10 Best Diesel Tuner Units for Ram/Cummings
If you are looking for that slight edge in performance for your RAM / Cummings truck, a performance tuner is just the ticket. There are so many on the market that you want to make sure you are getting the real deal. Here are the top ten for your purchasing decision-making process.
1. Banks Six Gun
For just under $1000, you can't go wrong with the Banks' Six-Gun tuner with the corresponding Banks' IQ dash viewer. This dynamic duo will give you almost 125 hp gains with over 300 lb-ft of wicked torque.
2. Bully Dog GT
Great things come in small packages. The Bully Dog Triple GT diesel tuner with unlocking cable for your Cummins will only set you back about $500, but will not only give you up to 100 hp gains and over 200 lb-ft of torque, it also serves as an instrument gauge, systems monitor and diagnostics tool all in one. You really can't beat the price and versatility of this fine tuner.
3. Diablosport Trinity
The Diablosport Trinity is a very nice tuner for your Cummins that has a very reasonable price point. For about $600, you get a systems gauge and a diagnostic tool along with your tuner. This little piece of equipment is quite powerful with 100MB of onboard memory that can handle up to 5 custom tunes. This tuner can crank up your power plant by 185 horses and over 200 lb-ft of torque.
4. Evolution CTS
The Evolution CTS by Edge Products is the one tuner that you just might not be able to live without. This small unit has a gorgeous 5" screen that holds over 18 different interfaces. You get a readout on just about everything your truck can report from engine temperature to how well you look in your new sunglasses. This tuner is capable of hp increases of almost 200 and a whopping 430 lb-ft of torque.
5. EFILive FlashScan V2
The Flashscan by EFILive is quite the powerful tool for about $900. This tool isn't the best for the novice tuner who just wants a canned tune out of the box to plug and play. The EFILive tuner takes some getting used to, but it is uber-flexible, allowing a myriad of customized tune to every single aspect of your engine. It has incredible logging capabilities so that when you make one adjustment, you can instantly find out what it's doing, until you get that perfect tune.
6. MADS Smarty
The SMARTY tuner has been the staple of every Cummins engine since the dawn of time. SMARTY is by far the most popular, and with that, the most well-suited tuner for your Cummins engine. While this tuner may not get as much HP gains as other tuners, this is just about the only one that will put all those horsies out to pasture from the get-go. Off the line, on the bottom end of your power band, the SMARTY will jack it up and you'll carry all that power with you to the end. Other tuners will drop that power in at the high band range when you are already sucking wind and eating dust. Put the power in your lap at the gate where it belongs and watch the losers from your rear view mirror. You can expect about a 170 HP gain with the most aggressive tune level.
7. RaceME Ultra Tuner
The RaceME Ultra tuner scores very high marks from owners, but it comes with a pretty hefty price tag. For $1,500 you can a really nice and big touch screen display, customized, specialized tunes that can offer up to 200 horsepower gains. A couple of really nice features with this tuner is that it will unlock your ECM out of the box. You do not need to purchase anything additional (for model years 2013 and up). The Ultra will also allow the fly power level changes as well as adjustments on the fly to various other components and systems of your power plant.
8. MVP from TS
The MVP tuner from TS Performance is just the right blend of price point and performance improvements. This tuner has a very intuitive user interface, and creating that great tune for your truck is only minutes away. For about $300, you can quickly add about 100 horses to your stable.
9. SuperChips FlashPaq
For the ultimate ease of use, you'll be hard-pressed to find anything better than the SuperChips Flashpaq. This is the most basic, plug and play tuner on the market. At a great price point of about $350, the SuperChips tuner comes with 4 pre-programmed tunes based upon the driving situation you are facing. For sheer speed and a powerful performance, you can expect about an 85 horsepower increase over stock.
10. Anarchy Mercernary
The Mercenary performance tuner by Anarchy is a decent tuner giving about 150 HP gains with the racing tune; however, it will not unlock the ECM. For about $950, it is a bit pricey given the limitations, but the product itself is solid as is the gains you will see in the performance.
If you need help with maintenance of your Dodge/Ram truck, the how-to sections of DodgeForum.com are here to help.