Green Diesel Engineering

54764 Views 136 Replies 32 Participants Last post by SUPERSMITH, 22 d ago

GreenDiesel

Discussion Starter · Mar 3, 2018

We have full support for the Colorado/Canyon engine and trans tuning and just recently joined this forum. We hope to be a good source for optimizing the performance, drive ability and fuel economy of this platform. GDE is a bit later than all the other tuners, but we offer improvements outside of normal tuning parameters available with EFI Live or HP Tuner. Those are great delivery tools, but only allow maybe 200-300 maps to be changed. GM software has over 15,000 maps, curves and labels. Tapping into more maps allows for more optimization. We use other tools for development and data analysis and then port the tunes into EFI AutoCal. It typically takes us 12 -18 months to develop a tune for any vehicle application. We need 4 seasons of development and validation. Each summer new test vehicles go through altitude trailer testing in Colorado (Eisenhower and Vail Pass), then on to Davis Dam for a 6% grade at 110F followed by Las Vegas city traffic in the heat. We also do cold testing down to -20 F each winter. There are many correction maps/curves based on altitude and ambient temp. When the base timing, boost and pressure maps are modified, all the correction maps need to be optimized accordingly. This all takes time, but it allows for one tune to be safe in all driving conditions feasible in North America.

We are still developing new features on this platform and would like to hear your experiences and opportunities for further improving the driving experience.

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121 - 137 of 137 Posts

Baggey22

· #121 · May 10, 2021

I'm debating if I should get this tune or not. I have a 17' toy hauler that I take to the track and on weekend getaways. It's around 4800lbs loaded and I'm only getting 11-13mpg towing. I live in Vermont so it's very hilly. The truck does fine keeping speed up the hills, but the mileage isn't what I expected it would be.
Would the GDE tune net me some better MPGs? Read a lot of the posts here but it seems like people are really happy when they get the tune, then it seems like it's mediocre once they've had some miles with it.

TheOtherGeorge

· #122 · May 10, 2021

Baggey22 said:
I'm debating if I should get this tune or not. I have a 17' toy hauler that I take to the track and on weekend getaways. It's around 4800lbs loaded and I'm only getting 11-13mpg towing. I live in Vermont so it's very hilly. The truck does fine keeping speed up the hills, but the mileage isn't what I expected it would be.
Would the GDE tune net me some better MPGs? Read a lot of the posts here but it seems like people are really happy when they get the tune, then it seems like it's mediocre once they've had some miles with it.

Your milage is about right. The GDE tune will eek out a couple more MPG's in my experience but don't go thinking it'll add 40% more efficiency. It add 10-20% depending on driving habits/style at best in my experience.

It does help with get up and go at the on ramp. It does help power up the hills. I still enjoy my tune, though I am definitely used to it now. If I had to buy another Colorado I'd definitely get another, I can't go back.

turbodiverart

· #123 · May 10, 2021

I just got the tune installed last week. The power and shifting is so much better, really woke my '17 up! Around town I'm easily seeing 3-4 more MPG in local driving. I'm in NJ so lots of stop and go driving, traffic lights and people. On a reliable local route I take twice a week I used to average 26 MPG like clock work, last week I got 30. I don't have any highway mileage data to share yet. I tow a 5500 lb 24' enclosed race trailer 58 miles each way to the track. While not as hilly as Vermont I do make a 750 foot elevation change up and down hills to get to the track (home at sea level). Previously I would average about 16 MPG round trip, traveling about half the trip at 70 MPH highway and then average about 45-50 MPH the other half (some lights and hills). Being rainy and Mothers Day this weekend I didn't go to the track. I do plan to race this weekend coming up weather permitting so I can give you some comparison data then.

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SFLTruck

· #124 · May 10, 2021

Baggey22 said:
I'm debating if I should get this tune or not. I have a 17' toy hauler that I take to the track and on weekend getaways. It's around 4800lbs loaded and I'm only getting 11-13mpg towing. I live in Vermont so it's very hilly. The truck does fine keeping speed up the hills, but the mileage isn't what I expected it would be.
Would the GDE tune net me some better MPGs? Read a lot of the posts here but it seems like people are really happy when they get the tune, then it seems like it's mediocre once they've had some miles with it.

It's more about the refinement of the engine running conditions and the trans tune. Together you will see an increase of a few MPG but when towing you're in the ballpark with most others towing that load. The thing that will impress you the most is how much more responsive and enjoyable the truck is to drive and the firmness of the shift points.

It's worth the $

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Baggey22

· #125 · May 10, 2021

turbodiverart said:
I just got the tune installed last week. The power and shifting is so much better, really woke my '17 up! Around town I'm easily seeing 3-4 more MPG in local driving. I'm in NJ so lots of stop and go driving, traffic lights and people. On a reliable local route I take twice a week I used to average 26 MPG like clock work, last week I got 30. I don't have any highway mileage data to share yet. I tow a 5500 lb 24' enclosed race trailer 58 miles each way to the track. While not as hilly as Vermont I do make a 750 foot elevation change up and down hills to get to the track (home at sea level). Previously I would average about 16 MPG round trip, traveling about half the trip at 70 MPH highway and then average about 45-50 MPH the other half (some lights and hills). Being rainy and Mothers Day this weekend I didn't go to the track. I do plan to race this weekend coming up weather permitting so I can give you some comparison data then.

