After driving my truck for over a year I finally decided to get a tuner. After looking at everything out there, and considering my warranty, I decided to get a Pulsar that I picked up on eBay "refurbished" for $275. When the unit arrived it was in factory shrink wrap and had no markings indicating that it was a refurb, maybe I lucked out and got a new one.
After driving in all modes I have come to the conclusion that even at $275 it is not worth it to most people. It is ultimately a throttle modulator, just like a pedal commander or any of the multitude of other devices that do the same thing. These devices essentially give a signal to the ECU that your pedal is closer to the floor than it is – this gives the illusion of performance without creating any. It is simply metering out the stock capacity of your engine in a different pattern, not increasing it. This is preferable to some but my goal in buying a tuner was to increase the capacity of my truck and the Pulsar does not do that despite their marketing claims. That being said, here are my observations of the various modes:
All tests were ran on 93 octane. My truck has the e-torque engine, 18” stock wheels and tires, and the 3.21 rear.
Performance mode makes the truck poorly behaved. All it does is cram 75% of the throttle range into the first 10% of travel. It is remarkably touchy and makes the truck much less refined for day-to-day driving. There is no discernable difference in power or speed when doing stock vs performance WOT pulls. This goes back to what this device is, a throttle modulator. In performance it just takes your throttle input, increases it, and sends it to the ECU. The manufacturer claims that there is “up to” 30HP and 30TQ gains peak to peak – I saw no evidence of this. There may be increased area under the curve due to faster throttle application but with WOT runs I can’t tell the difference.
Tow mode splits the difference between performance and stock. If you like what Pedal Commanders do and you like a reasonable increase in throttle response, this is a good mode to be in. The manufacturer claims 10HP and 10TQ gain, as with performance mode I see no evidence of this.
Economy mode actually makes the most sense for this device. Fuel economy is largely a function of how much or how little throttle you give. Eco mode does the reverse of performance mode and takes the first 10-20% of the throttle and stretches it out over 75% of pedal travel. With city driving this was able to give me an added 1MPG. It allowed me to have more granular control over the throttle and seems to keep me in MDS more often. As with other modes the manufacturer claims 5HP and 5TQ gain in this mode. This is such a small number it is unlikely that I would notice it even if it was there.
As some of you may point out, there is a youtube video of someone running a pulsar equipped 1500 on the dyno from last year. Unfortunately the methodology in that video is tragically flawed. On top of not being able to keep the truck in the same gear, fighting with the speed limiter, and admitting the truck became heat soaked, the peak numbers compared where almost 1,000 RPMs apart. That means nothing, NA engines make more power higher in the powerband – that is like saying hot water is hotter than cold water. The results are, unfortunately, meaningless.
As more tuners come out for our trucks, to include the PCM swaps, I might look into those. For now, the Pulsar is going back.
After driving in all modes I have come to the conclusion that even at $275 it is not worth it to most people. It is ultimately a throttle modulator, just like a pedal commander or any of the multitude of other devices that do the same thing. These devices essentially give a signal to the ECU that your pedal is closer to the floor than it is – this gives the illusion of performance without creating any. It is simply metering out the stock capacity of your engine in a different pattern, not increasing it. This is preferable to some but my goal in buying a tuner was to increase the capacity of my truck and the Pulsar does not do that despite their marketing claims. That being said, here are my observations of the various modes:
All tests were ran on 93 octane. My truck has the e-torque engine, 18” stock wheels and tires, and the 3.21 rear.
Performance mode makes the truck poorly behaved. All it does is cram 75% of the throttle range into the first 10% of travel. It is remarkably touchy and makes the truck much less refined for day-to-day driving. There is no discernable difference in power or speed when doing stock vs performance WOT pulls. This goes back to what this device is, a throttle modulator. In performance it just takes your throttle input, increases it, and sends it to the ECU. The manufacturer claims that there is “up to” 30HP and 30TQ gains peak to peak – I saw no evidence of this. There may be increased area under the curve due to faster throttle application but with WOT runs I can’t tell the difference.
Tow mode splits the difference between performance and stock. If you like what Pedal Commanders do and you like a reasonable increase in throttle response, this is a good mode to be in. The manufacturer claims 10HP and 10TQ gain, as with performance mode I see no evidence of this.
Economy mode actually makes the most sense for this device. Fuel economy is largely a function of how much or how little throttle you give. Eco mode does the reverse of performance mode and takes the first 10-20% of the throttle and stretches it out over 75% of pedal travel. With city driving this was able to give me an added 1MPG. It allowed me to have more granular control over the throttle and seems to keep me in MDS more often. As with other modes the manufacturer claims 5HP and 5TQ gain in this mode. This is such a small number it is unlikely that I would notice it even if it was there.
As some of you may point out, there is a youtube video of someone running a pulsar equipped 1500 on the dyno from last year. Unfortunately the methodology in that video is tragically flawed. On top of not being able to keep the truck in the same gear, fighting with the speed limiter, and admitting the truck became heat soaked, the peak numbers compared where almost 1,000 RPMs apart. That means nothing, NA engines make more power higher in the powerband – that is like saying hot water is hotter than cold water. The results are, unfortunately, meaningless.
As more tuners come out for our trucks, to include the PCM swaps, I might look into those. For now, the Pulsar is going back.
