Update on SP stage 3 tuner...WOW!

biggiefl · **Posted:** Thu Oct 05, 2006 3:10 pm

Just bougt a Sp tuner stage 3 off E-Bay and installed it in my 05 CRD. Install was REAl simple, especially with that rubber plug in the firewall just waiting to be used. At first I was just fooling around to see if HO mode really did anything and if the claims of 90hp and 150torque were close. Well I have not dyno'd her nor am I going to but I will say it is a different animal now. Before if you powerbraked it and let off she would spin maybe 10ft and go. Now it will light the rears up like nobody's business. You know how weird it is to see a jeep diesel bellowing out smoke from the fenderwells? With that test performed I handed it back over to the wife and set it at fuel economy mode. In that mode it is supposed to run like stock but have better MPG. Well...before I put it in I towed my little 13' Whaler for about 100 miles and got just over 24mpg at 65-70mph highway. This weekend I did the same tow with an additional person in truck and got 28.2avg....holy smokes. My buddy was towing identical boat behind me and did about 24 in his 06 CRD. Now to see if I can break the 30mark without towing, should be easy.

PS...only diference I have noticed in the last 1500 miles or so, besides better mpg is that it sometimes takes a little longer to start when cold or warm. If you let the glowplug light go out, she fores right up though. I never used the glow light before but now I do but not necessary.

Endurance · **Posted:** Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:53 pm

The programmer has to boot up, thats why you have to wait 2 or 3 seconds for the SP on the display. If you crank it right up without waiting the programmer is still booting. Glad it increased your mileage it surely didnt increase mine.
Are you talking about stage 2? SP only makes stage 1 and 2 for the CRD.

AZScout · **Posted:** Thu Oct 05, 2006 6:11 pm

I recently bought the SP as well. I don't know if it is 90 HP but it is a different animal. My mileage did go up about 1mpg mix of city and hwy. The biggest difference that I can tell is that the CRD seems much more light on its feet. 60mph and turning on the OD results in instant fun as I pull away from everyone. Bought it off of e-bay as well...would buy it again...especially at $450.

biggiefl · **Posted:** Thu Oct 05, 2006 10:35 pm

I thought stage 2 was the 65hp and stage 1 is 45hp but I think there is only 65 & 90hp so I guess it is stage 2. I know the lesser one has 5 settings and this has 10. darn I thought I did OK at $500 with no shipping being they get $599 +ship. It is hard to tell because I don't drive the truck that much, it is the wife's. Most of the time it is a quick jaunt or I am towing. She is now averaging over 26 between city and hwy where she was only getting 22-23 before. Trick I have found with the CRD is to keep her under 75mph, preferrably at 70. I will lose 2-3 mpg going 75-80 which is a big deal if running 300miles. With my Jetta TDI I could run 80+ and still get 45 instead of 48-50 if I stayed at 70....no big deal there. From day 1 I have been getting the higher end of the fuel spectrum compared to others I know who had to wait 5-10k before they started getting mid-upper 20's. I have done 30+ before but driving like a wimp and no A/C. I still have not run her wimpy with the chip just to see how far it will fetch but will update when I do.

Endurance · **Posted:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 12:29 am

little advice, if you decide one day to bump the power of the SP all the way to HO to see what its capable of, leave the FP settings alone :-)

. I had to learn it the hard way, mine shut off... FP is for idling only anyway.

When I drive the interstate I always have the cruise on 85mph, so thats probably why I dont do better than 23.5 mpg. I try 75mph next time.

Tinman · **Joined:** Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:45 am **Posts:** 308

I sure hope you are running some gauges if you up the power. (EGT, Boost is minimal). Might not be so important with economy (timing) settings. Don't ever trust a performance vendor to market a product that is "safe" for the engine. More power comes from more fuel making more heat. Also remember, once you modify it, you are your own warrenty station. I like those mileage claims.

biggiefl · **Posted:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 12:30 pm

You can remove this thing in like 5 minutes, probably less. No way to tell it was there except for the velcro thingy on my dash. I ran one on my VW as well and had no warranty issues with it. Yes it has guages for fuel pressure and boost. I leave mine on FE(fuel economy) all the time, don't really care that it is fast, I want the mpg. It is nice to have the power when you need it like when towing. Nothing will get hurt if you don't drive it like an idiot. It tells you what and what not to do as well in the manual as far as keeping your engine safe. It says you should have a EGT guage if you drive it floored for long periods which I NEVER do. I only have one friend who owns a diesel and does not have a tuner box on it and that is just because he is too cheap. Friend has over 500k on a ford with no problems, etc. US diesels are also detuned due to our fuel BS so I doubt adding a few ponies is gonna hurt anything, especially when people are getting 450hp out of a cummings.

