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GDE tune review

J-Cooz

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So after 3 years and 100,000km my 2020 ED has been flawless. I was waiting for it to be out of warranty (100km in Canada) to get it tuned.

My parents live near Windsor Ontario which is right across the border from Detroit so on a trip home Friday I went to GDE to get tuned. From the time I showed up to time it was done was about 45 minutes, the guys were great to deal with and answered any questions I had.

Now for the tune itself. Pulling out of the parking lot you can immediately feel the difference. The throttle has almost zero lag and drives like it should have from the factory. The upshifts are former and sooner under light throttle and it just pulls using the added torque. The increased power is immediately noticeable too as it takes a lot less throttle to get up to speed now. I floored it a few times from about 30mph and it pulls significantly harder. Highway passing power is improved a lot.

Fuel economy seems to have improved about 1 MPG on the evic but GDE said they take out the bias of the stock programming so the actual gain could be more. I did about 600km of highway driving home and got 29.4 MPG with 3.92 gears.

Overall I'm very impressed with the driveability improvements of the tune and the added power. I can't wait to tow with it. If anybody is debating getting tuned, go do it! It's well worth it.

Will report back over the next few weeks with updates on my thoughts.


Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk
 

Chris3058

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Great to hear....so you just made an appointment and went across? Do they have the PCM's available or did you buy one here and clone it?
 

J-Cooz

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Great to hear....so you just made an appointment and went across? Do they have the PCM's available or did you buy one here and clone it?
I just emailed them a week or two before and told them I'd come over and they said no problem.

I didn't use a clone pcm
My truck is out of warranty and if it needs to go to the dealer I will block off the OBD port and tell them not to flash it.

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk
 

MXZGUY

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So after 3 years and 100,000km my 2020 ED has been flawless. I was waiting for it to be out of warranty (100km in Canada) to get it tuned.

My parents live near Windsor Ontario which is right across the border from Detroit so on a trip home Friday I went to GDE to get tuned. From the time I showed up to time it was done was about 45 minutes, the guys were great to deal with and answered any questions I had.

Now for the tune itself. Pulling out of the parking lot you can immediately feel the difference. The throttle has almost zero lag and drives like it should have from the factory. The upshifts are former and sooner under light throttle and it just pulls using the added torque. The increased power is immediately noticeable too as it takes a lot less throttle to get up to speed now. I floored it a few times from about 30mph and it pulls significantly harder. Highway passing power is improved a lot.

Fuel economy seems to have improved about 1 MPG on the evic but GDE said they take out the bias of the stock programming so the actual gain could be more. I did about 600km of highway driving home and got 29.4 MPG with 3.92 gears.

Overall I'm very impressed with the driveability improvements of the tune and the added power. I can't wait to tow with it. If anybody is debating getting tuned, go do it! It's well worth it.

Will report back over the next few weeks with updates on my thoughts.


Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk


I did the same but with the extra ECM. Mine is still under warranty seeing I just bought the truck in 2022 of November. 15 minutes and I can change everything out back to stock. Did you get the Regen message also? And did you do the Transmission tune too?? I did on both. I am very happy with GDE. 0521231230a_HDR.jpg
 
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J-Cooz

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I did the same but with the extra ECM. Mine is still under warranty seeing I just bought the truck in 2022 of November. 15 minutes and I can change everything out back to stock. Did you get the Regen message also? And did you do the Transmission tune too?? I did on both. I am very happy with GDE. View attachment 159816
Yep I got a fully loaded tune, all options. The truck really feels completely different. Merging on the highway I was speeding huge because it accelerates so much better than before.

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Malodave

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I have had mine since GDE offered it. Been working Great. I need to get the HPFP and DEF recalls done
before Sept. That way I can run past and have the PCM and Spare PCM reflashed after the Dealer screws up
the Tune with a PCM flash for the Recalls. I will be headed out that way then.

Malodave
 

TheBobs

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I've had GDE's tune on my 2014 and now on my '21 and wouldn't drive the EcoDiesel without it. Totally transforms the truck and makes it a joy to drive. Stock I think the engine is a solid powertrain but with GDE's tune it takes it to another level. My regens happen about every 1000 miles, DEF usage is much less than stock and the fuel mileage is great. I drive a lot for my business and spend a lot of time staring through the windshield from Western New York and Western PA through Eastern Ohio - so a fair amount of hilly miles. My most recent trip resulted in this fuel economy - the truck's mileage numbers are within about .5 of hand-calculated mileage. Even if it was 2 mpg's lower I'm thrilled. Pretty cool to be able to have nearly a 1000 mile fuel range with my 33 gallon tank :)