That would be great. I've taken the toy hauler to Virginia and to Connecticut and sometimes I would get 11mpg for the tank and sometimes 13mpg. If I could get 13mpg (or more) towing consistently I'd be happy.

turbodiverart

· #126 · May 10, 2021

Baggey22 said:
That would be great. I've taken the toy hauler to Virginia and to Connecticut and sometimes I would get 11mpg for the tank and sometimes 13mpg. If I could get 13mpg (or more) towing consistently I'd be happy.

Sure, I'll let you know next week weather permitting. I'll be taking a trip to Akron, OH thru northern PA at the end of the month (non-towing) so I'll have data on highway non-towing in a month or so. Typically I get about 28 on the way out and 30 on the way back averaging about 78 MPH.

SFLTruck

· #127 · May 10, 2021

Baggey22 said:
That would be great. I've taken the toy hauler to Virginia and to Connecticut and sometimes I would get 11mpg for the tank and sometimes 13mpg. If I could get 13mpg (or more) towing consistently I'd be happy.

I have noticed a few MPG difference traveling the same roads when towing my trailer depending of the direction of the wind. The head winds are noticeable in the decreased MPG's when you're heading into them.

My buddy has a trailer about the same weight as mine and he tows with an Echo Ford F150 and I am always 6 to 8 MPG better then he is for me I say that's a win.

SUPERSMITH

· #128 · Sep 22, 2021

I am looking for a custom EFI tune on my 2019 2.8 Duramax that I have installed Twin Turbos on.

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SFLTruck

· #129 · Sep 23, 2021

SUPERSMITH said:
I am looking for a custom EFI tune on my 2019 2.8 Duramax that I have installed Twin Turbos on. View attachment 9248

Scott couldn't set you up for that? or did you buy that from someone else?

SFLTruck

· #130 · Sep 23, 2021

SUPERSMITH said:
I am looking for a custom EFI tune on my 2019 2.8 Duramax that I have installed Twin Turbos on. View attachment 9248

I really want to know your thoughts when you get that setup up and running

4wheeldriveseats35

· #131 · Feb 11, 2022

GMforlife said:
I can tell you for a fact that the poor acceleration will vanish with the GDE tune . You will also notice a nice mpg gain. I gained almost 8 mpg, although I think 3 or 4 of that was due to tire size adjustment. That being said ,that's still 4 to 5 mpg gain.

What tire size did you start with? Size you ended up with?
Im stock tire size and averaging 24-26 MPG's before GDE tune
Thanks

hrabini

· #132 · 2 mo ago

TheOtherGeorge said:
So a couple weeks have passed and I've got a few thousand miles under the belt thanks to an emergency trip to Denver. On the way out to Denver I was towing a car on a U-Haul auto transport, ~6500lbs on the car carrier with just about a max payload in the truck after tongue weight. On the way back it was just me and the family so a normal long haul road trip.

First my impressions: This is a pretty fun tune.

Noticeably more get up and go, though I haven't got a dyno to test it on.

Torque filtering is gone. Peddle go down --> truck go forward, no more persistent 1-2 second delays

Trans temps are way down, even while towing. Before my tune I usually held 190 F in my trans temp on the highway in the summer, on the trip back 175 was the temp of the day. Towing trans temps were also significantly reduced. Towing before I could see temps as high as 230 average mid 220's, but with the tune I never topped 215. It usually held about 206-208. Trans temp control is good enough I will probably scrap my plan to add an extra trans cooler.

My truck definitely had an off the starting line shudder about 50-70% of the time before the tune. After the tune it happens rarely. It's intermittent enough that I'm not sure if it's the shudder or just aggressively painted lines on the road way and hitting them just right. Intentionally reproducing my shudder has become impossible and it is much more infrequent. Hopefully this will let me get more life out of the torque converter. My trans shop will probably be mad at GDE.

She's got a bit more rumble to her now that the engine lugs more often. I personally like the sound, but if you want to hear engine's scream constantly you'll want to look else where.

The shifting pattern feels much more like a manual rather than trying to feel like a CVT. You can definitely feel when the gears change due to the shift happening earlier and thus the engine needing to catch up right after the gear shift. This doesn't bother me, but it might bother you.

My towing MPG was better than the last time I pulled a similar set up. Nov last year I moved 5,500 lbs via u-haul auto transport to Denver and averaged about 15 MPG on the way there, this trip was heavier (6500 lbs) and I averaged 17.5.

Highway MPG are slightly higher, IIRC last Nov's return trip scored 30.4 MPG and this trip scored 31.8.

Note: all MPG numbers are based on the DIC. I did not do pump math because I was using different pumps and filling at various levels to make sure I didn't run out and didn't waste time when I was already stopped for things like bathroom or lunch.

Towing up steep inclines (6-7%) on I-24 in TN I did not have any issues holding 65 MPH or accelerating after getting cut off. I did have to slow down and move right because of lane restrictions (I had more than 3 axles) but not due to lack of power or falling behind.

