Black Bear Chicago Tune

[mikeyss]

I have been E85 in mine, and do alot of city driving. I get around 11 in the city, and 18-20 highway. I haven't run 91 octane in a long time, but last time I did I got maybe 1mpg better.
The transmission tune is awesome. During normal driving, it is smooth shifting and it holds the gears longer. Example would be: if you're driving in a 30mph zone, 1st gear shifts to 2nd around 15 mph no matter what, then second holds on until 30 or so, etc. Also, if you are under certain speeds, higher gears are locked out. Going 45 mph, it won't go into 6th gear. Now the harder you get on it, the quicker and firmer the shifts are. It makes my serp belt chirp on the shifts at WOT. Also, off idle the throttle response is much better.
My L9H running E85 is getting better gas mileage than my 05 LM7 tahoe with 4.10's. Both Blackbear tuned.

 

[mikeyss]

You can kinda hear the belt chirp from 1st to 2nd, and again going into 3rd. This is at 5000ft above sea level.

 

[HiHoeSilver]

I've had blackbear tune in my 09 6.2 Tahoe for almost a year now, and all I can say is you're in for a real surprise!! The difference is night and day, and running on E85 is even better. I almost wish I could do a live tune event, but they never come to Colorado. I'm sure there aren't enough people here to warrant an event in Colorado though.

Do you run the e85 on the 91+ tune?

 

[mikeyss]

Yeah, I chose it that way because we only have one E85 station, and I travel up in the mountains so I want to be able to switch back if I'm in no mans land, lol. I can't run anything less than 91 in the L9H so I only have tune for 91+. My understanding is that even with 91 tune, E85 is slightly improved too. I do feel a difference between 91 and E85, the latter makes it much peppier.

 

[HiHoeSilver]

Yeah, I chose it that way because we only have one E85 station, and I travel up in the mountains so I want to be able to switch back if I'm in no mans land, lol. I can't run anything less than 91 in the L9H so I only have tune for 91+. My understanding is that even with 91 tune, E85 is slightly improved too. I do feel a difference between 91 and E85, the latter makes it much peppier.

Awesome to hear this from experience. Thanks! I can't wait.

 

[mooman]

I just got done running two tanks of E85 through on factory tune. To me, it felt, aka, buttdyno, it felt not as quick. The 6.2 feels like it moves, but felt different from the 91. Going back onto 91, The power was lower in the rpm range and kinda fell on its face after 5krpm. The E85 felt down low, but pulled a bit better up top. Butt dyno is not the greatest......

 

[09 L9H]

I have been E85 in mine, and do alot of city driving. I get around 11 in the city, and 18-20 highway. I haven't run 91 octane in a long time, but last time I did I got maybe 1mpg better.
The transmission tune is awesome. During normal driving, it is smooth shifting and it holds the gears longer. Example would be: if you're driving in a 30mph zone, 1st gear shifts to 2nd around 15 mph no matter what, then second holds on until 30 or so, etc. Also, if you are under certain speeds, higher gears are locked out. Going 45 mph, it won't go into 6th gear. Now the harder you get on it, the quicker and firmer the shifts are. It makes my serp belt chirp on the shifts at WOT. Also, off idle the throttle response is much better.
My L9H running E85 is getting better gas mileage than my 05 LM7 tahoe with 4.10's. Both Blackbear tuned.

20 mpg hwy on E85 is nuts... I run 93 and occasionally this 90 octane 0% ethanol blend and I'm nowhere close to those numbers. I've run through one tank of E85 but I never went back because I got like 10.8 mpg out of it, and that was on 55-mph backroads. Idk if I'm doing something wrong or what, but I'd kill for 20 mpg. Ethanol has a significantly lower energy density than gasoline so your numbers blow my mind.

 

[kbuskill]

20 mpg hwy on E85 is nuts... I run 93 and occasionally this 90 octane 0% ethanol blend and I'm nowhere close to those numbers. I've run through one tank of E85 but I never went back because I got like 10.8 mpg out of it, and that was on 55-mph backroads. Idk if I'm doing something wrong or what, but I'd kill for 20 mpg. Ethanol has a significantly lower energy density than gasoline so your numbers blow my mind.

He obviously has the 6 speed, whereas mine has the 4 speed, but I am curious what gear ratio he has and what the ethanol content (%) of the tank was. I get around 9.5-10 MPG at about 75% ethanol around town and about 13.5-14 MPG on the interstate running 70-75 MPH on the same ethanol content. I have the 4 speed and 3:73 rear in my Burb so that doesn't help with highway MPG.

With ethanol the best way to compare it to regular gas is by comparing the CPM (cost per mile) instead of MPG.

I find that the ethanol being significantly cheaper than 89 octane, which is what my truck is tuned for, negates the fact the the mileage sucks. When you do the math on both they are pretty much neck and neck for cents per mile.

 

[09 L9H]

He obviously has the 6 speed, whereas mine has the 4 speed, but I am curious what gear ratio he has and what the ethanol content (%) of the tank was. I get around 9.5-10 MPG at about 75% ethanol around town and about 13.5-14 MPG on the interstate running 70-75 MPH on the same ethanol content. I have the 4 speed and 3:73 rear in my Burb so that doesn't help with highway MPG.

With ethanol the best way to compare it to regular gas is by comparing the CPM (cost per mile) instead of MPG.

I find that the ethanol being significantly cheaper than 89 octane, which is what my truck is tuned for, negates the fact the the mileage sucks. When you do the math on both they are pretty much neck and neck for cents per mile.

Yeah, you're exactly right about CPM vs. MPG. I have data (I use Autosist to track fuel mileage and cost) but I just haven't calculated the CPM yet. As far as transmissions, I have the 6L80E and I would assume he does too, as I'm pretty sure all 08+ Tahoes do. I have a 3.42 rear end. I know I turn about 2000 RPM at an indicated 80 mph, but I have 33s so the speedo reads low.

 

[kbuskill]

'09+ got the 6l80
'07-'08 got the 4l60

Exceptions being the '07-'08 Escalade and Denali and the Tahoes that got the bigger engines (non 5.3l) got the 6l80.

He definitely has the 6 speed because he mentioned the tune causing 6th gear to be locked out below 45mph.

I would assume he would have the same gear ratio as you since your trucks are same year and engine/transmission.