Bob
IMG_4981.jpeg

IMG_4982.jpeg
 
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Malodave

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I've had GDE's tune on my 2014 and now on my '21 and wouldn't drive the EcoDiesel without it. Totally transforms the truck and makes it a joy to drive. Stock I think the engine is a solid powertrain but with GDE's tune it takes it to another level. My regens happen about every 1000 miles, DEF usage is much less than stock and the fuel mileage is great. I drive a lot for my business and spend a lot of time staring through the windshield from Western New York and Western PA through Eastern Ohio - so a fair about of hilly miles. My most recent trip resulted in this fuel economy - the truck's mileage numbers are within about .5 of hand-calculated mileage. Even if it was 2 mpg's lower I'm thrilled. Pretty cool to be able to have nearly a 1000 mile fuel range with my 33 gallon tank :)

Bob
View attachment 162406



If you have Lane Keep assist and Adaptive Cruise Control. You should look into getting a Comma3 from Comma.ai. I have about 15K miles on mine with the Comma3 driving the Truck.
 

J-Cooz

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Update after almost 10,000km (6,000 miles) later. I've been driving a lot.

Still really impressed with the tune, overall the driving experience is much better and it feels much more responsive.

The only weird thing I've noticed is that after a cold start when lightly accelerating in 3rd gear the RPMs rise and then drop again and then rise again and then it shifts to 4th gear and does the same. I emailed GDE about it and they said it's part of the exhaust quick heat mode and it's just the torque converting locking and unlocking and it's normal under light acceleration.
After it does that once it shifts normally and doesn't do it anymore.

Regens seem to happy every 1200-1500km or so and def usage seems to be about the same or less.

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abmillh

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If you have Lane Keep assist and Adaptive Cruise Control. You should look into getting a Comma3 from Comma.ai. I have about 15K miles on mine with the Comma3 driving the Truck.
I just found out about this today. Do you use it to tow at all and what has your experience been like? Don't want to hijack the thread, just curious.
 

MXZGUY

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Update after almost 10,000km (6,000 miles) later. I've been driving a lot.

Still really impressed with the tune, overall the driving experience is much better and it feels much more responsive.

The only weird thing I've noticed is that after a cold start when lightly accelerating in 3rd gear the RPMs rise and then drop again and then rise again and then it shifts to 4th gear and does the same. I emailed GDE about it and they said it's part of the exhaust quick heat mode and it's just the torque converting locking and unlocking and it's normal under light acceleration.
After it does that once it shifts normally and doesn't do it anymore.

Regens seem to happy every 1200-1500km or so and def usage seems to be about the same or less.

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

Mine does the same as yours does at the shift points till warmed some. I don't think anything of it now. But I am liking my tune also in the 2022 Limited. Put mine in just short of 3000 miles and have 11,000 miles on the truck now.
 

Paco

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My 2014 eco had similar thing happen to it.
The transmission was slipping when cold.

I dont think this is a good thing you guys, as weather gets colder problem might get worse.
I ended up getting a New transmission.
Was it because of the slipping when cool???

There tuners, why not tune it so it does not happen????
Still on the fence on GDE on my 2022.
Especially Now.
 

J-Cooz

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It's tuned like that on purpose to heat the exhaust up faster. I'm not concerned about it.

From GDE:

Hi Bryan,



What you are feeling is by design. When the exhaust fast heat mode is active, the torque converter will be kept unlocked while the vehicle is accelerating slowly or at steady speed. If you begin to accelerate harder for a moment you might feel it lock up, and potentially unlock again if you go back to a steady speed but before it upshifts.



Thanks,

GDE



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abmillh

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What I'm more concerned about is the clunk that you and anyone in the truck feels on the 3-2 downshift under light deceleration. It happens consistently for me and I know the issue so well, I can avoid it by using more brakes (harder decel) or coasting much further (lightest decel possible). Either way, it's not disengaging the converter lockup when shifting and that's hard on everything. My previous tune from GDE (1st Gen) was much better. This last one I'd take a star off my review for that transmission issue.
 

Paco

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I hope they get it figured out.
I had 295,000 KMS on my 2014 eco and besides replacing tranny at 220,000 Kms It ran perfect.
I really want a tune as I just payed off truck, but I dont want problems.
Glad to see some honest reviews, sugar coating a problem helps no one.
 

J-Cooz

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I enjoy the tune and wouldn't hesitate to get it. The overall driving experience is so much better than stock. The 3-2 downshift can be a little firm sometimes but I don't really notice it.

Overall I'm extremely happy with it.

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abmillh

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I enjoy the tune and wouldn't hesitate to get it. The overall driving experience is so much better than stock. The 3-2 downshift can be a little firm sometimes but I don't really notice it.

Overall I'm extremely happy with it.

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk
Just curious what rear gear you have. I've got the 3.21 and it's hard to miss.
 

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