Around town MPG isn't fair to compare thanks to the Rona. My daily driving from before COVID is very different from my current driving so I can't fairly compare them. Maybe when things settle down and I get back to driving to the office I can compare in town mileage. (no I haven't bothered to keep track of in town mileage since March because I knew it'd be terrible. Can't get any efficiency going to the store once or twice a week)

The turbo definitely kicks on more often. This one doesn't bother me but if you hate the turbo sounds you might need to consider another option.

I hit an off road trail today and I honestly couldn't tell a difference. Had as much fun as always, truck had all the power and torque it needed to. I'm not sure if I should have felt a difference, but I also only shoot for moderate trails. I don't have a ZR2 and it is my daily driver. Snapping an axle or anything like that would be a real problem for me so I avoid anything extreme.

Howdy, hope your still around here in the forums.... i enjoyed the information you provided and wanted to ask for an update. I have a z71 with the 2.8 and 6speed 6L50 trans. I added a trans cooler cause the cooler it has is a joke, temps are great since averaging 140, summer months in NV 185-190, and even towing in summer 215 max. started to get a little slipping here and there, trans disengaged when backing out of driveway for about a second. checking fluid i saw it was more brownish then pink, so swapped out 5.5 quarts (have extra capacity trans pan), now shifts are good. However I am wondering if the tune will provide more reliability and extend the life of the trans, i intend to keep this truck for another 100K miles, currently at 101k. best regards,

SFLTruck

· #133 · 2 mo ago

hrabini said:
Howdy, hope your still around here in the forums.... i enjoyed the information you provided and wanted to ask for an update. I have a z71 with the 2.8 and 6speed 6L50 trans. I added a trans cooler cause the cooler it has is a joke, temps are great since averaging 140, summer months in NV 185-190, and even towing in summer 215 max. started to get a little slipping here and there, trans disengaged when backing out of driveway for about a second. checking fluid i saw it was more brownish then pink, so swapped out 5.5 quarts (have extra capacity trans pan), now shifts are good. However I am wondering if the tune will provide more reliability and extend the life of the trans, i intend to keep this truck for another 100K miles, currently at 101k. best regards,

The trans tune will help because it uses TC lock-up more which will lower the trans fluid temp. It also shifts firmer with less "flair". I had the GDE on my LWN and really liked it.

SFLTruck

· #134 · 2 mo ago

SUPERSMITH said:
I am looking for a custom EFI tune on my 2019 2.8 Duramax that I have installed Twin Turbos on. View attachment 9248

Just wondering if you ever git this up and running?

SUPERSMITH

· #135 · 22 d ago

SFLTruck said:
Just wondering if you ever git this up and running?

I had planned to get it all up and running. I had to sue the shop that installed the twin turbo/tune as they didn't complete the job correctly. This took a year to get through the courts. I Won they Lost. I found out after the fact from the company that made the tune for them that they were not originally even given correct information of tune to be made for the twin turbo being installed and that is why the computer would have went into safe mode. It should've gone to the dealership to get the computer unlocked so new tune could be installed. I had to have the Canyon towed from the shop to GMC Dealership after I won in court as the exhaust system was completely stolen. During the theft they cut the frame out along with many other things to get the exhaust to clear. Originally my insurance was having it repaired at a cost of $18K, but last week insurance notified me that after it was all checked out, they found more issues that would need to be repaired at a cost of $26K. My insurance totaled out the truck, so now I am waiting on my insurance check.

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SFLTruck

· #136 · 22 d ago

SUPERSMITH said:
I had planned to get it all up and running. I had to sue the shop that installed the twin turbo/tune as they didn't complete the job correctly. This took a year to get through the courts. I Won they Lost. I found out after the fact from the company that made the tune for them that they were not originally even given correct information of tune to be made for the twin turbo being installed and that is why the computer would have went into safe mode. It should've gone to the dealership to get the computer unlocked so new tune could be installed. I had to have the Canyon towed from the shop to GMC Dealership after I won in court as the exhaust system was completely stolen. During the theft they cut the frame out along with many other things to get the exhaust to clear. Originally my insurance was having it repaired at a cost of $18K, but last week insurance notified me that after it was all checked out, they found more issues that would need to be repaired at a cost of $26K. My insurance totaled out the truck, so now I am waiting on my insurance check.

Well first off thanks for the update. I'd been wondering if you were successful or not. I really wanted to hear your thoughts on the project as a whole, so much for that. Do you at least get to retrieve your mods prior to the insurance company taking control of the vehicle?

SUPERSMITH

· #137 · 22 d ago

SFLTruck said:
Well first off thanks for the update. I'd been wondering if you were successful or not. I really wanted to hear your thoughts on the project as a whole, so much for that. Do you at least get to retrieve your mods prior to the insurance company taking control of the vehicle?

I don't think it would have been an issue with the twin turbo installation if the tune was just done correctly from the start. My insurance gave me 90% of the value on all my $12K of extra modifications, so they get to keep everything.

121 - 137 of 137 Posts