LurkingLuke
Member
Been running my tune for a few months now (2013 Denali 6.2). Overall I'd say it's a great value and a satisfying purchase. A few points in no order.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: The guys are all great. They pick up the phone right away, respond to emails, and to their credit they never once displayed any frustration with me, even though I pestered them with way too many questions about installing the tune. A+
INSTALLATION: I'm not savvy when it comes to automotive repairs and modifications. The instructions, though thorough, confused me. BBP included everything including the kitchen sink. There were many, many details, including lots of "you might get such and such a code; if you have this model of engine or trans, you will have to do it a little differently; depending on which version of our product you have, you will see something different and you will have to press a different series of buttons." It seemed all jumbled together. In the end I finally made sense of it, but I found it difficult to figure out which thing applied to me at which time and what action I was supposed to take. I couldn't have done it without the patient customer service.
ENGINE PERFORMANCE: there was no night-and-day improvement I noticed. Mashing the throttle to the floor felt no different from stock. However, in partial throttle application, or 99% of driving, I felt a modest but noticeable swell in torque. I'm guessing that the power gains are not so much in peak power but in average power. Picturing a torque/HP graph, there's more surface area under each curve. I'd compare it to a car that offers different driving modes, like Sport, Normal, and Economy, only it's always in Sport.
TRANSMISSION PERFORMANCE: same analogy. It drives like it's in Sport mode. Kicks down sooner and holds on to revs a little longer before upshifting, yet if you're gentle on the throttle, it's not high-strung but relaxed. Two anecdotes:
(1) in making a turn from a stop, the stock transmission shifts almost immediately into second gear unless you're aggressive on the throttle, forcing you to either startle your passengers with sudden acceleration or to be in too low a gear once you've completed your full 90 degrees. With the BBP product, it's always in the "right" gear.
(2) going up a steep(ish) hill each day, I need to downshift a gear or lose speed. With the stock TCU, pressing the gas a little just made the engine groan louder under the extra load without helping keep my speed up---but if I pressed any harder on the gas, it would jump down two gears, jerk the vehicle, and wail at high RPM until I eased off and got the truck into the gear it actually needed. With BBP's tune, nudging the gas gives me a swift but gentle kickdown, just one gear, and puts me in the right power band.
AFM/DOD DELETE: works as advertised. The dash display which tells you your instant MPG and whether you're running on 4 or 8 cylinders now shows 8 all the time. Instant fix!
FUEL ECONOMY: contrary to BBP's claims, the trip computer shows about a 1-1.5 MPG decline rather than gain. And no, it's not because I changed my driving style and am hot-rodding around all the time. I just seem to remember getting about 14.5 MPG on average, and now see 13-13.5. Unfortunately, I never kept records from tank to tank, so I have no solid confirmation. Forgive the pun, but YMMV.
CONCLUSION: the truck now drives the way GM engineers wanted it to but were forced by the EPA to strangle the powertrain. I really appreciate it and know I will enjoy it for the rest of the life of the vehicle. Considering this, it was an excellent investment.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: The guys are all great. They pick up the phone right away, respond to emails, and to their credit they never once displayed any frustration with me, even though I pestered them with way too many questions about installing the tune. A+
INSTALLATION: I'm not savvy when it comes to automotive repairs and modifications. The instructions, though thorough, confused me. BBP included everything including the kitchen sink. There were many, many details, including lots of "you might get such and such a code; if you have this model of engine or trans, you will have to do it a little differently; depending on which version of our product you have, you will see something different and you will have to press a different series of buttons." It seemed all jumbled together. In the end I finally made sense of it, but I found it difficult to figure out which thing applied to me at which time and what action I was supposed to take. I couldn't have done it without the patient customer service.
ENGINE PERFORMANCE: there was no night-and-day improvement I noticed. Mashing the throttle to the floor felt no different from stock. However, in partial throttle application, or 99% of driving, I felt a modest but noticeable swell in torque. I'm guessing that the power gains are not so much in peak power but in average power. Picturing a torque/HP graph, there's more surface area under each curve. I'd compare it to a car that offers different driving modes, like Sport, Normal, and Economy, only it's always in Sport.
TRANSMISSION PERFORMANCE: same analogy. It drives like it's in Sport mode. Kicks down sooner and holds on to revs a little longer before upshifting, yet if you're gentle on the throttle, it's not high-strung but relaxed. Two anecdotes:
(1) in making a turn from a stop, the stock transmission shifts almost immediately into second gear unless you're aggressive on the throttle, forcing you to either startle your passengers with sudden acceleration or to be in too low a gear once you've completed your full 90 degrees. With the BBP product, it's always in the "right" gear.
(2) going up a steep(ish) hill each day, I need to downshift a gear or lose speed. With the stock TCU, pressing the gas a little just made the engine groan louder under the extra load without helping keep my speed up---but if I pressed any harder on the gas, it would jump down two gears, jerk the vehicle, and wail at high RPM until I eased off and got the truck into the gear it actually needed. With BBP's tune, nudging the gas gives me a swift but gentle kickdown, just one gear, and puts me in the right power band.
AFM/DOD DELETE: works as advertised. The dash display which tells you your instant MPG and whether you're running on 4 or 8 cylinders now shows 8 all the time. Instant fix!
FUEL ECONOMY: contrary to BBP's claims, the trip computer shows about a 1-1.5 MPG decline rather than gain. And no, it's not because I changed my driving style and am hot-rodding around all the time. I just seem to remember getting about 14.5 MPG on average, and now see 13-13.5. Unfortunately, I never kept records from tank to tank, so I have no solid confirmation. Forgive the pun, but YMMV.
CONCLUSION: the truck now drives the way GM engineers wanted it to but were forced by the EPA to strangle the powertrain. I really appreciate it and know I will enjoy it for the rest of the life of the vehicle. Considering this, it was an excellent investment.
Last edited:
