's not all coming from the tailpipe.
You know, I think you hit the nail on the head, and finally made this click for me.
The GDE tune can drop out of lockup on some grades. However, the only reason I previously wanted to maintain lockup so badly was to keep things efficient. The burning need to "maintain lockup at all costs" goes away with the GDE because you get great fuel economy either way.
When I sold Fred the CRD, I told him that the vehicle almost had two different driving personalities - in lockup, and out of lockup. I found that when I drove the GDE tune, this dual personality is much less pronounced - lockup is no longer the shuddering torque monster it used to be, but out-of-lockup at part-throttle positions feels much more efficient and drives nicer. With the GDE, I found myself just driving the darn thing without caring whether I was doing 50mph or 53mph (and you all know what I'm talking about...).
- Chris