AZScout · **Posted:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:27 pm

I called and talked with SP before buying on e-bay. They told me to run it at 5 on a scale that runs from FE (Fuel Economy), 0-10 with 0 being stock. I've had it at 5 since the install. Also, they said anything over 5 should only be run with gauges. I did run it at 10 on a drive home and there is even more pick-up...but thoughts of broken parts had me tune it back down. With larger tires at 265/75 16's... setting 5 is plenty. After the initial install, disconnection is 30 secs literally. Also, I have the gauge installed behind the plate that swings down under the steering wheel as I dont shift on the fly. Next trip...I plan to run on FE to see if that makes a larger difference but am getting about 1-1.5 more mpg in mixed city/hwy on setting 5.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:48 pm

AZScout wrote:

I plan to run on FE to see if that makes a larger difference but am getting about 1-1.5 in mixed city/hwy on setting 5.

I hope you mean you are getting 1-1.5 MORE mpg...

Not to hijack the thread but how does your Aero sound...is it the 2525 or 2525XL w/ Resonator?

AZScout · **Posted:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:22 pm

"I hope you mean you are getting 1-1.5 MORE mpg..."

Lol...corrected. Thanks for pointing that out.

"Not to hijack the thread but how does your Aero sound...is it the 2525 or 2525XL w/ Resonator?"

I got the 2525 without the resonator as I didn't want anything too loud. After the install, I could only tell a difference from stock if I tried real hard. There is really no discernable difference other than after 10,000 mi. there is a slight burble when letting off. If you are looking for something louder, you might want to get the 2525xl. If I would have done anything different, I would have gotten the 3030 and upgraded to 3" exhaust when I had the money later on to compensate for the chip and airflow upgrades.

Hope this helps!

Dave

Evanslmtd · **Posted:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 7:28 pm

I've been Beta testing the same module for about 4 months for Painless Performance. I didn't see any improvement in fuel economy at the EC setting, but I'm seeing about a 10% increase on the #3 setting. I figured I'd slowly work my way up to the 5 setting to see how they affect my mileage. I'll post the results when I get them.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 8:53 pm

AZScout wrote:

"I hope you mean you are getting 1-1.5 MORE mpg..."

Lol...corrected. Thanks for pointing that out.

"Not to hijack the thread but how does your Aero sound...is it the 2525 or 2525XL w/ Resonator?"

I got the 2525 without the resonator as I didn't want anything too loud. After the install, I could only tell a difference from stock if I tried real hard. There is really no discernable difference other than after 10,000 mi. there is a slight burble when letting off. If you are looking for something louder, you might want to get the 2525xl. If I would have done anything different, I would have gotten the 3030 and upgraded to 3" exhaust when I had the money later on to compensate for the chip and airflow upgrades.

Hope this helps!

Dave

I think the XL is actually supossed to be quieter ...

I am going to do a full 3" somehow and get the 3030...

AZScout · **Posted:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 9:57 pm

Quote:

I think the XL is actually supossed to be quieter ...

I just saw that. I thought the resonator would make it louder... I guess it shows you how quiet the 2525 is compared to stock. This thing must be really loud on a gasser. I've got my 2525 clamped on right now (cut off the flange) so I still have the option of going to a 3030. I want to get gauges first so that I can see what the differences are in EGT and boost...

Tom_with_a_Dream · **Posted:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 11:03 pm

Quote:

Yes it has guages for fuel pressure and boost.

-- Opinion Warning --
You might want to invest in some physical gauges that read boost and egt directly from the engine. Relying on the Module is quick and easy but what are the chances that the module would produce non-objective numbers?

Probably not very likely that the module would lie, but I still prefer to see the actual numbers and not a computer-based number.

----------------
Having said all that about the Module, I am actually considering buying one since you're all telling me the modules are perfomring well with no ill-effects (at least, so far). I have been very happy with my Jeeplet but my unstated goal has always been to pull a load and still get over 25 mpg.

jaciii · **Joined:** Mon Jul 31, 2006 9:09 am **Posts:** 25

just thought I'd bump this thred so it wouldn't disappear.

gsbrockman · **Posted:** Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:56 pm

biggiefl wrote:

Well...before I put it in I towed my little 13' Whaler for about 100 miles and got just over 24mpg at 65-70mph highway. This weekend I did the same tow with an additional person in truck and got 28.2avg....holy smokes.

Perform your mpg calculations by hand and you'll see lower figures. There hasn't been any kind of aftermarket power enhancing programmer / module on the market (GM, FoMoCo, or Dodge) that's not adversely affected the calculations of the on-board computer mpg readings.

Greg

biggiefl · **Posted:** Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:49 pm

AZscout...let me know how it does with the FE setting with MPG. Like I said I have just left mine at FE and am tickled pink but if MPG is close then why not run at 5? I wish i could experiment with it more but like I said...wife's car.

That is with it done by hand/calculator. I don't trust the vac/mpg guage either but mine seems to be pretty accurate and within 1mpg.

AZScout · **Posted:** Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:07 pm

I don't have an EVIC so all my calculations have always been by hand. I am going on a trip from Phoenix to Las Cruces this weekend and next weekend. I will test there and back. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and there will be little or no wind. I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes...

Dave

Update on SP stage 3 tuner...WOW!

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